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HISTORY 



OF 



MONMOUTH 



COUNTY, 



NEW JERSEY. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



ZFK.J^IDTIKILin^ ELLIS. 

9\ - -i 



f AUG 26 ISC'^ 

PHILADELPHIA: 
R. T. PECK & CO. 

1885. 



/ 



v: 



Copyright, tss.->, R. T. Peck & Co. 



Printed by the 

15. B. Rudgers Printing Ot., 

Philadelphia. 



^ 



PREFACE. 



The History of jMonmoith Couxty, here j)resented to its patrons for their approval, is 
the result of long and patient labor and research, which have been bestowed upon it with the 
view of producing an authentic and connected narrative of events of general importance or 
interest, which have occurred in the territory now comprised in the county of Monmouth, or in 
which its residents have been actore; confining the account as closely as practicable to the limits 
of tlie county, and to its former and present inhabitants, and referring to outside matters only so 
far as is necessary to show the connection of events. 

To the general matter pertaining to the county, is added a history of each of its townships, 
embracing accounts of churches, schools, societies, and other local organizations, and also special matters 
intended chiefly for reference. Other portions of the work are necessarily arranged according to 
the subjects of which they treat. A prominent feature of the work is tlie mention of early settlers, 
and of the families descended from them. In this connection it is proper to remark that the 
family names of many of the pioneere and later residents of Monmouth county have been found 
spelled differently, (and sometimes in as many as three or four different ways), in the county, 
township and church records; and for that reason it has often been found impossible to decide 
with any degree of certainty, on the correct orthography, — if, indeed, there is any choice as to 
correctness, where, as is not infrequently the case in this county, different members of the same 
family, spell their surname variously, eacli in his own way. Under such circumstances, it sliould 
not be thought strange if the writer, being wholly at a loss to know which manner of spelling 
to adopt, has sometimes chosen one whicli may he regarded as incorrect by some who bear the 
name. Beyond this explanation, no apology will be made, for none is thought to be necessary. 
It is of course impossible to produce a history which shall be al)solutely perfect and complete, 
but every effort has been used to make this as nearly so as po.-^sible, and it is now presented, with 
full confidence that the verdict of its patrons will be one of approval. 

To those who have courteously given their aid in the collection of the materials for the 

work, the historian desires to express his thanks; and among these he would mention in general, 

the pastors of the churches, the editore of the county newspaper, and the membere of the legal 

and medical professions. He is also under special obligations for valuable information and other 

ill 



iv PREFACE. 



courtesies extended by a great uuiuber of citizens of the county, among wliom were William Lloyd, 
Judge William P. Fornian, Rev. G. C. Schenck, Ex-Governor Joel Parker, Hon. George C. Beekman, 
Major James S. Yard, .Tames Steen, Asbury Fountain, (Jliarles R. Hutchinson, Dr. Edward Taylor, 
Charles G. Allen, Asher Parker, Rev. Samuel Lockwood, Rev. William Reiley, Rev. E. Mead, 
Rev. Frank Chandler, Mrs. Achsah Hendrickson, Mrs. Theresa W. Seabrook, Dr. Robert Laird, 
D. C. Perrine, Judge Joseph Barclay, Gilbert Combs, Esq., William H. Vredenburgh, Es(|., 
Edward Hartshorne, Gen. Charles Haight, William R. Maj)s, Peter Parker, Rufus Ogden, 
Judge William H. Slocuin, Judge Charles A. Bennett, Capt. Joseph HoH', Theodore Morris, Esij., 
Jacob C. Lawrence, Escj., D. D. Denise, Charles T. Fleming, Es(j., Dr. D. McLean Fornian, 
Jacob O. Burtt, David 8. Crater, Pitman Curtis, John L. Conover, Robert Pierce, Osborn Curtis, 
John C. Vanderbeck. 

F. E. 
Philadelphia, April isl, 1885. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 
LocHtiun, Bonmlari^'s and Natural Features of Monmouth County . 1 

f'lIAI'TER II. 
Arclia'olopy lUld Paleolltolof^y 7 

CHAPTER III. 
The Dutch, English and Pr..|iiietary Rule in New Jersey 10 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Indian Ocinpation 41 

CHAPTER V 

Early .Settlements and Land Titles . . . '. 67 

CHAPTER VI. 
Early Settlements and Land Titles — {Cotitittued} 71 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Provincial Revolt 85 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Organization and Suhdivisinn of the County — Monnmnlh civil 
List ini 

CHAPTER IX. 
Monmouth County in the Revolution 115 

CHAPTER X. 
iMonmouth County in the Revolution — (Ctrntiitiietl) ........ 105 

CliAr\..,l XI. 
Monmoutb County in the Revolution — (CoHtimii^iI) . ... 227 

CHAPTER XU. 
War of 1812-1.5, Mtxican War, Civil War of 18Cl-(;5 239 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The Bench and Bal of M.ininonth County 271 

ii- 
CHAPTER XIV. 

The Medical Socioly, Bible Society and .\gricultnral Society of Mon- 
mouth Count; 319 

CHAPTER XV. 

Internal Improvements— Population 369 



CHAPTER XVI. 
The Town and Township of Freehold 38+ 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Middletown Township • 518 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Sbrewshnry Township and tlie Town of Red Bank 573 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Upper Freehold Township 611 

CHAPTER XX. 

Howell Township 045 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Millstone Township 655 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Atlantic Township MS 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

Manalapan Township 078 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Raritan Township and the Town of Keyport C98 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Marlborough Township 727 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Ocean Township and Long Branch 753 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Wall Township 795 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Ihdmilel Township 812 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Matawan Township 829 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Neptune Township 8.52 

CHAPTER XXXI, 

Eatontown Township 876 

V 



BIOGRAPHIES 



Ackerpon, H. E 828 

Allen, Charles G 007 

Allen, Charles 004 

Allen, Edniumi W 334 

Aiitonides, Charles 808 

Applegate, AsherT 3.tO 

Applegate, John S 3™> 

Arrowsniith, George -61 

Arrowsmitb, Joseph E 33!1 

BairJ, Pavid 601 

Baldwin, James IT 335 

Barday, De Witt W 3,17 

Bawdcn, Juhn 472 

HeUle, Joseph D 292 

Beekraan, George C 299 

Bennett, Charles A 296 

Bennett, Henry Sl)2 

Blauvelt, C. C 332 

Bray, Sidney 849 

Brown, T. S. B 720 

Brown, William 828 

Biiohanon, N. E 873 

CafTerty, Abel 042 

Canler, John P »l 

Clmdwick, Francis 007 

(Chandler, Frank 436 

<Conover, Arthur V 329 

Conover, Azariah 552 

', Oonovtr, Charles A 352 

r.iTii.ver, Garret B...; 693 

Conover, John R....: 336 

Conover, Lafayette.... 740 

Conover, Robert R 3.'iG 

Conover, Stacy P .'. 740 

Conover, William E 512 

Conover, William V 558 

Cook, A. R S72 

Cooke, llonry G 341 

Cooke, Robert W 327 

Cooper, T. W 782 

Corliee, Henry 899 

Crawford, W. S 827 

t^irtis, Osborn 811 

Dayton, Alfred B 332 

Dayton, William L 282 

Debow, William 1 334 

Denise, David D ; ■■.. 368 

Denise, John S 5flO 

Iienise, William T 513 

Disbrow, Stephen M 339 

Du Bois Family The 095 



Du Bois, Benjamin 

DuBois, Henry 

Du Bois, Livingston 

Edwards, Aaron 

Ellis, Daniel U 

Ely, Horatio 

English, David C 

English, James 

English, Jeremiah S 

Field, Joseph 

Forman, David 

Forman, David 

Forman, David, Sr 

Forman, Samiud 

Forman, William 

Forman, William P 

Freeman, Utis R 

Grant, William H 

Green, W. S 

Griscom, Samuel W 

Griggs, Benjamin 

Haight, Thomas G 

Hall, Jamea D 

Hall, John 

Hanre, George 

Hartshorne, A. C 

Hartehome, R. S., Jr 

Heudrickson, Charles J.... 
Hendrickson, George C... 

Heudrickson, S. W 

Hendrick.son, William B.. 

Hendrickson, W. H 

Herbert, Jcdin W 

Herbert, O. C 



Higgins, A. A 

Hildreth, D. M 

Holmes, C. S 

Holmes, Daniel W.. 

Holmes, Daniel 

Holmes, James 

Holmes, Joseph H.. 

Holmes, Joseph 

Hooper, Edward.... 



Hubbard, William H.. 

Hull, John 

Hubit, Peter D 

Hunt. Sylvester H 

Kearney, Jamea P 

liinmonth, HnghS .... 
Laird, Joseph T 



697 
097 
698 
782 
390 
511 
326 
326 
326 
65U 
324 
210 
3-25 
323 

:i29 

6611 

351 

659 

786 

897 

57(1 

671 

643 

5(12 

01(1 

311 

, 313 

551 

, 560 

. 79;t 

, 5B7 

. 840 

, 747 

, 752 

. 342 

, 7iW 

. 825 

. 724 

. 821 

. 345 

. 824 

. 641 

. 572 

. 323 

. 335 

. 283 

,. 726 

,. 347 

. J27 

.MO- 



VIU 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



PACiE. 

Lawrence, James S 4'i4 

LeonaiHi, James H 571 

Leonard, Kielmnl A 5dG 

Leonal'd, Thomas » 565 

Lewis, John P 333 

Lockwood, Sanuiel 444 

Lloyd, Grandin 332 

Long, Isaacs 343 

Loiigstreet, Aaron ^ 848 

Longstreet, Jonathan 298 

Longstreet, John 6 824 

Maps, William R 70!) 

McClane, Sidney 561 

McLean, A. C 3W 

Mead, Elias 722 

Meirs, CoUen B 6:ili 

Metzgar, A. T 9(i2 

Morford, Charles 654 

Morford, George 508 

Morford, John 329 

Murphy, Holmes W / 3ns 

Neafle, John 462 

Neviiis, Henry M 313 

Neviiis, James S 286 

Niwell, William D 340, 644 

Patterson, Cliarles 320 

Patterson, Jamej4 II 348 

Parker, Charles 105 

Parker, Henry W 610 

I'arker, Joel 288 

I'aiil, Mifflin 770 

l'"M-kins, Henry 64<t 

IVrrine, Davit! C 4117 

I'errino, John R 6!I3 

Perrine, Lewis. 107 

Polhemiis, Paniel 3;J4 

Kandoljih, Joseph F 282 

Reynolds, William G 322 

Kipley, J. .S 874 

Robbins, Chilion 3U3 

llob.rls, Thomas 566 

Rue, .Jacob IS 407 

Ityall, Daniel B 281 

Ryall, Philip .1 ,1(15 

Seliain-k, Daniel S 490 

Schenck, Family The 672 

Sclienck, Daniul P 826 

Schenck, C. 074 

Schenck, Tunis V 514 

Seabrook, H. II 721 

Slocum, John 780 



PAGE. 

Slocum, W. H 894 

Smith, James M 663 

Smith, William M 662 

Smock, 1. O 676 

Spader, William 860 

Spronl, Jno. S 725 

Statesir, William .<^ 466 

Stilhvell, 0. I <:. 8-23 

Taylor, Edward 324 

Taylor, James J 677 

Taylor, Michael 708 

Terbune, William L- 298 

Tbomasun, Thomas J 337 

Thompson, Joseph C 331 

Thompson, Joseph 1 564 

Thompson, Sidney 517 

Thome, T. W x47 

Throckmorton, Aaron A 294 

Throckmorton, Edmund 608 

Throckmorton, John B 326 

Throckmorton, Joseph A 609 

Throckmorton, Tylee AV 008 

Travel's, Frank K 345 

Truax, Anthony 784 

Valentine, C. H 791 

Van Derveer, Garret D 783 

Van Derveer, D. 1 746 

Van Dorn, D. P 761 

Van Mater, Joseph I 826 

Vredcnburgh, Peter 286 

Vredenburgh, Peter, Jr 252 

Vought, John 345 

Wall, Garret D 280 

Walling, Alfred, Jr 304 

Walling, George W 709 

Ward, William V 501 

West, Edmond 893 

White, Isaac P 600 

White, Henry S 31.1 

Williams, Edmund T. 609 

Williams, T. T i 890 

Willis, John V. N 749 

Wilson, William V 553 

Wikoff, Henry 515 

Woodhnll, Gilbert S 325 

Woodhull, John T 325 

Woolley, Eden 770 

Woolley, Edwiu 792 

W,«.lley, T. It 780 

Yard, James S -. ^^0 

Yanl, Joseph A 244 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Ackerscio, H. E 

Allen, Charles 

Alkn, Chaiies G 

Antimides, Charles 

Applegate, Asher T 

Applegate, John S 

Baird, Pavid 

Biiwden, John 

Bedle, Joseph D 

Bet-kman, George C 

Bennett, Charles A 

Bennett, ^enry 

Bray, Sidney 

Brown, T. S. B 

Brown, William 

Biiclianon, N. E 

Cafferty, Abel 

easier, John P 

Chadwick, Francis 

(handler, Frank 

Christ Church, Shrewsbury. 

Conover, Arthur V 

Couover, Azariah 

Conover, Garret B 

( V'nover. Lafayette 

Conover, Robert R -•■■ 

Conover, Stacy P 

Conover, William E 

Conover, William V 

Cook, A. R. 

Cooke, Henry G 

Cooke, Robert W 

Cooper, T. W 

Corlies, Henry 

Crawford, W. S 

Curtis, Osborn 

Deuise, David D 

Denise, John S 

Denise, William T 

Disbrow, Stephen M 

Du Bois, Benjamin 

Du Bois, Henr>- 

l>u Bois, Livingston 

Edwards, Aaron 

Ellis, Daniel H 

Ely, Horatio 

Field, Joseph 



PAGE 

. S2S 
.. 064 
. 007 
.. 8'J8 
. 350 
,. 307 
.. 002 
.. 472 
.. 202 
.. 300 
.. 297 
.. 502 
.. 8.W 
.. 720 
.. 829 
. 874 
.. W3 
... 901) 
.. 006 
.. 430 
... 583 
.. 330 
.. 553 
... 604 
... 749 
... 336 
... 749 
... 513 
... 569 
... 873 
... 342 
... 328 
... 782 
... 899 
, . 827 
... 812 
... 309 
... 50(1 
... 614 
... 340 
... 097 
... Ii95 
690 
783 
397 
.111 
551 



-c, 



PAGE 

323 
Forman, S.amuef. 

Foiman, William P ^^'^ 

351 
Freeniau, Otis R •■' 

Gi-aut. William H ^^^ 

Green, W. S '^"^ 

Griggs, Benj 

Griscom, Samuel W 

Hall, James D 

Hauce, George 

312 
Hartshorne, A. C 

Heudricksou, Charles J ' 

Hemlrickson, George C 

7'Vi 
Hendrickson, S. W 

Hendrickson, W. II 

Heiitlrickson, William B '" 

7*18 
Ikiliort.Jolm W 

HiMreth, D. M "''^ 

„ , ,. ^ 1*25 

Holmes, C o 

Holmes, Daniel 

* 704 
Holmes, Daniel ^\ 

642 
Holmee, Josepb 

825 
Holmes, Joserh H 

572 
Hooper, Edward "^^ 

Hubbard, William H ^ "^ 

284 
Hull, John 

726 
Hulst, Peter D 

347 
Hunt, Sylvester H 

Kinmonth, Hugh S 

Laird, Joseph T 

5 465 

Lawrence, James s 

Leonard, James H 

557 
Leonard, Richard A 

5<35 
Leonard, Thomas 

445 
Lockwood, Samuel 

344 

Long, Isaac S 

840 

Lougstreet, Aaron 

Longstreet, Jonathan 

8''1 
Longstreet, John S • " 

xMap of Monmouth County 

7fi9 
Maps, William R 

561 

Mcriam, Sidney 

7'^2 
Meatl, Klias 

640 
Meirs, ColKn B 

. ™ Wl 

Metzgar, A. 1 

489 
Monmouth Battle Monument 

408 
Monmouth County Court-House ^^ 

M6iford, Charles 

IX 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Morford, George 569 

Murphy, Holmes W 309 

Neafie, John 462 

Nevius, Henry M 314 

Parker, Charles 106 

Parker, Henry W 510 

Parker, Joel 288 

Patterson, James H 349 

Paul, Mifflin 776 

Perkins, Henry 641 

Perrine, David C 498 

Perrine, John R 693 

Ripley, J. S 875 

Roberts, Thomas 566 

Rue, Jacob B 467 

Ryall, Daniel B 281 

Ryall, Philip J 306 

Schanck, Daniel S 499 

Schenk, Daniel P »2t; 

Schenck, G. 'J iC^.jLvr. J&m 

Schenck, Tunis V 515 

Seabrook, H. H 721 

Slocum, John 781 

Slocura, W. H 895 

Smith, James M 663 

Smith, William M 563 

Smock, I. G 676 

Spader, William 851 

Sproul, Jno. S 725 

Statesir, William 466 

Slillwell, 0. 1 823 

Taylor, James J 677 

Taylor Michael 708 



PAGE. 

Tennent Church 685 

Tenuent Parsonage r)86 

Thomason, Thomas J 338 

Thompson, Joseph I 564 

Thompson, Joseph C 331 - 

Thompson, Sidney 5]8 

Thome, T. W 848 

Throckmorton, Edmund 6O8 

Throckmorton Joseph A 609 

Throckmorton, Tylee W gog 

Truax, Anthony 7x5 

Valentiue, C. H 791 

Van Derveer, G. D 734 

Van Derveer, D. I 747 

A'an Dom, D. P 7f,2 

Van Mater, Joseph I „ S26 

Vredeiiburgh, Peter 286 

Vredenburgh, Peter, Jr 252 

Ward, William Y r>M\ 

Walling, Alfrer], Jr 305 

Walling, George W 709 

West, Edmund 393 

White, Isaac P g06 

Wikoff, Henry 51G 

Williams, Edmund T oio 

Williams, T. T .^ 896 

Willis, John V. N .T. ^... 750 

Wilson, William V f^f^i 

WoolK'y, Eden 771 

Wooiley, Edwin 792 

Woolley, T. 11 780 

Yard, James S.*-*,. ^..,, 456 

Yard, Joseph A 1^4-, 







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Enfjraved Ejcprrssly far tJiis fl^rJt. ^^ 





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I 



HISTORY 



OF 



MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



N§>^^ 



CHAPTER I. 

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND NATURAT- FEA- 
TURES OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 

Monmouth is the most northern of tlie sea- 
eoast counties of New Jersey, its eastern border 
being the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, and its 
nortiievn boun(hiry being formed by Sandy 
Hook Bay and Raritan Bay. From the north- 
west corner of the county, on Raritan Bay, the 
boundary of Monmouth runs iu a direction 
nearly southwest, adjoining the counties of 
Middlesex and IMercer. On the south, Mon- 
mouth is bounded by Ocean County, which was 
erected from the southern part of the original 
territory of Monmouth in 1850. 

The surface of the county exhibits almost 
every variety of contour, from hilly (as in the 
northeastern, northern and western parts) to 
nearly level (as in the southeastern part, ex- 
tending far back from the ocean shore). The 
boldest elevations are the Navesink Highlands, 
on which stand the Xavesink light-houses. These 
are the first lands seen by mariners coming from 
the ocean into the harbor of New York, and 
are between three and four hundred feet in 
height above sea-level. From these High- 
lauds, a series of hills (some of which are 
uesirly as lofty as those of Navesink) extend 
across to the west side of the county, and along 
that side to its southwestern extremity, where 
(for the reason that the elevations are less ab- 



rupt, thougli about as high as in the northeast- 
ern part) tlie country may more properly be de- 
scribed as one of high rolling uplands. Extend- 
ing southwardly from the northwest part of the 
county is a range of hills and high lands, ter- 
minating at Hominy Hill, which is a little 
south and east of the centre of the county. 
Here the elevations disappear, marking the 
beginning of the "Pines" region, which is a 
vast area of barren land, nearly level, and ex- 
tending in one direction nearly to the sea- 
shore, and southwardly across the boundary, 
into Ocean Countj'. 

At various points in the elevated parts of the 
county are isolated and distinctly defined hills 
rising prominently above the high lands sur- 
rounding them. The heights of a number of 
these — as also of sevei-al other points iu the 
county — above mean tide, are here given, viz. : 
Telegraph Hill (Holmdel township), .336 feet; 
Beacon Hill (Marlboro' township), 372 feet; 
Sugar Loaf Hill (Atlantic township), 199 feet; 
Crawford's Hill (east of Holmdel and Key port 
road), 392 feet; North Hill at Monmouth 
battle-ground, 159 feet; South Hill at battle- 
ground, 152 feet; Disbrow's Hill (Millstone 
township, near Middlesex County line), 281 
feet ; Pine Hill (Millstone township), 295 i'eet ; 
Garrett's, or Pigeon Hill, 208 feet ; Red Hill, 
205 feet ; Perrine's Hill, 165 feet ; Brisbane's 
Hill (Atlantic township), 141 feet; North Hill 
(Red Bank,) 178 feet; South Hill (RedBank), 
168 feet; ISIaiu Street of Freehold, at court- 

1 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



house, 173 feet; street at Holmdel, 100 feet; 
street at Middlctown, 127 feet; Colt's Neck, 
92 feet; Tintou Falls (road), 73 feet; INIarl- 
boro' village (street), 170 feet; Euglishtown, 
70 feet ; Matawau (street), 70 feet ; Keyport 
(street), 30 feet ; Tennent Cluireli, 127 feet. 

The two principal streams of ]\Ioiimouth ai'e 
the Navesink (often called the North Shrews- 
bury) liiver and the South Shrewsbuiy River, 
both of which are in the northeastern pai't of 
the county and flow in that general direction 
to within a short distance of the ocean ; then, 
turning northward in a course parallel to the 
beach, their united waters flow in a single 
stream, past the foot of the Navesink High- 
lands, into the Bay of Sandy Hook. 

The headwaters of the Navesink, or North 
Shrewsbury, River take their rise in the cen- 
tral and northwestern parts of the county. 
Hop Brook Irom the northwest, and Big 
Brook, Yellow Brook and Hockhocksou Brook 
from the west and southwest, witii a number 
of smaller brooks and creeks from the same 
directions, unite their waters to form Swim- 
ming River, which is the princijial tributary of 
the Navesink, or, more properly, is the ujjper 
and narrower part of the main stream. Be- 
low the mouth of Swimming River the Nave- 
sink becomes a broad and lake-like sheet of 
navigable water, with attractive shores stretch- 
ing away to the northeast, where the lofty High- 
lands stand like sentinels guarding its outlet. 

The South Shrewsbury River is, in its gen- 
eral ajjpearance and features, similar to the 
Navesink, though a much shorter stream. The 
tides of the bay ebb and flow in this, as in the 
Navesink ; and the South Shrewsbury, like the 
other stream, is so much broadened as to ap- 
pear more like a lagoon than a river, except in 
its lower part, just above its junction with the 
Navesink. It has a number of short pond- 
like ti-ibutaries, or arms, among which are Lit- 
tle Silver, Town Neck, and Parker's Creeks on 
the northern side, and Blackberry Creek, Long 
Branch Brook and Pleasure Bay on the south. 
There are a nuniber of marsh-islands in the 
river, and a large proportion of its shores (more 
particularly the southern) are of marsh-land. 
The length of the river to its junction with the | 



Navesink is about six miles, and its average 
width about one and a half miles. 

Shark River enters the ocean about five and 
one-half miles north of the southern boundary 
of the county. It is formed chiefly by the 
ocean tides and contains but a small proportion 
of fresh water. The head-stream of Sliark 
River, coming down from the northwest to a 
point about three miles from the ocean, widens 
out into what is called Shark River Pond, 
which is more than a mile in width at the 
broadest part, but at its lower end abruptly 
contracts into the narrow outlet through which 
the tide-waters pass to and from the sea. 

The Manasquan River enters the ocean at 
the southeast corner of Monmouth County, and 
for several miles above its mouth forms the 
boundary between this and Ocean County. Its 
liead-streams take their rise in the western 
part of the county, south and southwest of the 
county seat. The principal one of these is 
Squan Brook (it being, in fact, the main stream), 
which flows in a general southeasterly direction 
to the county line, and thence along the bound- 
aiy (as mentioned) to the sea. The lower part 
of this stream widens out, like Shark River, 
into a lagoon or 2:)ond, which, at a short distance 
from the sea, narrows into a channel called 
Manasquan Inlet, which is the mouth of the 
river. 

The north branch of Metedeconk River flows 
about sixteen miles througli the extreme south- 
ern part of Monmouth, then passes south into 
Ocean County and joins the main river, which 
afterwards enters the north end of Barnegat 
Bay. 

Through the southwest corner of the county 
a number of small streams flow westward ly into 
the Delaware or its tributaries. The principal 
of these are Crosswicks Creek, which enters 
the Delaware at Borden town ; Doctor's Creek, 
which is a tributary of Crosswicks; and two 
forks of Assanpink Creek, which joins the Del- 
aware at Trenton. To the north and east of 
these streams several othere flow northwest 
across the Monmouth Coimty border into Mer- 
cer and Middlesex, where their w-aters find their 
way into the Millstone River, and through it to 
the Rai'itan. These small streams are Rocky 



LOCATION, BOUNDARIES AND NATURAL FEATURES. 



Brook, Millstone Creek and some others of less 
size. Beyond these, to the northeast, are the 
Manlapan and Matchaponix Creeks and Deep 
Run, all of which flow northwest from IMon- 
mouth into Middlesex County, where they 
enter the South River. In the extreme north- 
west part of Monmouth is Matawan Creek, 
which flows northeastwardly into Raritan Bay. 
From this point eastward to the Nave- 
sink Highlands are Lupatcong, Chingaroras, 
Thorn's and Wakake Creeks, all running 
northward into Rai'itan Bay ; and Pew's and 
Compton's Creeks and many other small 
streams, all flowing in nearly the same 
direction into Shoal Harbor and Sandy Hook 
Bay. 

The streams of this region (southeastern New- 
Jersey), says Professor George H. Cook, " unlike 
those of the northern part of the State, have no 
apparent connection with the geological struc- 
ture of the country. They are simply channels 
worn in the surface of the ground, following the 
lines of most rapid descent to tide-water." 

With the exception of a small area iu its 
southeastern corner, the coimty of Monmouth 
is all of what is known to geologists as the 
Cretaceous Formation, which includes the plas- 
tic clays and the several veins or beds of marl. 
The name Cretaceous, says Professor Cook,' was 
given to this formation in England, on account 
of the M'hite chalk which is there a eouspicuous 
member of it. The name is retained among 
geologists even when the chalk is wanting, as 
is the case in this country. The mineral sub- 
stance, green sand, is found in rock of jnany 
ages, but nowhere else so abundantly as in the 
Cretaceous rocks of Europe and of the United 
States. 

The organic remains of the formation are 
very alnindant, and furnish satisfactoiy evidence 
upon the question of geological age. In the 
lowest part of the plastic clays, at Fisher's briclc- 
yard, near Woods' Landing, on the Raritan, 
there is a bed of sand and sandy clay, which is 
full of impressions of leaves, twigs, cones, etc., 

1 Nearly all the facts in this chapter relating to the 
geology of Monmouth County are taken from the 18G8 Re- 
port of Professor George A. Cook, State geologist, and 
here given chiefly in his own words. 



beautifully preserved. Among these are leaves 
resembling those of the willow, sweet gum, mag- 
nolia, poplar and many other broad-leaved 
plants, which are considered by geologists as 
indicating a jieriod not earlier than the Creta- 
ceous. The bones of enormous crocodiles and 
other saurians are found in immense numbers 
in the clay marls and in the beds of green sand; 
they are usually found scattered, a single one 
in a place, but sometimes almost a whole skele- 
ton is found together. They have been col- 
lected in many places. The Academy of Natural 
Sciences at Philadelphia has probably the best 
collection of them. There are many in the 
^luseum of Rutgers College, and public and 
private collections in all parts of the country 
contain specimens. These saurians have not 
been found in any age in such numbers since 
tlie Cretaceous. 

The Cretaceous Formation in New Jersey 
is found immediately southeast of the Red 
Sandstone, and included in a belt or strip of 
country extending obliquely across the State 
from Raritan and Sandy Hook Bays, on the 
northeast, to the head of the Delaware Bay, 
near Salem, on the southwest. 

The northwestern boundary of this belt, be- 
ginning at Woodbridge Neck, on the shore of 
Staten Island Sound, passes just north of the 
villacres of Woodbrido;e and Bonhamtown to 
the Raritan River, a few rods below the mouth 
of Mill Brook. Then, crossing the Raritan, it 
is easily traced along the south side of Lawrence 
Brook, and at distances varying from a few 
rods to a quarter of a mile from the stream to 
the bend of the brook, a mile west of Dean's 
Pond. From there it can be traced in almost 
a straight line to the Delaware and Raritan 
Canal, half-way between Clarksville and Baker's 
Basin, and then near the line of the canal to 
Trenton and the Delaware River. From 
Trenton to Salem, the Delaware marks the 
northwestern and western boundary, with the 
exception of some limited patches of marsh or 
alluvium along the river. 

The southeastern boundary of the formation 
is much more diflicult to define. There is no 
rock ; the surface is uniform and the soil and 
subsoil are everywhere more or less sandy. 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



While the line drawn cannot be far from the 
true location, its exact place has frequently been 
a matter of doubt. The following, however, is 
the judgment formed by the State geologist 
after an examination of the ground : 

The line of the southeastern boundary runs 
a mile south of Salem City, and within a half- 
mile south of Woodstown, near Eldridge's Hill 
and Harrison ville ; two and a half miles south- 
east of Mullica Hill ; two miles southeast of 
Barnesborough ; half a mile southeast of Hurff- 
ville ; half a mile southeast of Blackwoodtown, 
through Clemcnton; near Gibbsborough, Mill- 
ford, Chairville, Buddstown ; two miles south- 
east of Pemberton ; two miles southeast of 
New Egyjjt ; thence to the Manasquau a mile 
above Lower Squankiuu, in Monmouth Couuty, 
to Shark River, just above the village, and to 
Corlies' Poud and the sea-shore at Deal, The 
eastern boundary is along the shore of the 
Atlantic, of Raritau Bay and Staten Island 
Sound to Woodbridge Neck. The extreme 
length of the formation, from the Highlands of 
Navesink to the Delaware, above Salem, is 
uinety-nine and five-eighths miles. Its breadth 
at the northeast end, from ^yoodbridge to Deal, 
is twenty -seven miles, and at the southwest end, 
from the mouth of Oldman's Creek to Woods- 
town, it is ten and three-quarters miles. The 
area iucluded in this formation is not far from 
one thousand five hundred square miles ; and 
it will be seen by the preceding description of 
its boundaries that the Cretaceous Formation 
embraces the whole county of Moumouth, 
except a comparatively small area in its south- 
eastern corner, which is on the Tertiary; 
extending along the sea-shore from Deal to 
Manasquan, and back from the ocean to a line 
passing from New Egypt to the vicinity of 
Lower Squankum and Shark River. 

The Cretaceous Formation in New Jersey 
consists of a series of beds or strata, lying con- 
formably upon each other, and all having a 
gentle descent or dip towards the southeast. 
The strata differ from each other in mineral 
composition, but they are all earthy in form, 
except at a few detached points where the 
mineral of the strata has been cemented, by 
oxide of iron, into a kind of sandstone or con- 



glomerate. They appear to have lain undisturbed 
ever since their deposition from the ocean, 
having no folds or curves in them, but lying 
smooth and parallel, like the leaves of a book. 
As the dip of the strata is towards the southeast, 
their edges show themselves upon the surface in 
northeast and southwest lines. If the surface 
were uniform these lines would be straight, but 
owing to inequalities of the surface, they pre- 
sent irregularities of greater or less extent, 
curving to the northwest on high ground and to 
the southeast on low or descending ground. The 
lowest strata have their outcrop farthest to the 
northwest. 

The Plastic Clays, which form the lower 
strata of the Cretaceous Formation, have their 
outcrop chiefly to the northwest of the limits of 
JNIonmouth County, extending from Raritan Bay 
and River southwestwai-dly through Middlesex, 
and beyond to the Delaware. With these are 
included the fire and alum clavs of Woodbridge, 
Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Woods' Landing, 
Washington and Trenton, and the potters' clays 
of South Amboy, Cheesequakes, Bridgeboro', 
Billingsport, Bridgeport and other places. There 
are also beds of light-colored sand, and in many 
places fossil trees and beds of lignite are found. 
This part of the formation occupies the north- 
western border of the district of the Cretaceous 
Formation in New Jersey. 

The Clay Marls, the outcrop of which is 
found along the northwestern side of Monmouth 
County, lie immediately southeast of the Plastic 
Clays, and are separated from them by a line 
which is not very easily recognized. It can be 
traced on the map in an almost straight line 
from just north of Cheesequakes Creek, on 
Raritan Bay, to Bordentown, on the Delaware. 
The material of which the Clay Marls is com- 
posed is chiefly dark-colored clay, with green- 
sand grains sparingly intermixed. 

The Lower Marl Bed, which is found out- 
cropping along the entire length of Moumouth 
County from northeast to southwest, is a stra- 
tum of green sand marl, which is very exten- 
sively and profitably used in agriculture. It lies 
along the southeast border of the Clay ISIarls, 
and can be well seen in Middletown, IMarlboro', 
Holmdel, Freehold townsliip, Cream Ridge, Ar- 



LOCATION, BOUNDxVRIES AND NATURAL FEATURES. 



ney.stown, near ]\f ouut Holly, uear Haddonfield, 
Carpenter's Landing, Batten's Mill, Marshall- 
ville and other points, and is now largely 
developed at many places in the county of" JNIon- 
mouth. 

The "strike" of the stratfi of the Lower 
Marl Bed was determined by the State geologist 
by taking two points in that bed, at tide-level, 
on opposite sides of the State, and drawing a 
straight line between them. This he marks on 
his geological map as the " Register Line." It 
touches the Lower Marl Bed at tide-water ; the 
Sandy Hook isthmus at its narrowest part, north- 
east of the Highlands ; again on the north bank 
of the river, opposite the town of Red Bank; 
and at Hop Brook, near Sugar Loaf Hill. From 
the latter point it passes Southwest, directly 
through the village of Freehold, through West 
Freehold and the township of Upper Fi-eehold, 
to and across the Delaware River, striking the 
Lower Marl Bed at Mount Holly, Clement's 
Bridge, Carpenter's Landing, and above Scull- 
town at Marshallville, Salem County, and St. 
George's, Delaware. The distance from St. 
George's to the northeastern point at Sandy 
Hook Bay is one hundred and six miles, with a 
true bearing of north 55° east. The finding of 
the Lower Marl Bed at intermediate points on 
the same level and on the same line proves 
that there is no important change of direction 
in the strike for the whole distance. 

The inclination, descent, or, as it is technically 
termed, the " dip," is at right angles to the 
" strike." The auiount of the dip of the Lower 
Bed is only about thirty feet in a mile, and trials 
at diifereut points have shown it to be nearly 
uniform. The Pen-ine marl-pits, north of 
Freehold, arc one hundred feet above tide, and 
tluve miles north of the Register I^ine, which 
shows thirty-three feet per mile descent. This 
marl-bed is considerably too high at Cream 
Ridge and at Arneystown for the usual dip, 
showing that there is at those places either an 
elevation of the bed or a curve to the south- 
east. Farther on towards the southwest the 
bed is tot) little exposed to furnish accurate 
data from which to adculate its dip, but enough 
has been ascertained to show that it continues 
nearly the same. 



The material lying over and to the south- 
east of the Lower jNIarl Bed is composed mainly 
of a reddish sand, having more or less clay inter- 
mixed at both its upper and lower parts. Its 
characteristic aj)pearance is well seen at the 
Navesink Highlands, at the Red Bank hills, 
and at varit)us other points in Momnoutli 
Count}'. 

The Middle Marl Bed is found on a l>elt of 
varying width, extending southwestwardly 
across the county from Long Branch and the 
south shore of Shrewsbury River to the south- 
ernmost corner of Upper Freehold township. 
The northwestern edge of this belt is a little 
southward of Old Shrewsbury, Scobeyville, 
Colt's Neck and Freehold, and it includes 
Long Branch, Horse Neck, Eatontown, Tinton 
Falls, Blue J5all, Clarksburg and Hornerstown, 
also New Egypt, in Ocean County. " The old 
road from Keyport to Holmdel, at its summit 
on Big Hill, just touches the bottom of the 
second marl bed at the height of three hundred 
and two feet ; eight and a quarter miles south- 
east of this the marl is at tide-level. This 
gives a descent of nearly thirty-seven feet per 
mile. Newell's marl, on the east side of the 
road from Freehold to Blue Ball, is, at top, one 
hundred and twenty-three feet above tide. 
Shepherd's marl, south of Blue Ball, is eighty- 
four feet above tide ; the distance between them, 
measured in a southesist direction, is about one 
and one-eighth miles, giving a descent of a lit- 
tle over thirty-four feet per mile." ^ 

The LTpper Marl Bed, which consists of 
green sand disposed in layers parallel to those 
of the Middle Marl Bed, and sejiarated from the 
latter by a stratum of yellow sand, makes its ap- 
pearance in a belt of quite regular width, cro.ss- 
ing the southeastern part of Monmouth County 
in a southwesterly direction from the ocean shore 
at and in the vicinity of Deal, by Shai'k River 
village, Farmingdale and West Farms, to Ben- 
nett's Mills, Cassville and the vicinity of New 
I^gypt, in Ocean County. This is the last (up- 
per) of the Cretaceous strata, and is covered and 
joined on the southeast by the Tertiary Forma- 
tion, as before meutioued. 

1 Geological Report of 18B8. 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



In climate, Monmouth differs very little from 
the other sea-coast counties of New Jersey, 
luiving a mean temperature only slightly lower 
than that of the section extending southward 
from Little Egg Harbor to Cape May. A set- 
tler in Monmouth County (Richard Hartshorne), 
writing in the year 1683, said with reference to 
the climate here : " As for the temperature of 
the air, it is wonderfully suited to the humours 
of mankind ; the wind and weather rarely hold- 
ing iu one point, or one kind, for ten days to- 
gether. It is a rare thing for a vessel to be 
wind-l>ound for a week together, the wind sel- 
dom Iiolding in one point more than forty-eight 
liours ; and in a short time we have wet and 
dry, warm and cold weather, which changes we 
often desire in England, and look for before 
tliey come." 

The climate of places near the sea is always 
much less variable than that of inland points, 
tliougli between them there may be but very 
slight difference iu degrees of mean tempera- 
ture. In the former also the mild weather 
commences earlier in the spring and contiimes 
later in the autumn. To this rule the cli- 
mate of Monmouth County affords no excep- 
tion. 

In the hot season of the year the cool breezes 
and invigoratins: influence of the ocean induce 



many thousands of people from all parts of the 
country (esjaecially from New York and Phila- 
delphia) to make their summer residence at the 
various and widely-famed resorts on the Alon- 
mouth shore ; and it is not alone in summer- 
time that its climatic advantages are made ap- 
parent. Through the fall and until the close 
of the mouth of December the air is generally 
dry and bracing; in January and February 
light snows fall frequently, but are quickly 
melted by the sea air. IMarch usually brings 
with it sharp northwesterly gales and unpleas- 
ant weatlier, which, however, is of but slKjrt con- 
tinuance, being soon banished by the early open- 
ing of spring. The softening influence of the sea 
and the health-giving atmosphere which pervades 
the pine districts, lying a short distance inland, 
have broug-ht this region into notice as a desira- 
ble place of residence in winter as well as in 
summer ; and extensive establishments for the 
accommodation of invalids and others through 
all the year have receutly been opened at Long 
Branch, on the sea-shore, and also at Lakewood, 
in the pine region adjoining the southern 
boundary of Monmouth County. 

Following is a table of temperature and rain- 
fall at Freehold, made from careful and accu- 
rate observations taken at that place, from July 
1, 1879, to .July 1, 1880: 



Trible of Temperature mid Ruin-full ut Freehold, Monmouth County, from Juhj \st , 1S7!I, to Jul;/ Isl, l.ssd. 



July . . . 
August . . 
September 
October . . 
November 
December . 
January . 
February . 
March . . 
April . . . 
May . . . 
Juue . . . 



Totals . 

Means 



Minimum 
Temp. 



Date. 



1 & 6 

10 

26 

26 

21 

27 

14 

2 

25 

12 

1 

3 



56 

51 

37 

24.5 

15.5 

8 
11 

9 
16 
23 
32 
49 



332.0 
29.3 



Maximum 
Temp. 



Deg. Date. Deg. 



16 

3 

1 

3 

12 

4 

28 

27 

5 

15 

27 

24 



97 

92.5 

85 

83 

72 

60 

58.5 

67 

69 

82 

94.5 

94.2 



954.7 
\ 79.5 



>. 1.1 



73.76 

70.853 

61.44 

58.49 

41.498 

36.71 

38.183 

34.757 

36.863 

49.707 

67.15 

71.966 



641.377 
53.448 



O m 



O t, Ij' 

nc c £ 



S=2 gb t^Si, 



o '^ 






Pi 8^ 



_K ' _ r. ^ 

i; =.5 > 
2 g g<o 



10 

10 

8 

9 

7 

12 

11 

11 

16 

12 

6 

7 



119 
9.9 



5.45 
9..5S 
1.86 
0.68 
1.71 
6.77 
2.06 
2.69 
5.71 
2.91 
0.82 
1.58 



41.82 
3.48 



4.91 
6.59 
2.92 
2.85 
4.40 
3.82 
3.03 
2.67 
5.95 
2.90 
2.32 
2.99 



1; — Ah 



916.0 
78.3 



C3 O 



0; ^ 






w. 
w. 
w. 
w. 

AV. 
N.W. 

W. 

W. 
N.W. 
N.W. 

W. 

w. 



w. 
w. 



10 

5 
6 
2 
1 



45 
3.7 



ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



CHAPTER 11. 

ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOOY.' 

A STRAIGHT line connecting Raritan Bay and 
Delaware River at theii' nearest points would 
hardly be more than thirty miles long. Here 
the State of New Jersey is so constricted as to 
seem nearly cut in two. Lying between these 
waters, the physical environment of Monmouth 
County is unique. It is also favored M'ith an 
open frontage on the sea. Here, too, the Nave- 
sink Highlands rise to the heiffht of four hundred 
feet above tl^e ocean-level. This ridge is flanked 
on the east by Raritan Bay and on the west 
by the Shrewsbury River. Southward the State 
is flat. Doubtless tiiis region was the first land 
seen by Captain Hudson. Nowhere in the 
State was nature so lavish to tlie aborigines of 
the soil ; the rivers affording their peculiar 
fish in abundance, notably the .salmon and 
the trout ; the ocean front gave other kinds 
of fish and mollusks, while the bay, shut 
in like a nursery of the sea, gave still other 
fish and immense beds of oysters, a luxury 
which attracted tiie ancient red man from far and 
near. The diversity of soil gave diversity of 
woods, thus jJi'oviding these children of the 
hunt a paradise of game. In the sandy interior 
flourished the pine, with the grouse. The damp 
lowlands near the shore were fringed with dark 
evergreens, — impenetrable thickets of cedar, in 
summer vocal with the polyglot mocking-bird. 
On the higher lands grew nobler woods of de- 
ciduous trees, — the various oaks, maples, poplars 
and locusts with the elm, ash, tulip, walnut, 
butternut and the hickories. Many of these 
were of great magnitude, and in their shelter 
roamed deer, bears, and even some beasts of 
prey. 

Upon this high land is an Indian path or 
trail extending many miles to tlie north. This 
marked the course of their movements; for 
these children of nature migrated twice in 
the year, like the birds, only in an inverse order, 
for when the birds were coming from the south, 
they were coming from the north, and so in 

'By Samuel Lockwood, Ph.D. 



the fall they left in contrary directions. The 
Indian could hunt the large game north in 
winter, but only in summer could he take the 
riches of the sea. Hence we might expect that 
a place so esteemed for ages by the ancestors of 
those red men who first saw the "pale face" 
should in some wav or other tell somethinff of 
their history. Such knowledge, tliough lim- 
ited, has been got together grain by grain, 
as stone relics one after another have been uu- 
eartlied, tlirougli that sort of study known as 
philosojjhical or .scientific induction. Con- 
ducted in such a spirit, a description and inter- 
pretation of these relics would constitute the 
archreology of tlie county. 

It is hardly more than twentj' years ago 
when the Danish savants surprised the scien- 
tific world with an interesting discovery. 
Upon their shore existed immense beds of 
oyster-shells. It had long been held that 
these beds afforded proof tliat the land had 
risen from the sea or that the sea had re- 
ceded from the land. Careful examination 
at last proved tiiat these shells were not in 
natural position ; that they had been placed 
there hj slow accumulations; that among tliem 
were implements of stone and bones of animals 
in sucli numbers and condition as proved that 
the animals had been eaten by an ancient people. 
In a M'ord, these vast accumulations were the 
home refuse of a preliistoric race. To these de- 
posits they gave the homely name Kjoekken- 
iiwcddim/n, which simply means kitchen-leav- 
ings. In 185(i-57 it was our good fortune to 
discover an immense deposit of this character 
not two miles from Keyjjort. It was a great 
bed of oyster-shells on a farm not far from tlie 
bay. As such it had long been known. A 
study of this accumulation determined, to my 
surprise, that it was an American KjocMrn- 
mocddinff. It was plain that these were not 
white men's leavings. This deposit was an 
Algonquin Mtehcn-midden. Besides ovsters, 
it represented the former mollusks of the liay, 
and contained broken stone implements and 
fragments of Indian pottery. It was a monu- 
ment of the Stone Age, and doubtless the 
bottom strata was pre-Columbian. We com- 
municated our find to Dr. Rau, the archaeol- 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ogist, who published an account in Smithsonian 
Report, 1864. Our discovery is stated on page 
371.^ I detected the fire-places or cooking 
spots of these ancient people, one being covered 
deeply with humus. The charred remains were 
there, for carbon is almost imperishable. The 
very method of cooking wa.s revealed by the 
vitrified boulders. The stones thus glazed by 
the intensity of the fire were not obtainable in 
tliese parts, and must have been brought from 
a considerable distance and their carriage in- 
vohed much labor. Hence they had a jnirpose, 
and the only purj^ose supposable is that they 
were cooking-stones, which were heated to red- 
ness and put into the pot to make the water 
boil. 

In these middens I often found fragments of 
pottery showing gi-eat extremes of quality. 
Some would be thin, compact and hard, and 
some quite thick, porous and very coarse. Nearly 
all were (jrnamcntod with geometrical designs, 
rather crude, but done with a free hand, while 
others were covered with impressions made by 
a stamp of the simjdest sort. None of these 
sherds showed glazing, the ancient potter not 
having reached this stage of the art. Among 
those primitive folks the women made the pots. 
These sherds indicated pots of sizes from that 
which would hold a quart to that which would 
contain a number of gallons ; in fact, large 
enough to cook a mess for a number of per- 
sons. They all had convex bottoms ; a flat- 
bottomed vessel was not to be found, so that to 
stand alone the pot must rest in a depression 
of the ground. I found also a broken steatite 
])ot. Doubtless, when the accident happened 
it occasioned much grief, as a soapstone pot 
could resist fire and as the stone could only be 
obtained from a great distance, it had an in- 
trinsic value. The pots were made of the clay 
near by, but it had to be tempered to prevent 
its cracking in the rude liaking to which it was 
■subjected. This tempering was effected by 
mixing saud or pulverized shells, or both, in 
the clav. The sand in some was similar to 
that obtained at the washing up on shore, but iu 

1 The draft on this deposit for material for road-making 
and ballast for oyster-vessels going to Vii-ginia through 
some twenty years has not left a vestige of this midden. 



some of the pots another sand was used of an 
extraordinary angular form, so much so as to 
be evident that it had not been subjected to 
the action of water. For a while it was a puz- 
zle to me. At last a lucky find explained if 
all. I noticed in the fire-place some pieces of 
gneiss, or granitoid rocks, not at all belonging 
to the region, and which were friable to 
a remarkable degree. These had been heated 
and used often as boiling-stones. I pulverized 
a piece and it gave me the very sand M'hich 
had been used in tempering the clay for the 
pots. In all this there was real economy, for 
as cooking stones, unless heated to vitrifaction, 
they could be used again and again, and for 
sand -making the oftener they were so used the 
better. It is a little remarkable that these 
methods of tempering clay for pottery — that is, 
using pulverized shell and pulverized burnt 
rock — are identical with the methods shown in 
the sherds of the Saxndinaviau middens. 

As to the fashioning of the pots : while some 
of the more delicate small ones are the residt 
of the hand-cunning of the potter, some seem 
to have been made by plastering or working 
the clay upon some suitable form, such as a 
gourd, and the larger and coarser ones upon a 
basket woven for the purpose. In either case 
the form would bo burnt out in the baking of 
the pot. Some of these pots were used for boil- 
ing by hanging over the fire. In such case a 
ring of withes was put around and under the 
lip or flange at the edge of the pot, and to 
this ring, or band, was attached a handle of the 
same character, which was suspended to a pole 
extended across the fire. The band of withes 
around the pot was protected from the fire by 
a plastering of wet clay. 

Near to the midden I have upon occasion 
found the remains of what I must call arrow- 
.smithies. These were the places where the 
Indian arrow-smiths wrought. This making 
of arrow-heads of stones was, in its best phases, 
a hiffh art. These smithies told me that then, 
as now, in a skilled vocation there were grades 
of professional excellence, with the bungler at 
bottom and the artist at top. If the modern 
carpenter is known bj' his chips, the ancient 
arrow-maker was known by his flakes. I have 



ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



found a place where were flakes of a soft ma- 
terial, simply imlurateil <'lay, being nodules or 
cores taken from the clay cliffs near by. As 
those flakes would wear away with age, they 
were not as numerous as thoy once were. Here 
were fragments of the arrows broken in the 
|)roeess of making. They were nearly all of 
the verv simplest type of arrow-head, — the loz- 
enge form. Elsewhere I have found the smithy 
where a somewhat better type of work was done, 
the material being a gray, compact basalt. 
Here the flakes were in quantity and the sur- 
face white from long oxidation. These ar- 
rows, as the fragments show, were triangular, 
with a shank at the base. This arrow in per- 
fect condition is often ploughed up in the fields. 
But here is a smithy with gay-colored flakes ; 
some are white and almost transparent, t)thers 
are red, vellow, and olive, and pellucid ; and 
the edges of all these flakes arc verv keen. 
They are of quartz and jasper. Of these the 
finest arrow-heads ar'e made, the leaf types and 
those with shafts and barbs of complicated 
forms. The bi'oken arrows here showed very 
fine workmanship. 

I must in a few words describe a find which 
I came u[)ou one day. On scratching up the 
sand in a place where a pebble would be a curi- 
osity I exposed the point of an angular stone. 
Thus incited, I uncovered the place and found 
that I was in an arrow-maker's shop. Here 
was the material or stock. A boulder of yel- 
low jasper as big as a cocoanut had been 
broken into four pieces. One of these had 
again been broken into blocks the size of a 
walnut ; each one of these was material for one 
arrow, the pattern chosen being a narrow tri- 
angle, with a shank. There lay the three large 
pieces and several of the small blocks made 
by breaking up the fourth piece ; the flakes, 
too, lay there and two unfinished arrows. 
These were rejected because the stubborn flak- 
iua; of the material defied the workman. The 
jasper had in it a number of cavities, and, 
albeit it was brought from a great distance, 
it proved worthless. 

It must have been noticed that already we 
have instanced three kinds of material used 
which were not procurable in our county. 



Steatite, or talc, is no nearer than Sussex 
County. In some places in New England are 
quarries from whicli the ancient red man j)ro- 
curcd his pot-stone in a most laborious way. 
The nearest basalt and jasper are in Hudson 
County. 

Returning to those oyster-shells. Many years 
ago I learned from an old man in Ocean County 
that his grandfather remembered a few Indians 
coming each summer to the shore to get clams, 
and that they dried them on slabs of bark and 
carried them away. Even yet the drying of 
oysters is practiced in China. And why should 
not the Lenni Lenape, or old Delawares, do the 
same? The question, however, in my mind was, 
How did they extract the mollusk without 
tearing it ? I recall the delight experienced at 
finding among the oyster-shells a little imple- 
ment of jasper, which answered my inquiry. 
It was about two inches long by an inch and a 
half wide. At one end it was cai-efully chipped 
to a round cutting edge. One side was a little 
concave, it representing the cleavage of the 
material ; the other side was convex and chipped. 
It might be called a spoon-shaped gouge. This 
was the Indian's oyster-knife. Afterwards 
several were found. Subjected to heat, the 
mollusk would open a little way ; it was then 
easy to open the shells wider, and with this 
gouge-like implement sever the muscle of the 
mollusk by a scooping movement. 

Before the railroad days, in the fall of the 
year, oysters we're taken in sloops up the Hud- 
son, and supplied to buyers in the towns and 
villages. These were laid, the round or dish- 
side down, on the cellar floor, where they kept 
fit for use several months. lu the long ago 
there were streams in Monmouth County navi- 
gable by canoes for miles into the interior, but 
which to-dav arc insignificant runs. I found 
in a spot formerly thus advantaged what proved 
to have been an Indian cache or winter storing- 
place for oysters. At a depth of several feet a 
pit was made out of the reach of the frost, in 
which the bivalves were stored. This pit, de- 
serted probably before the white man came, had, 
bv the action of the winds, become filled with 
humus or surface soil, which, when the spade 
entered, showed a marked contrast with the 



10 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



yellow, ferruginous saud in which it was origi- 
nally dug. This fact and the presence of the 
shells proved conclusive. Thither, with his 
cauoc, the provident aboriginal had, ere the ice 
had mantled the waters, laid up his winter sup- 
ply of oysters. 

A fiiir description of the relics of the Stone 
Age yielded by Monmouth County would 
need a volume. 1 can only in studied brevity 
classify them iiiuch in the manner in which my 
exhibit of the archeology of our county was 
done at the exposition of 1876. 

I. Women's implements. These might be 
styled domestic. They comprised specimens of 
pottery and the material of the potter, also 
cooking-stones, pestles and mortars. Stone 
rolling-pins, such as the Mexicans and the Pu- 
eblo Indians use to-day in making the thin 
cakes called tortillas. In my collection of stone 
rollers are some displaying remarkable work- 
manship. They vary in length from seven to 
twenty-four inches. Some are crude enough, 
but others are beautifully symmetrical and 
true. To understand and appreciate the labor 
and skill required, suppose the task given from 
a huge piece of compact gray stone, with only 
Hint flakes for tools, to work out a pestle or 
rolling-pin about three inches thick and two feet 
long, and to be as true as a wooden one turned 
in a lathe. Theu came the knives. The fine, 
sharp ones were long, narrow flakes usually of 
some ([uartzose material. These long, thin flakes 
would have a keen cutting edge'; they wei'e best 
represented by those of the ancient Mexicans, 
obtained from obsidian or volcanic glass. The 
oyster-knives have been described. There were 
also skin-dressers, and an ingenious luuate- 
shaped knife, not unlike that of the harness- 
maker. This knife was made from a slaty stone 
and not chipped like the quartzose knives, but 
rubbed or ground into shape ; hence these forms 
are rare. I think these lunate knives were used 
for skinning. The woman made the clothes, 
skinned and cooked the game ; she also made 
the pots, and what of tillage there might be 
she did it. Hence, here comes the stone hoe. 
A very singular object is a stone liird, having 
two small holes through which a cord could 
pass, and with it be worn by the woman on top 



and front of the head. It seemed to symbol an 
incubating bird. This brooding bird, it is said, 
was worn as a taboo by the married woman 
anticipating maternity. 

II. The men's implements. Of these the 
stone axe is prominent. Of the grooved axe, 
though, there is a typical form ; yet there arc 
varieties which we have not time to enumerate. 
Round the neck is a groove, in which a withe 
handle was fixed. The sizes are so different, 
running from a few ounces to some pounds in 
weight. There M'as the axe of war, the toma- 
hawk, as well as the axe of handicraft. The 
lighter one was for felling men, the heavier for 
felling trees. There were hand-axes or celts, 
a chisel-like tool. There were gouges, too, but 
these are rare. The stone celt was so common 
an implement that it is certain it was a tool of 
very frequent use. Although this is so, I find 
myself only able to describe its use in one par- 
ticular, — namely the building of the dug-out, 
or solid canoe. A log having been fashioned 
externally to the desired form, was then plas- 
tered over with wet clay, except the upper part; 
on this a fire M'as made, burning into the log. 
The celt was used to excavate the charred part, 
wheu the fire was again applied, and so on. 

Some of my relics are symmetrical stones 
with a groove round them. It seems idle to use 
such elaborated stones for net-sinkers, and it 
looks as if they were slung-shots. 

The arrow-heads were of great diversity of 
form and material. The latter has been men- 
tioned. Until intercourse with the whites had 
set in they were all made of stone. I found one 
of iron. It was made from a bit of a hoop, 
and was an exact isagon, or equal-sided triangle. 
Of the immense variety of arrow-points there 
seem to be but four types at most, — the lozenge 
or diamond-shaped, the leaf or almond-shaped, 
the triangle and those having shanks and often 
also barbs. The first is the simplest, and the 
last the most complex. It is thought by many 
that those with shanks and barbs were chiefly 
used in the hunt, as being secured to the shaft, 
they could be drawn out of the prey ; and even 
the barbs would by their laceration wheu with- 
di'awn provoke the increased bleeding of the 
game. Those points without shanks, it is 



ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



11 



supposed, were preferred iu war, as the victim 
in withdi-awing the shaft would leave the head 
within, hence incurruig terrible surgery to get 
the arrow out, even if possible. 

Along the streams where Indian relics are 
found we meet with stones not shaped at all, 
but just taken as they occui-red, and simply 
notched so as to hold a withe or cord. These 
were sinkers, and it is certain that nets were 
used for fishing. 

Besides their wars and hunts, and to some 
extent their handicraft, these ancients had their 
games. I am not able to describe them, except 
by borrowing from the present pastimes in some 
of the tribes, which use similar implements. I 
may speak of round stone balls, showing that 
in some of its modes, ball-playing is an Ameri- 
can game of extreme antiquity. There was 
also the game of chunke. The stone used was 
a circular disc, concave on both sides, the thumb 
being put on the one side and the fingers on the 
other when the disc was thrown by the pitcher. 
The men on each side of the course with spears, 
pursued the stone, and then hurled the spears, 
the effort being to have the weapon fall where 
the stone would stoi). 

The medicine man nmst not be forgotten. 
A long and elaborately fashioned stone tube, 
about twelve inches long, has a perforation for 
its entire length about three-fourths of an inch 
in diameter. With one end pressed on the 
place of his patient's pain and the other at his 
lijjs, the native doctor essayed to suck out the 
evil influence of that mystic thing which he re- 
garded as disease. Failing in this, he would 
blow with the tube, thus attempting to drive 
away the foul spirit who was inflicting the 
malady. 

There were ranks, too, and affairs of state and 
ceremony. Hence we have implements which 
w'ere borne as badges of distinction on occasions 
of ceremonial display. Some of these were 
gorgets suspended upon the breast. Others 
wore a sort of two-edged axe, usually very 
small and quite ornate. These were borne upon 
a stem or staff; hence such may be called a 
mace. I have this implement with notches, 
making it a tally or record of scalps taken, or of 
some such notable achievements. A very in- 



teresting one is a fragment. It unfortunately 
got broken iu the eye, and the owner has elabo- 
rated a method of rejiair by drilling a series of 
holes in each half, aud thus lacing the two parts 
together. How valuable must this iiave been 
to w^arrant such an outlay of labor that the 
heirloom should be preserved ! 

On a farm near Hornerstown I obtained some 
curious relics which digging had exposed, and 
which I interpreted as indicating the grave of a 
noted Indian. There was a human skeleton, 
and the skull was in fair condition for study. 
It was undoubtedly that of a red man. I noticed 
that the incisor teeth sat upon each other like 
molars, not lapping like shears, as the white 
man's do. Now this is an Indian trait. I have 
detected it iu jaws taken from undoubted Indian 
graves. It is also characteristic of the Eskimo. 
The latter will seize with his front teeth the 
meat on the bone, pull it up, aud while between 
his teeth cut it off with his knife. Such a mode 
of using the incisor teeth wears them off, and 
the tips or crowns become flat. Is it not curious 
that the human remains found in the Scandina- 
vian middens show this same peculiarity? 
This skeleton indicated a distinguished man. 
With him were found other bones, those of the 
black beiu", the Virginia deer and the snapping- 
turtle. Had the turtle something to do with 
his totem, or heraldry? Were the bear and 
deer game to serve the spirit while on its way 
to the better hunting-grounds? It was then, as 
now, the custom to bury with the dead some- 
thing that was highly prized when living. Here 
was found an arrow-head of pellucid quartz. 
The fineness of the material and the marvelous 
perfection of tiie workmanship made it a thing 
of exquisite beauty; in a word, a gem. Among 
the thousands of arrow-heads I have inspected 
this stood peerless and alone. It was my pride. 
As such, it had a distinguished j^lace iu my 
Philadelphia exhibit. Alas the day ! The case 
was opened, and the gem stolen, while nothing 
else was touched ! 

Du Chaillu describes the sweat-houses of the 
Laps, in which the sexes together, in a state of 
nudity, half-cooked themselves, then rushed into 
the snow. In a le.ss objectionable way the In- 
dians of our place had a similar usage. In the 



12 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



white man's knowledge one of these sweat- 
houses existed near Crosswicks Creek, at a bend 
wliere the water was deep and cold. It was a 
dug-out in the bank. In it a lire was built, and 
when the hole was heated like an oven, in went 
the Indian, and while sweating at every f)ore 
he plunged into the stream. 

In respect to his religion, it is commonly set 
down that the North American Indian is not an 
idolater, in that he is not a worshiper of im- 
ages. As represented by the stone relics in the 
East, he certainly cannot be regarded as an im- 
age-maker, except to a very limited extent. To 
light upon a bit of this sort of thing is regarded 
as a very lucky find. I can only mention two 
instances in our county, and both have suggested 
to my mind the probability of a fetich, or 
charm. One of them was plowed up on a 
farm on the left bank of the Shrewsbury. It 
was a bit of steatite, hardly so large as a silver 
half-dollar, with a human face on it cut in 
relief. As to any art in the thing, many a 
country boy can be found who could whittle in 
wood a face even mo)'e natural. But the In- 
dian had an eye for any eccentricity in form, a 
knack of catching at an accidental hint, such as 
often occurs in nature, as when a stone bears a 
fancied resemblance to something animate. Such 
a lusus naturce would seize the red man's imagi- 
nation, and would even arrest his reverence. 
With a flint flake for his chisel he would im- 
prove upon the object, and help out the resem- 
blance. I have a very remarkable specimen of 
such. It was dug up in clearing off a bit of 
wild laud for a house at a place now called 
Keansburgh, aliout four miles northeast of Key- 
port. The spot was covered with a dense natural 
growth of scrub pines, with an undergrowth of 
azaleas and whortleberries. The object is the 
size of a large cocoanut. It is a human head 
in stone, and broken off at the neck. It was a 
clay nodule, and obtained from the clay cliff 
formerly existing at the shore, about a mile and 
a half away. The stone had originally borne a 
remote resemblance to a human head, of which 
the artist has taken every advantage, and worked 
it up to a striking resemblance of an Indian 
head and face, the very racial expression being 
secured in a remarkable degree. For whatever 



purpose it was designed, I have no doubt that 
it was held as an object of much interest, — at 
first, may lie, it only incited curiosiry ; liut when 
it left the native sculptor's hands it became an 
object of serious superstition. 

In two places near Freehold I have demon- 
strated the former existence of beaver dams. 
In excavating jieat from one of these old mead- 
ows which grew upon the desertion of the 
dams, burnt sticks of great length were found. 
What was the meaning of a fire in what was a 
swamp ■? In the other meadow, near by, under 
my directions, some remains of a mastodon 
were exhumed. The head and tusks were entire. 
Speaking of the Stone Age in America, a French 
writer expresses his belief that the mastodon, 
driven into a swamp, might be surrounded liy , 
fire in order to suffocate the beast. Who shall I 
say ? Might not the aborigines, when they 
attacked this behemoth, as I verily believe they 
did, have used such means? In his paper read 
at the Montreal meeting of the American Asso- 
ciation, 1882, the writer showed by his studies 
of the mastodon remains olitained from differ- 
ent parts of the county that the roaming- 
grounds of this monster once were far out to 
sea, and of course the prehistoric red man's 
hunting-ground was equally extensive, — so 
vastly has the ocean encroached upon tlie land. 
I have arrow-heads dredged far otl' from shore, 
but as they might have fallen from a canoe, we 
have no certainty in their interpretation. East- 
ward from tlie sea-line of the county, the shore, 
or rather water-bed, slopes almost imperceptibly. 
Actual soundings show that for one hundred 
miles to sea, the water deepens at the rate of 
only three feet to the mile. Thus, at one 
hundred miles out, the water is only three hun- 
dred feet deep. Six miles farther it sinks to 
six hundred feet, thus forming a shelf, while 
twelve more miles out it plunges to the depth 
of six thousand feet. Now, this, I contend, was 
the ancient shore-line, and the .shelf, or jilateau, 
marked the seaward extent of the mastodon's 
range and the hunting-grounds of the red man's 
ancestor, that prehistoric savage and this ele- 
phantine beast being contem2)oraries. 

Paleontology. — -The allusion to the masto- 
don naturally introduces the subject of thee.xtinct 



ARCH.BOLOCxY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



13 



forms of life which are revealed by the fossils 
of tiie couuty. Both the flora and the fauna 
are represented, the latter being especially rich. 
Still, no more can be done in the .spa(v allotted 
than to mention the prominent and, perhaps, 
typical forms. As respects the Cretaceous 
Formation, New Jersey is to the geologist classic 
ground. 

The Cretaceous period, so finely repi'esented 
in Monmouth County, opened with a flora in 
man\' respects similar to that of the preceding 
Triassic. It Mas, however, soon to disappear, 
so far as this continent was concerned, for that 
order of plants faded away, to be followed by 
a nobler vegetal irgimc. From the clay cliff' 
formerly existing at Union we have extracted 
fossil plants of a lowly rank, and some that we 
thought might be cycads. Generally they were 
too imperfect to admit of satisfactory determi- 
nation. At any rate, their congeners are such as 
can now only be found in the tropics of Austra- 
lia, Polynesia and Asia. From the clays of 
CI iff wood I have often obtained cones and lig- 
nites of the Abidhicir, suggesting the Ar(mc.ari<r, 
which are now confined to the Southern hemis- 
phere. Many of the.se fossil cones were very 
pretty, not unlike catkins, being about as long 
and as thick as a flnger, and exquisitely .sculp- 
tured l)y the spiral arrangement of the scales. 
Of these fo.ssils I was able to get one with the 
leaves or needles jireserved. This received 
from Professor Newberry the name Cunning- 
hnmites Lockwoodii. In this same Cretaceous 
occur fossils which indicate a very stately arbo- 
real growth in those ancient days, — for the 
Sequoia, that giant tree, now limited to a small 
space near the Pacific, is found here. The clays 
near Clifl'wood also reveal an extraordinary leap 
in nature. Not only is the pine family, the 
gymnosperms, abundant, but there is a sudden 
and almost incredible display of the augiosperms, 
the grand deciduous trees. Here they are for 
the first time in the earth's floral garniture — 
the sycamore, tulip, poplar, sassafras, willow, 
oak, maple, beech, hickory, tig, etc., etc. In a 
word, here is begun the growth of those trees 
which arc to be a special gift to man, since here 
are the timljer trees, and here the beginning of 
those that are to lie^ pre-eminently the fruit- 



bearers. Of the immense richness of this early 
flora, so like that of our present ^Vnierican 
forests, perhaps our conception may be aided 
by this statement, — in all Europe the number of 
native trees is hardly more then forty-five, 
while, leaving out IIk- cycads and the conifers, 
so rich in the Cretaceous, the fossils collected 
indicate more than a hundred species in that 
period, and we know not how many species 
may have failed to be thus represented. 

The fauna, or animal life, of that period was 
rich in variety of species. Many of these wore 
of monstrous size, and of forms oiifn' and 
hiznnr. I think where our county now is 
was an estuary of that ancient sea. To me it is 
quite evident that here the water was land- 
locked in some way. In these marls are im 
mense deposits of shells which were accumulated 
too quietly for an open, turbulent sea. Besides, 
as we shall see. some of the reptiles, judging 
from their construction, had habits not unlike 
those of the alligator, and some of the turtles, 
too, seem to have been of this character. 

Here appeared the earliest oysters, but dif- 
ferent from that bivalve of to-day. Two oyster- 
like mollusks existed then in great numbers, 
some of them weighing nianv pounds. They 
are known technically as (rri/jiliKa and E.rorpjrn. 
An object of a conical form is found in num- 
bers, and is called by the marl-diggers a thun- 
derbolt. It is a belemnite, and is really the 
inner shell or Ixine of an extinct cuttle-fish. 
This creature, a species of devil-fish, swarmed 
in those waters and nmst have been very for- 
midable; and yet this hideous creature was 
close cousin to the nautilus and ammonite, 
whose shells were .so beautiful, and some .so 
large; for the cycloidal shell of the ammonite 
sometimes was as large as a carriage- wheel. Of 
both these beautiful shells the sjjecies was 
numerous ; but with the close of this age the 
ammonites all perished, and of the nautilus to- 
day we have barely two species in existing seas. 

But the vastest exhibition of animal force 
and form was in the reptilia. This was em- 
phatically the reign of reptiles. The species 
were indeed numerous, but our sjiace will only 
permit us to mention a few ty{)ical forms. 

The Dinosaurs, or " terrible lizards," were 



1* 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



a group of which not a single representative 
exists to day. They must have been restricted 
to the land, a.s their structure would make them 
illy fitted for any movement in the water. 
With aspects most portentous, they were the 
lords of the soil. Though so heavily weighted, 
their movements and bearing had a sort of 
stiiteliness for the rcj)tilian regime, as they did 
not crawl on shore like the alligator and the 
crocodile, but walked as does the ostricli, for 
these dinosaurs had very long hind legs and 
very short fore legs, with a very heavy 
tail. In these particulars there was some 
similitude to the kangaroo; but it was the 
merest resemblance, as there was really uotliiug 
in common to these animals. The kangaroo is 
a grazing animal, and when its pasture is ex- 
iiaustcd it must seek others, even though a 
hundred miles away. In this movement their 
forward limbs take no part ; all is done by the 
hind limbs and tail; the long legs serve for 
leaping, and the heavy tail is a balancer. The 
dinosaur walked like a huge bird; it stood very 
high on its two hind feet, using the heavy tail 
as the third limb of a tripod, and it browsed on 
the evergreen trees. This immense reptile is 
known to science as the Hadrosaurus. A very 
much larger individual, with much the same 
structure, was taken by myself from that old 
clay-bank at Union, which the sea has at last 
carried away. This terrible brute had hind 
legs thirteen feet in length, and from tlie tip of 
its great tail to its snout it must liave lieen over 
thirty feet long. Tlie {)art which we unearthed 
demonstrated the strange fact tliat this ancient 
reptile had some true alliance in structure to the 
present ostricli tribe, or closer still to tiie extinct 
moa, the colossal bird of New Zealand. Our 
relics show that the ankle-bones were wonder- 
fully bird-like, hnt so massive ; for the tibia- 
bone at its union with the tarsus is thirteen and 
three-quarters inches thick. From these curious 
facts came the name given it by Cope, Ornitho- 
tarsus immaais — the imuiense bird-ankled 
beast. 

The above-mentioned reptiles were true herb- 
ivores, a fiict beautifully shown in the singular- 
shaped teeth of the hadrosaurus. But contem- 
porary with these creatures was another species of 



land-lizai'd, with a similar structure as to long 
hind limbs and short fore ones, but with an 
arrangement of every part for the life of a car- 
nivore. We have said that the ornithotarsus was 
not less than thirty-five feet in length, that its 
hind legs were thirteen feet long, and we should 
add that M'hen browsing on the trees, and resting 
as on a tripod upon its hind limbs and tail, it 
stood not far from twenty feet in height. Now 
Lalaps, whom we are introducing, was about m 
twenty-four feet in length, and could stand about 1 
twelve feet high. But he was a slayer of his 
more quiet brethren, and his tail had uotatripodal 
function, but was really a club. He could leap 
upon the innocent herbivore, and with his great 
grapnel-like talons holding on to his prey, 
could put that tail to very efficient use. Nature 
is economical in skeleton-building. The bones 
of a mammal are more solid than those of a bird, 
for obvious reasons. So with the Itelaps, the 
leaping carnivore, and ornithotarsus, the slow- 
walking herbivore. With the latter the more 
central parts of the shafts of the long bones 
have a cancellate structure, — that is, they are 
filled with bony threads binding the walls to- 
gether. But the bones of the Irelaps were more 
bird-like, being thin and hollow for the presence 
of air, and the walls were lighter and less por- 
ous. 

There was a large group or order of lizai'ds, 
whose home was the sea, but which could upon 
occasions bask on the shore-line. These were 
the Pithoiwmorpha', the serpent-like lizards, 
though this serpent resemblance was wholly 
anatomical and limited chiefly to the head, com- 
bining bulk and length. These were the great 
swimming reptiles of that wonderful age. In 
our Monmouth estuary there were not less than 
sixteen species, but many more in the more 
southern waters of that ancient sea. The type 
of the order was ^llosasaurus, and 31. princ.eps 
was fully seventy-fire feet long. The head had 
an armature of large conical and slightly curved 
teeth, with great swollen roots, which fitted 
into the solid bone of the jaws. In the upper 
jaw was a smaller supplemental jaw, with sinal ler 
and sharper teeth. This is the strong feature of 
the serpents, and its use is in the slow swallow- 
ing of their large prey ; for when the mouth 



ARCHEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 



15 



opens to take another liitch, the prey is held 
tVoiu slipping out. But hadrosaurus had another 
most ingenious modification of the lower jaw to 
aid in the deglutition of its great swimming 
prey. Say about two-tiiirds the distance from 
the tip of the snout to the other extreme of the 
lower jaw, or not far from over the pharynx, or 
opening of the throat, on each side of the mouth, 
the jaw was jointed like the elbow of one's arm. 
Now, if one locks his two hands together, then 
extends them as far as he can in front of him, 
the two arms will then represent the lower jaw 
of tlie mosasaurus when in repose ; now push the 
elbows out, and the space between the arms is 
widened, and this represents the jaws when the 
monster is engulfing his meal. 

Another order was the Enaliosaurs, or sea- 
lizards proper. These never went on land, and 
they could brave the stormiest seas. One of 
them, named by Cope, Elasmosaurns, was some 
fifty feet in length, and had a neck containing 
over sixty vertebrte, whose combined length 
was twenty-two feet. When we consider that 
this was the slimmest and lightest built of all we 
have mentioned, with its long neck forsnappiiig 
at its finny prey, one can see how well it de- 
serves to be called the sea-serpent of those 
times. 

We are not quite sure whether this is the 
right niche in which to put the supposed Ple- 
■sioxaunis Lochroodii (Cope), named from a spe- 
cimen we discovered in the clay at C'liffwood. 
It certainly was one of these snaky lizards. 
But a true serpent was not yet created. And 
time forbids that we dwell on the flying lizards, 
and the reptilian birds with true teeth, and the 
BottosauniK, a real alligator, and the many tur- 
tles ; for we must now leave that cemetery of 
the cretaceous days. 

In Monmouth C*ounty, besides the Cretaceous 
marls, arc those known to the geologist as the 
Tertiary marls. Here is found Dinophis, the 
earliest serpent, over twenty feet in length. The 
reptiles are now so diminished in number and 
reduced in size as no longer to domineer the 
depths ; for the sharks, which were at best but 
secondary in the Cretaceous seas, are now the 
dominant race. Specimens in my possession 
demonstrate the fact that some of these immense 



fishes could not only swallow a Jonah upon 
occasion without hijuring the specimen in the 
act of deglutition, but could, if needed, stow 
away, sardine-like, a I'ound score of Jonah's 
brethren. 

And there were sword-fishes, too — some not 
greatly unlike those in modern seas; but others, 
altogether unlike these, had a bowsprit exten- 
sion of the upper jaw. It was a conical ram 
of solid, pointed bone, something like a marline- 
spike. These I have ol)tained from the pits at 
Farmingdale. One other of these sword-fishes 
must be mentioned, the Gudorhyncus ornatus. 
This is certainly a "fancy" name; for, literally 
rendered, it means the ornate, beautiful snout. 
The ram in this instance is quite an elegant 
weapon, and in form almost identical with the 
"steel" on which the butc])er sharjicns his knife. 
So far as I can learn, they never exceeded 
eighteen inches in length, lieing at the base less 
than one inch in diameter, and terminating in 
a sharp point. This cylindrical weapon, like 
the " steel " mentioned, had fine parallel strife 
througliout its entire length. A more murder- 
ous instrument for impaling fishes could not l)e 
devised. A curious fact, too, is this, that it is 
harder than the butcher's steel. Desiring to 
share a fragment of one of these swords with a 
friend, it was entrusted to a jeweler to cut in 
two. The specimen was but half an inch thick, 
and yet the operation destroyed two saws. 

But our sense of limitation becomes oppress- 
ive. We feel like a tourist on a fast horse— so 
little can be accomplished, though the opportu- 
tuuity is so rich and grand. Passing to the 
Quaternary Age, a few words, and we have 
done. 

In the so-called Drift, one phase of the gla- 
cial period, we have collected in Monmouth 
County relics of the reindeer, walrus, and even 
a species of dugong. There was also in this 
period a great beaver, now extinct. The beaver 
of the present, which also is extinct in these 
jiarts, was a later creation. It is interesting to 
note that as to-day there are two species of ele- 
phant, the one in Africa and the one in India, 
so in these remote times of which we write 
there were two ele])liants, whose remains are 
with us : the elephas, or mammoth, and the 



16 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSFA'. 



niastodou. Witli the period of (he drift, when 
the climate liecaine cold, the great fo.ssil-heaver 
and the niaiiiinoth jierished. The nia.stodoii 
survived, until it found itself confronted with 
the autochthonic man, the insurmountable en- 
emy, to whom it succumbed. Of this, the last 
of the great ])aleontologic beasts, it would be 
easy to write a volume. But here the pen 
drops its cunning ; for of its slayer, the Ameri- 
ciin prehistoric man, that child of mystery, of 
the when and the whence of whose coming we 
know less than we do of the brutes which 
perish. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PKOPRIETARY 
RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 

The first European occupants antl i-ulers of 
the valley of the Hudson River, and of all the 
territory extending thence to the Delaware and 
to the ocean, were the Dutch, under whose 
auspices, in the year 1609, the famed navigator, 
Henry Hudson, discovered and explored the 
great river that has since borne his name, aud 
on which discovery and exploration the Dutch 
based their claim to the country to which they 
gave the name New Netherlands, — embracing 
not only the present State of Hew Jersey, but 
a vast area of country to the north, east and 
south of it, now in the States of New York, 
Pennsylvania and Delaware. 

The actual occupation of the country by the 
Dutch began in 1610,' when they sent over a 

1 " When, therefore, Hudson had returned, towards the 
end of autumn, to Amsterdam in his bark, and made 
known what he had discovered repecting the river (which 
he called Manhattes, from the name of the people who 
dwelt at its mouth), immediately, in lUlO, some Amster- 
dam merchants [the Dutch East India Company] sent 
thither a vessel loaded with a variety of goods, and hav- 
ing obtained from the .Stales-fienei-al exclusive authority 
to visit the river and neighboring regions for purposes of 
trade, they carried on a commerce with the natives for 
several succeeding years ; for which purpose our people 
remained there during winter, and finally, in 1C15, built a 
fort under the auspices of the States-General, and garri- 
soned it with soldiers. . . . Such was the commence- 
ment of what resulted in the application of the name. New 



vessel with a cargo proper for the opening of a 
fur trade with the natives. This they accom- 
plished, carrying on their trade at first directly 
from the vessel; l)ut in two or three years they 
had established trading posts (unfortified until 
1715) at the sites of the present cities of New 
York and Albany, aud at another point between 
these on the Hudson. It is often mentioned in 
history that these posts were established in KSl-l ; 
but the fact that the post at Manhattan (New 
York) was in existence as early as 1613, and was 
in that year reduced by an English expedition 
from the James River, Virginia, will be shown 
in a followino; account of that occurrence. 

The occupatiou of Manhattan by the Dutch 
is narrated in Heylin's Cosmography (published 
in 1652), which, after mentioning the fact that 
they had become established there, proceeds : 
" But they were hardl}' \varni in their new 
habitations when Sir Samuel Argall, Governor 
of Virginia, specially so called (having dispos- 
sessed the French of that part of Canada now 
called Nova Scotia, August, 1613), disputed the 
possession with them, alleging that Hudson, 
under whose sale they claimed that country, 
being an Englishman, could not alienate or dis- 
member it (l)eing but a part or province of 
Virginia), from the crowu thereof. Hereupon 
the Dutch Governor" submits himself and his 
plantation to His Majesty of England and the 
Governor of Virginia for and under him. But 
a new Governor being sent from Amsterdtiin in 
the year next following, not only failed in pay- 
ing the conditioned tributes, but began to fortify 
himself aud entitle those of Amsterdam to a 
just propriety." 

The statement made in the foregoing account, 
that Argiill was then Governor of Virginia, is 
incorrect, the Governor at that time being Sir 
Thomas Gates, under whom Caj>t. Sir Sanuiel 
Argall was commander of several vessels be- 
lontiinij; to the Virginia ( "ompany. In the sum- 
mer of the year 1613 he (Argallj sailetl from the 

Netherlands, to that part of the northern continent." — 
Ue Lael.'.i "New ]Vor!d," piiljlished in 1633. 

^The " Dutch Governor" here referred to was Hendrick 
Christiaensen, or Corstainsen, a superintendent of the Dutch 
West India Company's little trading settlement, then re- 
cently established on Manhattan Island. 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPKIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



17 



Capes of Virginia on a fishing expeclitiou ' to 
tlie vicinity of the island of Mount Desert, off 
file coast of Maine, for the piu'ijose of securing a 
.su]i])ly of cod for the use of the English colo- 
nists on the James River. He and his party 
were driven asliore liy a storm near the mouth 
(if tlie Penohscot River, wliere they were told 
1)V Indians that a French ship was at j\Iount Des- 
ert, " whereupon Argall, being in want of pro- 
visions, and ills men in a shattered, half-naked con- 
dition, resolved, after ascertaining the strength 
of the intruders [as they considered the French to 
he], to attack them." They did so, successfully, 
taking and ])lundering the ship, killing a 
French Jesuit jiriest (Gilliert du Thet), wound- 
ing several others, and making prisoners oi' all 
the survivors, exce])t five of the French i>arty, 
who, as it appeared, had come out from France 
with the intention of establishing, under the au- 
spices of the Jesuits, a colony within the limits 
of Acadia — afterwards known as Nova Scotia. 
"The liberal supjilies which they had brought 
from France," says the French writer Lescar- 
liot, "for the intended colony, the offerings of 
pious zeal, were plundered and carried away to 

' '* It appeal's from a lettei- adilressed by him [Avgall] to 
a friend in England, dated June, IG!3. that he had arrived 
in the prceeding year ; and in the spring of that year 
[1613] he was employed in exploring the eastern side of 
Chesapeake Bay in a shallop. During this time his ship 
was left to be got ready for a fishing voyage ; and on his 
return. May 12, 1G13, he completed his preparations, and 
at the date of his letter w.)s about sailing on his intended 
voyage. He says : ' Thus having put my ship in hand, to 
be fitted for an intended fishing voyage, I left that business 
to be followed by my master with a ginge [gang] of men, 
ami my lieutenant fortified on shore with another ginge to 
fell timber and cleave planks, to build a fishing boat ; my 
ensign with another ginge was employed in the frigate for 
getting of fish at Cape Charles, and transporting it to 
Henry's town for the relief of such men as were there ; and 
myself, with a fourth ginge, departed out of the river iu my 
shallop the first of May for to discover the east side of our 
Bay, whicli 1 found to have many small rivers in it, and 
very good harbours for boats and barges, but not for ships 
of any great burthen. . . . So having discovered iilong the 
shore some forty leagues northward, I returned again to 
my ship the 12th of May, and hastened forward my busi- 
ness left in hand at my departure, and fitted up my ship', 
and built my fishing-boat, and made ready to take the first 
opportunity of the wind for my fishing voyage, of which 1 
beseech God of his mercy to bless us.' " — N. Y. Historical 
Collections, New Series, vol. i. p. 338. 
2 



minister to the wants of the English heretics in 
Virginia." Argall also took with him to Vir- 
ginia three Jesuit priests, " le Capitaiue de Ma- 
rine, Charles Fleuri d' Abbeville, antl fourteen 
other ])risoners. 

The luiexpected success of this voyage of Argall 
in the acquisition of |)lnnder stimulated the 
Viri:;ini;i tiiithorities to i'lirther attemi)t,s against 
the French colonists in the northeast, "and an 
armed expedition, consisting of three vessels, 
commanded by Argall, sailed forthwith for Acsa- 
dia. Touching at the scene of their late outrage 
on the island of Mount Desert, tht-y set up there 
a cross bearing the name of the King of Great 
l>rittiin instead of the one erected by the Jesuits, 
and then sailed to St. Croix, where they de- 
stroyed all the remains of a former settlement. 
Crossing the Bay of Fiindy, they next lantled 
at Port Royal (now Annapolis, Nova Scotia), 
and finding the town deserted, the Governor be- 
ing absent and the [leople at work several miles 
frt)m the fort, they met with no resistance in 
pillaging and strij)ping the place of whatever it 
contained, loading their ships with the spoil 
and destroying what they could not carry away. 
The settlement had existed eight or nine years 
and had cost its founders more than one hun- 
dred thousand crowns in money, besides the la- 
bor and anxiety that necessarily attended their 
efforts to ])lant eivilization njion a desolate 
coa,st."- 

It was a&serted by the French authorities that 
Pere Biart, one of the Jesuit priests whom Ar- 
gall took with him to Virginia, on the returu 
from jNIount Desert, acted a.s pilot or guide to 
the Englishman on the expedition against the 
Acadian towns. Argall arrived at Port Royal 
on the 1st of November, 1613, and after destroy- 
ing the place, and having gathered his plunder 
on board the shijis, set sail on the return on the 
9th of the same month. A violent storm arose 
soon afterwards and dispersed the vassels. One 
of them (a liarqne) was never agtiin heard from ; 
the ship having the Jesuit priests and a good 
share of the plunder was driven to the Azores 
Islands, and thence made her w;iy safely to 
England, while the one commanded by Argall 



■^ N. Y. Hist. Cidlections. 



18 



HISTORY OF xMONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



in person, being carried far away from her true 
course by stress of weather, entered the bay 
witiiin the siielter of Sandy Hook, and passed 
u[) to Manhattan Island, where (doubtless unex- 
pectedly) the commander found the trading post 
of the Dutch, and at once reduced them to tem- 
jiorary submission to the English authority, as 
before narrated. 

Argall's expedition against the Acadian 
French colonists, and his reduction of the Dutch 
trading settlement on Manhattan Island, are 
mentioned by Plautagcnet' as follows : " Then 
A'irginia being planted, settled, and all that part 
now called Maryland, New Albion and New 
Scotland [Nova Scotia] being part of Virginia, 
Sir Thomas Dale and Sir Samuel Argall, Caji- 
tains and Counsellors of Virginia, hearing of 
divers aliens and intruders, and traders without 
license, with a vessel and forty soldiers, landed 
at a place called IMount Desert, in Nova Scotia, 
near St. John's River, or Tweed, possessed by 
the French ; there killed some French, took away 
their guns and dismantled the fort, and in their 
return ^ landed at Manhatas Isle, in Hudson's 
River, where they found four houses built, and 
a pretended Dutch Governor under the West 
India Company, of Amsterdam, share or part, 
who kept trading boats and truckiug with the 
Indians ; but the said knights told him their 
commission was to expel him and all alien in- 
truders on his Majesty's dominion and territo- 
ries ; this being part of Virginia, and this river 
an English discoveiy of Hudson, an English- 
man. The Dutchman contented them for their 
charge and voyage, and by his letter sent to 
Virginia and recorded, submitted himself, com- 
l)any and ])lantation to his ]\Iajesty and to the 
Ciovernor and government of Virginia ; but the 
next pretended Dutch Governor, in maps of 
])rinted ciirds, calling this, part New Nether- 
lands, failing in paying of customs at his return 
to Plymouth, in England, was there, with his 



' Beaucbamp Plantaganet, Esq., in his " Description of 
the Province of New Albion," published in London in 
1048. 

= Here Planlaganet makes the mistake of supposing that 
Argall came to Manhattan Island on the return from his 
first voyage in 161.3, instead of his second, made in the fall 
of the year. 



beaver, goods and person, attached to his dam- 
age of j£1500. Whereupon, at the suit of the 
Governor and Council of Virginia, his now ]Maj- 
esty [Charles I.], by his embassador in Holland, 
complaining of the said aliens' intrusion on such 
his territories and domains, the said lords, the 
States of Holland by their publick instrument de- 
clared that they did not avow, nor would pro- 
tect them, being a private party of the Amster- 
dam West India Company, but left them to his 
Majesty's will and mercy ; whereupon three sev- 
eral orders from the Council table and commis- 
sions have been granted for the expelling and 
removing them from thence, of which they, tak- 
ing notice, and knowing their weakness and 
want of victuals, have offered to sell the same 
for £2500. And lastly, taking advantage of 
our present war and distraction now ask £5000, 
and have lately oiiered many affronts and dam- 
ages to his Majesty's subjects in New England ; 
and in general endanger all his Majesty's adjoin- 
ing countries most wickedly, feloniously and 
traitorously, and contrary to the marine and ad- 
miral laws of all Chri-stians, sell by wholesale, 
guns, powder, shot and ammunition to the In- 
dians, instructing them in the use of our fights 
and arms : inasmuch as 2000 Indians by them 
armed, Mohocks, Raritous and some of Long 
Isle, with their own guns, so sold them, fell 
into war with the Dutch, destroyed all their 
scattering farms and boors, forcing them all to 
retire to their upper fort, forty leagues up that 
river [at Albany] and to Manhatas ; for all or 
most retreating to Manhatas, it is now a ])retty 
town of trade, having more English than 
Dutch." 

The foregoing account, however, is errone- 
ous in its statement that the claim of the crown 
of England to New York and New Jersey was 
based on " an English discovery by Hudson, 
an Englishman." It was based chiefly on the 
discovery of the entire eastern coast, from New- 
foundland southward to Virginia, by John 
Cabot, in command of an English fleet, in the 
year 1497, during the reign of King Henry 
the Seventh, and under his commission and 
orders, the object of his exploration being, 
like that of nearly all the other discoverers 
of that period, to find a western passage to the 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



19 



famed laud of Cathay. Accom]ianied by his 
son, Seliastiaii, he first came with his ships to 
tiie southern coast of Lalirador, and sailed 
tlieiK-e to Xewfouudland, which he reached iu 
June of the year mentioned " and took posses- 
sion of tliat Ishiud and of all the coast of the 
northeast part of Ameri«i ;ls far as Cape Flor- 
iila, which he also, l>y landing iu several parts 
of it, claimed in the name of his master, the 
King of England." ' He made no landing, 
however, between Nova Scotia and about lati- 
tude 38° north ; and, finally, fearing that his 
ships would run short of provisions (and prob- 
ably despairing of finding the desired pas- 
sage), he returned to England,' taking with 
iiini several of the natives of Newfoundland, 
whose apjiearauce excited great curiosity in 
London. 

This ancient claim of the English crown to 
the ownership and sovereignty of North 
America, based ou the discoveries in 1497, re- 
mained dormant, at least with regard to any vig- 
orous attempt at enforcement within the territor}' 
now embraced in the States of New York and 



' Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 

- Sebivstian Cabot made a map of the coasts discovered on 
this Toyage ; upon which map was given an account of the 
expedition, a part of which, referring to the discovery of 
Newfcjuudhind, was as follows : " In the year of our Lord 
1497, John Cabot, a Venitian, and his son, Sebastian (with 
an English tleet), set out from Bristol .and discovered that 
land which no man had before attempted. This discovery 
w.as made on the 24th of June, about tive o'clock in the 
morning. This land he called Prima Vista (or the first 
seen), because it was that part of which they had the first 
sight from the sea. It is now called Bonuvista. The 
Island which lies out before the land he called the Island 
of St. John, because it was discovered on the festiv.al of St. 
John the Baptist." 

I'lantagenet, in his " Description of New Albion." gives 
the following in reference to Cabot's discovery of the 
American coast, viz. : " Then the most powerful and richest 
King of Europe, King Henry the Seventh of England, sent 
out an Englishman, born at Bristol, called Cabot, granted 
under his greate seale to him all places and countrys to be 
discovered and possesst ; wlio, then beginning at Cape 
Florida, discovered, entered on, took possession of, set up 
crosses and )ii'ocured atturument and acknowledgement of 
the Indian Kings to his then Majesty, as head, lord and 
emperor of the south west of America, all along that coast, 
both in Florida, from 20 degrees to 35, where old Virginia, 
in 3.5 and -30 minutes, 65 years since was seated by the 
five several colonies about Croatan Cape. Haloraske and 
Kaw ley's Isle, by Sir Walter Rawley. ' 



New Jersey, for more than a century and a 
half from the time of Cabot's voyages, this 
inaction being caused by the wars in which 
England was involved in Europe, ;ind ])articu- 
larly iu the first half of the .seventeenth cen- 
tury l)y the home troubles W'hich residted in 
the Cromwellian Revolution, and the loss of 
throne and life by King Charles. Meanwhile, 
the Dutch had established their settlements 
on the Hudson and Delaware, built forts 
and held almost undisputed possessiou of the 
country, which they named New Netherlands 
(in which all of the present State of New Jer- 
sey was included), with its capital at Fort Am- 
sterdam or New Amsterdam, where New York 
City now stands.- After Capt. Samuel Argall's 
reduction of that place, iu 1613, the Dutch 
remained there in possession, without further 
molestation from the Virginia government or 
from the English, for more than sixty years, 
during which time they also retained control of 
all the territory of New Jersey, except that a 
small portion of it on the Delaware was lield 
for a short time by the Swedes ; and also 
excepting an abortive attempt made by some 
Euslish adventurers to settle and establish what 
they called the " Province of New Albion." 

The grant of New Albion was made to Sir 
Edmund Ployden, Knight, and certain as- 
sociates, on the 21st of June, 1634, by the 
King of England, in the expectation that the 
grantees would plant .settlements within the 
territory and thus enforce the English right 
which had so long been dormant. The boun- 
daries and extent of the grant were very vaguely 
described, but it included all of the pre.sent 
State of New Jersey, all of Long Island, with 
a part of New York lying west of the Hudson 
River, and parts of the States of Pennsylvania, 
Delaware and ^laryland. In the " Description 
of New Albion," before referred to, published 
in 1648, by Beauchamp Plantagenet, who was 
one of the associates of Ployden, it is mentioned 
as follows: "The bounds is a thousand miles 
compass of this most temperate and rich prov- 
ince, for our south bound is ]\Iaryland north 
bounds, and begiuneth at Aquats or the .south- 
ernmost or first cajie of Delaware Bay [Cape 
Heulopen], in thirty-eight and forty minutes, 



20 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and so runneth by, or through, or including 
Kent Isle tiirough Chisapeask Bay to Piscata- 
wav ; including the falls of Patowmecke River 
to the heatl or uorthcrumo.st branch of that 
river, being three hundred miles due west, and 
thence northward to the head of Hudson's 
River fifty leagues, and so down Hudson's 
River to the ocean, sixty leagues, and thence to 
the ocean isles across Delaware Bay to the 
South Cajie, fifty leagues ; in all seven hun- 
dred and eighty miles. Then all Hudson's 
River, isles, Long Isle or Pamunke, and all 
isles within ten leagues of said province being; 
and note. Long Isle alone is twenty broad and 
one hundred and eighty miles long, so that 
alone is four hundred miles compasse." 

The full title of the pamphlet from which the 
foregoing is exti'acted is " A Description of the 
Province of New Albion and a Direction for 
Adventurers with small stock to get two for 
one and good land freely ; and for Gentlemen 
and all Servants, Labourers and Artificers to 
live plentifully, and a former Description, re- 
[irinted, of the healthiest, j)leasautest and richest 
Plantation of New Albion, in North Virginia, 
|)roved by thirteen Witnesses ; together with a 
ijetter from Master Robert Evelin, that lived 
there many years, showing the Particularities 
and Excellency thereof; with a brief of the 
charge of Victualling and Necessaries to trans- 
port and buy stock for each Planter and La- 
bourer there to get his Master fifty ]wunds per 
annum or more, in twelve Trades, and at ten 
pounds Charges only a man." And the work 
was addressed or dedicated by its author, Plan- 
tagenct, " To the Right Honorable and miglity 
Lord Edmund by Divine Providence Lord 
Proprietor, Earl Palatine, Governor and Cap- 
tain-General of the Province of New Albion ; 
and to the Right Honorable, the Lord Vis- 
count Monson, of Castleinain ; the Lord Sher- 
ard. Baron of Leitrim, and to all other, the 
Viscounts, Barons, Baronets, Knights and 
Gentlemen, merchants, adventurers and ])lant- 
ci"s of the hopeful Company of New Albion ; 
in all forty-four undertakers and subscribers, 
hound by Indenture to bring and settle three 
thousand able, trained men in our several Plan- 
tations to the said Province." 



The seductive title and high-sounding ad- 
dress of Plantagenet's work explains in a great 
degree the ]ilan and character of the New Al- 
bion j>rojcct. The chief. Sir Edmund Ployden, 
was called the Lord Palatine, a title and dig- 
nity which \vas to be hereditary, and in whicli 
was vested the power of government and the 
creation of barons, baronets and other orders of 
nobilitv, to whom were to be granted the man- 
ors into which the whole territory of New Al- 
bion was to be laid out. The Palatine gave a 
barony to Beauchamp Plantagenet and several 
(fthers whom he created nobles, and also ti) 
each member of his own family ; and to his eld- 
est sou, heir apparent and Governor, Francis, 
Lord Ployden, Baron of Mount Royal, a very 
large manor on the Elk River ; to Thomas, 
Lord Ployden, High Admiral and Baron of 
Rovmount, the manor of Roymount, including 
the site of tlie town of Lewes, Del.; and to the 
Lady Winifred Ployden, Baroness of Uvedale, 
a manor of that name, which was given " from 
its abundance of grapes ; jirodncing the Tou- 
louse, Muscat and others." The residence of 
the Earl Palatine was the great manor of 
" Watcessit," near Salem, N. J. Plantagenet 
was made Baron of Belvill, with tlic grant of a 
manor of that name, containing ten thousand 
acres of land. An order of knighthood was 
also instituted, to be composed (if jiersons of con- 
dition who would emigrate to tiie ])rovince and 
there assist in efforts to convert the native sav- 
ages to the Christian religion, and the members 
of this order were to be styled " The All)ion 
Knights of the Conversion of the Twenty-three 
Kings," — this l)eing, as was supposed, the 
minilier of Indian " Kings " who lived and 
ruled within the province. 

The royal patent of this territory to Sir Ed- 
nuind Ployden provided that, " in order that 
the said region may outshine all other regions 
of the earth, and be adorned -with more ample 
titles, the said region shall l)e incorporated into 
a Province to be nominatetl and called New 
Albion or the Province of New Albion ; 
to be and remain a free County Palatine, 
in no wise subject to any other," and it con- 
ferred on tlie Lord Palatine and his associ- 
ates, and their heii-s and assigns, the full and ab- 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NKW JERSEY. 



21 



solute right to and ownership of all the lauds 
emhraeeil within the grant, and also the power 
of government over it ; tlic Palatine and his 
heirs and successors Itoing invested with author- 
ity to make and enforce " fit and wholesome 
ordinations as well for keeping the peace as for 
the ijcttcr guvcnuncnt of the peoi)le ; provided, 
however, that such (inlinations should be con- 
sonant to reason, and not repugnant to the laws, 
statutes and rigjits of the kingdom of England 
and Ireland, and so that they do not extend to 
the right or interest of any person or persons, 
of, or in free tenements, or the taking, distrain- 
insr, bindincr or chan":in!i anv of their goods or 
chattels." Such laws and ordinances were to 
he made " witli the counsel, approbation and 
as.sents of the free tenants of the Province or 
the major part of them," who shotdd be called 
together for tiiat purpose ; l)ut it was also ])ro- 
vided that in ca.se these could n(3t be assemblc^l 
\vithout a delay that might be detrimental to 
the interests of the province, the Earl Pala- 
tine should exercise the law-making power 
alone, — thus, in etfect, making his power abso- 
lute with regard to the local atfairs of the 
province. 

But Ployden's magnificent enterprise resulted 
in failure. Me, with Phuitagenet and about a 
dozen others, came to New Albion before 1640, 
and after (or during) an ex|>lorati(>n of the whole 
of New Jersey Ijy Ployden and the " Baron of 
Belvill," a place was selected within the " Manor 
of Watcessit," on the Delaware River, at or 
near the mouth of Saicin Creek, where a small 
settlement w:is formed and a block-house built, 
which they called Fort Erewomec. This was 
the only settlement ever made or attempted to 
be made by the Lord Palatine and Knights of 
New Albion, and even iutliis they were largely 
assistetl by a colonv of Connecticut men, under 
the leadership of Capt. Nathaniel Turner, who, 
in the year 1640, amic from New Haven to the 
Delaware, expecting to find the lands there 
unoccupied, except by Indians, and intending 
to be under no government ' but that of the 



Connecticut colony. But finding that Ployden 
was there and in possession under a royal 
grant, they swore allegiance to him and made 
their settlement under his authority as Palatine 
and Governor of New Albion. But after a 
time the Dutch Governor, Keift, at New Am- 
sterdam, received information of their having 
located on the Delaware, within the bounds of 
New Netherlands, and thereupon, in the year 
1642, he scut two vessels to the Delaware, with 
a military force, under orders to di.spcr.se and 
expel them from the country. In this enter- 
prise the Dutch were assisted by the Swedes on 
the Delaware, who, like the Hollanders, were 
jealous and fearful of English eucroachments 
in the valley of that river. The united forces 
made a descent upon the settlement on Varck- 
en's Kill, burucxl the houses, seized the goods 
of the settlers, took some of the people prisoners 
and forced the rest to leave the country. Ac- 
counts do not clearly state \vhat became of 
Ployden's party of Icnights, adventurers, etc., 
in this affair, but there is no doubt that they 
(there were not more than fifteen of them at 
most) were disper.sed like the others. Nothing 
is found to show that they ever attemj)ted to 
make any other .settlement north of the Dehi- 
ware. It has been stated that Ployden went to 
Maryland and Virginia, where doubtless he was 



' " The company, consisting of near fifty [?] families, 
sailed in a vessel belonging to one Lamberton, a niercUaut 
of New Haven, and Robert Cogswell was commander. 
Tliey touelied at Fort Amsterdam on their voyage, and the 



authorities at that jilace became thus apjiriseJ of the nature 
of the object they had in view. Governor Keift was too much 
alive to the movements of the English to allow him to look 
with iuditl'erence upon the present attempt, and he at once 
protested against it [unless they would consent to settle 
there ' under the Lords, the States and the noble West 
India Company, and swear allegiance and become subject 
to them, as the other inhabitants of New Netherlands liave 
done']. The English commander replied that il icus not 
(heir intention to settle under any government if any other 
place could be found, but that should they settle within the 
limits of the States-General, they would become subject to 
the government. The company then proceeded. They 
finally reached a place which they selected for a settle- 
ment, not far from the Delaware, on a small stream called 
Varcken's Kill [Salem Creek]. Whether these settlers 
were at all aware of the rights and claims of the Eai-1 
I'alatinc, of Albion, at the time they entered the province is 
unknown. But finding him in the country as the holder 
of a grant from the English crown, they were ready to 
submit to his rule ; and hence, upon being visited by per- 
sons conindssioncd by the Earl, they swore fealty to him as 
the Palatine of Albion." — Mul/ord's •' Hialory ••/ .A\w 
Jersey, 1S<48. 



22 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



acconipauied by some or all of his few followers 
who were dispei'sed l)y the Dutch aud Swedes 
in 1642. Both he and Plautagenet were, how- 
ever, several years later, engaged in explorations 
in what is now Xew Jersey. In 1648 they re- 
turned to England ibr the purpose of reviving 
the enterprise,' aud making preparations to 
send forward auotlier detachment of the " three 
thousand able, trained men " to people aud 
plant their American domain ; but, either ou 
account of the political troubles which then agi- 
tated England, or from other causes, they were 
entirely unsuccessful. Neither of them ever 
returned to America, aud the magnificent enter- 
|)rise of the Palatinate of New Albion was defi- 
nitely abandoned. 

The Dutch occupation and government of 
New Netherlands remained undisturbed (except 
by the comparatively unimportant events above 
naiTated) for more than half a century after the 
visit of Argall, at New Amsterdam, in 1613. 
The dii-ector, superintendent, or Governor who 
was in command at that time was Hendrick 
t'orstiaeusen, whose successor wa-s Peter Min- 
uit, who came to New Netherlands as Governor, 
with full po^yers from the States-General, in 
1624, and wiis succeeded in that office liy Wouter 
Van Twiller, in 1633. He, in turn, was suc- 
ceeded by, in 1638, William Keift, who, as has 
already been mentioned, made war ujwn and 
dispersed the English who had seated them- 
selves in the valley of the Delaware Kiver in 
1642. Four years later (1646) the redoubtable 
old Dutch warrior, Peter Stuyvesant, came to 
the Governorship of New Netherlands and held 
it for eighteen years, and until dispossessed l)y 
the power of England. 

King Charles the Second, being firmly 
seated on the throne of England after the sub- 
sidence of the storms of the CommouM'ealth 
and Protectorate, and being resolved to enforce 
the long dormant claims of the English crown 
to the sovereignty of all the North American 
continent, made a royal grant and .jxitent 
(dated March 12, 1663-64) to his " <learest bro- 



1 It was at this time that Plantagenet's " Bescviption of 
New Albion," etc., was published, for the purpose of re- 
awakening the enthusiasm of the original associates aud 
bringing in others. 



ther James, Duke of York and Albany," and | 
his heirs and assigns, etc., of " All that Part of ;• 
the main Land of New Enaland, betrinniuir at ' 
a certain Place called or known by the Name ,| 
of St. Groix, next adjoining to New Scotland in 
America ; aud from thence extending along the 
Sea Coast unto a certain Place called Petua- l! 
quine, or Peniaquid, and so up the river there- '; 
of to the farthest head of the same as it tendeth |, 
Northwai-d ; and extending from thence to the '; 
River of Kenebeque, aud so upwards by the ;■ 
shortest course to the River of Canada North- ;■' 
ward. ^Vnd also, all that Island or Islands, ' 
commonly called by the several Name or Names 
of INIatowacks or Long Island, .-icituate, lying 
and being towards the West of C'ape Codd aud 
the Narrow Higansetts, abutting upon the 
Main Land between the two Rivers there, called 
or known by the several Names of Conecticut 
or Hudson's River, together also with the said 
River called Hudson's River, and all tJie Lands 
from the West side of Conecticut to the East 
side of Delaware Bay. And also, all those 
several Islands called or known by the Names 
of Martin's Vineyard and Nantukes, or other- 
wise Nantuckett." 

The consideration to be paid by the Duke of 
York or his assigns was, "yearly aud every 
year. Forty Beaver Skins when they shall be 
demanded, or within Xinety Days thereafter." 
Aud the grant to the didvC emliraced not only 
the right of property, but "full and absolute 
Power and authority to correct, punish, pardon, 
govern and rule all such the sulijects of us, our 
Heirs and Successors, as shall from time to time 
adventure themselves into any the Parts and 
Places aforesaid, or that shall or do at any time 
hereafter inhabit within the same according to 
such Laws, Orders, Ordinances, Directions and 
Instruments as by our said dearest Brother or 
his Assigns be established." 

This grant, as will readily be .seen, included 
all of the present State of New Jersey, the 
greater part of Maine, the sea islands of Massa- 
chusetts, a part of Connecticut aud all of Long 
Island and Staten Island, together with a part 
or all of the remainder of the State of New 
York. And, in order to put the .said 
grantee, the Duke of York (aud through 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



23 



him the crown of Euglaud), in possession 
of the territory included Lu the patent, — 
covering, as it did, nearly the whole of the 
Dutch Xew Xetheriands, — the King sent out 
four ships, under command of Sir Robert Carre, 
carrying also an adequate military force, and 
Colonel Richard Nicolls, whom the grantee, the 
Duke of York, had designated and commissioned 
as his Governor, the object of the expedition being 
to wrest from the Dutch the territory included 
in the royal jiatent. The fleet arrived at Xew 
Amsterdam in August,' 1G64, and demanded 
the surrender of that place and of all New 
Netherlands, which demand was, after a few 
days' parley, acceded to by Governor Stuyve- 
sant, and the surrender was made on the 27th 
(O. S.) of that month. Thus the Dutch power 
over Xew Netherlands passed away, to be re- 
vived nine years later, and then, after a few 
months' continuance, to be extinguished forever. 

^Vhile the fleet under Sir Robert Carre was 
yet at sea, between England and Xew Amster- 
dam, another change of proprietorship of the 
country between the Hudson and Delaware 
Rivers was made by the granting of that terri- 
ti:)ry by the Duke of York (June 24, 16G-4) to 
" John, Lord Berkeley, Baron of Stratton, and 
one of His jNIajesty's most Honourable Pri%-y 
Council, and Sir George Carteret, of Saltrum, 
in the County of Devon, Knight, and one of 
his Majestj''s most lionourable Privy Council," " 
the territory conveyed being described as follows : 

' Governor Stiiyvesant had been ajiprised several weeks 
before, by Thomas Willit, of the coming of the fleet and its 
object, though war had not then been declared between 
England and Holland. 

' Berkeley had commanded the English forces against 
the Scotch in 16'28. He was one of the King's favorites 
and was^ppointed a member of the Privy Council, but was 
forced to resign the office because of the discovery of some 
of his grossly corrupt transactions. Then the Duke of 
York took him in patronage, but he was again detected and 
disgraced. 

Sir George Carteret had been a distinguished naval officer 
and Governor of the Isle of Jersey, in the Englisli Channel, 
to which King Charles fled to escape cnpture by the troops 
of the Commonwealth. Carteret defended the place .and the 
King with the most determined valor and energy against 
. the Parliamentary forces, which service was never forgotten 
by the King, who ever after held Carteret as one of his 
especial favorites. He was created a baronet in 1645, and 



"All that Tract of Land adjacent to New England, 
and lying and being to the Westward of Long' Island and 
Manhitas Island, and bounded on the East, part by the 
main Sea, and part by Hudson's River, and bath upon 
the West, Delaware Bay or River, and extending 
Southward to the main Ocean as far as Cape May, at 
the Mouth of Delaware Bay; and to the Northward 
as far a.s the Northernmost Branch of the said Bay or 
River of Delaware, which is in forty-one Degrees and 
forty IMinutes of Latitude, and crossethover thence in 
a strait Line to Hudson's River in forty-one Degrees 
of Latitude ; which said Tract of Land is hereafter 
to be called by the Name or Names of New Ca'sarea 
or New Jersey . . . to the only use and behoof of the 
said John Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, 
their Heirs and Assigns, forever ; yielding and render- 
ing therefore unto the said James, Duke of York, his 
Heirs and Assigns, for the said Tract of Land and 
Premises, yearly and every year, the sum of Twenty 
Nobles of lawful Money of England, if the same shall 
be lawfully Demanded, at or in the Inner Temple 
Hall, London, at the Feast of St. Michael the Arch- 
angel, yearly." — Learning and Spicer, pp. 8-11. 

By this grant to Berkeley and Carteret of 
the territory that now forms the State of Xew 
Jersey, the Duke of York also conveyed to 
them the right of government over the same 
territory, — a right and power which had been 
given him by the King's letters jiatent, to 
which especial reference was had in the duke's 
release to the new proprietors The laws b}- 
which this })rovince was to be governed were 
to be made by a General Assembly of delegates 
from the people,^ and to be approved by a Gover- 

various lucrative ofiSces were given him, but, like Berkeley, 
he was proved grossly dislionest, and was expelled from 
ihe House of Commons for corrupt practices. Both he and 
Berkeley were notorious for tlieir peculation and breaches 
of faith, hut they had stood by the King in disaster and ex- 
ile, and when lie regained the throne he remembered their 
fidelity and turned a deaf ear to complaints against them. 

' A General Assembly of delegates convened at Elizabeth- 
town on the ■26th of May, 1668. The settlement of what is 
now Monmouth County had been commenced by John 
Bowne and others in 1664, and by 1668 a large number of 
settlers had gathered at the "two towns of Navesink,'' as 
they were then called, meaning Middletown and Shrews- 
bury. In the first General .\ssembly of 1668 these settle- 
ments were represented by James Grover and John Bowne. 
.\t the next session, held in November of the same year, 
the deputies sent by the two towns were Jonathan Holmes, 
Edward Tartt, Thomas Winterton and John Hans (llance) ; 
" but they refusing to take or subscribe to the Oaths of 
Allegiance and Fidelity but with Provisos, and not submit- 
ting to the Laws and Government, were dismissed. " — Learn- 
ing and Spicer, p. 8-5. 



24 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



nor ;uul t'lHiiicil ;i[)|i(iiiitt'(l liy tlicmst'lvos. Iiii- 
modiatoly aftLT tlic duke's release to tliem they 
appointed Philip Carteret as their Governor 
of New Jersey, " with power," as was express- 
ed in their instructions to him, " to uomiuate 
and take unto yon twelve able men at most, 
and six at least, to be of your Council and Assist- 
ance ; or any even number between Six and 
Twelve, unless wc have before made choice of 
or shall choose all or any of them." These 
instructions to Governor Carteret, and also his 
commission, were dated February 10, 1664- 
65. He arrived in the province in the summer 
of 1665, published his commission, and duly 
assumed the government. 

The territory which had been so summarily 
wrested from Governor Stuyv&sant by Sir Robert 
Carre and Governor Richard Nicolls, in 1664, 
was retaken by the Dutcii in an equally sudden 
and unexpected manner in 1673. War had been 
declared in ]\Iarch, 1672, by Charles the Second, 
of England, and Louis the Fourteenth, of 
France, against the States of Holland, and the 
latter had, in consequence, dis])atched a squad- 
ron of vessels to operate against the commerce 
and possessions of their enemies in the West 
Indian seas and along the coast of the conti- 
nent of North America. This Dutch fleet 
having made very extensive captures in the 
West Indies, sailed northward to the Carolinas, 
and thence to Chesapeake Bay and the James 
River, where they also took a large number of 
small prizes ; and having learned from some of 
the passengers on one of these jirizes that 
New York was then very weakly defended, 
they sailed there without delay, and finding the 
situation there to be as had been represented 
to them (Governor Lovelace being alisent, and 
the fort only garrisoned by a small number of 
men under command of Captain INIanning), they 
at once sent a summons to surrender, which was 
acceded to without any attempt at defense by 
the commandant, and the Dutch admirals took 
possession of the fort and town on the 3()th of 
July, 1673. 

The circumstances wliich induced tiie Dutch 
commanders to move so j)romptly on New 
York, and enabled them to effect so eaay a cap- 



ture of the fort and lowii, are explained in an 
affidavit of " William Hayes, of London, mer- 
chant," before Edwyn Stede, Decemljer 2, 
1673.' TJiis deponent " did declare that he, 
the Siiid Hayes, being a ])risoner in Virginia on 
board the Dutch Admiral P^nertson, of Zcelan<l, 
in company with ]5inkhurst, Admirall of Am- 
sterdam, in company w"' tine other friggofs & 
a fire siiip, who had taken eight Virginia Mer- 
chant Ships and sunk fine after a hott disi)ute 
& the .saide Dutch ffeete with their prizes being 
goeing out of James River, mett w"' a Sloo])e, 
then come from New Yorke, which Sloope they 
took & Examined the Master in what condi- 
cion the said Ne^\' Yorke was, as to Itts defence, 
<t promised the said Master, by name Sanuiel 
Dauis [Davis], to giue him his sloope againe t*c 
all that they had taken from him iff he would 
tell them the true state of that place, who told 
them in y" hearing of this Examinant that 
New Yorke was in a very good condicion, tt 
in all respects able to defend itselfe, hauing rc- 
ceiued a good supply of amies and ammuni- 
cion from his Royall Highness, the Duke of 
Yorke, w"" aduice of their designe on that 
place, w"*" made them resolue to steei-e another 
course & not goe to New Yorke,^ when one 



' New York Colonial Documents, vol. iii. p. 213. 

^ This part of the story is toM by another, who was pres- 
ent at the taking of the sloop by the Dutch, as follows : 
" Moreouer. tliis man saith that he stood at the Cabbin 
iloore & heard the Cienenill demand of the JI' of the Sloope, 
Samuel Dauis by name, wliat force tlioy had at New Yorke, 
& touM him if he would deale faillifully w^'' him he would 
»iue him his Sloope and cargo againe ; tlie said Sloope's 
Master replyed that in the space of three hours the Gover- 
nor Louelaee could raise fiue thousand men & one hundred 
and fifty piece of Ordinance, mounted fit for seruice 
upon the wall : upon this the Dutch Generall said, if this 
lie true, I will giue you yo' Sloope & Cargo & neuer see 
lliem. Then the enquired of one M' Hopkins, who tould 
tliem he thought there might bee between sixty and eighty 
men in the ffort, and in fliree or foure days' time it was 
possible they might raise three or foure Iiundred men. & 
lliat there was thirty or thirty-six piece of ordinance up- 
pon the wall, that a shot or two would shake them out of 
their carriages; then all they' cry was for New Yorke. to 
which place they came, and this Captine stooil ther on the 
Deck and saw them land by tlie Governor's Orchard about 
six hundred men . . . taken before me tlie ilate above 

said [August 8, 1673.] 

" Nathan GoiiLD." 

— New I'ork Colonial Documents, vol. Hi. p. 200. 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



25 



Saimiell Hopkins, a passenger iu y" said slocn>e 
i\: Jiiluihitaiit at Arthur Call, iu New Elnglaud, 
A a professor tlicre, did voluntarily declare to 
y" Dutch that what the said Dauis had in- 
foriued was all together false; that New Yorke 
was iu no coudieion to defend itselfe ag' the 
Dutch ; hut they had a few canons mounted 
and those that were upon such rotten carriages 
that one discharge would sliake them to pieces 
tt dismount the canon ; that there were hut few 
men in armes in the ffort ; that any consideralile 
numlior could not be easely drawn together; 
that the Governor was absent, being gone to 
Canedicott to visitt Governor ^Vint]lrope, all 
w"'" encouraged the Dutch to visitt that place, 
\v°^ was presently taken by them ; Where the 
said Hopkins yet continues ct had encouraged 
the Dutch to proceede to the takeiug of Arthur 
Cull, having discovered to them allso the 
weakness of that place ; And this Examinant 
siiith that the said Hopkins had formerly made 
his aboade with Cap' James Cai'trett, & fur- 
ther saith not." 

The capture of New York, which the Dutch 
then renamed " New Orange," gave to them, as a 
matter of course, the power of government over 
the settlements in NewY^ork and New Jersey, 
of which it had for more than sixty years been 
the capital. At first their government was 
(almost necessarily) a military one, by the com- 
manders of the fleet, who held a council of war 
in the fort (which they called " Fort ^Villem 
Hendrick ") immediately after its surrender to 
them. They then called a " Council of New 
Netherlands," which convened at the " City 
Hall of thecitj' of New Orange," August 12th, 
1673. Present: Commanders Evertse and 
Benckcs, Captains xVnthony Colve, Boes and 
Van Tyll, and deputies from Elizabethtown, 
Newark, Woodbridge and Piseatawav. There 
were no dejjuties present from Bergen or the two 
towns of Navt^ink (JNIiddletown and Shrews- 
bury, which were then the only settlements 
within the territory of the county of JNIon- 
iiiouth). Notices were at once sent to these 
towns to appear by their deputies, the sum- 
mons to the Navesink towns being as follows : 

" The inhabitants of Middletown and Shrews- 
l)ury are hereby charged and required to send 



their deputys unto us on Tuesday morning next 
for to treat w"" us upon articles of surrender- 
ing their said towns under the obedience of the 
High and INIighty Lords, the States-Generall of 
the united Provinces and his serene Highnesse, 
the Prince of Orange ; or by refusall wee shall 
be necessitated to sui)dae the said places there- 
unto by force of armes. 

"Dated at New Orange this 12th day of 
August, A". 1673. 

"CoRNELis Evertse, Jun'r. 
"Jacob Benckes." 

At a meeting of the Dutch commanders in 
council of war at " Fort Willem Hendrick," 
on the 18th of the same month, upon petition 
of the inhabitants of the villages of Elizabeth- 
town, Newark and Piscataway, the Council 
" ordered thereupon that all the inhabitants of 
those towns shall be granted the same privi- 
leges and freedom as will be accorded to native- 
born subjects and Dutch towns ; also, the pe- 
titioners and their heirs unmolested enjoy and 
possess their lawfully purchased and paid for 
lauds, which shall afterwards be conlirmed to 
them by the Governor in due form ; iu regard 
to the bounds of each town, they shall here- 
after be fixed by the Governor and Council ; 
. . . . Further, the Deputies from the 
Towns of Woodbridge, Sehrousbury and Mid- 
dletown, situate at Achter Coll, coming into 
court, the above privileges were, at their verbal 
request, iu like manner granted and allowed to 
their towns; liut all subject to further orders 
from their High Mightinesses, and his Serene 
Highness of Orange ; " i)ut the Council refused 
to grant to any of the towns " the privileges 
obtained from their previous Patroons." 

On the 23d of August Middletown and 
Shrewsbury, with other towns, sent in their 
nominations for magistrates, or " schepens," to 
the Dutch Council, which, on the following day, 
elected John Hance, Eliakim ^Var(lell and 
Hugh Dyckraan for Shrewsbury,' and probably 

' .\u order by Governor Colve, dated September 29, 1673, 
sets forth that: " Whereas the late chosen Magistrates ofl" 
Shrousburij are found to be Persons whose religion Will 
Not Suffer them to take anij oath or administer the same 
to others, wherefore they Can Nott be fit Persons for that 
office; I have, therefore, thought fitt to order that bij y 



26 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



with jurisdiction in Middletowu also, as there is 
no record found of the election of any others 
at that time for Aliddletown. They were sworn 
into office on the 1st of Sejjtember following. 

"On the 6th of September, A°. 1673.' 
Captain Kuyf and Captain Snell are this day 
commissioned and authorized by the Hon'ble 
Council of War [Dutch] to repair with the 
clerk, Abraham Varlet, to Elizabets Towne, 
Woodbridge, Shrousbury, Piscattaway, New 
Worke [Newark] and Middletowne, situate at 
Achter Coll, and to administer the Oath of 
allesiauce to all the inhabitants of those Towns 
in the form as hereinbefore recorded, to which 
end orders and instructions in due form are 
also given them." 

The officers named (Kuyf and Snell) pro- 
ceeded on their mission, and, returning on the 
13th of September to Fort Willem Hendrick, 
reported to the Dutch Council that they had 
administered the oath of allegiance in the 
several towns as follows : 

" Elizabethtown, 80 men, 76 pf whom have taken 
the oath, the remainder absent. 

" New Worck, 86 men, 75 of whom luive taken the 
oath, the remainder absent. 

" Woodbridge, 54 men, all of whom have taken the 
oath except one, who was absent. 

" Piscattaway, 43 men, all of whom have taken the 
oath. 

" Middletowne, GO men, 52 of whom have taken 
the oath, the remainder absent. 

" Schrousbury, 68 men, 38 of whom have taken the 
oath ; 18 who are Quakers also promised allegiance, 
and the remainder were absent." 

A number of militia officers elected in the 
several towns were sworn in by Kuyf and Snell, 
among whom were the following-named : For 
Middletown, Jonathan Holmes, captain ; John 
Smith, lieutenant ; and Thomas Whitlock, en- 
sign. For Shrewsbury, William Newman, cap- 
tain ; John Williamson, lieutenant ; and Nicho- 
las Browne, eu.eigu. 

On the 29th of September " Notice is this day 
sent to the magistrates of the town situate at the 

s"* inhabitants off ye s towne, a New Nomination shall be 
made off four Persons off the true Protestant Christian 
religion, out of which I shal Elect two and Continue one 
off y' former for Magestrales off y* s towne." — Archives, 
Ist Series, vol. i. p. 134. 

1 New Jersey Archives, 1st Series, i p. 130. 



Nevesiugs, near the sea-coast, which they are 
ordered to publish to their inhabitants that they, 
on the first arrival of any ship from sea, shall 
give the Governor the earliest possible informa- 
tion thereof." 

Captain Antony Colve was appointed Gover- 
nor or Director-General over the reconquered 
territory of New Netherlands. It does not ap- 
pear that the people of the Jersey settlements 
(excepting those holding offices by appointment 
under the proprietors, Berkeley and Carteret) 
were at all averse to yielding their allegiance to 
the Dutch government, and this was especially 
the case with the inhabitants of Newark, Eliza- 
beth and the " Navesmk towns," by reason of 
property considerations, which will be more fully 
mentioned in another chapter. In the fall of 
1673 a plan of government, intended to be per- 
manent, was devised by Governor Colve, and 
adopted without dissent, and a code of general 
laws was prepared, passed and promulgated 
(November 18th) " By the Schout and Schepens 
of Achter Kol Assembly, held at Elizabethtown 
to make Laws and Orders." These laws were 
mild and generally unobjectionable to the peo- 
ple, but it can hardly be said they ever went 
into actual operation, for within three naonths 
after their promulgation a treaty of peace was 
concluded (February 9, 1673-74) between Eng- 
land and Holland, by which it was provided 
" that whatever towns or forts have been recip- 
rocally taken since the beginning of the war 
shall be restored to their former possessors," un- 
der which provision the territory of New Neth- 
erlands, including what the Dutch called Ach- 
ter Kol (the settlements in East New Jersey), 
was surrendered by the States of Holland to the 
crown of England, under which it remained for 
more than a century, and until the royal rule 
was closed by the Declaration of Independence. 
The surrender was made November 10, 1674, 
by Governor Colve, to Sir Edmund Andros, 
whom the Duke of York had commissioned as 
Governor. 

The reoccupation of New Netherlands by the 
Dutch in 1673 and 1674 raised the question 
whether the rights of the proprietors under the 
Duke of York's grant might not thereby have 
become extinct, and the territory again the prop- 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PKOPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



erty of the crown by the subsequent surrender. 
To settle this question in the easiest and most 
satisfactory way, King Charles made (June 26, 
1674) a new grant to the Duke of York of tlie 
same territory which had been granted b}' his 
letters patent in 1664. Prior to the making 
of this grant the King had issued his proclama- 
tion (June 13, 1674) recognizing Sir George 
Carteret as the sole original proprietor of New 
Jersey,* and commanding all persons to yield 
obedience to the laws and government which 
had been or might be established by the said 
>Sir George Carteret, " he being seized of the 
province and the jurisdiction thereof, and hav- 
ing sole power under us to settle and dispose of 
the said country as he shall think fit." 

The Duke of York,havuig received the royal 
grant of 1674, seemed inclined to retain the 
territory in his own hands, but the King's pro- 
clamation, above mentioned, left him no choice 
in the matter, and on the 29th of July follow- 
ing he released to Sir George Carteret the 
eastern part of New Csesarea, in accordance 
with an arrangement and boundaries agreed 
on by Sir George and those who had become 
owners of the undivided half originally of Lord 
Berkele}'. The part thus released by the duke to 
Sir George was from that time known as East 
New Jersey. The description of it in the 
duke's release is as follows : 

"... All that Tract of Land adjacent to New Eng- 
land, and lying and being to the Westward of Long 
Island and Manhitas Island, and bounded on the East 
part by the main Sea and Part by Hudson's River, and 
extends Southward as far as a certain Creek, called 
Barnegatt, being about the middle between Sandy 
Point and Cape May ; and Bounded on the West in a 
straight Line from the said Creek called Barnegat to 
a Certain Creek in Delaware River, next adjoining to 
and below a certain Creek in Delaware River called 
Renkokus Kill, and from thence up the said Delaware 
River to the Northernmost Branch thereof, which is in 
forty-oue Degrees and forty Minutes of Latitude ; and 
on the North, crosseth over thence in a straight line to 
Hudson's River, in forty-one Degrees of Latitude, 
which said Tract of Land is hereafter to be called by 
the Name or Names of New Ciesarea or New Jersey." 

The proprietary Governor, Philip Carteret, 
had returned to England in the summer of 

' Lord Berkeley having sold out his interest to John Fen- 
wick, March 18, 1673. 



1672, and remained there during all of the 
Dutch occupation of 1673-74. He was com- 
missioned Governor of East Jersey by Sir 
George Carteret, July 31, 1674, only two days 
after the latter received the duke's release. 
Governor Carteret returned in the fall of tiie 
same year to New Jersey, where, on the 6th of 
November, he published his commission and in- 
structions as Governor, together with the duke's 
release, and the King's proclamation sustaining 
the proprietary government. 

Sir Edmund Andros arrived at New York 
from England at about the same time, with a 
commission from the Duke of York as Governor 
over all the country " from Connecticut River 
to the Delaware," this bearing date July 1, 
1674, only a week after the King's new grant to 
the duke, and four weeks before the date of the 
releaseof East Jersey by the duke to Sir George 
Carteret. These conflicting claims to the Gover- 
norship of New Jersey eventually resulted in a 
collision between Andros and Philip Carteret, 
of which the immediate cause was the question 
of collection of customs duties in New Jersey on 
goods intended for consumption within the prov- 
ince; Andros insisting on their payment in 
New York, and lieing sustained in it by his 
master, the Duke of York, who, though friendly 
to Sir George Carteret, was unwilling to yield 
anything which could inure to the advantage 
of his New York dominion. 

The sale and transfer by Lord John Berkeley 
of his undivided half of Ne%v Jersey, to John 
Fenwick, on the 18th of March, 1673, has al- 
ready been mentioned. Edward Byllinge was 
associated with Fenwick in that purcha.se, al- 
though his name did not appear in the transac- 
tion. On the lOtii of February, 1884, Fenwick 
and Byllinge sold the Berkeley interest to Wil- 
liam Penn, Gawen Lawrie and Nicholas Lucas, 
— Byllinge, however, still claiming an equitable 
interest in it after the transfer ; and on the 1st 
of Julv, 1676, these parties — viz., Penn, Lawrie, 
Lucas and Byllinge, together with Sir George 
Carteret — entered into an agreement which has 
since been known as the Quintipartite Agreement, 
and joined in a quintipartite deed, which was exe- 
cuted on the date above mentioned, and of 
1 which the declared object was " to make a Par- 



28 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tition between them of the said Tract of Laud," 
that is to say, the province of New C'tesarea, 
which, by this instrument and the running of 
the " Province Hue" named in it, became di- 
vided into East and West New Jersey. 

By this deed Sir George Carteret released all 
his claim to the western part to Penn, Lawrie, 
Lucas and Byllinge, who, iu turn, conveyed to 
him all their right iu and claim to the easteru 
part, which is described in the quiutipartite 
deed as " extending Eastward and Northward 
along the Sea-Coast and the said River called 
Hudson's River, from the East side of a certain 
Place or Harlwur lying on the Southern Part 
of the same Tract of Land, and commonly called 
or known iu a Map of the said Tract of Land 
by the Name of Little Egg Harbour, to that 
part of the said River called Hudson's River, 
which is in Forty-One Degrees of Latitude, 
being the furthermost Part of the said 
Tract of Land and Premisses, which is bounded 
by the said River ; and crossing over from 
thence in a strait Line, extending from that 
Part of Hudson's River, aforesaid, to the North- 
ernmost Branch or part of the before-mentioned 
River, called Delaware River, and to the most 
Northerly Point or Boundary of the said Tract 
of Land and Premises, so granted by his said 
Royal Highness, James, Duke of York, unto 
the said I^ord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, 
now by the Consent and Agreement of the said 
Parties to these Presents, called, and agreed to 
be called, the North Partition Point; and from 
thence, that is to say, from the said North Par- 
tition Point, extending Southward by a strait 
and direct Line drawn from the said North 
Partition Southward through the said Tract 
of Land unto the most Southardly Point of the 
East side of Little Egg Harbour, aforesaid ; 
which said most Southardly Point of the East 
side of Little Egg Harbour is now, by the Con- 
sent and Agreement of the said Parties to these 
Presents, called, and agreed to be from hence- 
forth called, the South Partition Point ; and 
which said strait and direct Line, drawn from 
the said North Partition Point thro' the said 
Tract of Lau<l unto the said South Partition 
Point, is uow, by the Consent and Agreement 
of the said Parties to these Presents, called, 



and agreed to be called, the Line of Parti- 
tion." 1 

Sir George Carteret died in England on the 
13tli of January, 1679-80, and this event re- 
moved the onlv consideration which checked 
Governor Audros in his determination to seize 
the jjovernment of New Jersev under color of 
his commission from the Duke of York. The 
Duke had been more than willing to sustain 
Audros in his schemes to obtaiu revenue from 
New Jersey by enforcing the payment of cus- 
toms duties at New York on cargoes intended 
for New Jersey, but the Duke and his Governor 
were compelled, on account of the King's espe- 
cial friendship for Sir George, to desist from 
the execution of this jilan during the life of the 
latter. A very significant passage in reference 
to this matter is found in a letter from the 
duke's seeretar\-, Sir Johu Werden, to Gover- 
nor Audros," dated August 31, 1676 : " . . . 
I add this much further in relation to Sir 
George Carteret's Colony of New Jersey ; it is 
that I have acquaiuted his Royal Highness 
with what Mr. Dyre (the collector of customs 
and revenues for the duke in New York) wrote 
to me about his little liickerings with Captain 
Carteret for not letting a present pass, &e. And 
though small matters are hardly worth notice, 
especially where Sir George Carteret himself is 
concerned (for whom the duke hath much es- 
teem and regard), I do not find that the duke 
is at all inclined to let go any part of his 
prerogative which you and your predeces- 
sors have all along constantly asserted on his 
behalf; and so, though at present in regard to 
Sir Georsre Carteret we soften things all we mav 
not to disturb his choler (for, in truth, the 
passion of his inferior officers so fur affects him 
as to put him on demands which he hath no 
color or right to), I verily believe that, sJiouhl 
his foot chance to slip, those irho succeed him 
mmt be content with less cirilifi/ than ice choose to 
shoir him on this point, since that we should ex- 
ercise that just authority His Royal Highness 
hath, without such reserves, as though but intend- 
ed as favors, uow may, if confirmed, redound too 



1 Learning and Spicer, p. 67. 

2 Whitehead's " New Jersey.' 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



29 



much to the prejudice of your colony." But 
the death of Sir George having removed this 
obstacle, the Duke aud his Governor thought 
their path clear to the accomplishment of their 
plan for Andros to consolidate New Jersey 
with New York in one government under 
Andros. 

On the 8tli of March, 1079-80, Sir Edmund 
Andros addressed an official communication to 
Governor Carteret at Elizabethtown, sending 
copies of the royal letters patent and his com- 
mission from the Duke of York, aud com- 
manding him (Carteret) to cease all attempts to 
exercise governmental power aud jurisdiction 
in New Jersey, and addetl : ' I do acquaint 
you that, it lioing necessary for the King's Ser- 
vice and A\'elfare of his Majesty's Subjects living 
or trading in these Parts, that Beacons for Land, 
or Sea-Marks for Shipping, Sailing in and out, 
and a Fortiiication be erected at Sandy Point, 
I have resolved it accordingly, but having due 
regard to all Rights or Properties of Land or 
Soil, shall berca<lv to pay or give just Satisfac- 
tion to Mr. Richard Hartshorn, or any assigned 
to or interested in said Sandy Point or Place, 
and not Doubting your observance of the above, 
remain," etc. On the loth of the same month 
Andros issued a proclamation warning all 
officers under Carteret to desist from the attempt 
to exercise their functions in East Jersey, and 
promising oblivion for all past olfenses. 

Governor Carteret, in a letter dated INIarch 
20th, in rej)ly to Andros' communication of the 
8th, gave the latter his firm assurance that he 
should continue to exercise his proper authority 
iis Governor of East New Jersey, and that he 
should by force, if necessary, opi)ose the erection of 
a fort at Sandy Hook, but entreating Andros at 
the same time to abstain from any act of hos- 
tility aud to leave him undisturbed in the right- 
ful duties of his office. 

Andros had issued a proclamation to convene 
the East Jersey Assembly on the 7th of April 
at Elizabethtown. Carteret issued a counter 
proclamation directing the deputies not to as- 
semble. At the same time he addressed a com- 
municatiou to Andros at New York, warning him 
to send no more of his emissaries to New Jersey, 
on penalty of having them arrested, tried aud 



condemned as spies aud disturbers of the public 
peace, aud adding : " It was by his Majesty's 
command that this Government was established, 
and without the same command shall never be 
resigned but with our Lives and Fortunes, the 
people resolving to live and dye with the Name 
of true Subjects and not Traytors." Andros, 
however, was determined to convene the As- 
sembly, if possible, at the stated time, and ou the 
6th of April lie left New York with a large retinue 
and proceeded to Elizabethtown, where, on the 
7th, he read his commission to a large concourse 
of people who were gathered there; but as 
Governor Carteret ^\'as there with one hundred 
aud fifty armed men to prevent the meeting by 
force, if necessary, Andros was obliged to con- 
tent himself for that time with the publication 
of his commission, and he went back to New 
York without having accomplished his object. 

Ou the 30th of April a party of soldiers 
went from New Y'ork to Elizabethtown with 
orders from Andros to take Governor Car- 
teret dead or alive and bring him to New York. 
These orders they executed in the night-time, 
and took Carteret to New Y'ork, where he was 
kept in prison five weeks. Concerning this 
outrage, Governor Carteret, in a letter addressed 
to Mr. Coustrier on the 9th of July following, 
said of Aadros that " the Rancor and Malice 
of his Heart was such that on the 30tli day of 
.Vpril last he sent a Party of Soldiers to fetch 
me away Dead or alive, so that in the Dead 
Time of the Night broke open my Doors and 
most barbarously and inhumanly and violently 
hailed mc out of my Bed, that I have not Words 
enough sufficiently to express the Cruelty of it ; 
aud indeed I am so disabled by the Bruises and 
Hin-ts I then received that I fear I shall hardly 
be a perfect Man again." 

At New Y^ork, Carteret was brought before 
the Assizes for trial on the charge that he, " with 
Force and Arms, riotously and routously, with 
Captain John Berry, Captain ^Yilliam Sandford 
and several other persons, hath presumed to ex- 
ercise Jurisdiction, etc., though forewarned not 
to do so." The trial, which was hold on the 
27th and 28th of May resulted in his acquittal, 
but he was compelled to give his parole and se- 
curit}' to desist from further attempts to exer- 



30 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



cise jurisdiction in New Jersey until able to pro- 
duce pi'oper warrant for so doing. 

Andros issued a second proclamation calling 
the Assembly of East Jersey to convene at 
Elizabethtown on the 2d of June, 1680. His 
journey from New York to that place, on the 
1st of June, is thus narrated by his secretar\-, 
who was one of the party : " The Governour with 
the C'ouncill and several of the gents of the 
Towne to attend him, came from New York 
about noone in his Sloope, to come to N. Jersey 
to the Assembly of Deputys to l)e held the next 
day at Elizabeth Towme. My Lady Andros 
came in company, attended with 9 or 10 gentle- 
women, my wife for one. Coming l>y C. 
Palmer's, my lady and Comp'y landed at C 
Palmer's and stayed there all night. My 
Lady &c. came in the morning to Eliz- 
Towne." ' 

The Assembly met on the 2d. The deputies 
from the Navesink towns were John Bowne 
(Speaker) and Jonathan Holmes for Middle- 
towu, and Judeth (?) Allen and John Hance for 
Shrewsbury. Andros addressed the deputies, 
assuming the powers of Governor, and asking 
them to remodel the laws of East New Jersey 
to corresjiond with those which had been enactetl 
for New York. The Assemlily responded by 
enacting (June 3d), " That all former Laws and 
acts of Assembly that was made and confirmed 
by the General Assembly sitting at Elizabeth- 
town, in the province of New Jersey, in No- 
vember last, be confirmed for this present year." 
Andros and his party returned to New York 
on Saturday, June 5th, came back to Elizabeth- 
town on Thursday, the 10th, and Andros, hav- 
ing failed to mould the Assembly to his wishes, 
dissolved that body on the 12th. 

It is unnecessary to enter further into the de- 
tails of this conflict between Andros and the 
jn-uprietary government. The matter was sent 
to England for decision by the Crown, and it 
was favorable to the Carteret interest. The 
Duke could not, of course, oppose the wishes of 
the King, and, therefore, with apj)areut willing- 
ness, he (iu September, 1680) executed a re- 
lease of East New Jersey, with all his rights of 



1 N. Y. Col. MSS., vol. xxix. p. 105. 



property and of government in it, to Sir George 
Carteret, the grandson and heir of Sir George, 
the original proprietor. Tlie fact of the execu- 
tion of this release, and of the Duke's disavowal 
and disapproval of the proceedings of An- 
dros iu New Jersey, was officially communicated 
to him at New York, and on the 2d of INIarch, 
1680-81, Philip Carteret made proclamation at 
Elizal)ethtowu of his resumjjtion of the duties 
and functions of Governor of East New Jersey. 
Andros was called to England, and on his de- 
parture left Anthony Brockholst (president of 
the Council) in charge of affairs at New York. 
He, on the 26th of July, 1681, addressed a com- 
munication to Governor Carteret, in which he 
ignored the right of the latter to exercise author- 
ity in New Jersey, and required him to desist 
from doing so until he should exhibit proper 
warrant, according to his parole, and the orders 
of the court in New York. To this, Carteret 
replied that his power and authority to act as 
Governor were sufficient, and that there was no 
more reason why he should account to the New 
York authorities than they to him. This closed 
the controversy, and Carteret held the Gover- 
norship of East Jersey until his death, in 
1682, during which year au entire change wa.s 
made in the pi'oprietorship of New Jersev, of 
which the following account is found in Leam- 
ing and Spicei's "Grants and Concessions," 
page 73. 

"December 5, 1678, Sir George Carteret made 
his Will, and Devised to Edward, Earl of Sand- 
wich, John, Earl of Bath, Bernard Greenville, 
Sir Thomas Crew, Sir Robert Atkins and Ed- 
ward Atkins, Escp's., and their Heirs, among 
other Lands, all his Plantation of New Jersey, 
upon Trust and Confidence that they, and the 
Survivers and Surviver of them, and the Heirs 
and Executors of the Surviver of them, should 
make Sale of all the said Premises, and out of 
the Moneys that should upon such Sale arise 
pay and discharge Debts, &c., as therein men- 
tioned. 

" February First and Second, 1682, in the 
Thirty-fourth of King Charles Second, in 
pursuance of the Trust aforesaid. Dame Eliza- 
beth Carteret, John, Earl of Bath, Thomas, 
Lord Crew, Bernard Greenville, Sir Robert At- 



THE DUTCH, EN&LISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



31 



kins, Tliomas Pocock, and Thomtis Cremer, ^ by 
Lease and lielease, couveyed the Eastern Divi- 
sion of New Jersey aforesaid, in fee Simple, to 
William Peun, Robert West, Thomas Rudyard, 
Samuel Groom, Thomas Hart, Richard Mew, 
Thomas Wilcox, Ambrose Rigg, John Hey wood, 
Hugh Hartshorue, Clement Phimstead and 
Thomas Cooper; the Bounds being according 
to the Quiutipartite Deed. The Twelve Pro- 
prietors agreed that there should be no benefit 
of SurN-ivorshiji. 

"At Sundry Times in the Year 1682, in the 
Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth of King Charles 
Second. The above Twelve Persons couveyed 
to Twelve others, viz. : Robert Barclay, Edward 
Billinge, Robert Turner, James Brain, Arent 
Sonmans, William Gibson, Gawen Lowry, David 
Barclay, Thomas Barker, Thomas Varne 
[Warne], James, Earl of Perth, Robert Gordon 
and John Drummond," ^ one undivided half of 
all their interests in the eastern division of the 
province of New Jei-sey. 

On the 14th of March, 1682-83, the Duke of 
York executed a deed confirming to these twen- 
ty-four proprietors ^ their above-mentioned pur- 
chase, and on the 2.3rd of November following 
King Charles, liy liis royal letter to the Gover- 
nor and Council of the proprietors, * recognized 
and confirmed to them their right to the soil and 
government of East New Jersey. 

The proprietors appointed one of their num- 
ber, Robert Barclay, Governor'*; Thomas Rud- 
yard, Deputy Governor, secretary and treasurer ; 
and Samuel Groome, receiver and surveyor- 
general. The appointments of the last two were 

' " In the Recitsil of the Release it appears that the Grant- 
ors above had conveyed the Premises, among other things, 
to said Cremer and Pocock, which is the reason of their 
joining in the Sale. And Edward, Earl of Sandwich, P>e- 
leased all his Estate in the Premises to the other Trustees, 
before they Sold to the Twelve Proprietors." — Learning and 
Spker. 

* Thirteen names are here given instead of twelve. One 
of them — that of David Barclay — properly belongs with 
the original twelve, he having become purchaser of the 
share of Thomas Wilcox. 

* Learning and Spicer, p. 141-150. 
•Learning and Spicer, p. 151-152. 

* He was appointed Governor for life, though it was not 
expected that he would reside in .America, but rule New 
Jersey through a Deputy Governor. 



dated September 16, 1682, and they both arrived 
in the province on the 13th of November of the 
same year. Rudyard appointed as his Council, 
Lewis Morris (of what soon afterwards became 
the county of Monmouth), John Beriy, John 
Palmer, William Sandford, Lawrence Andros 
and Benjamin Price. The first Assembly un- 
der the government of these proprietors convened 
at Elizabethtown on the 1st of March, 1682-83. 
At this session a number of important laws were 
enacted, among which were those for the reor- 
ganizing of the judicial department of the gov- 
ernment, the establishment of courts and the 
erection of the original counties of East New 
Jersey, — Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, and Mon- 
mouth, — the latter of which will be mentioned 
more fully in a succeeding chapter. 

Rudyard failed to give satisfaction to the 
proprietors in his administration, and wtis suc- 
ceeded as Deputy Governor by Gawen Tjawrie, a 
Quaker (also one of the t^\■enty-four proprietors), 
whose commission bore date July 27, 1683. 
He arrived in the province February in the fol- 
lowing vear, and assumed the office of Governor 
on the 28th of that month. He brought with 
him a new code of laws which had been drafted 
l>y the })roprietors in England, and called " The 
Fundtimeutal Concessions," ditfcriug materially 
in some respects from the original " Concessions " 
of Berkeley and Carteret, and designed to change 
the form of government of the province in many 
important particulars; and this new plan or 
constitution the Deputy Governor was directed 
V)y the proprietors to take especial care to have 
immediately placed before the people and fully 
explained to them, and " as soon as possible he 
can order it passed in an Assembly, and settle 
the country accordingly." But Deputy Gover- 
nor Lawrie did not push these matters as it was 
expected he would have done. The first session 
of Assembly in his administration met at Perth 
Amboy on the 6th of April, 1686, but neither 
at this nor at an adjourned session held in the 
the following -October were the " Fundamental 
Concessions " fully agreed to and adopted. By 
this delay, and by his failure to enforce payment 
of the heavy arrears of quit-rents, as also by some 
ii-regularities in the taking up of lands, and his 
disregard of his instructioas to change his place 



32 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of residence from Elizabethtowu to Perth Am- 
boy, Lawrie iucurred the displeasure of the pro- 
prietors and of Governor Barclay, who, accord- 
ingly, on the 4th of June, 1G86, appointed Lord 
Neill Campbell (a Scotch nobleman and brother 
of the Duke of Argyle) to supersede Lawrie as 
Deputy (jfovernor. His appointineut was for 
the tei'm of two years, but he held the office 
only a few months, and (being compelled " by 
the urgent necessity of some weighty afiairs " — 
as he said — to return to Scotland) surrendered 
it on the 10th of December next following his 
appointment, leaving as his substitute a recently- 
arrived Scotchmau, Colonel Andrew Hamilton, 
who afterwards received a connnission as Deputy 
Governor, which was ])ublis]ied at Perth Amboy 
in March, 1687. 

In the instructions given to (niweu Lawrie 
with his commission as Deputy Governor, in 
1683, he was charged by the proprietors of 
East New Jersey to " make all needful prepa- 
ration towards drawing the line of division be- 
tween us and West Jersey, that it may be done 
as soon as possible it can."' Pursuant to these 
instructions, "a council relative to the line be- 
tween East and West Jersey" was held at New 
York ou the .30th of June, 1686, composed of 
Governor Dongau, of New York, and Governors 
Lawrie and Skene, respectively of East and 
West New Jersey; and by this council it was 
agreed that George Keith," Andrew Rol>iuson 
and Philip Wells, the surveyors-general of the 
three provinces, should meet at the Falls of the 
Delaware (Trenton) on the 1st of September 
following, and proceed to astablish the northern 
point of the proposed partition line on the Del- 
aware River. No decisive action resulted from 
this arrangement, and on the 8th of January, 
1686-87, the Governors of East and West Jer- 
sey, with the resident proprietors, met at Mill- 
stone River, and agreed to refer the matter of 
the establishment of the line to John Reid and 
William Emley, of the east and west divisions 
respectively, and mutually entered into bonds 
in the sum of £5,000 to abide l)y their decision, 



' Learning and Spicer, p. 173. 

' Surveyor-general of East New .Jersey, commissioned 
August 8, 1684. 



which they duly reported as follows: "Whereas 
the Governours of East and West Jersey has 
wholly referred y" division lyne of y" two prov- 
inces to us (as by their bonds doth appear), that 
is to say, given us full power to runn y" Same 
as wee think fitt. Therefore wee do hereby 
declare that it shall runn from y" north side of 
y" mouth or Inlett of y" beach of little Egg 
Harbour, on a streight lyne to Delaware River, 
north-northwest, and fifty minutes more west- 
erly, according to naturall position, and not ac- 
cording to y' magnet, whose variation is nine 
degrees Westward." 

Notwithstanding the agreement which had 
i)een entered into, this decision of Reid and 
Emley appears to have been unsatisfactory to 
the west division, and on the 14th of April fol- 
lowing the East Jersey proprietors empowered 
John Cam|)l:)ell and Miles Forster to confer 
with the Governor of West Jersey on the sub- 
ject, and finally an agreement was made, under 
which Surveyor-General Keith ran a part of 
the line in the summer and fall of 1687, as fol- 
lows : 

"Beginning at the most southerly part of a 
certain l)eaeh or island lying next to and ad- 
joining the main sea, to the northward of a 
certain Bay^Jnlet or Harbour, lying on the sea- 
coast of this Province, and commonly called or 
known by the name of Little P^gg Harbour ; 
and ruiming thence, according to natural posi- 
tion, on a north-northwest, fifty minutes more 
westerly course, to the southwesterly corner of 
a certain tract of land lying to the westward of 
the South Branch of Raritan River, heretofore 
granted by the proprietors of the eastern divi- 
sion of this Province to John Dobie, and com- 
monly called or known by the name of Dobie's 
Plantation." 

The line run by Keith, as above described, 
was exactly in accordance witli the decision of 
Reid and Emley; liut it was stopped at about 
three-fifths of the distance from the southern to 
the northern point, on account of the dissatis- 
faction of the ^A^est Jersey proprietors, by whom 
it was never accepted :is the boundary of tlieir 
possessions, though in the following year (1688) 
Governors Barclay and Coxe, of the east and 
west divisions respectively, signed an agreement 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



33 



that it should roiiiaiii as such, and fixed the 
iiictliod of rontiiming it northward to tlie Del 
aware. In tiiis condition the matter remained 
lor many year^. In 1719 the (Jeneral Asscni- 
lily passed an act declaring the location of the 
line. Finally, in 174.">, it was run and deter- 
mined in its entire length, starting from the 
same southern point, hut running thence in 
a ('ourse considerably farther eastward than 
i^eith's line of 16.S7, and so continuing to the 
northern point on the waters of the Delaware. 
Keith's line, however, remained undisturbed as 
marking tlic western houndaries of the counties 
oi' Somerset and Monmouth. 

Immediately after the accession of the Duke 
of York to the throne of England as James the 
Second it became evident that he was deter- 
mined to take from the proprietors the govern- 
ment of Xew Jersey and join it with New York 
in the hands of one and the same royal Gov- 
ernor. The proprietors remonstrated and pe- 
titioned the throne to defend them in the rights 
which they had received from the King himself, 
while he was the Duke of York, but to no 
effect, and finally, in despair, they consented to 
^m'rcniler the government of Xew Jersey, if 
thereby thev could be assured of protection to 
their rights of property in the province. This 
the King consented to and promised, and the 
surrender of both divisions of Xew Jersey was 
made on that condition by the proprietors in 
Aprd, 1688. 

Sir Ednuuid Andros was at that time Governor 
of the Xew England colonies, and to him the 
King issued a commission as Governor of Xew 
York, and of East and West Xew Jer.sey also, all 
to be joined with Xew England iu one govern- 
ment under him. On the receipt of this com- 
mission, in .Vugust, 1688, he immediately pro- 
ceeded to Xew York and Xew Jersey, and 
assumed the Governorship.' He soon after re- 

' In a letter to the Lords of Trade, dated New York, Oct. 
1, ltj88, Andros said: "1 arrived here the eleventh of 
.Viigiist past. When his llajestie's Letters Patents being 
published, received this place, as also East Jersey the fif- 
teenth and AVcst Jersey the eighteenth following, where by 
proclamac'on continued the revenue and all officers in 
place till further order, and have since settled all Officers, 
Civil and Military." — JVcw Jersey Col. Doc, lat scries, vol. 
• i., p. 3". 
3 



turned to New England, leaving Andrew Ham- 
ilton still at the head of the government of 
East New Jersey as Deputy Governt)r. Ihit 
the plans of the King and his Governor, Andros, 
were suddeidy cut short by the landing of the 
I'rince of Orange in England, the dethronement 
and exile of King James, and the accession of 
William and Mary to the throne. 

The surreuder by the proprietors to King 
James h;id never been consummated. It was 
made on the condition that they should receive 
from the King, under his royal seal, an assu- 
rance that they should contimie in possession of 
the right to the soil, surrendering only the gov- 
ernment of their respective provinces. This 
assurance had never been given by the King, 
and the confirmation of the surrender was de- 
layed until his dethronement made it imjwssi- 
ble, and thus gave back to the proprietors the 
right of government, in A\'hich they were sus- 
tained by the new King. 

In this condition of affairs Colouel Andrew 
Hamilton (who had never resigned his office of 
Proprietary Deputy Governor) left for Engliind 
to consult with the proprietors there. His 
departure from the jn'ovince was iu the month 
of x\.ugust, 1689. On the voyage he was taken 
prisoner by the captain of a French vessel, but 
after a short detention was allowed to proceed 
to England, where he resigned his office of 
Deputy Governor. For some causes which do 
not clearly tippear he remained in England for 
nearly three years, during which time GovcriKjr 
Robert Barclay died (October 3, 1690) and the 
government of East Xew Jersey became tilmost 
entirely inoperative under the nominal admin- 
istration of John Tatham and, after hitn, of 
Colouel Joseph Dudley, both of whom h;id 
received the appointment of Governor from the 
proprietaries, and both of whom were virtually 
rejected by the people of the province. 

On the 25th of ]March,1692, Colonel Hamil- 
ton (who was then still in England) received 
the appointment and commission of Governor 
of East New Jersey, and in the following Sep- 
tember arrived in the province, where he at once 
entered upon the duties of his office. He was 
well received by the people, and, thongli he 
afterwards became obnoxious to many, he had 



34 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY". 



the confidence of the jirojjrictors, and remained 
at the head of'aliairs in thejirovince until 1698, 
when lie was " displaced l>v tlie proprietors 
through a niisapprcliension of the ojieration of 
an act of Parliament." ' The act referred to, 
which was passed in 1697, declared that no 
other than a natural-born subject of England 
should be allowed to serve in any public office 
or place of profit and trust. 

Governor Hamilton returned to England and 
was succeeded by Jeremiah Basse, previously an 
Anabaptist preacher, whose commission as Gov- 
ernor was dated July 15, 1697, and published 
in the province April 7, 1698. His adminis- 
tration awakened an opposition which resulted 
in anarchy, and in May, 1699, he departed for 
England, leaving as his deputy, Captain Andrew 
Bowue, of Monmouth County, who was sworn 
into that office on the 15th of May. 

In the mean time the case of Colonel Hamil- 
ton's sujjposed ineligibility on account of his 
nativity had been submitted to Attorney-Gen- 
eral Trevor, who had delivered his opinion, — 
" That a Scotchman borne is by Law capable 
of being appointed Governour of any of the 
Plantac'ons, he being a Natural-born Subject 
of England in Judg'm' and Construcc'on of 
Law as much as if he had been born in Eng 
land." This gave the proprietors the right to 
reappoint Hamilton as Governor, and they did 
so, soon after the arrival of Governor Basse in 
England. Hamilton returned to New Jersey, 
where he found affiiirs in a deplorable state, a large 
part of the people being in almost open revolt. 
Many bitterly opposed his claims to the Gov- 
ernorship, saying that his disability on account 
of his Scotch nativity had never been i-emoved, 
and that he was now sent to govern the jjrovince 
in direct defiance to the act of Parliament. He 
was also accused of favoring Scotchmen and 
filling the minor offices of the province with 
them,^ to the exclusion of Englishmen and 

■ We have been," said the proprietors, " obliged against 
our inclinations to dismiss Colonel Andrew Hamilton from 
the Government because of a late Act of Parliament disa- 
bling all Scotchmen to serve in places of Public Trust or 
Proffit." 

2 In a memorial of Edward Randolph, setting forth the 
condition of East and West Jersey, he says : " Mr. Andrew 
Hamilton, a Scotchman, is the Gov', of those provinces. 



others, and they demanded the restoration of 
Basse, whom they professed to still regard as 
their rightful Governor. On the other hand, 
the adherents of Hamilton alleged that Basse 
had never been in reality a Governor of the 
province; that his commission was only signed 
bv ten (instead of the requisite numlicr of six- 
teen) of the proprietors, and that it had never 
been confirmed by the King, as had been pro- 
claimed on his assumption of the office ; also, 
that he was in league with the malcontents and 
enemies of the proprietary government, Avho 
sought its overthrow.' It was in the midst of 
such a state of confusion and anarchy that 
Governor Hamilton resumed the Governorship. 
Among the chief of his opponents was Captain 
Andrew Bowne, who had been appointed Deputy 
Governor by Basse on his departure for Eng- 
land in 1699. On the 7th of June, 1701, Bowne 
received a commission, dated March 25th, as 
Governor of East New Jersey, but as it proved 
to have been signed by only six of the proprie- 
tors, it was disregarded by Hamilton, who then 
continued at the head of the government (if 
government it could be termed) during the 
brief period that elapsed before the expiration 
of the proprietary ride in New Jersey and its 
erection into a royal province under the crown 
of England. 

The proprietary government of the provinces 
of New Jersey had proved weak and inefficient ; 
unsatisfactory to the j)eople, and a source of con- 
stant annoyance to and disagreement among the 
proprietors themselves, lor they had not only 
failed in the matter of government, but also in 
securing the object which was much nearer their 
hearts, — pecimiary profit. Their surrender 
(never completed) to King James in 1688 had 

Appointed by the Proprietors to Leas out their Lands & re- 
ceive their Quit-Rents. He is a great favourer of the 
Scotch traders, his countrymen." 

^Governor Basse, in a letter to Secretary Popple, dated 
June 9, 16'J9, complained, — ■' that I am too much discor- 
aged & Cheijued in my zeale for the Couioii good & liis 
Majesty's servis, in that I have nothinge beyond a Proprie- 
tary Commission to support me & even then persons seem- 
inge to desert me for no other reason alleged that ear I 
could yet hear of, then [than] 'hose that are but so many 
instances of my faitlifuUness to the interest of the crowne, 
viz'., — My tlisctiiDitenani'rinije Ihe Scotch and Pirates in their 
illcgall trades." 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETARY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



35 



hecn forced on them hv that moiian^li's faith- ! 

I 
Icssness ami (lii[)licity; but now, attor a turtlier 

trial of tiiirtwii yeai-s, resulting tlie same as j 

before, thev had ixx-ame so entirely discouraged 

that, if they could he allowed to retain their 

right of property in tlie soil, they were willing 

to surrender that power of government which 

they had never been able to wield successfully. 

In an official "Representation," by the Board 

of Trade and Plantations, to the Lords Justices 

of England, dated Whitehall, October 2, 1701, 

tiiey say : ' 

" We do not find that any sufficient form of 
Government has ever been settled in those Prov- 
inces, either by the Duke of York or by tliose 
claiming under him ; but that many incon- 
veniences and disorders having arisen from their 
Pretence of right to govern, the Proprietors of 
East New Jersey did surrender their said pre- 
tended right to the late King James in the 
month of April, 1688, which was accordingly 
accepted by him. That since his Majesty's ^ 
Accession to the Crown the Proprietors both of 
East and West New Jersey have continued to 
challenge the same right as before, and did, in 
the year 1697, apply themselves to us in order 
to their olttaining his Majesty's Approbation of 
the I'erson ^ whom they desired to have consti- 
tuted Governor of the said Provinces, but at the 
same time refused to enter into Security to his 
Majesty, pursuant to the Address of the Kight 
Honourable the House of Lords, of the 8th of 
March, 1696, that the Person so presented by 
them, the said Proprietors, should duly observe 
and put in execution the Acts of Trade ; yet 
nevertheless proceeded from Time to Time to 
commissionate whom they thought fit to be 
Governors of those Provinces witliout his 
Majesty's Approbation acording to what is 
re([uired by the late Act for preventing Frauds 
and regulating Abuses in the Plantation Trade. 

" That in this manner, having formerly com- 
missionated Golonel Andrew Hamilton, after- 
\\ards ^L\ Jeremiah Bass, then again superseding 
their Commission to Mr. Ba.ss, and renewing: or 



' LeaDiing and Spicer, G04 — IJ07. 

'' Meaning the Prince of Orange, King James' successor. 

3 Governor Jeremiah Basse. 



confirming that to Colonel Hamilton, and ever 
since tiiat also some of them having sent another 
Commi.ssion to one Captain Andrew Bown, the 
Inhabitants, sensible of the defects and unsuffi- 
ciency of all those Commi.ssions for want of his 
Majesty's Authority, have upon several occasions 
some of them opposed one of those Governors, 
some another, according as Interest, Friendship 
or Faction have inclined them. 

" That the Inhabitants of East New Jersey, 
in a Petition to his Majesty the last year, Com- 
plained of several Grievances they lay under by 
the neglect or mismanagement of the Pro- 
prietors of that Province or their Agent; or 
particularly that from the latter end of June, 
1689, till about the latter end of August, 1692, 
(which was a Time of actual War), they had not 
taken any manner of care about the Govern- 
ment thereof, so that, there having been neither 
Magistrates established to jiut the Laws in 
execution, nor Military Officers to command or 
give Directions in order to the Defence of the 
Province, they were exposed to any Insults that 
might have been made upon them by an Enemy ; 
unto which they also a<liled that dui-ing the 
whole time the Said Proprietors have govern'd 
or protended to govern that Province tiiey have 
never taken care to preserve or defend the .same 
from the Indians or other Enemies by sending 
or providing any Arms, Ammunition or Stores, 
a.s they ought to have done; and the Saitl In- 
habitants thereupon hundily jirayed his Majesty 
would be ])leased to C'ommissionate some fit 
Person qualified according to Law to be Gover- 
nor over them. 

" That it has been re})resented to us by several 
Letters, Memorials and otlier Papers, as well 
from the Inhabitants a.s Proprietors of both 
those Provinces, that they are at present in Con- 
fusion and Anarchy, and that it is much to be 
apprehended leastby the heats of the Parties that 
are among.st them, they should fall into such 
Violences as may endanger the lives of many 
Persons, and destroy tiie Colony. . . . 

" That the Proprietors of East New Jersey 
residing there have signed and sent over hither, 
to a Gentleman whom they have constituted 
their Agent and Attorney in that behalf, an 
absolute and unconditional surrender of their 



3G 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Uiglit to the (Tovernnu'iit of that I'roviiicc, so 
tar as the Same is in tliein, and so far as they 
are capable of (hiing- it for otiiers concerned 
with them in that Propriety. 

" That in relation to tlie aforesaid Articles, 
we have been attended by several of the Pro- 
prietors here, who have further personally de- 
clared to us that their Intention in proposing 
the same is only to secure their Right in such 
Things as are matter of property ; and that they 
unanimously desire to surrender the Govern- 
ment to tiie King, and submit the Circumstances 
tiiereof to his Majesty's Pleasure. But in re- 
lation totlie fore-mentioned PetitidU that Colonel 
Hamilton may at present receive his Majesty's 
Approbation to be Governor of these Provinces, 
the said Proprietors are so divided amongst 
tiiemselves, that whereas some seem to insist 
upon his Approbation as one principal Condi- 
tion of their surrender, others in the same man- 
ner insist upon his exclusion." 

Upon which the board declai'cd their opinion 
that none of .the proprietoi's claiming under 
the Duke of York's release had ever held a 
legal right to the government of the provinces 
of East and West New Jersey, and " tiiat it is 
very expedient for the ])reservation of those 
Territories to the Crown of England, and for 
.securing the private Interest of all Per.sons con- 
cerned, that his Majesty woidd be pleased to 
•■onstitute a Governor over those Pro\-inces by 
his immediate Commission." ' 

This "Representation" by the Lords of Trade 
hastened the action of the proprietors, who, on 
the 15th of April, 1702, formally surrendered 
to Queen Anne (who had, in the mean time, suc- 
ceeded to the throne of England, on the death 
of King William, in March, 1701-2) all their 
right of government over the ]U'ovinccs of East 
and West New Jersey. The surrender wixs 
duly accepted (April 17, 1702) by the Queen, 
who, on the 5th of the following December, 
conuiiissioned her cousin, Edward Hyde, Lord 
< 'ornbury, "to be our Captain General and 
Governor in Chief in and over tiie aforesaid 
Comity of Nova Cicsarea or New Jersc)^, viz, — 
the Division of East and West New Jersey in 

' Le.aming finJ Spicer, p. BOy. 



Anu'rica, which we have thought tit to reunite 
in one I'rovince, and settle under one entire 
Government." 

Lord Ciirnburv, who had previously received 
the appointment and commission of Governor of 
New York, arrived there from England on the 
3d of May, 1702. His commission as Gov- 
ernor of New Jersey, signed by the Queen in 
tlie following December, a.s before mentioned, 
reached him at New York on the 29th of fluly, 
1703, and on the 10th of August following he 
went to New Jersey and assumed the govern- 
ment. His Council ha<l ])reviously been aji- 
pointed by the Queen, consisting of the follow- 
ing-named persons, viz.: Edward Hunlokc, 
Lewis Morris, Andrew Bowne, Samuel Jen- 
nings, Thomas Revell, Francis Davenjiort, 
William Pinhorne, Samuel Leonard, (ieorge 
Deacon, Samuel Walker, Daniel Leeds, ^\'il- 
liani Sandford and Robert (iuary. The Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of New Jer,sey was Colonel 
Richard Ingoldsby, commissioned by the Queen, 
November 26, 1702.- 

The first General Assembly under the royal 
Governor convened at Perth Amboy, November 
10, 1703, nearly all tiic members being present. 
Those for the eastern division of the ])rovince 
were (^badiah Bowne, Jedediah Allen, Miciiael 
Howden, Peter Van Este, John Reid, John 
Harrison, Cornelius Tunison, Richard Harts- 
borne and Colonel Richard Townly. Of these, 
Messrs. Bowne, Reid and Hartsliorne were of 
Monmouth County. Attiiis session the Assem- 
bly appeared to be very huml)le andsub.servieni 
to the will of the Governor. He, in his opening- 
address, reconmiended the passage of certain meas- 
ures, Avhich the Assembly passed with but little de- 
lay ; but all these bills, on presentation to theGov- 
ernor, were disapproved by him, excepting one 
prohibiting the purchase of lands from Indians 
by any others than the ])ro])rietors ; and on 
the 13th of December he prorogued the house. 
The next .session was held at Burlington, be- 
ginning on the 7th of September, 17U4. The 
members for the eastern division were Joim 
Bowne, Richard Hartshorne, Richard Salter, 
Obadiah Bowne, Anthony Woodward, John 

-Commission revoked by tlie Queen, Oclober 'JO, 1709. 



THE DUTdll, ENCLISH AND PROPRIETARY RUI>E IN NEW JERSEY. 



37 



Tiiuison, John Ijuwrencc, Jasper Crane, Peter 
Viiu Este, Thomas Gordon, John Biuvlay and 
John Royce, the first-named four l)einii' from 
Monmouth ( 'ounty. One of the measures 
whieh the Governor pressed upon tliis Assend)ly 
was the raising of a militia force, ou account 
of recent depredations upon the {)eople about 
tiie Navesinks Ijy the crew of a French priva- 
teer ; and auotlier was tiie raising of a large 
sum of money for support of the government, 
viz. : £2000 per year for twenty years. The 
Assembly, being unwilling to meet his views 
on the.se (particularly) and other measures rec- 
ommended, he promjitly dissolved them on 
the 28tii, after a session of three weeks, and 
issued writs for the election of a new Assem- 
bly. 

From this time the remaining four years of 
Cornbnry's administration in New Jersey was 
a period of continual discord and of quarrel be- 
tween him and the A.s.sembly. Two of the 
leading members of his Council had been sus- 
pended by him on account of their antagonism 
to his views and measures. These were Lewis 
Morris and Sanniel Jennings, between whom, 
especially Morris, and the Governor there arose 
feelings of the most intense animosity and 
hatred. His opinion of these two men is 
very plainly expressed in an address of the Lieu- 
tenant-(iovernor and Council of N^ova Cicsarea, 
or New Jersey, to the C^ueen in 1707, a document 
emanating, in fact, from the Governor, though 
not signed by hira. The " Address," in refer- 
rins: to several causes which had brought about 
the state of disorder which had ruled in Xe\v' 
Jersey for several years, proceeds ; " The first 
is wholly owing to the Turbulent, Factious, 
Uneasy and Disloyal Principles of two Men in 
that Assembly, M'' Ijcwis Morris and Samuel 
Jennings, a (inaker ; Men notoriousl}' known 
to 1)0 uneasie under all Goverunaeut ; Men 
never known to be consistent with themselves ; 
Men to whom all the Factions and Confusions 
in the Goveriniients of New Jersey and Penn- 
.sylvania for many years are wholly owing ; 
Men that have had the Confidence tf) declare 
in open Council That your Majesties Instruc- 
tions to your Governours in these Pi-oviuces shall 
not oblige or bind tliem, nor will tiicy be con- 



cludiKl by them further than they are warranted 
byjjaw; of which also they will be the judges; 
an<l this is done by them (as we have all the 
reason in the world to belii've) to encourage 
not only this Government, but also the rest of 
your Governments in Americii, to throw ofi' 
your Majesties Royal Prerogative." 

In the same year, Cornbury, in an address to 
the Assembly, May 12, 1707, said: "I am of 
opinion that nothing has hindered the Ven- 
geance of a just heaven from falling ujion this 
province long agoe but the Infinite mercy. 
Goodness, long Suffering and forbearance of 
all-mighty God, who has been abundantly 
provoked by the Repeated Crying Sins of a 
perverse generation among us. And more 
Especially by the dangerous & abominable Doc- 
ti'ines and the wicked lives and jiractices of a 
Number of people, some of whome, under the 
pretended name of Christians, have dared to 
deny the very Essence and being of the 
Saviour of the world." 

On the other hand, it was charged by Lewis 
Morris and the party of which he was the 
leader that, in addition to Cornbury's general 
unfitness for the position of Governor and the 
fact tliat his supporters were of the most un- 
princi[)led and characterless people in the ])rov- 
ince, he was also exceedingly corrupt, and liad 
been led by his avarice to the acceptance of 
bribes, given in consideration of his dissolving 
the Assembly and for " having Officers appointed 
to the good liking of the people, and to be 
freed of their Quit-Rents." Morris, in a letter 
to the British Secretary of State, date<l February 
9, 1707, mentions these matters (beginning with 
Cornbury's arrival in New Jersey as Governor) 
as follows : 

" When he arrived there he ibnnd it divided 
into two j)artics, the one called Hamilton's and 
the other Basse's party; not to trouble your 
Honor from whence they rose, Hamilton's 
party in East New Jersey consisted of the 
gentlemen of the best figure and foi-tiuie and 
majority of the people. Basse being I'or- 
merly an Anabaptist Minister, those of that 
religion, some Quakers and a misclaiiions mob 
were of his party .... That jiarty of Basse's 
having most of them being in y" Assembly, and 



38 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



having made some endeavours to procure an Act 
of Indempnity which proved ineffectual!, had 
recourse to other measures, and it having got 
wind that his 1/ rec'' money of Doctor John- 
stone, and guessing tiie sum much bigger than 
really 'twas, began to entertain some hopes, very 
justly conceiving that he that was not proofe 
against one sum would n<it withstand another, 
and since he was to be i)urchas'd, resolved to bid 
for liiui, and being cncourag'd by his confident, 
D' l>ridges, Ciiiefe Justice of New York, since 
dead, they raised the severall sums mentioned in 
tiie aliidavits' and many more that we cannot 
vet get accounts of, as we judge to y" value of 
about fifteen hundred pounds. This money 
was paid to one Richard Salter (who had been 
presented bv a (Jrand Jury fi^r fellony under 
tiie former administration) and to one Capt. 
John Bowne; both which persons travailed 
through the Province, and by untrue insinua- 
tions perswaded the raising of this money. 
They are l)oth protected and honored by my 
Lord, and what places he can bestow given 
them. Bowne was a member of the Assembly^ 
and by them expelled for refusing to tell what 
he did with the money .^ Salter kept out of the 
way and could not be got, but while he kept 
out of the Serjeant's way, my Lord admitted 
him to hiscomj)any,and sent for a boat and had 
him Sliiped over into Pensilvania government. 
... It can be proved (without Bowne and 
t'other) that 'twas [the money raised as alleged] 
given to D' Bridges in my Lord's house, and 
tiiere is all the reason in y" world to believe his 
Ijordship had it." 

With this letter from Morris to the Secre- 



' See .affidavit foUowini;. 

2 John Bowne (son of that John who was one of the first 
five settlers within the limits of Monmouth County) was 
expelled from the House of Assembly, April 30, 1707, for 
Ills complicity ill the raising of money for the bribing of 
Lord Cornbury. 

(Jn the 5th of May, 1707, the Assembly " Resolved that 
this House, from the Evidence of Several Persons, tj\ken by 
the Committee of the Whole House, and Several Petitions 
Sent to this House, are fully s.atisfied that there have been 
Considerable Sums of Money privately raysed in this Prov- 
ince by the perswasiveness of Kichai-il Saltar, to procure 
tlie dissolution of the Assembly to get deare of the proprie- 
tors' Quitt rent, and procure such men to be put in office 
as the Contributors Should approve of." 



tary of State was forwarded the following, 
being a part of " A Collection of Affidavits, 
Depositions and Petitions to the Assembly 
of New Jersey, to support the accusation of the 
said A.ssembly against Ijord Cornbury's Admin- 
istration of that Province. Inclosed in Mr. 
Morris's 9th Feb'ry, 1707-8 : " 

"Joseph Meaker, aged fifty-nine years, being Sworn, 
saith that Mr. Richard Salter told this depon' that he 
thouglit the then Assembly would be dissolved and 
that the Countrey had not a tree choice of their Re|>- 
resentatives in that Assembly, and that if a sum of 
money cou'd be raised, which he, the s'd >Salter [ler- 
swaded to : He, sd Salter, said he knew he could jno- 
cure from my Ld Cornbury that they should liave a 
free choice of their Representatives, their Quit rents 
cleared and new Justices made such as the People liad 
a mind to ; this depon' further saith that Ridiard 
Salter, in a great company where liimself, Jonas Wood, U 

Joseph Lyon, Benjamine Meaker and severall others " 
were, Salter told them that the money raised was to 
be given to my Ld Cornbury to obtain the ends 
aforesd, that this depon' paid four pounds himself 
with intent to be given to my Ld C'ornbnry for to ob- 
tain tlie Ends aforesaid, and tliat most of the Con- 
tributors in lillizabeth Towne told this depon' that 
they had given the money to be given to my Ld Corn- 
bury to obtain a dissolution of the then Assembly 
and other the ends before intmed. This depon' says 
he docs not know whether the money wa.s given to 
my Lord Cornbury or not; but he believes it was." 

"Apr. 28, 1707. Sworn as before.' 

" Lewis Morris, Chairman." 

"Sefty Grover, Aged forty-nine years, being Sworn, 
saith that the saw severall Billes in Salter's hands for 
several sums of money, Particularly one from M' John 
Royce for a sum above thirty pounds, one from one 
Lucas (but whether the younger or older he knows 
not) for forty pounds, and from one Dunham or some 
such Name for five pounds ; that the sd Salter wou'd 
have had this depon' sign a Bond to Capt. Bowne, 
and accordingly produced a blank Bond ready drawn, 
which this depon' refused to sign until he knew what 
it was for; Salter reply 'd, it was for the good of the 
country and t' would prove so, and this depon' urged 
very hard to know what it w.as for; he, the sd Salter, 
told this depon', He should never know more than he 
did know ; this depon' saith further, th.at he saw a 
parcel! of Papers in Salter's hands, which Salter told 
him were Billes, and read severall of them to him, 
but he docs not remember the Persons' Names or 
Sums, but that they were most or all taken in Capt. 
John Bowne's Name ; he, the sd depon', also saith, 
that James Grover told him he gave ten pounds on 

3 N.J. Col. Doc, Series 1, vol. iii. pp. 210-211. 



THE DUTCH, ENGLISH AND PROPRIETAKY RULE IN NEW JERSEY. 



39 



the aocount; Jiimes Cox told him six or seven times 
tliat he had given ten i)ouiuls ; Jaraes Bowne t(jld 
the depoii' lie liad given six jioiinds; (ieorge Allen 
told tills dejion' lie had given twelve [inunds; Ger- 
shom Mott told this depoii', it had cost him twenty 
pounds, hut whether it was for the Lawyers or upon 
the other account, which generally olitained the 
name of tlie Blind Tack [tax], this deiioii' cannot 
tell, y' William Winter told this dejionent, he had 
given tour pounds upon that blind tack ; John Bray 
told this depon' he had given six pounds ami that he 
was straitened to procure the money, y' this deponent 
heard .Salter read a Bill from himself to Bowne, but 
remembered not the sum; this depon' further saith 
tnat by Common fame the Persons hereafter nam'' 
were supposeil to contribute to the blind tack as fol- 
lows, viz.: Widow Reape, twenty pounds; Steven 
Cook, six pounds ; Joseph Cox, twelve pounds ; 
Garet Wall, thirty pounds, he told this depon' it had 
cost him forty pounds; Nathaniel Parker, Eight 
])ounds; John Lipincot, six pounds; Joseph Parker, 
six pounds; Elisha Lawrence, twenty pounds; and 
that all the Lawrences, except Benjamine, gave 
money ; Richard Hartshorne, thirty pounds ; Capt. 
Andrew Bowne, thirty-six pounds, this depon' thinks 
Salter shew'd him Cap' Andrew Bowne's Bond for 
tliat sum; Edward Woolly, seven or eight pounds; 
John Woolly, eight pounds; John Stout, six jiouiids; 
W"' Winter told this Depon' he was by when Lipet 
and iStout gave it; Josejdi William, Eighteen shil- 
lings; Joseph Wardcll, Eight pounds; John Scot, 
five pounds and upwards; John Lawrence, seven 
pounds; William Hartshorne, six pounds; Richard 
Lipincot, five ])onnds and upwards; Thomas White, 
eight pounds; James Ashton, seven or Eight jiounds; 
George Hulet, six pounds ; Old Robins, forty shil- 
lings ; Richard James, Six pounds ; that it was 
generally believed one man had all the money afore- 
s'd. William Winter tidd this depon' Salter jiromised 
to get his Quitrcnts otl'and that Cap' Stillwcll should 
be put out of otfice, and this depon' saith that it was 
Salter generally went about to perswade the raising 
the above sd money ; this depon' further saith it was 
some little time after he, the sd Salter, had taken the 
Oaths for to be a Justice of the Peace that this de- 
pon' had this discourse with him, and that some time 
before that the sd Salter had desir'd this depon' to 
send sevcrall persons to meet him at Middletown, at 
an appointed time, which this depon' did do, and some 
of the persons afterwards told him they had given 
him, the sd Salter, Bills on account of the Blind Tack 
aforesd, and further this depon' saith not. 
" Apr: 26th, 1707. Sworne as before,' 

" Lewi.s Morris, Chairman." 

Tliere were many more depositioiLS produced, 
all being of nearly the same tenor ; and there 



can he no douiit of the fnitli, in the main, of 
the allegations brout;'lit by Lewis Morris against 
Cornbnry, who was tin; must detested oi' all 
the royal CJovernors, except, perliaps, Sir Kd- 
mnnd Andros; and, indeed, in the matter of 
private character, the latter was far tiie bettor 
of the two. In an address by tlie Assembly 
to Governor Hunter, in 1710, they said, 
with reference to the administration of Corn- 
bury, that he had "sacrificed his own reputa- 
tion, the laws and our liberties, to his avarice," 
and that he had treated her Majesty's subjects 
rather as slaves, whose jiersons and estates lie 
might control, than as frci'men, who were to be 
governed by the laws. .\nd he was not more 
detested and disliked in New Jersey than in New 
York, where, in fact, his private character aji- 
peared in even a more unfavorable light. " It was 
not uncommon for him to dress himself in a wo- 
man's habit, and then to patrol the fort in which 
he resided ; such freaks of low humour exposed 
him to the universal contem])t of the jicoplc ; but 
their indignation was kindled by his despotick 



rule, savage bigotry, insatiable avarii 



IN. J. Col. Doc, Series 1, vol. iii. pp. 211-213. 



Uid 



injustice, not only to the publick, but even to 
his private creditors; for he left some of the 
lowest tradesmen in his employment unsatisfied 
in their just demands." — Jlisforj/ of Xcir York. 

Finally, the complaints against Cornbury 
became so loud and frerpicnt that the Queen 
was forced to the conviction of his unfitness i'or 
the position he held, and although he was her 
near kinsman, she revoked his commission and 
appointed John, Lord Lovelace, his succcs.sitr 
as (Jovernor of the provinces of New York and 
New .Jersey. 

Lord Lovelace was (■ommi.ssioned (iovernor 
of the two jirovinccs in April, 17(J8. He ar- 
rived at New York on the 18th of Hecember 
following, and on the 2()th he met the Council 
of New Jersey at Bergen, and assumed tlu; 
government of the province, but his adminis- 
tration was of less than five months' duration, 
for he died at Ne\v York on the (>th of May, 
1709, having never recovered from a sickness 
resulting from the exposure and hardship of the 
voyage from England. One of his .sons died 
at New York before liini, and another (the 
eldest) died a fortnight after his father. The 



40 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JERSEY. 



widowed Lady Lovelace returned to Eiighmd, 
heart-broken and in poverty, having failed to 
secure a reimlnirsnient of her husband's outlay 
in coming to America. 

The successor of Lord Lovelace at the lu;ad 
of the governments of New Jersey and New 
York was Lieutenant-Governor Richard In- 
goldsby, who had held that office since his 
aii|)i)intiucnt by the Queen, in 1702. He had 
been in full sympathy with ( ornbury, and wa.? 
almo.-^t as much detested by the pc(ij>le as his 
superior had been. Doth provinces memorial- 
ized the (iueen, protesting again.st his continu- 
ance in office, which resulted in the revocation 
of his ccmimission (October 20, 170!)). William 
Piidiorne then (as senior member of the Council) 
became acting (xovernor, until the arrival at 
New York (June 14. 1710) of Jirigadier-Geueral 
Robert Hunter, who had been commissioned 
as Governor of New York and New Jersey in 
the preceding December. 

(lovcrnor Hunter favore<l the interests and 
measures of what was called the " country party " 
— which included the (Quaker element — and was 
vigorously opposed by those who had been ad- 
herents of Jjord ('ornbury. Jhit he gained the 
good- will and respect of a majority of the peo])le, 
and his administration, which continued ten 
years, was far more successful than any which 
had ]>receded it in New Jersey. In 1719, when 
writing to Secretary Popple, notifying him of his 
intention of returning soon to England, he .'^aid : 
" I shall leave both provinces in perfect peace, 
to which both had been long strangers." Upon 
his departure, Lewis Morris, being president 
of the Council, liecame for the time acting 
(iovernor of New Jersey. 

When (iovcrniir Hunter left for England, in 
1719, it was with the expectation of returning 
to New York, but not long after his arrival in 
London an arrangement was made, with the 
King's sanction, by which he exchanged offices 
with William Burnet, Esq., he receiving that 
of comptroller of the customs, in London, and! 
JJurnot being commissioned Governor of New 
York and New Jersey, April 19, 1720. He' 
arrived at New York in the following Sep- 
temV)er. 

Governor Burnet's administration was marked 



by disagreements between himself and the As- 
sembly, chiefly arising from differences of 
opinion in the matter of raising revenue for the 
support of government. He remained ( Jovernor 
of the two provinces until the latter part of the 
year 1727, when he was appointed to the gov- 
ernment of ]\I:x.ssachusetts Bay, and removed to 
Boston. He was succeeded in the( Jovernorship 
of the two provinces by John Montgomerie, 
Es(j., who arrived at New York and assumed 
the government on the 15th of April, 1728. He 
remained in office three years, and until his 
death, July 1, 1731. During his administration 
(in 1728) the first .step was taken, by a resolu- 
tion of the General Assembly, and afterwards a 
petition to the King, for making the govern- 
meut of New Jersey separate from and inde- 
pendent of that of New York. The measure 
was unsuccessful at this time, but was adopted 
ten years later. 

By the death of Governor Montgomerie, the 
president of the Council, Ix'wis Morris, became I 
and continued Acting Governor until 1732, 
when Colonel William Cosby was commissioned 
(iovernor (February 4th), and arrived in New 
York in Sejitember of that year. He continued 
in office until his death, March 10, 173G. John 
Anderson, president of the Council, then admin- 
istered the government until his death (which 
occurred about two weeks afterwards), when it 
devolved on the next member of the Council, 
John Hamilton, Esq. (son of the former Gov- | 
ernor, Andrew Hamilton), who continued to I 
act as Governor for about two years. " 

Li 173(i, about two months after the death 
of (lOvernor Cosby, a jK'tition from the Council 
and the Speaker and a number of mendjcrs of 
the As.sembly, and another jictition from the 
grand jury of the Supreme Court of New Jersey 
(both dated May 11, 17.'>()), praying for a sepa- 
ration of the government of New Jersey from 
that of New York, were forwarded to Elnglaud 
and ])resented to the King, by \\'hom they were 
referred to the Lords of Trade for their consid- 
eration and advice. The Lords having reportt'd 
favorably (August 5, 1736), Colonel Lewis 
Morris, of Monmouth County, who had been a | 

prominent man in tlic atfairs of the province for t 
fortv-si.x vears, and a Icailer in the efforts to 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



41 



secure the Hei)aration of the provinces, was 
ai>[»)inted and eoiiiniissioocd, in 1738, Governor 
of New Jersey, independent of the government 
of New York. 

The administration of Governor Morris was 
a eoniplete surprise and disappointment to tiie 
people, who liad based their expectations on his 
previons ofKcial record. In the office of Gov- 
ernor lie ever manifested a disposition rather 
to ui)hold the arbitrary demands and preten- 
sions of the crown than to promote and defend 
the interests of the colonists. The Assembly 
welcomed his appointment to the Governorship 
with enthusiasm, bnt they soon found that their 
expectations were to be disappointed. Great 
dissatisfaction was felt at his attitude towards 
the Assembly, especially on account of his con- 
tinual and pressing demands for the apjtropria- 
tion of money. The course pursued by him 
subjected him to reproachful imputations, and 
entirely eradicated the sentiment of gratitude 
which had previously (particularly in Cornbury's 
time) existed towards him, and created in its 
place a feeling of strong and bitter resentment. 
Under such conditions he continued to hold the 
office of Governor of New Jersey until his death, 
in May, 1746. 

The successor of Governor Morris was John 
Hamilton, president of the Council, who con- 
tinued as Acting Governor until his death, in 
1747. Daring his administration the province 
voted to raise five hundred men, and to appro- 
priate the amount of interest in the treasury and 
£"10,000 in bills of credit in aid of the expedi- 
tion against the French fortress of Loui.sbourg, 
at Cape Breton. At the death of President 
Hamilton the government of the province 
devolved on the eldest member of the Council, 
John Reading Esq., who held till the arrival of 
Jonathan Belcher as Governor. 

Governor Belcher was commissioned on the 
l;3th of February, 1747, and on the 8th of 
August arrived at Sandy Hook, where he left 
his vessel and jirocecded in his barge to Perth 
Amboy. His administration, which wtvs of 
ten years' duration, embracing most of the period 
of the " French and Indian War," was regarded 
as a successful one. He died at Elizabelhtown, 
August 31, 1757. At his death the govern- 



ment again devolved on John Reading until the 
arrival of Governor Francis Bernard, in June, 
1758. In 1760, Governor Bernard was trans- 
ferred to the government of the Massachusetts 
colony, being succeeded in the Governorship of 
New Jersey by Thomas Boone, ^^•ho arrived in 
the province on the 3tl of July. In 1761 he 
^^■as transferred to South Carolina, and was 
succeeded in the same year as Governor of New 
Jersey by Josiah Hardy, who, in 1762, was 
removed from the Governorship and appointed 
consul at Cadiz, in Spain. His successor was 
the last of the royal Governors of New Jersey, 
William Franklin, son of Dr. Benjamin Frank- 
lin. He was commissioned in September, 1762, 
and remained Governor of the province until 
1776, when the Provincial Congress of New 
Jer.sey deposed him from office, and he was sent 
under military guard to Connecticut, where he 
remained for a long time a prisoner. On being 
liberated he joined the British in New York, 
where he became president of the Board of 
A.ssociated Loyalists, and so continued until 
1782, when the board was dissolved by order of 
the British commander, SirCiuy Carleton. Soon 
afterwards the war closed, and Franklin went 
to Endand and lived there until his death. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE IKDIAX OCCUPATION. 

In the year 1609, on a mild September day, 
when the morning fog was lifted from the 
ocean, off the laud that is now the Monmouth 
County sea-shore, a sight was disclo.sed such as 
the Indian natives of the region had never be- 
fore seen, and which, as was afterwards told in 
their traditions, excited in them feelings of 
wonder, anxiety and dread. Far out on the 
ocean, to the southeast, floated a strange object 
(really a little Dutch brigantine, the fir.st Euro- 
pean vessel ever seen in these waters), wiiich 
some of the savages believed to be a sea monster, 
while others thought it an enormous bird, 
which latter belief was strengthened when, with 
the coming of the breeze from the southeast, 



42 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



the little craft spread her sails to it and began 
to move northward, nearing the shore. There 
were some among them, too, who believed that 
it was the floating house of their great INIanito, 
who had come to visit them from his home in 
the mysterious land beyond the mighty waters, 
and messengers were dispatched to warn all the 
neighboring people, and bring them to the shore 
to see the strange sight and give the mysterious 
visitor — whether Manito or demon' — such a 
reception as circumstances might demand. 

Steadily, before the fresh soiitlicrly breeze, 
the little vessel moved on, coming nearer and 
neiirer to the shore, until, about the middle of 
the afternoon, the savage crowd gathered on the 
Navesink Highlands saw her pass the northern 
extremity of Sandy Hook and enter the bay, 
where, after a while, she became stationary at a 
point distant from the shore, and remained 
there in quiet until the shadows of night settled 
down ov'er bay and highland, lea\'ing the 
alarmed and wondering natives to pass the 



' " When some of them first saw the ship approaching 
afar off they did not know what to think about her, but 
stood in deep and solemn amazement, wondering whether 
it was a spook or apparition, and whether it came from 
heaven or hell. Others of them supposed that it might be 
a strange tish or sea-monster. They supposed those on 
board to be rather devils than humau beings. Thus they 
differed among eacli other in opinion. A strange report 
soon spread through their country about the visit, and cre- 
ated great talk and comment among all the Indians. This 
we have heard several Indians testify." — Van Der Donck' s 
Descripiion of New Nelherhmd. 

The missionary, Heckewelder, mentions in his writings 
that one of tlie principal traditions which he found among 
the Indians was this having reference to the coming of the 
first European vessel — that of Captain Henry Hudson — 
which many of them firmly believed to be the house or great 
canoe of the Manito, who was coming to visit them, but 
whether the visit portended good or evil to them, they re- 
mained in doubt and fear. In this belief, they sent out 
runners to notify all the' Indians within reach to come to 
the shore at once to give him as good a reception as possi- 
ble, and so appease his wrath, if it was in wrath that he 
was coming. Afterwards, when the vessel came near the 
shore, and they saw her commander dressed in bright 
scarlet, with slashings and bands of gold lace, they were 
confirmed in their belief that it was in reality the Manito. 
Such is the tradition found by Heckewelder. But it was 
not long before they discovered that the captain and crew 
of the little vessel were not the Manito and his attendants, 
but mortal men, and they soon came to regard them as 
enemies. 



night with unsatisfied curiosity, waiting for the 
morning light, which, when it came, showed 
them the .same mysterious object (but now 
wingless), still quietly floating on the wtitcrs of 
tlic bay. 

This was the fir.st vessel (other tiitin the 
canoes of the Indians) which ever entered the 
lower Ijtiy of New York or the adjacent ocean 
waters.- She was of Dutch build, high-pooped 
after the ancient style, of a liurden of about 
forty lasts or eighty tons, ;ind carrying it rig 
sometiiing similar to that of the modern brig- 
antinc. Her name, "The Half-]\Ioon," in 
Dutch, was painted on her stern, and high 
above it floated the Dutch colors — -orange,' wliite 
and blue. She was, in fact, one of the vessels of 
the Dutcli East India Company, which tiny liad 
put in commission under command of Captain 
Henry Hudson, an Englishman, with Iloljcrt 
Juet, tilso an Englishman, as mate, clerk or 
superctirgo, and with :i crc\v of twenty sailors, 
partly Dutch and jKirtly English, and liad dis- 



^ In the spring of 1524, John Verrazano, sailing under 
the auspices of the King of France, coasted along the 11 
shores of Carolina, and sailed thence northeast as far .as " 
Newfoundland. On the 8th of July, in that year, he wrote 
to the King, and in the letter stated th.at he had " found a 
very pleasant situation among some steep liills, through 
which a very large river, deep at its mouth, forces its way 
to tlie sea. From the sea to the estuary of the river any 
ship heavily laden might p.ass, with the help of tlie tide, 
which rises eight feet.'' He also added that he found In- 
dians, who were delighted to see him, and that tlie " hills 
show many indications of minerals." 

Some writers have endeavored to convince themselves and 
their readers that the place referred to by Verrazano was the 
mouth of the Hudson River, and that consequently he, ami 
not Henry Hudson, was the first navigator who ever entered 
the Bay of Sandy Hook. But there is nothing to sustain such 
a supposition. No vessel ever built at that Jay, or for at 
least two centuries afterwards, would have had any diffi- 
culty in catering New York Bay without waiting for " tin: 
help of the tide ;" nor do the other particulars noticed by 
Verrazano correspond with those of the mouth of the Hud- 
son, while they do with those at the mouth of the Penob- 
scot, with the lofty and rugged hills of Camden and Rock- 
land, and of Monhegan Island, opposite the mouth. On 
that island an attempt was afterwards made to plant a 
French colony (resulting, perhaps, from Verrazauo's ac- 
count), and there is scarcely a doubt that it was the Penobscot 
River and hills to which he referred in his letter to the King 

^ At that time the flag of Hnlland was formed by three 
horizontal bars, — orange, white and blue, — but in or about 
the year IGuO the orange bar gave place to one of red. 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



43 



patched her from Amsterdam for the purpose 
of discovering a northeastern or northwestern 
passage to China and tlie Indies. The " Half- 
Moon" left Amsterdam April 4, 1609, and on 
tiie 6th she sailed from the Texel. Hudson 
doubled the Cape of Norway on the 5th of May, 
l)ut found the sea so full of ice that he was ob- 
liged to change his course. Early in July, after 
having cruised farther north, he arrived on the 
baid^sof Newfoundland, where he was becalmed 
lone: enousrh to catch more cod tiian his " small 
store of salt would cure." He next sailed wast, 
into the Penobscot, whore he remained a week 
cutting timber and making a new foremast. He 
then stood southward as far as the latitude of 
the Carolinas ; then turned back and coasted 
northward, passing the Capes of Virginia, and 
(in the 28th of August entered the mouth of 
Delaware Bay. He did not anchor there, but 
continued his way northeast, along the coast of 
Southern New Jersey, but keeping out of sight 
of land for several days. The incidents of the 
voyage along the coast of Ocean an<l Mon- 
moutli Counties are here given, as found in the 
journal or log-book kept by Robert Juet, the 
" underschipper " and supercargo of the " Half- 
Moon " : 

" Sept. 2. — In the morning close weather, the 
wind at south in the morning : from twelve un- 
til two o'clock we steered north-noi'thwest, and 
had sounding twenty -one fathoms, and in run- 
ning one glass we had but sixteen fathoms, then 
seventeen, and so shoaler and shoaler until it 
came to t\\-elve fathoms. AVe saw a great fire, 
but could not see the land ; then Me came to 
ten fathoms, whereupon we brought our tacks 
aboard and stood to the ea.stward, east-southeast, 
four glasses. Then the sun arose and we steered 
away north again and saw land from the 
west by north to the northwest by north, all 
like broken islands, and our soundings were 
eleven and ten fathoms. Then we luffed in 
for the shore, and fair by the shore we had 
seven fathoms. The course along the land we 
found to be northeast by north. From the 
land which we first had sight of until we came 
to a great lake of water [Barnegat Bay], as we 
could judge it to lie, being drowned land, which 
made it rise like islands, which was in length 



ten leagues. The mouth of the lake hath many 
shoals, and the sea breaks upon them as it is 
cast out of the mouth of it. And from that 
lake or bay the land lies north by east, and we 
had a gi-eat stream out of the bay ; and from 
thence our sounding was ten fathoms, two 
leagues from laud. At five o'clock we anchored, 
being little wind, and rode in eight fathoms 
water ; the night was fair. This night I found 
the land to haul the compass eight degrees. Far 
to the northward off us we saw high hills [the 
Navesink Highlands]. This is very good land 
to fall in with and a pleasant land to see. 

" Sept. 3. — The morning misty until ten 
o'clock, then it cleared and the wind came to 
the south southeast, so we weighed and stood to 
the northward. The land is very pleasant and 
high and bold to fall withal. At three o'clock 
in the afternoon we came to three great rivers. 
So we stood along the northernmost, thinking 
to have gone into it, but we found it to liave a 
very shoal bar before it, for wc had but ten 
f)ot water. Then wc cast aliout to the south- 
ward and found two fathoms, three fathoms, 
and three and a quarter, till we came to the 
southern side of them, then we had five and 
six fathoms and anchored. So we sent in 
our boat to sound and they found no less water 
than four, five, six and seven fathoms, and re- 
turned in an hour and a half. So we weighe<l 
and went in and rode in five fathoms, ooze 
ground, and saw many salmons and nndlets 
and rays very great. The height is 40° .'30'." 

The liaht-house on Sandv Hook is in latitude 
40° 27' 30" varying but little from Hudson's 
observation, which was probably taken after he 
had passed the extremity of the Hook. Two of 
the "three great rivers" which Juet mentions 
in his journal were doubtless the Narrows and 
Staten Island Sound ; and the third, being the 
northernmost, with a shoal bar before it, having 
but ten feet of water, wius probably Rockaway 
Inlet, which I)c Laet laid down on his map as a 
river, coming from Long Island. This inlet is 
barred at its mouth with seven feet of water at 
low tide. It appears that from this bar Hud- 
son stood over towards the H(j(jk, where he an- 
chored and sent his small boat round the |>oint 
to take soundings, and after it had returned 



44 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



with a favorable report he weighed anchor and 
went to a new anchorage in Sandy Hook Bay, 
where liis vessel lay for the night in five fathoms 
of water. 

" Sept. 4. — . . In the morning, as soon as 
the day was light, we saw that it was good 
riding farther up, so we sent our boat to sound 
and found that it was a very good harbour, 
and four and fi\e fathoms, two cables' length 
from the shore. Then we weighed and went 
in with our ship. Then our boat went on land 
\\ itli our net to fish and caught ten great mullets 
of a foot and a half long apiece, and a ray as 
great as four men could haul into the ship. So 
we trimmed our boat and laid still all day. At 
night the wind blew hard at the northwest, and 
our anchor came homo and we drove on shore, 
but took no Imrt, thanked l)e God, for the 
ground is soft sand and ooze. This dav the 
jwople of the country came aboard of us, seem- 
ing very glad of our coming, and brought green 
tobacco, and gave us of it for knives and beads. 
They go in deer-skins loose, wcll-<lressed.' 
They have yellow copper. They desire 
clothes, and are very civil. They have great 
store of maize, or Indian wheat, whereof they 
make good bread. The country is full of great 
and tall oaks." 

This was the first time that the Indians of 
this region ever saw the faces of Europeans. 
On the following day some of Hudson's 
people went on shore, that being the first time 
that a white man ever stood on the soil lying 
within the boundaries of the county of Mon- 
mouth. It seems that these visits on board and 
a.shore were satisfiictory to both savages and 
sailors ; but the friendly relations between them 
were soon afterwards broken, as will appear 
from the continuation of Jnet's narrative. 

" Sept. 5. — In tiie morning, as soon as the 
day was light, tlie wind cea.sed, and the flood 
came, so we heaved off our ship again into 



1 "There [in Sandy Hook Bay] they were visiteJ by two 
savages clothed in elk-skins, who sliowed them every sign 
of friendship. On the land they found an abundance of 
blue plums, and nuignificent oaksof a heiglit and thickness 
that one seldom beholds, together with poplars, linden- 
trees, and various other kinds of wood useful in ship-build- 
ing." — De Laet's " A\'ii> World." 



five fathoms water and .sent our boat to sound 
the bay, and we found tliat there was three 
fathoms hard by the soutiiern [Monmouth 
County] shore. ( )ur men went on land there, 
and saw great store of men, women and chil- 
dren, who gave them tobacco at their coming on 
land ; so they M-eut up into the woods, and saw 
greatstore of very goodly oaks and some currants 
[probably wild plums], for one of them came 
aboard and brought some dried, and gave me 
some, which were sweet and good. This day 
many of the people came aboard, some in man- 
tles of feathers and some in skins of divers 
sorts of good furs. Some women also came to 
us with hemp. They had red copper tobacco 
pijie.-;, and other things of copper they did wear 
about their necks. At night they went on hnid 
again, so we rode very rpiiet, but durst not trust 
them. 

"Sunday, Sejit. (3. — In the morning was 
fair weather, and our master sent John Col- 
man, with four other men, in our boat, over to 
the north side to sound the other river [the Nar- 
rows], being four leagues from us. They found 
by the way .shoal water, two fathoms; l)ut at 
the north of the river, eighteen and twenty 
fathoms, and very good riding for siiips, and a 
narrow river [the Kills] to the westward be- 
tween two islands. The lands they told us were 
as jileasant with grass and flowers and goodly 
trees as ever they had .seen, and very sweet 
smells came from them. So they went in two 
leagues and saw an open sea [Newark ]5ay], 
and returned ; and as they came back they 
were set upon l)y two caiioes, the one having 
twelve and the other fourteen men. The night 
came on and it began to rain so that their match 
went out, and they had one man .slain in the 
fight, which was an Englishman, named Jcjhn 
Colmau, with an arrow shot into his throat, and 
two more hurt. It grew so dark that they could 
not find the .ship that night, but laboured to and 
fro on their oars. They had so great a stream 
that their grapnel would not hold them. 

" Sejit. 7. — Was fair and by ten o'clock 
they returned aboard the ship and brought oin- 
dead man with them, whom we carried on land 
and buried, and named the point after his name, 
t'ohiHui's I'oint. Then we hoisted in our boat 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



45 



aud raised her side with waist-boards for defence 
of our men. So we rode still all night, having 
gooil regard to our watch." 

John Cohnan, then, wa.s the first white per- 
son ever buried in the .soil of Monmouth 
County. With regard to the place ol'hi.s burial, 
called by Hudson " Colmau's Point," there 
have been many different opinions entertained ; 
but the one most generally concurred in is 
that which was expressed by the Rev. l\Ir. Mar- 
cell us, that " it i.s identical with Point Comfort, 
in Raritan town.ship." 

" Sept. 8. — Was very fair weather ; we rode 
still very quietly. The people came aboard us 
and brought tobacco and Indian wheat to ex- 
change for knives and beads, aud offered us no 
violence. So we, fitting up our boat, did mark 
them to see if they would make any show of 
the death of our man, which they did not. 

"Sept. 9. — Fair weather. In the morn- 
ing two great canoes came aboard full of men ; 
the one with their bows and arrows, and the 
other in show of buying knives to betray us, 
but we perceived their intent. We took two 
of them to have kept them, and put red coats on 
them, and would not suffer the other [boat] to 
come near us. So they went on land, and two 
others came on board in a cauoe ; we took the 
one and let the other go ; but he which we had 
taken got up and leaped overboard. Then we 
Meighed, and went off into the channel of the 
river, and anchored there all night." 

The preceding entry is the last in Juet's 
journal which has reference to the stay of the 
" Half-Moon" and her people in the vicinity- of 
the Monmouth shore. They worked steadily 
u}) through the Narrows aud the river pa.st 
where New York City now is, and on the 1 1th 
reached a place where, says Juet, " the people 
of the country came aboard of u.s, making show 
of love, and gave us tobacco and Indian wheat, 
and departed for the night ; hut wc durst not 
trust than." In his entry of the following day 
he says : " This morning, at our first rode in the 
river, there came eight and twenty canoes full 
of men, women aud children to betray us, but 
we saw their intent and suffered none of them 
to come aboard us. At twelve o'clock they de- 
parted. They brought with them oysters and 



beaii.s, wheri'of we Ijougiit some. They have 
great tobacco pipes of yellow copjicr, and ])ots 
of earth to dress their meat in. 

"Sunday, Sept. 13. — . . . Thou thei'e came 
four canoes aboard, but we suffered none of tlu'in 
to come into our ship. They brought very 
great store of very good oysters on board, which 
we bought for trifles. 

"Sept. 15. — This morning our two savages 
got out of a port and swam away. After 
we were under .sail they called out to us in 
scorn." 

From this point in their 23a.ssage up to the 
vicinity of Albany they had no more trouble 
with the Indians. On their return down the 
river, at the Highlands of the Hnd.son, occurred 
the events mentioned by Juet, as follows : 

" Thursday, Oct. 1. — . . . The people of 
the moinitains came aboard us, wondering at 
our ship aud weapons. We bought some small 
skins of them for trifles. This afternoon one 
canoe kept hanging inidcr our stern with one 
man in it, which we could not keep from thence, 
who got up by our rudder to the cabin window 
and stole out my pillow and two shirts and 
two bandeleeres. Our master's mate shot at him 
and struck him in the brea.st and killed him. 
Whereupon all the rest fled away, .some in their 
canoas and some leaped out of them into the 
water. We manned our boat and got our 
thiuffs asrain. Then one of them that swam 
got hold of our boat, thinking to overthrow it, 
but our cook took a sword and cut off one of his 
hands, and he was drowned." The following 
entry refers to a point nine leagues farther 
down the river : 

" Oct 2. — . . . The flood wius come strong, 
so we anchored. Then came one of the savages 
that swam away from us at our going u]) the 
river with many others, thinking to betray us. 
But we perceived their intent aud suffered none 
of them to enter our ship. Whereupon two 
canoes full of men, with their bows and arrows, 
shot at us after our stern, in recompen.se whereof 
we discharged six muskets, and killed two or 
three of them. Then above a hundred of them 
came to a point of land to shoot at us. There 
I shot a falcon [small cannon] at them and 
killed two of them, whereupon the rest fled to 



4G 



HISTORY OP INIONMOTTTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



! 
tlie woods. Yet they maimed off another canoe 

with nine ur ten nu'ii, wliieh came to meet us ; 

so I shot at it also a falcon, and shot it tlirough 

and killed one of them. Then our men with 

their nuiskets killed three or four more of them, 

so tliey went their way." 

From this point, in their passage down the 
river, Hudson and his crew had no more inter- 
course with the Indians. The " Half-Moon " 
made no landing below, on river or bay. On 
tlie 4:th of October she jjassed Sandy Hook and 
stood out to sea, and her bold commander never 
agaiu saw the beautiful river which he had 
discovered and which now bears his name. 
From Sandy Hook he made no delay, but laid 
his course directly across the Atlantic, and on 
tlie 7th of November " safely arrived in the 
range of Dartmouth, in Devonshire, in the 
yeere 1609." 

In the following year another ship was .sent 
over l)y the East India Company, and prepa- 
i-ations were made to establish posts for the pur- 
pose of carrying on the fur trade, which at 
that time and for years afterwards was theprin- 
ci]ial object of commercial attraction to this 
]^art of the New World. The first posts estab- 
lished were at New Amsterdam, now New York 
(located on what is now the Battery), at Albany 
and at the mouth of Rondoiit Kill, on the Hud- 
son. From that time the Dutch held p(3sses- 
sion of the New Netherlands (including all that 
is now New Jersey) for more than half a cen- 
tury, during which time the Indians always 
continued to exhibit, in a greater or less degree, 
the hostility which had first been awakened by 
Hudson and his men in 1009. He and his 
crew were regarded as Dutchmen by the sav- 
ages, and for this reason they continued to 
show some degree of enmity against the Dutch 
through the more than fifty yeai's of their 
occupation of the country. ' From 1629 to 



' Vet it was the Diitcli tlieinselves wlio, prompted by 
avarice, sold the Indians guns .and powder in excliange for 
furs, A pamplilet description of this country, publislied in 
1048, says: 

" They sell by wholesale guns, powder, shot and ammu- 
nition to the Indians, instructing them in the use of our 
tights and arms; insomuch as two thousand Indians, by 
them armed, Mohawks, Karitons and some of Long-Isle, 
with their own guns so sold them, fell into war with the 



1632 they were actively hostile against the 
Dutch settlements on the Delaware to such an 
extent that the settlers were compelled to aban- 
don their homes, though they afterwards re- 
turned to them. In 1G55 they devastated the 
Dutch settlements on Staten Island and at 
points on the Hudson River, compelling the 
people to leave them and seek the pro- 
tection of the forts at New Amsterdam, Kon- 
dout and Albany. No such outrages were then 
committed by them in what is now Monmouth 
County" for the simple rea.son that there was 
not a white settler in all this region at that time. 
And when the English settlers came here to buy 
their lands, in 1663, the red men treated them 
with perfect friendlinass and continued to do .so 
ever afterwards. 

The aborigines whom the earliest white ex- 
plorers found occu]>ying the valleys of the 
Delaware and Hudst)n Rivers, with all the 
country lying between them, — as, in fact, the 
entire area now comprised in the States of New 
York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, — were of 
Algonquin stock, and embraced in two nations, 
or groups of nations, called by Kuropeans the 
Iroquois and the Di^lawares, the former hav- 
ing been so named by the French and the latter 
by the English. The language s|ioken by l)oth 
these nations was the Algonquin, but differed 
materially in dialect as u.sed by the different 
tribes. The uation to which the Engli.sh gave 
the name of Delawares was known in the In- 
dian tongue as the Ijcnni Lenape, or simply 
the Lenape; the Iroquois were, in the same 
tongue, called the Mengwe, which name became 



Dutch, destroyed all their scattering farms and boors, in- 
forcing them .all to retire to their upper fort, forty leagues 
up tliat river, .and to JIanhatas. . . . Three years since 
(heir (lovernor put out his declaration confessing that the 
neighbour English ought well be otfended with theirselling 
Indians arms and ammunition, but being a few and so scat- 
tered they could not lire else there, or trade ; the Indians 
refusing to trade or suffer the Dutch to plow without lliey 
would sell them guns." 

2 The only Dutchman known to have been killed liy In- 
dians in what is now Monmouth County was Aert Theunis- 
sin, who went in a l)oat up the Navesiuk Kiver on a tnading 
expedition in 1043, and was murdered liy the Indians, in 
October of that year, at a place called by the Dutch " Mis- 
path's Kill," near Port w.ashington. Whetlier the murder 
was committed for robbery or revenge is not known. 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATIOX. 



corrupted Iiv tlic iiKiro ignorant wliite men in 
" Mingoes," which latter term was adopted to j 
some extent hy the Dclawares in its conteniptii- j 
oils application to tlieir Mengwe neighbors, ! 
between whom and themselves feelings of de- 
testation and hatred existed in no small degree. 
The Mengwe, or Iroquois, inhabited the ter- 
ritory extending from the shores of Lake Erie 
to those of ('ham|)lain and the Ifudsoii River, 
and from (lie head-waters of tiie Delaware, 
Sustpielianna and Alleghany Rivers northward 
t() Lake < )ntario; and they even oecii|)ied a large 
scope of country north of the St. fjawreuce, 
tlms holding not only the whole of the State 
of New York, but a part of Canada, which 
\-ast territory they figuratively styled their 
" long council-house," within which the ])lacc 
of kindling the grand council tire of the nation ' 
was Onondaga, not for from the present city of 
Syracuse, N. Y., and at that place, ujjon occa- 
sions, representatives of all the Mengwe tribes 
met together in solemn, deliberative council. 
These tribes consisted of the Mohawks, Seuecas, 
Cavugas, On()ndagas and Oueidas, who collce- 
tivelv formed an offensive and defensive con- 
federation, which has usually been known in 
Lnglish annals as that of the Five Nations.' 

The Dclawares — the Indian people with 
which this history has principally to deal — oc- 
cu]iied a domain extending along the sea-shore, 
from the Chesapeake to the coimtry bordering 
Lou"; Island Sound. Back from the coast it 
reached beyond the Susquehanna Valley to the 
foot of the Alleghany Mountains, and on the 
north it joined the southern frontier ui' their 
domineering neighbors, the hated and dreaded 
Mengwe, or Tro([uois. This domain, of course, 
included not only the county of Monmouth, but 
all of the State of New Jersey. 

The j)i'iu<''p!il tribes composing the Lennl 
Lenape or Delaware nation were those of the 
ITnamis or Turtle, the LTnalachtg(3 or Turkey, 
and the Minsi or Wolf. The latter, which was 



' At a later period — soon after the commencement of the 

eighteenth century — the Tiiscaroras, having been subju- 
gated and driven away from their hunting-grounds in the 
Carolinas, migrated nortlnvard and were received into the 
Iroquois confederacy, which from that time became known 
as the Six Nations. 



by far the most powerful and wtirlike of all 
these tribes, occupied th(! most northerly [)ort ion 
of the country of the Lenape, and kept guard 
along the Irocjuois border, from whence their 
domain extended south wtu'd to the Muscnnetcong 
Mountains, in New Jersey. The Unaniis and 
Uiialachtg(^ branches of the Dclaw;n-e ntition 
(ct)mi)rising the trilies t>f .Lssanpinks, Mtittis, 
Shaekaniaxons, Chicheipiaas, Raritans, \anti- 
cokes, Tutelos and many others) inhabited the 
country between that of the Minsi and the sea- 
coast, emiiracing, of course, Monmouth and all 
the adjacent counties. The tribes who occupied 
antl roamed through these counties were those 
of the Turtle and Turkey branches of the Len- 
ape, but the pofisessious and boundaries (if they 
actually had any boundaries) of each cannot l)e 
clearly defined. 

The Lcnni Lenape claimed that theirs was 
among the most ancient of all aboriginal uations. 
One of their traditions r:ui that, ages before, 
their ancestors had lived in a far-ofi" country to 
the west, beyond the mighty rivers and moun- 
tains, at a place where the salt waters constantly 
moved to and fro ; and that, in the belief that 
there existed away tow:u-ds the rising sun a red 
man's paradise, — a Ituid of deer, and salmon, 
antl bca\er, — they had traxeled on towards the 
cast and south to liiid it ; Ijut that they were 
scourged and divided by famine, so that it \vas 
not until after long and wearying journcyings, 
during which many, many moons had passed, 
that they came at length to this beautiful coun- 
try, where the ocean tides forever ebbed and 
flowed like the waters from whose shores they 
had come ; and that here, amidst a profusion of 
game and fish, they rested, and found that In- 
dian Elysium of which they had dreamed before 
they left their old homes in the land of the set- 
ting sun. 

At the present day there are enthusiastic 
searchers through the realms of aboriginal lore 
who, in accepting the narrative as authentic, 
imagine that the red men come hither from Asia 
across the Behring Strait, through which they 
saw the tide constantly ebb and flow, as men- 
tioned in the tradition. 

The fiict is, that all Indian tribes told of long 
pilgrimages and of great deeds performed by 



48 



HISTORY OF MON:\rOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY''. 



their aucestors far in the shadowy past, and 
flaiiiu'd to trace back their iiistory and descent 
for centuries. Mis.siouaries and travelers among 
tiieni t;ravely tell ns of Indian chronohiii:v ex- 
tending- hacic to the period before the CiirLstian 
era ; and some entliu.siasts have claimed that 
the American aborigines were descendants of the 
lost tribes of Israel.^ But it is not the province 
of the historian to enter any such field of spec- 
ulation. All their traditions were so clouded 
and involved in improbability, and so inter- 
woven with superstition, that, as regards their 
truth or falsity, it need only be said that they 
atfonl an excellent opportunity for indulgence 
in the luxury of dreamy conjecture. 

It does not appear that the Indians inhabit- 
ing the territory of Xew Jersey were very num- 
erous. In the before-mentioned pamphlet, 
]>ublished iu 1648 by Beauchamp Plantagenet, 
Ks(j., and entitled " A Description of the Prov- 
ince of Xew Albion" (by Avliich was particu- 
larly meant the territory lying between the 
Delaware and Hudson Rivers, comprising the 
])resent State of New Jersey), is contained " a 
letter from Master Robert Evelin, that lived 
there many years." In that letter the writer 
gives an account of a number of Indian " Kings " 
located along the Delaware River, and having 
under them, in all, about eight hundred men. 
After this statement of Evelin, the pamphlet 
l)roeeeds : " Now, since master Elme's [Eveliu's] 
letter, and seven years' discoveries of the lord 

' In a small, quaint and now Tery rare volume, entitled. 
■ An Historical Description of the Province of West New 
.Jersey in America, Never made Publick till now. — By Ga- 
liriel Thomas, London, 1698," is found the following in 
reference to the aborigines of this region : 

" The first Inhabitants of this Countrey were the Indians, 
being supposed to be Part of the Ten dispersed Tribes of 
Israel; for indeed they are very like the Jews in their 
Persons, and something in their Practices and Worship ; 
fcir they (as the Pennsylvania Indians) observe the Xew 
Moons with great devotion and Reverence ; and their First 
Fruits they offer, with their Corn and Hunting Game they 
get in the whole year, to a False Deity, or Sham God, whom 
I hey must please, else (as they fancy) many misfortunes 
will befall them and great Injuries will be done them. 
When they bury their Dead, they put into the Ground 
with them some House Utensils and some Money (as 
tokens of their Love and Affection), with other Things, 
expecting they shall have Occasion for them in the other 
World." 



governonr in per.son, and by honest traders with 
the Indians, we finde beside the Indian kings 
by him known and printed in this I'rovince, 
there is, in all, twenty-three Indian kings or 
chief commantlers ; and besides the number 
of eight hundred by him named, there is at 
least twelve hundred under the two Raritan 
kings on the north side, next to Hudson's 
River, and those come down to the ocean about 
little Egbay and Sandy Barnegate, and about 
the south cape two small kings of forty men 
apiece, called Tirans and Tiaseous, and a third 
reduced to fourteen men at Roymont ; the Sas- 
quehannocks are not now of the naturals left 
above one hundred and ten, tho' with their 
forced auxiliaries, the Ihon a Does and Wico- 
me.ses, they can make two hundred and fifty ; 
these together are counted valiant and terrible 
to other cowardly, dul Indians, which they beat 
with the sight of guns only. 

" The eighth .seat is Kildorin-, neer the fals 
of Charles [Delaware] River, near two hundred 
miles up from the oceen ; it hath clear fields to 
plant and sow, and neer it is SM'eet, large meads 
of clover and honeysuckle, nowhere else in 
America to be seen, unlesse transported from 
Europe; a ship of one hundred and forty tuns 
may come up to these fals, which is the best 
seat for health, and a trading-house is to be 
built on the rocks, and ten leagues higher are 
lead-mines in stony hills. 

" The ninth is called Mount Ployden, the 
seat of the Raritan King, on the north side of 
this Province, twenty miles from Sandhay sea 
and Ninety from the ocean, next to Amara hill, 
the retired paradise of the children of the Ethi- 
opian emperour ; a wonder, for it is a square 
rock two miles conqjas.se, one hundretl and fifty 
foot high, a wall-like precipice, a strait en- 
trance, easily made invincilile, where he keeps 
two hundred for his guard ; and under it is a 
flat valley, all plain to plant and sow." But 
there is no place known answering this descrip- 
tion, though the Rev. G. C. Schenck, iu a jmjier 
read before the New Jersey Historical Society, 
suggests that what is known as the Round 
Y^alley (north of Round Mountain, in the 
township of Clinton, in Hunterdon County) cor- 
responds in general with Plantagenet's de- 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



49 



I scriptiou of the kingly seat/ To concede this, 
however, requires a considerable stretch of im- 
agination ; and it is difficult to resist tlie con- 
viction that it was in Plantagenet's imagination, 
and there alone, that the impregnable " mount," 
the retired paradise of the children of the " Ethi- 
opian emperor," and the royal guard of two 
hundred men, had their existence. If the 
" King " ever had any such guai'd to his royal 
person, the detail for that service certainly re- 
quiretl fully oue-eighth part of all the able- 
bodied Indian men south of tlie Musconetcoug 
Mountain, in what is now the State of New 
Jersey. 

The comparatively few Indians who, at the 
first coming of the white men, were found scat- 
tered tlirough the territory of Monmouth and 
the lower part of Middlesex County were of 
theRaritan tribe, of the Unamis and Unalachtgo 
brandies of the Lenap^ or Delaware nation. In 
still earlier times, the Raritans had been more 
numerous, and inhabited the country bordering 
the upper portion of the river of the same name, 
but they had migrated to the vicinity of the sea- 
shore, where they could more easily obtain the 
means of subsistence. " The Indians livino; on 
the Raritan," says the Rev. Dr. Messier,'- " were 
only a remnant of the large and numerous tribe 
once located there. It is said they left, and 
went to live at Metuchen, because the freshets 
in the river spoiled the corn which they were in 
the habit of burying in pits on the lowlands. 
Another inducement was the fish, oysters and 
clams, so easily obtained on the shores of Rari- 
tan Bay. Tiie innnense heaps of shells found 

' The Rev. E. T. Corwin, in a historical discourse deliv_ 
ered in 1866, s.iid : " The seat of the Raritan King was 
upon an inland mountain — probably the Neshanic Moun- 
tain, which answers approximately to the description.'' 

The late Rev. Abraham Messier, D.D., of Somerville, in 
his '-Centennial History of Somerset County," says: "If 
we were inclined to favor such romance, we should claim 
that no place so well answers the description [of the * seat 
of the Raritan King'] as the bluff in the gorge of Chimney 
Rock [near .Somerville] north of the little bridge, on the 
west and east sides of which the two rivulets flow and meet 
a few yards southward in the main goi-ge. But we are not 
disposed to practise on the credulity of our readers, as the 
Indians evidently did on Beauchamp Plantagenet, Esq." 

^ " Centennial History of Somerset County," by .Abraham 
Messier, D.D. 
4 



in several localities attest the rich harvest which 
they gathered out of its waters. . . . We 
may imagine, then, how the lonely river flowed 
on for centuries between its willow-fringed 
banks, from summer to winter, while the rich 
grass on its meadows wasted, becaase there were 
no animals, except a few deer, who fed upon it ; 
and how the wild fruits aiforded feasts for tlie 
squirrel and the forest bird, or perished un- 
touched because there was no living creature to 
enjoy the bountiful repast. It might almost, 
without romance, be called a ' retired paradise,' 
but without its ' Ethiopian emperor ' to rule 
over it. . . .Its primitive inhabitants, even, 
had deserted it almost entirely, and gone towards 
the sea-shore, attracted there by the abundant 
food, and only the beasts claimed it a.s their 
home." 

The small and peaceable bands of the Raritan 
tribe, who inhabited the country contiguous to 
the Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers, were 
called the Navesink Indians, whose close con- 
nection with the other Raritans is shown by 
the fact that when the first party of Englishmen 
came to this region, in 16(53, for the purpo.se of 
purchasing lands from the chiefs, these Nave- 
sinks were sent for to meet the upper Raritans 
and the I^nglish, at the Raritan town, located on 
the river a few miles above the site of Amboy. 
It is also made apparent tiiat this section of 
country was frequented by other Indians than 
those who regarded it as their permanent home, 
as in the narrative given in a succeeding chap- 
ter of a trip made to Raritan Bay and Shrews- 
bury River, by a party of Dutchmen^ from New 
Amsterdam, in December, 1663, for the purpose 
of watching the movements of the party of Eng- 
lishmen before mentioned, there is found the 



following entrv : " December 7.- 



Th: 



same evening, towards the end of Sttiten Island, 
we cast our anchors just opposite tiie Rarittin 
River, where we found two houses with South- 
ern savages." From this, as also from some 
other references found in the iiunals of that 
period, it appears that Indians of other and re- 
mote tribes were in the habit of making- visits 



3 Account of " A Voyage to Newasing [Navesink] made 
in the Company's Sloop." — Albani/ Reeorth, vol. xzi. p. 401. 



50 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUiNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



to the shores of the bay aud ocean, but proba- 
bly uot so much for summer recreation aud sea- 
bathing as for the purpose of obtaining oysters, 
clams, sea-fish and fowl, and shells for the 
manufacture of wampum,' which was taken in 
large quantities from the sea-shore, and found 
its way as a circulatiug medium e^■en to the 
tribes living west of the Mississippi. 

Whatever may have been the causes which 
brought the stranger .savages to the vicinity 
of the sea-shore, it is evident that the Indian 
population of this region was augmented (per- 
haps in as great projiortion as is the white popu- 
lation at the present time) by the presence of 
non-residents, some of whom were, or claimed 
to be, landownei's. Among those was the 
famous Teedyuscung, the Delaware King, whose 
home was on the Xorth Branch of the Susque- 
hanna, in Pennsylvania, and also tlie somewhat 
celebrated Christian Indian and interpreter, 
Moses Tatamy, who lived in the valley of the 
Lehigh. At a conference between the whites 
and Indians, held at Crosswicks, in February, 
1758, these two Delawares presented claims 
for certain lands Mhich had uot been sold by 
them. With reference to one of these claims 
to lands in the county of Monmouth, the min- 
utes of the Crosswicks conference read as fol- 
lows : '• They have a tract of land beginning at 
the Old Ford, by John Fowler's ; then in a line 
to Doctor's Creek, above, but in sight of Allen- 
town ; then up the creek to the lower end of 
Imlaystown ; then in a line to Crosswicks, by 
Duke Horseman's ; then along said creek to 
the place of beginning. Teedyuscung aud 
Tatamy are concerned in the above lands." 

From the northwest and the southwest, the 
Indians of the remoter tribes came to tiie Xave- 



' Wampum was not only the universal currency of the 
Indians, but was also used to a great extent by the whites. 
For many years eight white or four black " peags " of 
wampum passed at the value of a stiver, or penny, but in 
1673, the supply of wampum having materially decreased 
by reason of the Indians having carried it away to the in- 
terior, the Governor and Council of New York made proc- 
lamation that thenceforward six white or three black peags 
(instead of eight white and four black, as before) should be 
accounted and received as a sliver, " and three times so 
much the value in silver," — the meaning of which latter 
provision, however, does not clearly appear. 



sink region by two principal paths (which in 
the early times were also used to a considerable 
extent as highways by the wliite settlers), c«lled 
the Minisink Path and the Burlington Path. 
The first named started at Minisink, on the 
'upper Delaware, and passing thence southeast- 
erly tlirough the present counties of Sussex, 
Morris, Union aud Middlesex, crossed the Rari- 
tan River at a fording-place about three miles 
above its mouth, from which point it i-an to the 
site of the village of Middletowu, Monmouth 
County, and thence to Clay Pit Creek and to 
the mouth of the river at the Navesink High- 
lands. The Burliuy-ton Path came from the 
Delaware River by two branches, one starting 
at the Falls (Trenton) and the other at Bur- 
lington, and joining at or near Crosswicks ; 
thence continuing iu one path, through the 
southwestern townships of IMonmouth County, 
to where is now the town of Freehold (the main 
street of which is, for a considerable distance, on 
the line of the old path) ; and thence to its 
junction with the Minisink Path, at or near 
Middletowu — with a branch leaving the main 
path below Freehold and running to Tinton 
Falls and the vicinity of Long Branch. Be- 
sides these main thoroughfares there were shorter 
and less important paths leading to Wakake 
landing and various points on tide-water. 

Concerning the supjwsed locations of Indian 
villages in jMonmouth County, there are in 
existence various traditions, on the mere strength 
of which more than twenty such sites have 
been recognized (satisfactorily, at least, to those 
engaged in the search), and descriptions of their 
.several locations have, from time to time, ap- 
peared iu print. Similar traditions are found 
in every county, not only of Xcm- Jersey, but of 
each and every one of the older States. In a 
great majority of these cases the tradition rests 
solely on the fact that at certain places there 
have, at some time, been found Indian arrow- 
heads, or supposed hatchets, or remains of abo- 
riginal domestic utensils, or indications of ancient 
Indian corn-fields, or of clusters of graves, sup- 
posed to bo those of the native savages, upon 
which the conclusion was promptly arrived at 
that on or in the immediate vicinity of such a 
spot there must have been a village, which 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



51 



sup])o.sition thereiipou, stated as a fact, without 
any explauatioii, and then handed down from 
father to son for many years, is received with- 
out any question of its authenticity. But arrow- 
heads, sharp stones supposed to have been used 
as hatchets, stone pestles and other similar relics 
have been found in nearly every part of the 
United States and in nearly every kind of loca- 
tion ; on the summits and steep sides of hills, 
in the middle of parched, sandy plains and 
along the edges of bogs and swamps, as well 
as in places which might have been fit for 
villao-e sites. But neither these nor the Indian 
corn-fields and graves afford an}^ guide to the 
location of their villages. The writer of this 
has had occasion to make some research as to 
Indian matters in the West, where the Indian 
occupation extended down to so recent a period 
that there are men still living there who lived 
among them, traded with them and thoroughly 
understand their peculiarities and mode of life. 
Two such men are Mr. Ephraim Williams, of 
Flint, Mich, and his brother, Benjamin O. 
Williams, of Owosso, in the same State, both of 
whom wei-e for a number of years traders in the 
country of the Saginaw Indians, and both of 
whom speak the Indian language as fluently as 
English ; and they have given the following 
statement as to the Indian way of living : 

The Indians located their villages with almost 
entire regard to their occupation in winter, for 
in summer-time they were often entirely deserted, 
the people, old and young, being at such times 
aw^ay in temporary camjjs, generally made at or 
nearthegood fishing-places. Forthis reason, their 
permanentvillageswerealways, when practicable, 
located in open glades, surrounded l)y the heavy 
forest, which gave some degree of protection 
against the piercing winds and storms of winter. 
Their burial-places were always remote from 
the villages. Their corn-fields were made on 
fertile land, if such could be found, combining 
with that the necessary condition, which was 
that it be open, free from trees and bushes, 
soft and friable, and therefore easily worked. 
They took no pains to make their fields near 
their villages, and they were frequently located 
several miles away, they having no fear that 
their meagre crops would be stolen. If the 



fields were far away, a temporary camp would be 
made near them, at planting and harvesting 
time^ to be occupied by the squaws (who did all 
the work), and two or three old men, who re- 
mained there to keep them from quarreling 
amous: themselves. The able-bodied men never 
came to the fields at these times, being at their 
fishing camps when the planting was done, and 
engaged either in fishing or hunting at the 
autumn harvest. When the squaws had 
gathered their slender crops, and the frosts and 
storms of November heralded the approach of 
winter, the whole Indian population returned to 
their comjjaratively comlbrtable villages, witliin 
the shelter of the woods. From these the young 
men of the tribe went out to the winter hunting 
and trapping grounds ; and, at the approach of 
spring, all^meu, women and children — went 
to the sugar-woods, pitched their camps, and 
spent two or three weeks in sugar-making, 
after which they prepared for removal to the 
summer camping-places, to hunt and fish, and 
plant maize, beans, pumpkins and other Indian 
cro[)s, as before. 

The most frequently mentioned (and there- 
fore supposed to have been the largest and most 
important) of the Indian villages in this part of 
New Jersey were the one (before mentioned) 
on the Raritan, not far from the crossing of the 
Minisiuk Path, and another located at Cross- 
wicks, both of which were outside the limits 
of Monmouth County. There were, however, 
several small Indian " towns " within the terri- 
tory of Monmouth, which are mentioned in 
several places in the ancient records. In the 
laving out of a roadway, in the year 1676, 
reference is made to " tlie Indian Path that 
goes from Wake cake to the Indian Town 
called Seapeckameck," but nothing is found 
showing the precise location of this or of any 
of the few other Indian villages in the region, 
all of which combined could not, at any one 
time after 1663, have contained more than two 
hundred inhabitants of both sexes and all ages. 

It has already been mentioned that the 
Indians in this part of New Jersey, although 
they had always been more or less hostile to 
the Dutch, and had several times made open 
war upon them, were, and always continued to 



52 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUiNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



be, friendly and well disposed towards the Eng- 
lish settlers. This was in a great measure due 
to the fact that tlie latter always purchased the 
Indian lauds before settling on them, which, in 
fact, they were compelled to do by the instruc- 
tions given by the iii-st proprietors to their 
Governor, Philip Carteret: 

"And lastly, if our Governor and Coimcellors shall 
happen to find any Natives in our said Province and 
Tract of Land aforesaid, that then you treat them 
with all Humanity and Kindness, and do not in any 
wise grieve or oppress them, but endeavour by a 
Christian carriage to manifest Piety, Justice and 
Charity, and in your Conversation with them, the 
Manifestation whereof will prove Beneficial to the 
Planters, and likewise Advantageous to the Propaga- 
tion of the GospeU'^Insiructiori of the Lords Propri- 
etors to the Governor, Philip Carteret, dated February 10, 
1664. 

Smith, in his " History of New Jersey " (pub- 
lished in 1765), in mentioning the fact that 
Governor Carteret, acting under the proprietors' 
instructions, inaugurated the policy of buying 
the Indian lauds in every case, as a matter of 
policy, to prevent the possibility of awakening 
their hostility, says that " though the Indians 
about the English settlements were not at this 
time considerable as to numbers, they were 
strong in their alliances, and besides of them- 
selves could easily annoy tlie out-plautations, 
and there having been before several consider- 
able skirmishes between the Dutch and tliem, in 
which some blood had been spilt, their friend- 
ship on this consideration, it was thougiit, stood 
but ticklisJi. Upon the whole the Governor 
so ordered it, that the comers were either to 
purchase of the Indians themselves, or, if the 
lands had been before purchased, they were 
to pay their proportions. The event answered 
his expectatiou ; for as the Indians parted 
with the lands to their own satisfaction, they 
became, from a jealous, shy peojjle, serviceable, 
good neighbors; and although frequent reports 
of their coming to kill the white people some- 
times disturbed their repose, uo instance occurs 
of their hurting them (the English) in those 
early settlements." 

In a description of East New Jersey, pub- 
lished by the proprietors for the purpose of 
promoting the settlement of the province, they 



said : " The Indian natives in this country are 
but few, comparative to the neighbouring colo- 
nies; and those that are here are so far from 
being formidable or injurious to the planters 
and inhabitants that they are really serviceable 
to the English, not only in liuuting and taking 
the deer and other wild creatures, and catching 
of fish and fowl fit for food, in their seasons, 
but in the killing and destroying of boars, 
wolves, foxes and other vermine and peltry, 
whose skins and furrs they bring to the Eng- 
lish and sell at less price than the value of 
time an Englishman must spend to take 
them." 

It appears that, although the Indians in this 
region exhibited no hostility towards the Eng- 
lish settlers, the latter distrusted them to some 
extent for a number of years. That this was the 
case in the old settlement at Middletown is shown 
by the following extract from the records of 
that town, viz.: 

"September 9, J670.--The Constable and 
Overseers, with the assistance of the towne 
Deputies, taking into consideration the danger- 
ous practice of selling liquors to the Indians, 
w'ch (for some years past) hath, at severall 
times, occasioned mischiefe in the towne ; and, 
morever, considering that nott onely noe course 
is taken in the generall for the obstructing of 
the dangerous practice, but allsoe the eminent 
danger w'ch dayly hangs over our heads, the 
weaknes of the towne to withstand the rage 
and fury of the numerable Indians w'ch in- 
habites about us ; for the jiresent safety and 
preservation of his majesties subjects, the in- 
habitants of Middletown did, upon the 9tli of 
this present month, upon this following ground, 
conclude upon the following order: ' Whereas, 
wee have found, as well by woeful experience, 
as allso by severall complaints of many inhabit- 
ants of this towne of the mischiefes and dan- 
gers occasioned by some trading of strong 
liquor to the Indians by w'ch many of them 
have bin drunken and distempered with tlie 
said liquor have oftentimes ottered violence 
and fury to several of the peaceable inhabit- 
ants, who have been endangered of their lives; 
for the future prevention of all such mischiefes 
and dangers occasioned by the violence and 



■kr 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



53 



fury of the Indians in their drunken distem- 
pers and for the maintenance of tiie peace of 
our Sovereigue Lord, the King, doe hereby 
order and enact that noe person whatsoever 
shall, either directly or indirectly, sell or trade 
any sort of wine, strong liquor or strong 
bearre to any Indian within the limits of this 
towneshipp, upon the penalty of the forfeiture 
of ten pounds for every such defalt ; and that 
after due proces made, to be forthwitli levied upon 
his estate ; the one-half to the informer, and 
the other to bee disposed of at the discretion of 
the Court. It is likewise ordered that all 
Indians that any time shall bee found drunke 
iu the towne or neere about shall bee sett in the 
stocks till they bee sober." 

In the above there is nothing tending to 
show that the people of the settlement had any 
more to fear from the Indians than they would 
have had from the violence of drunken white 
men of the ignorant class ; and the fact tJiat they 
enacted laws to punish Indian drunkenness by 
setting the culprit in the stocks, as they would 
have done to one of their own countrymen, 
shows that the savages were nnder their con- 
trol and could hardly have been regarded as 
dangerous enemies. The truth is, that though 
the Indians were troublesome when intoxicated, 
the English settlers in this section of country 
had no more trouble with them than they would 
have had with the same number of vaga- 
bond neighbors of the white race. 

In 1675, when the Indian King, Philip, was 
waging his war of extermination against the 
New England settlements, the news of those 
bloody atrocities coming to New Jersey created 
a general feeling of alarm and fear of an Indian 
uprising, on which account theGovernor, Council 
and General Assembly of the province declared 
that " Forasmuch as it is requisite of Necessity 
amongst all men to be in a Posture of Defence 
against Enemies or Dangers that may accrue, 
and especially we being invited hereunto by the 
Insolence and Outrages of the Heathens in our 
Neighbouring Colonies, not knowing how soon 
we may be surprised," and prom])tly proceeded 
to pass a militia law requiring all able-bodied 
men, from sixteen to sixty years of age, each to 
be armed at his own expense, and to Imld him- 



self in readiness for immediate service, under 
severe penalties. And it was also at the same 
time enacted: "That there shall l)e a place of 
Fortification or Fortifications made in every 
Town of this Province, and a House therein for 
securing of Women and Children, Provision 
and Amnnmition in case of eminent danger by 
the Indians." Under the provisions of this 
enactment a strong block-house was built at 
jNIiddletown, and for a time, details of militia- 
men were kept on duty to guard against sur- 
prise ; but this did not continue long, for no 
signs of an Indian outbreak could be discovered, 
and the excitement and alarm gradually passed 
away. 

At about this time Thomas Budd came to 
settle at Burlington, where the Indian alarm 
was then great. Budd and some others held a 
conference with the Indians to ascertain what 
grounds of complaint they had, if any, and the 
result of the " talk" is given (iu a i)am2>hlet 
afterwards published by him) as follows : 

" The Indians told us in a conference at Bur- 
lington, shortly after we came into the country, 
that they wei-e advised to make war on us and cut 
us otf while we were but few, for that we sold 
them the small-pox with the match-coats they 
bought of us ; which caused our people to be 
in fears and jealousies concerning them. There- 
fore we sent for the Indian Kings to speak with 
them, who, with many more Indians, came to 
Burlington, where we had a conference with 
them about the matter. AVe told them we came 
amongst them by their own consent, and htid 
bought tlie land of them, for which we had 
honestly paid them, and for what commodities 
we had bought at any time of them we had 
paid them for, and had been just to them, 
and had been from the time of our first 
coming very kind and respectful to them ; 
therefore we knew no reason that they had to 
make war on us ; to which one of them, in be- 
half of the rest, made this speech and answer : 
'Our young men may speak such words as we 
do not like nor approve of, and we cannot help 
thai ; some of your young men may speak such 
words as you do not like, and you cannot help 
that. We are your brothers, and intend to live 
like brothers with vou. We have no mind to 



54 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JERSEY. 



have war, for when we have war we are only 
skin and bones ; tlie meat that we eat cloth not 
do us good ; we are always in fear ; we have not 
the benefit of the sun to shine on us ; and we 
hide us iu holes and corners ; we are minded to 
live in peace. If we intend at any time to 
make war upou you we will let you know of it, 
and the reasons why we make Avar with you ; 
and if you make us satisfaction for the injury 
done us, for whidi the war was intended, then 
we will not make war on you ; and if you in- 
tend at any time to make war on us we would 
have you let us know of it, and the reason ; and 
tlien if we do not make satisfaction for the in- 
jury done unto you, then yoii may make war on 
us ; otherwise you ought not to do it. . . . 
And as to the small-pox, it was once in my 
grandfather's time, and it could not be the Eng- 
lish that could send it to us then, there being no 
English in the country. And it was once in my 
father's time ; they could not send it to us then 
either ; and now it is in my time, I do not believe 
that they have sent it to us now. I do believe 
it is the man above tiiat hath sent it us ! ' 
. . . The Indians have been very service- 
able to us by selling us venison, Indian corn, 
peas and beans, fisli and fowl, buckskins, lieaver, 
otter and other skins and furs. The raeu hunt, 
fish and fowl and the women ])lant tlie corn and 
carry burthens. Tliercaremanyof tliem of agood 
understanding, considering their education, and 
in their publick meetings of business they have 
excellent order, one speaking after another, and 
while one is speaking all keep silent and do not 
so much as whisper, one to the otlier." 

In 1742 the chiefs and sachems of the Iroquois 
nation met the Governor aud others of tlie jiriu- 
cipal men of Pennsylvania in council at Phila- 
delphia, the real object of their having been 
called there by the Governor being to induce 
them to order the Delawares (wlio, in fact, were, 
and had been for many years, their con(piered 
vassals), to remove westward fi'om their domain 
in the valley of the Delaware River. The object 
was accomplished, and tlie order was given in 
open council by tiie Iroquois Sachem Couuos- 
satego, addressed to the few Delaware cliiefs 
who were in attendance. They had no alterna- 
tive but to obey, and the remnant of the ancient 



and proud nation removed from their domain, 
many of them going to the Ohio River. 

But this forced exodus of the Delawares had 
reference chiefly to the INIinsi branch of the 
nation, whose country lay northwest of the INIus- 
couetcong]\Iountains, and had little, if any, effect 
on the feeble bands in the eastern part of the 
province, for they had already become wholly 
insignificant in numbers, as is indicated in a 
letter written in April, 1749, by Governor 
Belcher, of Xew Jei-sey, to the Lords of Trade, 
in which he said : " Of Indians, about sixty 
families reside in the province, who are quiet 
and easy under bis Majesty's Government." 
About tiiree years prior to this, however, an 
alarm had been created among the people of 
this part of the province by a report that 
stranger Indians had come here from the North- 
west secretly, and in considerable numbers, 
being supposed to have been sent by the French 
in Canada to stir up the few New Jersey In- 
dians to hostility, and to take part with and 
assist them in depredation and bloodshed. 
Another theory was that the strange Indians 
who appeared so suddenly in this region 
had come as allies of a large body of 
white insurgents who had formed a partial 
organization to resist enforcement of the laws 
concerning land titles, and (as was alleged) had 
threatened to call the Indians to their aid. The 
following, having reference to the matter in 
question, is from the records ' of the Governor 
and Council of New Jersey : 

" 1746, April 9th. — The Council received in- 
formation that tho' for Six yeare past no In- 
dian men had lived near Cranberry but Andrew 
and Peter, and that only two more had Lived 
for many years before that, who both, for misde- 
meanours by them Committed, removed thence 
to Crosswicks, yet witiiin a few weeks before 
that information there were coyae. forty fighting 
men of Indians to Vive there; that about three 
weeks before that information, one Indian came 
who liad a l)lue Laced Coat on, which, it was 
Said, he had got from the Governour of Canada, 
and he Lodged in tlie Informant's house one 
Niglit, aud some of the other Indians told the 

'Col. Doc. 1, vi. 406. 



THE INDIAN OCCUPATION. 



55 



Informant that he was a King of some Indians 
on Dekxware, and that he was come to View 
that place and was to come and Settle there 
witli his Indiaui*, and that they expected they 
would 1)0 about Three hundred Indians there in 
all ; that the Neighbours thereabout were ex- 
tremely alarmed at this Number of Indians 
Coming to Settle there, where it's Esteemed 
impossible for such a Number to Live without 
Stealing or killing their Neighbours' Creatures. 
That the Cause pretended for Such a Num- 
ber of Indians coming to Live there is, that 
they are to be taught the Christian Religion 
by one jNIr. Braniard, and for that purpose they 
are to build a Town, a Church and a School- 
House upon the Laud there of one John Fal- 
conar, of London, Merchant, upon which In- 
formation, upon Oath, a Copy was given to one 
of the Members of the Assembly to Shew it to 
the rest. Whatever truth there may be in the 
pretence for these Indians gathering together in 
that place near the very Centre of this Province 
We know not, as we are well assured that the 
said Mr. Braniard has never made any applica- 
tion to this Government for Leave to gather 
those Indians there or to give any Notice to it 
of Such design, but . . . these things being 
compared with the threats of the Eioters given 
out at their Eiot in September, 1745, Demon- 
strate that the Threat of their having the As- 
sistance of a hundred Indians to Support their 
pretentions, which was Esteemed ridiculous and 
impossible, is by these means likely to become 
possible, and as the Same [Indian] Andrew, 
whom the committee of the Rioters were tam- 
pering with, is the head of them, and pretends 
to o-ive those Indians the Land thcv are to Live 
upon, it's Submitted how probable it Seems that 
this ffatheriug: of those Indians there may be 
in Consequence of -\vhat has been Concerted 
l)etweeu the Said Andrew and the Said Com- 
mittee, which matterso Concerted, most probably, 
have been the foun<lation for the Threat afore- 
.said" 

The " ISIr. Braniard," to whom reference is 
made in this extract, was Brainerd, the famous 
missionary, who labored among the Indians in 
New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 
others of the provinces, and who preached 



for a long time at Cranbury, and at the old 
Presbyterian Church northwest of Monmouth 
Court-House. The description of the Indian 
wearing the " blue-laced coat," and represented 
to be a King, corresponds exactly with that 
frequently found of the Delaware King, Teedy- 
uscuns:, ^vho had doubtless on this occasion 
come down from the Susquehanna Valley to 
see and hear Brainerd,' whom he had before 
met in Pennsylvania, and with whom he was on 
terms of cordial friendship. It is said that 
during Brainerd's term of preaching in this 
part of the province there were at times quite 
lars-e numbers of Indians gathered to hear him. 
If so, the audiences must have been made up of 
those who came with Teedyuscuug or of some 
other stranger savages, as it is shown by the 
preceding quotation from the Council record 
that at the time in question the resident Indian 
population in this vicinity had dwuidled to 
almost nothing. The Indian Peter, referred to, 
was a well-known character in the southern 
part of ]\Ionniouth County jtrior to and during 
the Revolution. The record of him is that he 
was remarkably fond of whiskey, and in conse- 
quence became a vagabond, though not a vicious 
one. About 1775 he moved to the vicinity of 
Imlaystown, and built a cabin on the shore of 
a pond, from which he took large numbers of 
fish, which he sold to the white people, realizing 
in that way a suiRcient amount to keep him 
quite well supplied with liquor. During his 
residence by the pond his squaw died and he 
was left alone. He lived some years after his 
bereavement, and was one of the last, if not the 
very last, of his race living in Alonmouth 
County. The reason why he remained here 
living alone, so long after the other New Jersey 
Indians had been collected and placed together 
on a reservation, is not known, but it was 
doubtless his love of whiskey and the free life 
of a vagabond. 

The right of the Indians to the ownership ot 
the lands in New Jersey was recognized by the 
government of the province, and, as has already 



1 The fact that Teedyuscung was also an owner of unsold 
Indian lands in this vicinity, as before mentioned, might 
have been a partial cause of his coming to Cranbu.-y. 



56 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



been mentioned, it was always required that the 
Indian lands should be fairly purchased before 
settlements were made on them. This was 
done, and large j)urehases were made from the 
natives from time to time, as the need of settlers 
required, so that most of the Indians had sold 
most of their lands prior to 1758, in which year, 
at a treaty council held at Crosswicks for the 
purpose, the whole of their remaining titles were 
extinguLshed, except that there was reserved to 
them the right to fish in all the rivers and bays 
south of the Raritan, and to hunt on all unin- 
closed lands. A ti'act of three thousand acres 
of land was also purchased at Edge Pillock, in 
Burlington County, and on this the few remain- 
ing Indians of New Jersey (about sixty in num- 
ber) were afterwards collected and settled. 
They remained there until the year 1802, when 
they removed to New Stockbridge, near Oneida 
Lake, in the State of New York, where they 
joined the Stockbridge tribe. Several years 
afterwards they again removed and settled on 
a large tract of land on Fox Rivei', Wis., which 
tract had been purchased for their use from the 
Menominee Indians. There, in conjunction 
with the Stoekbridges, they engaged in agricul- 
tural pursuits and formed a settlement, which 
was named Statesburg. At that place, in the 
year 1832, there remained about forty of the 
Delawares, among whom was still kept alive 
the tradition that they were the ovi'ners of fish- 
ing and hunting privileges in New Jersey. 
They resolved to lay their claims before the 
Legislature of this State and to request that a 
moderate sum (two thousand dollars) might be 
paid them for its relinquishment. The person 
selected to act for them in presenting the matter 
before the Legislature was one of their own na- 
tion, whom they called Shawuskukhkung (mean- 
ing "wilted grass"), but who was known among 
the white people as Bartholomew S. Calvin. 
He was born in 1756, and was aluaited at 
Princeton College at the expense of the Scotch 
Missionary Society. At the breaking out of 
the Revolution he left his studies to join the 
patriot army under Washington, in which he 
served with credit thr( lug-h the war. At the time 
when his red brethren placed this business in his 
hands he was seventy-six years of age, yet he 



proeeededin the matter with all the energy of 
youth, and laid before the New Jersey Legisla- 
ture a petition in his favor signed by a large 
uumljer of resjjeetable t'itizens of the State, 
together with a memorial, written by his own 
hand, as follows : 

"My Brethren, — I am old and weak and poor, 
and therefore a fit representative of my people. You 
are young and strong and ricli, and therefore &t 
representatives of your people. But let me beg you 
for a moment to lay aside the recollections of your 
strength and of our weakness that your minds may be 
prepared to examine with candor the subject of our 
claims. 

"Our tradition informs us — aud I believe it corre- 
sponds with your records — that the right of fishing 
in all the rivers and bays south of the Raritan, and 
of hunting in all uninclosed lands, was never relin- 
quished, but, on the contrary, was expressly reserved 
in our last treaty, held at Crosswicks in 1758. Having 
myself been one of the parties to the sale, — I believe 
in 1801, — I know that these rights were not sold or 
parted with. 

" We now ofler to sell these privileges to the State 
of New Jersey. They were once of great value to us, 
and we apprehend that neither time nor distance nor 
the non-use of our rights have at all affected them, 
but that the courts here would consider our claims 
valid were we to exercise them ourselves or delegate 
them to others. It is not, however, our wish thus to 
excite litigation. We consider the State Legislature 
the proper purchaser, and we throw ourselves upon 
its benevolence and magnanimity, trusting that feel- 
ings of justice and liberality will induce you to give 
us what you deem a compensation. And as we have 
ever looked up to the leading characters of the United 
States (and to the leading characters of this State in 
particular) as our fathers, protectors and friends, we 
now look up to you as such, and humbly beg that you 
will look upon us with that eye of pity as we have 
reason to think our poor, untutored forefathers looked 
upon yours when they first arrived upon our then 
extensive but uncultivated dominions and sold them 
their lands, in many instances for trifles, in compari- 
son, as 'light as air.' 

"From your humble petitioner, 

" Bartholomew S. Calvix, 
"In beha/f of himself and /(/s red brethren." 

In the Legislature the subject was referred 
to a committee, wliicii, after patient hearing, 
reported favoralily ; wliereupon the Legislature 
granted to tiie Delawares t!ie sum of two tliou- 
sand dollars — the full amount asked for — in 
consideration of this relinquishment of their last 
claims and rights in the State of New Jersey. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



57 



Upon this result Mr. Calvin addressed to the 
Legislature a letter of thanks, which was read 
before the two Houses in joint session, and was 
received with repeated rounds of most enthusi- 
astic ajiplause. The letter was as follows : 

"Teextox, March 12, 1832. 

"Bartholomew S. Calvin takes this method to re- 
turn his thanks to both Houses of the State Legisla- 
ture, and especially to their Committees, for their very 
respectful attention to, and candid examination of, the 
Indian claims which he was delegated to present. 

"The final act of official intercourse between the 
State of Xew Jersey and the Delaware Indians, who 
once owned nearly the whole of its territory, has now 
been consummated, and in a manner which must re- 
dound to the honor of this growing State, and in all 
probability to the prolongation of the existence of a 
wasted, yet grateful people. Upon this jsarting occa- 
sion I feel it to be an incumbent duty to bear the 
feeble tribute of my praise to the high-toned justice 
which, in this instance, — and, so far as I am acquainted, 
in all former times, — has actuated the councils of 
this commonwealth in dealing with the aboriginal 
inhabitants. 

" Not a drop of our blood have you spilled in battle ; 
not an acre of our land have you taken but by our 
consent. These facts speak for themselves and need 
no comment. They place the character of New Jersey 
in bold relief and bright example to those States within 
whose territorial limits our brethren still remain. 
Nothing save benisons can fall upon her from the lips 
of a Lenni Lenape. 

" There may be some who would de.spise an Indian 
benediction; but when I return- to my people and 
make known to them the result of my mission, the 
ear of the great Sovereign of the universe, which is 
still open to our cry, will be penetrated with the in- 
vocation of blessings upon the generous sons of New 
Jersey." 

While tliis Indian claim was under consider- 
ation the cause of the Delawares was volun- 
tarily su]iported by the Hon. Samuel L. South- 
ard, who, at tiie close of a most powerful and 
eloquent appeal, made before the committee in 
flivor of the petitioners, said, — " It is a proud 
fact in the history of New Jereey that every 
foot of her soil has been obtained from the In- 
dians by fair and voluntary purchase and trans- 
fer, a fact that no otiier State of the Union, not 
even the land which bears the name of Peun, 
can boast of." 



CHAPTER Y. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAJN'D TITLES. 

The iirst time that the soil of Monmouth 
County was ever trodden by the feet of white 
men was on the 5th of September, 1609, when 
a boat's crew belonging to Captain Henry Hud- 
son's little ship, the " Half-Moon," landed upon 
the southern shore of Sandy Hook Bay (at a 
place which cannot now be identified), and trav- 
eled thence a short distance inland, returning 
later in the day to the ship, and there giving en- 
thusiastic accounts of the majestic forest-trees, 
and the strange wild flowers and fruits, and 
people that they had seen in their short journey 
of exploration. The incidents of this land trip 
by Hudson's sailors into the woods of what is 
now the county of Monmouth have already 
been more fully mentioned in a preceding chap- 
ter, as al.so the sulxsecpicnt killing of one of 
their number — John Colman — by the Indians, 
and the interment of his body in the sands of 
the ^Monmouth shore, at a place which they 
named in his memory " Colman 's Point." It 
was the first burial of a white man in the soil 
of the present State of New Jersey ; but the 
location of the spot where his comrades made 
his lonely grave can never be known. 

From that time, for more than half a century, 
the Dutch, claiming the right to all this region 
bv virtue of Hudson's discovery, held possession 
of it (though only nominally as concerned the 
interior portions) undisturbed, except tempo- 
rarily by the apiiearance of Captain Samuel 
Argall with his ship and soldiers at New Am- 
sterdam, in 1613, as has already been noticed. 
During all that long period the Hollanders had 
established a town where Xew York now is, and 
another at tiie site of the present city of Albany, 
with straggling settlements at several interme- 
diate points on the Hudson River, and two or 
three small ones along the Hackensack, as far 
south as Newark Bay, called by them the Ach- 
ter Koll ; but these remained their frontier.s, 
while beyond them, to the west and south, and 
also southcastwardly to the ocean shore, the 
countrv still remained a wilderness, and in pos- 
session of the native Indians. Among them a 



58 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NE\V JERSEY. 



few of the more adventurous Dutchmen from 
Kew Amsterdam had penetrated for a short 
distance up the kills and rivers ; but their visits 
were for purposes of trade only, and not made 
with a view to the forming of settlements. 

The Dutch colonists at that time living along 
the Hudson were merely traders, and most of 
them had come to America for that especial 
jiurpose. But they had about them none of that 
bold spirit of pioneering enterprise which impels 
men to seek new homes in the forest ; and so, 
although for the sake of gain they frequently 
ventured on trading journeys among the Indians, 
whom they (not without good cause) regarded 
with distrust and dread, they chose to smoke 
their pipes and drink their schnapps in quiet 
and comparative safety at their settlements on 
the Hudson, the Hackensack and Long Island, 
rather than take the trouble and incur the dan- 
ger of opening new plantations and forming 
new settlements in the interior. And these are 
the reasons why the region of country now em- 
braced in the county of Monmouth remained 
Mithout white inhabitants until the Dutch power 
was overthrown in New Xetherlands, and the 
country was brought under English rule. 

The surrender of New Amsterdam, in 1664, 
by the Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, to 
the English, represented by 8ir Robert Carre 
and Governor Richard Xicolls, has already been 
noticed. It was a matter of course that the 
establishment of the English rule over the 
region between the Hudson and Delaware 
Rivers would cause the immediate and rapid 
extension of settlements in the Indian country 
beyond the Dutch frontier, and it does not seem 
improbable that some foreknowledge of King 
Charles' intention to expel the Dutch from their 
jiossession of New Xetherlands was the prin- 
cipal cause which induced a party of about 
twenty English, all or nearly all of whom had 
previously lived in the Xew England colonies, 
but most of whom were then settlers on Long 
Island, to set out in a sloop from Gravesend, 
L. I., in December, 1663, and sail across the 
bay to what is now Monmouth County, for the 
purpose of purchasing lands of the Indian 
sachems, with a view to settlement. Some 
knowledge of the movements and operations 



of this party, during their visit to the Navesink 
and Raritan Indians, is to be gained from the 
following extracts from vol. xxi. of the Albany 
Records ; being an account of a trip to the same 
region, and within two or three days of the 
same time, by a party of Plollanders (evidently 
traders) from Xew Amsterdam, viz. : "1663. — - 
Voyage to Newesing [Xavesink] made in the 
Company's sloop, and what happened during the 
trip. There were on the sloop Captain Martin 
Creger, Govert Loockermans, Jacques Cortelyou, 
Peter Zevel, with ten soldiers, two sailors and 
the Sachem, with a savage from Staten Island. 

"6th December. — We sailed from the Manhat- 
tans [Xew York] about three o'clock and 
arrived about evening, at 6 o'clock, at Staten 
Island, where the Sachem of said Island, with 
the savage, went on shore. They remained ] 
about an hour and then returned. Hoisting 
again our sail, we sailed through the Kil Van 
Kol, arrived at the back of Shutter's Island 
upon shallow water, cast our anchor and stayed 
there until next ebb tide. We raised our 
anchor again about three in the morning and 
rowed down with the ebb to the Creek behind 
Staten Island. Somewhat later in the morn- 
ing we hoisted our sail and tacked until the 
ebb tide was over, and then again cast our 
anchor. The flood tide being gone about two 
o'clock in the afternoon, we raised the anchor 
and tacked again. 

" We discovered a sail towards evening, \\hich 
we a2>proached and spoke to them. It was Peter 
Lawrenson and Jacob Cowenhoven, with a 
small sloop. They said they had been out to 
trade for venison. We both tacked together, 
with our sloops the same evening, towards the 
end of Staten Island, and cast there oin- an- 
chors just opposite the Raritan River, \\here 
we saw two houses witli Southern Savages. 
Cowenhoven informed us that the English, in 
an open sloop, nineteen strong, sailed the day 
befoi'c up the Raritan River, where the Indians 
of the Xewesing and Raritans were collected 
too'ctlier about three miles up on the River. 
The Savas:es commuiiicatod tlie same. We re- 
mained that night before Raritan River in 
order to sail up the next morning and follow 
the Elnglish. In the morning the wind blew 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



59 



verv heavily from the northwest so that we 
could not proceed up the Raritan River, and 
we were compelled to stay there all day. We 
determined then to send the Indian John by 
land to the savages of Newesings and Raritans, 
who were assembled about three miles up the 
Raritan River. This we did at once, with 
verbal orders that he should tell the Sachems 
of the Newesings and Raritans that we were 
laying with our sloop before the River, and 
we wished that they wonld come here and have 
a talk with us. We also told John to tell the 
Sachems if some English had arrived or were 
actually among them with the view to pur- 
chase lauds of them, that they should not sell 
it to the English, as they had not even asked 
it of the Dutch Sachems on the Manhattans, 
and came there secretly. That if the Sachems 
of the Newesings wished to sell some land, that 
they should come to us and we would talk it 
over with them. John, as soon as the sun 
arose, departed to tell the Indians, while we 
remained before the River. 

" December 9th. — We saw in the morning, 
about nine o'clock, the English sloop coming 
down ; we immediately raised our anchor and 
sailed towards them. Arriving near them, we 
asked from ^vhence they came, on which the 
Captain, Christopher Elsworth, answered 'from 
the River.' We asked what he had done. He 
answered that he ' brought the English there.' 
We tokl him this was wrong ; it was against 
our Government to act in this manner, and 
that he should answer for it ; on which Wil- 
liam Goulding cried out, ' It is well, it is well.' 
In the vessel were Charles ^lorgan, John 
Bowne, James Holbert, John Totman, Samuel 
Spicer, Thomas Whitlock, Sergeant Gybbiugs ; 
from the First Bay, a man named Krenpels-Bos; 
one from Flushing ; two from Jamaica [L. I.], 
and a few more whom we knew not, to twenty 
in number. On the same day, in the afternoon, 
"about three o'clock, John, the Savage, returned, 
whom we had sent in the night to the Xewe- 
sing Sachems, who were encamped at a consider- 
' able distance from the Raritan River. John, the 
Savage, brought to us six or seven savages, 
who told us that the English, before John, the 
savage, came to them, had arrived there and 



presented the Savages with some rum and two 
fathoms of black wampum and one of white, 
after which they asked them if they would sell 
to them some land. In the mean time, John, 
our Savage, came, when tlie whole thing termi- 
nated and the English left. 

'• December 10th. — We departed again from 
Raritan River, accompanied by two Indians, 
who were acquainted with the lands of the New- 
asinirs. We went down the bav and arrived at 

o * 

the creek which enters between Rensselaer's Pier' 
and the said point ; we met here again Christo- 
pher Elsworth in his little sloop, and the Eng- 
lish sitting on shore near the creek. We went 
with our boat on shore and went towards them, 
along the strand. When we approached them 
we saw eveiy one standing with their weapons. 
^^'hen the Sheriff, Charles Morgan, and John 
Bowne advanced towards us, I asked them what 
their business was. They answered they were 
trading. Wc replied : If they went to trade, why 
had thev such a strong force with them ? They 
siiid Indians were villains and could not be trust- 
ed; and therefore they went in such numbers. 
We told them we were informed they came to 
])urchase land from the Indians. They answered : 
' We only went there to see the lands.' We 
again told them that they ought not to undertake 
to purchase any land of the Indians, as the 
largest part was already purchased by the Dutch. 
John Bowne then asked me, ' under what Govern- 
ment I presumed that they resided ? ' I answered 
that they lived under that of the States-General, 
and under that of the Director-General and 
Council here. To which he replied : ' Why, 
then, are we not permitted to trade and explore 
lands as well as you?' I answered him that 
they ought not to undertake to purchase any 
lands from the Indians, except they had previ- 
ously obtained the consent of Governor Stuy ve- 
sant and Council ; to which John Bowne replied : 
' It shall be well.' Then said Christopher Els- 

> '• In the ol<l Dutch records the Xavesink Highlands are 
sometimes called Rensselaer's Point or Hook, and some- 
times Rensselaer's Pier. This last name no doubt origin- 
ated from the appearance of these hills to a vessel far out 
at sea. The adjoining lowlands lying helow the horizon, 
the hills project boldly and squarely out and resemble a 
pier or wharf, to those on a vessel far out on the ocean.'' — 
Hon. G. C. Beekman. 



60 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NP:W JERSEY. 



worth, ' I told them the same before, that they 
should uot do it.' Govert Loockermaus told 
them then : 'ye are a party of traitors, and you 
act against the Government of the State.' They 
.said ^the King's patent is quite of another cast.' 
Loockermans asked ' from -vvhom have you your 
pass ? ' and they answered ' from the Manhat- 
tans.' Loockermans retorted, ' Why do you 
act, then, against the State?' To which Charles 
Morgan answered ; ' Sek noty bey ajf'et' 

"The English had their savage with them, 
who was of the Newasings, and had a hand in 
the murder of ]\Iispath's Kil,' as our savage in- 
formed us, whom we had taken witli us in our 
sloop and carried hitlier, and his name was 
Quikems, living on the Newasing River at the 
land called Towusiug. AVe left the English 
along shore and went up the river about four 
miles, along the shore under the West Hills, 
where the country is very mountainous. Ou the 
opposite side, as the savage informed us, the soil 
was very poor, but some good land, — old 
[Indian] corn-fields and some planting-ground, 
which I had before explored with Courtelyou. 
Then we crossed the hilly part, about nine miles, 
and perceived by a sign on board that Chris- 
topher Elswortli with his sloop and the English 
had entered the River. We remained before it 
during the night. December 11th. — The wind 
being south^vest, we resolved to sail towards the 
Manhattans, which we did." 

In this account it is noticeable that the Ena:- 
lish people, by their sneering retort to the Dutch, 
who accused them of being traitors, — viz. : " the 
king's patent is quite of another cast," — showed 
a fore-knowledge that the English sovereign 
was about to make a grant of the country to the 
Duke of York, and to .send a fleet and land 
force to place him in possession of it. It is also 
to he noticed that both the Dutch and the Eng- 
lish were distrustful of the Indians, the Dutch 
having a guard of ten soldiers, and the English 
beins there in strons: force and armed. That 
the Dutch were familiar -with the rcgi<in ad- 
jacent to the ri\'ers and other navigable waters 
is evident through the whole narrative, and 

' The murder, previously referred to., of Aert Theunisseu 
Van Patten, who was killed by Indians in October, 1043, 
while on a trading expedition. 



especially where the writer mentions the old 
Indian corn-field " and some planting-grounds, 
which I had before exjilored with Coiutelyou." 
They had sailed up and down the rivers and 
kills in pursuit of their vocation as traders, but 
they had made no attempt to plant any settle- 
ments there. On this occasion they told the 
English that they (the Dutch) had already 
purchased the greater part of the lands from the 
Indians ; but this was false, and was only told 
for the purpose of driving the English away. 
The Dutch had bought no land of the Indians 
in this region, nor is anything found tending to 
show that they had ever thought of such j)ur- 
chase; but when they found that the English 
were here for that purpose, their jealousy became 
aroused, and they at once sent their " Indian 
John" up the river with the message "that if 
tlie Sachems of the Newasings wished to sell 
some laud, they should come to us and we 
would talk it over with them." The ten(jr of 
the entire narrative shows plainly enough that 
at that time there were no permanent settlements 
of white people within the region referred to. 

Among the names of the men composing the 
party of land-seekers from Long Island, as given 
in the preceding account, are those of William 
Goulding, John Bowne, " Sergeant Gybbings " 
(Richard Gibbons), Samuel Spicer and others, 
who soon afterwards liecame land-owners and 
settlers within the territory of Monmouth County. 
They made two or three other journeys from 
Ivong Island to the south shore of the bay, and 
finally concluded the purchase from the sachems 
of the three "necks" of land known liy the 
Indian names of Xewasink, Xavarumsunk ami 
Pootapeck, the first-named being bought first, 
and the two others included in a subsequent ])iu'- 
cha.se." Xewasink was the region lying between 



- The tract of Xewasink was purchased from the chief, 
Poppamora, and his people. All the expense of the pur- 
chase, including the payment to the Indian in money, black 
and wliite peague, guns, one anchor of brandy, tobacco, 
clothing, wine, the services of men and bo.ats for several 
voyages made, and for the recording of the deeds in New 
York was £149 6s. Wd. 

The second purchase, — of Navarumsunk and Pootapeck 
Necks from several sachems — amounted to £3.59 10s. in the 
same kind of outlay as the first. The account was ren- 
dered to the patentees and associates July 6, 1670. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



61 



the bay and Navesink River, and extending 
northeast to the Highlands of Navesink,^ em- 
hraeino' the site of old Middletown. Xavamm- 
snilk was the " neck" lying between the Xave- 
sink and Shrewsbnry Rivers, including the place 
where the Shi-ewsbury settlement was afterwards 
made, frequent references to " Shrewsbury on 
Navariuusunk" being found in old records. The 
" neck" of Pootapeck is supposed to have been 
that Iving soutli of Shrewsbury River. The 
western and southwestern bounds of these Indian 
purcha.ses were too vaguely defined to be iden- 
tified at the present day. 

Soon after the surrender of New Xetheriands 
hy the Dutch to the English, and the establish- 
ment of the authority of the Duke of York by 
his Governor, Colont'l Richard Xicolls, the latter 
issued (in the fall of 1664) a printed prodama- 
tiiin, which he t'aused to be widely distributed, for 
the piirpose of promoting the formation of new 
settlements in the country under his jurisdiction. 
It was as follows : 

" The C'onditiiins fir new Planters in the 
Territories of his Royal Highness, the Duke of 
York. 

" The Purchases are to be made from the In- 
dian Sachems, and to be recorded before the 
Governour. 

" The Purchasers are not to i>ay for their 
Liberty of Purchasing to the Governour. 

" The Purchasers are to set out a Town and 
inhabit together. 

"No Purchaser shall at any Time contract 
fur himself with any Sachem without consent 
I if his Associates, or sjiecial Warrant fmni the 
( TKvernor. 

" The Purchasers are free from all manner of 
As-sessments or Rates for five Years after their 
Town Piatt is set out, and when the five years 
are expired they shall only be liable to the pub- 
lick Rates and Payments, according to the cus- 
tom of other Inhabitants, both English and 
Dutch. 

" All Lands tinis jnu-chased and possessed 
shall remain to the Purchasers and their Heirs 
as free Ijands, to dispose of as they Please. 

' A tract at tlie Highlands was reserved by the Indians, 
it being tlie same on which Richard Hartshorne afterwards 
located. 



" In all Territories of his Royal Highness 
Liberty of Conscience is allowed, provided such 
Liberty is not converted to Licentiousness, or the 
Disturbance of others in the Exercise of the 
Protestant Religion. 

" The several Townships have Liberty to make 
their particular Laws, and deciding all small 
Causes within them.selvcs. 

"The Lands which I intend shall be first 
Planted are those upon the West side of Hud- 
son's River, at or adjoining to the Sopesj'but if 
any nundjer of Men sufficient for two or three 
tn- more Towns shall desire to Plant upon any 
other Lands, they shall have all due Encourage- 
ment, proportionable to their cpiality and under- 
takings. 

"Every Township is obliged to pay their 
Minister according to such Agreement as they 
shall make with them, and no man to refuse his 
Proportion, the Minister being elected by the 
Major part of the Householders, Inhabitants of 
the Town. 

" Every Township hath the free choice of all 
their Officei-s, both Civil and ililitary, and all 
Men who shall take the Oath of Allegiance, 
and are not Servants or Day Lal)0urers, but are 
admitted to enjoy a Town Lot, are esteemed 
free Men of the Jurisdiction, and cannot forfeit 
the same without due Proce.ss in Law. 

"R. Xicolls." 

The people from Long Island and the Xew 
England settlements who liad commenced their 
negotiations with the Indian sachems in Decem- 
ber, 1663, and subsequently concluded the pur- 
chase from the natives of the tracts of Xewasink, 
X'avarumsunk and Pootapeck, having thus 
already complied with the firet of the conditions 
prescribed for .such as wished to obtain lands, 
under Xicolls' proclamation, made early applica- 
tion to the Governor for a grant to cover the In- 
dian purchases which they had made and others 
which they intended to make of adjacent lands; 
upon which, in April, 1665, the Governor issued 
to them :i patent, as desired, of which the follow- 
ing is a copy : 

" To all to whom these presents shall come, I, 
Richard X^icolls, Esq., Governor, under His 

- Esopus. 



62 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Royal Highness, the Duke of York, of all his 
Territories in America, send greeting : Whereas, 
there is a certain Tract or Parcel of Land within 
this Government lying and being near Sandy 
Point upon the Main ; which said parcel of 
Land hath been with my Consent and Ap- 
probation bought by some of the Inhabitants of 
Gravesend, upon Long Island, of the Sachems 
(chief proprietors thereof), who before me have 
acknowledged to have received Satisfliction for 
the same; to the end the said Land may be 
planted, manured and inhabited, and for divers 
otiier good Causes and Considerations, I have 
thought tit to give, confirm and grant, and by 
these Presents do give, confirm and grant unto 
William Goulding, Samuel Spicer, Richard 
Gibbons, Richard Stout, James Grover, John 
Bown, John Tilton, Nathaniel Silvester, Wil- 
liam Reape, Walter Clark, Nicholas Davies, 
Obadiah Holmes, Patentees and their Associ- 
ates, their Heirs, Successors and Assigns, all 
that Tract and Part of the main Laud, begin- 
nino- at a certain Place commonlv called or 
known by the Name of Sandy Point, and so 
running along the Bay, West North West till 
it comes to the Mouth of the Raritan River ; 
from thence going along the said River to the 
Westermost Part of the certain Marsh Land 
which divides the River into two Parts, and 
from that Part to run in a direct South West 
Line into the Woods Twelve Miles, and then 
to turn away S(juth East and by South until it 
falls into the main Ocean ; together with all 
Lands, Soils, Rivers, Creeks, Harbours, Mines, 
Minerals (Royal Mines excepted). Quarries, 
Woods, Meadows, Pastures, Marshes, Waters, 
Lakes, Fishings, Hawkiugs, Huntings and Fowl- 
ing, and all other Profits, Commodities and 
Hereditaments to the said Lands and Premises 
belonging and appertaining, with their and every 
of their appurtenances, and of every Part and 
Parcel thereof. To Have and to Hold, all and 
singular, the said Lands, Hereditaments and 
Premises, with their and every of tiieir Ap- 
purtenances hercl)y given and granted, or here- 
inbefore mentioned to be given and granted, 
to the only proper Use and Beiiooif of the said 
Patentees and their Associates, their Heirs, Suc- 
cessors and Assigns forever, upon such Terms 



and conditions as hereafter are expressed, that 
is to say : tiiat the said Patentees and their As- 
sociates, their Heirs or assigns, shall within rhe 
space of three years, beginning from the Day of 
the Date hereof, manure and plant the aforesaid 
Laud and Premises, and settle there one Hun- 
dred Families at the least ; in consideration 
whereof I do promise and grant that the said 
Patentees and their Associates, their Heirs, Suc- 
cessors and Assigns shall enjoy the said Land and 
Premises, with their Appurtenances, for the Term 
of seven years next to come after the Date of 
these Presents free from Payment of any Rents, 
Customs, Excise, Tax or Levy whatsoever ; But 
after the expiration of the said Term of Seven 
years the Persons who shall be in the Posses- 
sion thereof shall pay after the same Rate 
which others within this, his Royal Highnesses 
Territories, shall be obliged unto. And the said 
Patentees and their Associates, their Heirs, Suc- 
cessors and Assigns, shall have free leave and 
liberty to erect and build their Towns and A'il- 
lagcs in such Places as they in their Discretions 
shall think most convenient, provided that they 
associate themselves, and that the Houses of 
their Towns and Villages be not too far distant 
and scattering one from another ; and also they 
make such Fortifications for their Defence 
against an Enemy as may seem needful. And 
I do likewise grant unto the .said Patentees and 
their Associates, their Heirs, Successors and As- 
signs, and unto any and all other Persons who 
shall Plant and Inliabit in any of the Land 
aforesaid, tluit they shall have free Liberty of 
Conscience, without any Molestation or Disturb- 
ance whatsoever in their way of Worship. And 
I do further grant unto the aforesaid Patentees, 
their Heirs, Successors and Assigns, that they 
shall have Liberty to elect by the Vote (jf the 
Major Part of the Inhabitants five or seven 
other Persons of the ablest and discreetest of 
the said Inhabitants, or a greater Number of 
them (if tiie Patentees, tiicir Heirs, Successors 
or Assigns shall see cause) to join with them, 
and th(y together, or the Major Part of them, 
shall have full Power and Authority to make 
such peculiar or prudential Laws and Constitu- 
tions amongst the Inhabitants for the better 
and more orderly governing of them as to them 



EAKLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



63 



j shall seem meet ; provided they be not repug- 
nant to the publick Laws of the (government ; 
and they shall also have Liberty to try all Causes 
and Actions of Debt and Trespass arising 
aniongst themselves, to the Value of Ten 
Pounds, without Appeal, but that they remit 
the hearing of all Criminal Matters to the As- 
sizes of New York. And furthermore I do 
promise and grant unti) the Patentees and their 
Associates aforementioned, their Heirs, Succes- 
sors and Assigns, tiiat they shall in all Things 
iiave equal privileges. Freedom and Immuni- 
ties with any of his Majesty's subjects within 
this Government, these Patentees and their As- 
sociates, their Heirs, Successors and Assigns 
rendering and paying such Duties and Ac- 
knowledgements as nOw are or hereafter shall 
be constituted and established by the laws of 
this Government, under the Obedience of his 
Koyal Highness, his Heirs and Successors, pro- 
vided they do no way infringe the Privileges 
above specified. Given under my Hand and 
8eal at Fort James, in New York, on Manhat- 
ans-Island, the Stli Day of April in the 17th 
year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, 

I Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, of 

i England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, 
Defender of the Faith, &c., and in the year of 

i our Lord God, 1(565. 

" Richard Xicolls. 

"Entered in the office of Record in Xcw Yorl; 
the Day and Year above written. 

"Mathias Nicolls, Secrctari/." 

This grant bv Governor Nicolls M'as antl is 
known as the "Momiiouth Patent." It em- 
{ braced parts of the present counties of Middle- 
' .sex and Ocean, and all of what is now the 
•county of Monmouth, except the township of 
Upper Freehold and the western part of Mill- 
stone. The patentees and their associates 
eiiinmenced their settlements immediately' at 
iliddletown and Shi'ewsbnry, and during the 
>ummer and fall of 1665 a large number of 
people, nearly all of whom were from the 

' JoUn Bowne, Richard Stout and three others, with 
their families, — five families in all, — came and made their 
settlement in the spring or summer of 1664, nearly a year 
■hefore the patent was issued. 



Long Island and Rhode Island settlements, 
had made their permanent homes at these points. 
During the succeeding four years their num- 
bers increased quite rapidly, so that in the year 
1670 there were at Middletown and Shrews- 
bury aud in the region to the westward and 
northwestward of those places, within the limits 
of the present county of Monmouth, more than 
the requisite number of one hundred families.^ 
The following list embraces nearly all those who 
were at that time settlers or owners of shares 
of the lands of the Indian purchases. A few 
of those who Mere owners of lands did not 
settle on them, but the greater part of the names 
here given were those of heads of families, 
and the remainder, except the few non-resident 
share-owners, were single men, but actual set- 
tlers. The list of names, giving also, so far as 
known, the previous residence of each, is as 
follows : 

From Massachusetts Bay. — George Allen, 
William Giftbrd, .John .Jenkins, Richard Sadler, 
Edward ^Vllarton. 

From Rhode Idand.^ — John Allen, Chris- 
topher Allmy, .Job Allmy, Stephen Arnold, 
James Ashton, Benjamin Borden', Richard Bor-' 
den, Francis Brindley, Nicholas Brown, Abra- 
ham Brown, Henry Bull, Robert Carr, George 
Chutte, Walter Clarke, Thomas Clifton, AVil- 
liam Coddington, Joshua Coggeshall, John 
Coggeshall, Edward Cole, Jacob Cole, Joseph 
Coleman, John Cook, Nicholas Davis, Richard 
Davis, William Deuell, Benjamin Deuell, 
Thomas Dungan, Roger Ellis and son, Peter 
Easton, Gideon Freeborn, ^Vuuias Gauntt, 

' It appears that there were about that number settled at 
the two towns and vicinity as early as 1668. At a " General 
Assembly" of the settlers, held at Portland Point (the 
Highlands) on the 4th of June in that year, it was : 

" Ordered, upon full debate hereof, that noe more per- 
sons whatsoever, either purchasers, townsmen or others, 
shall hereafter be admitted or taken in, there being in 
numbers about 100, as near as att present can be found ; 
or if it be found there are not soe many, yet notwithstand- 
ing noe moor are to be from henceforth admitted as afore- 
said." 

' .Many of the settlers who came to Monmouth County 
from Khode Island and Long Island had previously lived 
in the colony of Massachusetts Bay, and had left there on 
account of the religious persecution to which they had been 
subjected. 



64 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Zachary Gauntt, Israel Gauiitt, Daniel Gould, 
John Havens, Robert Hazard, Samuel Holli- 
man, Obadiah Holmes, Jonathan Holmes, 
George Hulett, Richard James, William James, 
William Layton, Jamer^ Leonard, Henry Lip- 
pett, Mark Lucar (or Luker), Lewis Mattux, 
Edward Pattison, Thomas Potter, William 
Reape, Richard Richardson, William Shaberly, 
Samuel Shaddock, Thomas Shaddock, William 
Shattock, William Shearman, John Sloeum, 
Edward Smith, John Smith, Edward Tartt, 
Robert Taylor, John Throckmorton, Job 
Throckmorton, Edward Thurston, Eliakim 
Wardell, George Webb, Bartholomew West, 
Robert W^est, Robert West, Jr., Thomas Win- 
terton, Emanuel W^oolle}^ 

From Long Island. — John Bowne, Gerrard 
Bowne, James Bowne, William Bowne, Wil- 
liam Cpmpton, John Conklin (earlier from Sa- 
lem, Mass.), Thomas Cox, John Cox, Richard 
Gibbons, William Goulding, Janies Grover, 
James Grover, Jr., William Lawrence, Barthol- 
omew Lippincott, Richard Lippincott, Richard 
Moor, Thomas Moor, John Ruckman, Nathaniel 
Sylvester, Benjamin Spicer, Samuel Spicer, John 
Stout, Richard Stout, John Tilton, Peter Tilton, 
Nathaniel Tompkins, John Townseud, John 
Wall, Walter Wall, Thomas W^ansick, Thoma.s 
W'hitlock. 

Previous residence unlnoicn except tcJiere men- 
tioned. — John Bird, Joseph Boyer, William 
Cheeseman, Edward Crome, Daniel Estell, 
Ralph Gouldsmith, John Hall, John Hance 
(Westchester, X. Y.), John Haundell, Thomas 
Hart, John Hawes, James Heard, Richard Harts- 
horne (England),Tobias Handsi m, John Horabin, 
Joseph Huet, Randall Huet, Randall Huet, Jr., 
John Jobs, Robert Jones (New York), Gabriel 
Kirk, Edmund Lafetra, Francis Masters, 
George Mount, ^^'illiam Newman, Anthony 
Page, Joseph Parker, Peter Parker, Henry 
Percy, Bartholomew Shamgungue, Richard 
Sissell, Roliert Story, John Tomson, Marma- 
duke Ward, John W'ilson, John Wood, Thomas 
AVright. 

On the 8th of July, 1670, the patentees met 
at Portland Point and voted to admit as associ- 
ates "a convenient number of purchasers who 
were the first and principal in the purchase of 



the three necks: Newasink, Navarumsunk and 
Pootapeck, . . . henceforth to have a full 
interest, right and claim in y' Patent given and 
granted toy° Patentees by Richard Nicolls, Esq'., 
late Governour of New York." The associates 
then chosen were William Bowne, Thomas AYhit- 
lock, John W^ilson, John Ruckman, Walter Wall, 
John Smith, Richard Rit'hardson, John Hoi'abin, 
James Bowne, Jonathan Holmes, Chri.stopher 
Allmy, Eliakim Wardell, Bartholomew AVest, 
John Haunce, James Ashton, Edward Pattison, 
William Shaddock, Thomas Winterton, Edward 
Tartt, Benjamin Burden (Borden). On the 31st 
of ilay, 1G72, Richard Lippincott and Nicholas 
Browne were added to the list of a.ssociates. 

Of the persons mentioned in the foregoing 
list, the following named, though owners of 
shares in the Indian purchases (and .some of 
them being also original grantees in the Mon- 
mouth patent), did not become settlers here, viz. : 
Henry Bull, Robert Carr, Walter Clarke (pat- 
entee), W^illiam Coddington, Joshua Coggeshall, 
John Coggeshall, Nicholas Davis (patentee), 
Zaciiary Gauntt, Daniel Gould, Edward Thurs- 
ton and Obadiah Holmes (patentee), all of Rhode 
Island; Nathaniel Sylvester (patentee), of Long 
Island; and John Jenkins and Edward Whar- 
ton, of Massachusetts Bay. The la.st named 
had lieen imprisoned and publicly whi])ped as 
a Quaker in the ^Massachusetts colony, and he 
came to Monmouth County probably with the 
intention of making it his permanent home; 
but after a brief stay he returned to New Eng- 
land, for some reason which does not appear. 

Henry Bull, W^alter Clarke, W^illiam Cod- 
dington and John Coggeshall were Governors 
of Rhode Island.' Robert Carr sold his share 
to Giles Sloeum, of Newport, R. I., for his son, 
John Sloeum, who became a settler. Zachariah 
Gauntt .sold his share to his brother, Annias, 
who became a permanent settler on the Mon- 
mouth purchase. 

Joshua Coggeshall, Edward Thui'ston and 
Daniel Gould were Deputy or Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernors of Rhode Island, as were also several 
others, Avho became permanent .settlers, viz. : 

1 Coggeshall in 1647 and 1 668 ;< Clark in 1676, 1686 and 
1699; Coddington in 1683-8.5 (died 1688); Bull in 1085 
and 1G90. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



65 



Francis Briutlley,AVilliam Reape,Edward Smith, 
Stephen Ariiokl, Job Alhuy and Christophei" 
AUniy. 

Nicholas Davis (patentee) was living in the 
Massachusetts Bay colony at the time when the 
Quakers began preaching there, about lG5t5,and 
he soon afterwards became a member of that 
society, for which offense he was indicted in 
April, 1659, and in July of the same year he 
was sentenced to death. Mary Dyer,' William 
Robinson and [Nlarmaduke Stevenson were also 
sentenced at the same time, and they were hung 
at Boston. Davis' sentence was commuted to 
banishment, and he removed to Newport, R. I., 
where he was living when he became interested 
in the Monmoutii patent. He was drowned 
aliout the year 1G72. 

The Rev. Obadiah Holmes, one of the twelve 
patentees of Monmouth, was living in 1G39 at 
Salem, ]\Iass., where he was engaged with Law- 
rence Southwick and Ananias Conklin (descend- 
ants of both of whom became settlers on the 
jNIon mouth purchase) in the manufacture of 
glass, they being among the first, and probably 
the first, in that business in America. Mr. 
Holmes afterwards joined the Baptists and be- 
came a prominent minister in that denomina- 
tion, for which offense he was indicted at Ply- 
niciuth, in October, 1650, with Edward Smith, 
John Hazell and William Deuel), and tried 
before Governor William Bradford, Captain 
Miles Standish and other dignitaries, the result 
of which trial is not very clearly to be under- 
stood from the record. In the following year 
(July, 1651) the Rev. Obadiah Holmes, John 
Clarke and John Crandal went to Lynn and 
there held services at the house of William 
Witter, he being an old and feeble man, unable 
to journey far to hear the Gospel preached. 
While engaged in services at Witter's house 
they were arrested, and thence taken before 
Magistrate Robert Bridges, who committed them 
to jail in Boston, where, on the 31st of July, 
Holmes and Clarke were brought before the 
CI mrt (presided over by His Excellency, Governor 



' Her son, Henry Dyer, was among the early settlers in 
Monmouth County, though his name does not appear in the 
foregoing list. 



John Endicott), found guilty^ and sentenced to 
pay each a fine of £30 or be "well whipt." A 
friend of Clarke's paid his fine for him, but Mr. 
Holmes ''refused to pay, though able to do so. 
He deemed a payment of the fine to be an ac- 
knowledgment of error, and he chose rather to 
suffer than to 'deny his Lord.' " So he suffered 
the punishment — thirty lashes " with a three- 
corded whip" — without a murmur, praying to 
the Lord the while to forgive his persecutors 
for their sin and cruelty. "Mr. Holmes," says 
Backus, in his " Hi.story of the Baptists," " was 
whipt thirty strijjes, and in such an unmerciful 
manner that in many days, if not some weeks, 
he could take no rest but as he lay upon his 
knees and elbows, not being able to suffer any 
part of his body to touch tiic bed whereon he 
lav." After this outrage he lived more than 



' The crime of which these New England bigots found him 
guilty is set forth in the following : 

"The sentence of Obadiah Holmes, of Seaconk, the 31st 
of the 5th m. [0. S.], Ifiol. 

" Forasmuch as you, Obadiah Holmes, being come into 
this jui'isdiction about the 21 of the 5 m., did meet at one 
William Witter's house at Lynn, and did there privately 
(and at other times, being an excommunicate person, did 
take upon you to preach and baptize), upon the Lord's day 
or other days, and being taken then by the constable, and 
coming afterwards to the assembly at Lynn, did, in disre- 
spect to the ordinance of God and his worship, keep on 
your hat, the pastor being in prayer, insomuch that you 
would not give reverence in vailing your hat, till it was 
forced off your head, to the disturbance of the congrega- 
tion, and professing against the institution of the church as 
not being according to the gospel of Jesus Christ ; and that 
you, the said Obadiah Holmes, did, upon the day following, 
meet again at the said William Witter's in contempt to 
authority, you being then in the custody of the law, and 
did there receive the sacrament, being excommunicate, and 
that you did baptize such as were baptized before, and 
thereby did necessarily deny the baptism that was before 
administered to be baptism, the churches no churches, and 
also other ordinances and ministers, as if all wei'e a nullity : 
and also did deny the lawfulness of baptizing of infants ; and 
all this tends to the dishonor of God, the despising the 
ordinances of Goil among us, the peace of the churches, 
and seducing the subjects of this commonwealth from the 
truth of the gospel of Jesus Chrijit, and perverting the 
strait ways of the Lord, the Court doth fine you thirty 
pounds, to be paid, or sufficient sureties that the said sum 
shall be paid, by the first day of the next Court of Assist- 
ants, or else to be well whipt, and that you shall remain 
in prison till it be paid, or security given for it. By the 
Court. 

"iNCRE.iSE NOWELI,." 



66 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



thirty years, principally at and near Newport, 
R. I., which was his residence at the time when 
he became one of the Monmouth patentees. 
Though he never .settled on his ^Monmouth lands, 
he made occasional visits here, one of which was 
upon tlie organization of the Baptist Church at 
Middletowu, which was the first of that de- 
nomination in New Jersey and the third or 
fourth in America. Two of his sons, Obadiah 
and Jonathan, became settlers in Monmouth. 
The first named returned to Rhode Island after 
a few years, but Jonathan remained, and was 
one of the first officials elected at a meeting of 
the inhabitants of " Middletown, on Newasunk 
Neck, and Shrewsbury, on Navarumsunk Neck," 
held on the 19th of Deceml^er, 1667. His 
father, the Rev. Obadiah Hohnes (the patentee), 
died at Newport on tlie 15th of Octobei", 1682. 

Nathaniel Sylvester, a n(in-resident patentee 
of Monmouth, was a Quaker, and the prin- 
cipal owner of Shelter Island, near tiie eastern 
end of Long Island. His house afforded an 
asylum for Lawrence Southwick (one of Rev. 
Oljadiah Holmes' partners in the glass-works 
at Salem, Mass.) and his wife, Cassandra, who, 
with their son, Josiah, had joined the Quakers 
in Massaciiusetts Bay Colony, and had on this 
account ])een frequently and cruelly punished 
l>y whipping, and were finally Ijanished from 
tlic colony. Being old people, they were com- 
pletely broken down l)y the severity of their 
punishments and persecutions, and tliey dieil at 
Mr. Sylvester's house, in 1659, within three 
days of each other. Their daughter, Provided 
Southwick, married Samuel Gaskeli, and from 
them descended the numerous fiimily of Gaskeli 
in New Jei-sey. 

Captain John Bowne was a leader in the 
]iroject of purchasing from the Indian sachems 
the three " Necks" of Newasink, Navarumsunk, 
and Pootapeck, and was one of tlie company 
who sailed from Gravesend, L. I., in Christo- 
piier Eliswortli's sloop, in December, 1663, in 
the prosecution of that enterprise, as is mentioned 
in the preceding account of the trip of Govert 
Loockermans and otliers to tlie Navesink region, 
in the same month. Captain Bowne became 
one of the patentees of the INIonmonth grant, by 
Governor Nicolls, and was one of the first five 



families who made a j)ermanent settlement on 
the great tract. The place where he located is 
in the present township of Holmdel, though in 
the old records he is mentioned as one of the 
settlers of Middletown, — a name which was at 
tiiat time applied to a large and somewhat 
vaguely-defined region surrounding the " town" , 
or central settlement. Until Captain Bowue's 
death, in the early part of 1684, he seems to 
have been the most prominent citizen of the 
(•((unty, esteemed for his integrity and ability. 
He had been compelled to leave the Massachu- 
setts colony on account of his syrapatiiy with the 
Bajitists, and he was one of the founders of the 
Baptist Chui'ch at Middletown. He appeared as 
a deputy to the first Assembly in Governor 
Carteret's time, whicii met iMay 26, 1668, the 
members of the Lower House being tiien called 
" Inirgesses." He M'as deputy again in 167-5, 
af^er Carteret's return from England ; and in 
the first Legislature under the twenty-four pro- 
prietors, in 1683, he M'as a member and tiie 
Speaker, and acted until the December following. j 
He held other positions of trust. March 12, || 
1677, a commission was issued to him as presi- 
dent of the court to hold a term at Middletown. 
In December, 1683, shortly before his last ill- 
ness, he was appointed major of the militia of 1 
Monmouth County. He died in January, 1683- 
84, leaving two sons, Obadiah and John, the ' 
latter of whom was also a prominent man in the 
province, and a candidate for tlie office of 
Speaker of Assemlily in Lord Cornliury's 
administration ; but he ^vas expelled from the 
House on a charge of having taken part in the 
raising of a large sum of money in the pi'ovince 
to be paid to Cornbury as a bribe for corrupt 
official action. No such charge could ever have 
been brought against the rigid virtue and up- 
rightness of the first John Bowne, of Mon- 
mouth. 

Captain Audrew Bowne, a somewhat later set- 
tler in Monmouth County, who was a member of 
the Governor's Council, and also Acting Governor 
just prior to the surrender by the proprietors to 
Queen Anne, is supp(.)sed to have been a brother 
of Captain John Bowne. 

Richard Stout was one of the Monmouth pat- 
entees, and iiis was also one of the first five fam- 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



67 



ilies wlu) settled on the Indian purchase in 1664. 
He iiad previonsly lived a number of years on 
Long Island, and while tlicre had been married 
to a young Dutch widow, of whom and her 
two husbands tlie following account is found 
in a " History of New Jersey," published in 
1765 : 

" While New York was in possession of the 
Dutch, about the time of the Indian war in New 
England, a Dutch ship coming from Amster- 
dam was stranded on Sandy Hook, but the pas- 
seugei-s got on shore ; among them was a young 
Dutchman, who had been sick most of tJie voy- 
age ; lie was taken so bad after lauding that he 
could not travel, and the other passengers being- 
afraid of the Indians, would not stay till he re- 
covered, but made what haste they could to go 
to New Amsterdam; his wife, however, would 
not leave him, and the rest promised to send as 
soon as they arrived. The}' had not been long 
gone before a company of Indians coming down 
to the water-side discovered them on the beach, 
and, hastening to the spot, soon killed the man, 
and cut and mangled the woman in such a man- 
ner that they left her for dead. She had strength 
enough to crawl up to some old logs not far dis- 
tant, and getting into a hollow tree, lived mostly 
in it for several days, subsisting in part bj' eat 
ing the excrescences that grew from it ; the In- 
dians had left some fire on the shore, which she 
kept together for warmth ; having remained in 
this manner for some time, an old Indian and a 
young one, coming down to the beach, found 
her; they were soon in high words, which she 
afterwards understood was a disjjute, the for- 
mer being for keeping her alive, the other for 
dispatching. After they had debated the point 
awiiile the first hastily took her up, and, tossing 
her upon his shoulder, carried her to a place 
near where Middlctown now stands, where he 
dressed her wounds and soon cured her. After 
some time the Dutch at New Amsterdam, hear- 
ing of a white woman among the Indians, con- 
cluded Mho it must be, and some of them went 
to her relief; the old Indian, her preserver, 
gave her the choice either to go or stay ; she 
cliose the first. A while after, marrving to one 
Stout [Richard], they lived together at iliddle- 
town among other Dutch [".*] inhabitants. The 



old Indian who saved her life used frequently 
to visit her ; at one of his visits she observed 
him to be more pensive than common, and sit- 
ting down, he gave three heavy sighs; after the 
last she thought herself at liberty to ask him 
what was the matter. He told her he had some- 
thing to tell her iu friendship, though at the 
risk of his own life, which was, that the Indians 
were that nigjit to kill all the whites, and ad- 
vised her to go off for New Amsterdam ; she 
asked him how she could get off; he told her he 
had provided a canoe at a place which he 
named. Being gone from her, she sent for her 
husband out of the field and discovered the 
matter to him, M'ho not believing it, she told 
him the old man never deceived her, and that 
she with the children would go ; accordingly, 
going to the place appointed, they found the 
canoe, and jiaddled off. When they M'cre gone 
the husband began to consider the thing, and 
sending for five or six of his neighbors, they set 
upon their guard. About midnight they heard 
the dismal war-whoop ; presently came up a 
company of Indians ; they first expostulated, 
and then told them that if they persisted in 
their bloody design, they would sell their lives 
very dear. Their arguments prevailed, the In- 
dians desisted, and entered into a league of peace, 
which was kept without violation. From this 
woman thus remarkably saved, with her scars 
visible through a long life, is descended a nu- 
merous posterity of the name of Stout, now 
inhabiting New Jersey." 

In another account of these events, based 
on thesame authority (Benedict's "History of the 
Baptists"), it is added that Mrs. Stout's maiden- 
name was Penelope .Van Pi-inces ; that she was 
born iu Amsterdam aljout the year 1602 ; that 
she married Richard Stout in New York when 
she was in her twenty-second year and he in 
his fortieth, he being an Englishman of good 
family ; that they afterwards settled at ]\Iiddle- 
town ; that she lived to the age of one hundred 
and ten yeai-s, having borne to Richard Stout 
seven sous and three daughters,' and befoi-e her 

^ The sons were Jonathan John, Richard, James, Peter, 
Daviil, I'.(M)janiiii ; the daugliter.s were Mary, Sarah and 
Alice. Benedict says Richard Stout was a son of John 
Stout, of Nottinghamshire, England. 



68 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



death saw her offspring multiplied to five hun- 
dred and two in about eigiity-eight years. 

There is, beyond doubt, a good deal of ro- 
mance and inaccuracy in both these accounts, 
tliough in their main features they are probably 
correct. The statement that they lived " among 
other Dutch '' at jNIiddletown is clearly incor- 
rect, as there wei'e no Dutch among the early 
settlers there. The story of the intended In- 
dian massacre, too, is undoubtedly the product 
of a fertile imagination, as it is well known 
that the Indians of this region were always 
friendly to the English settlers, and never gave 
them an}' trouble except an occasional drunken 
brawl, which the white men punished by plac- 
ing the noble red men in the stocks or pillory, 
just as tliev did the same class of white offenders, 
— a fact which in itself shows that they had no 
fear of any Indian massacre. As to Benedict's 
statement, if it is true that she was born in 
1602, and was married to Richard Stout when 
she was twenty-two, the time of their marriage 
must have been the year 1624, at which time 
he was forty years of age. They went to Mid- 
dletown, with the first settlers, in 1664, at 
which time (if this statement is correct) her age 
was sixty-two, and his eighty years. At that 
time, and for several succeeding years, Richard 
Stout was a prominent man in the public affairs 
of the Navesink settlements, which would 
hardly have been the case at such an age ; and 
in 1669, when (according to tiie above supposi- 
tion) he was eighty-five years old, Richard 
Stout, Jonathan Holmes, Edward Smith and 
James Bowue were chosen " overseers " of 
Middlctown, and Stout made his X mark to 
the " Ingadgemcut " in lieu of signature, — 
which last-mentioned fact makes it improbable 
that he was, as stated, an Englishman "of good 
family," acc-ording to the usual English under- 
standing of that term. Richard Stout was, 
however, one of the most respectable and re- 
spected men in his day in the Monmouth settle- 
ments. 

William Reape (Monmouth patentee.) was a 
Long Island settler aud a Quaker, on which 
account he had been arrested and imprisoned 
by the Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvcsant, who 
could hardlv be termed a reli<i:ious bia;ot, l)ut 



who became a mild persecutor of Quakers be- 
cause his instructions from the States-General re- 
quired him to discountenance all forms of religion 
but that prcscrilied by the Synod of Dordrecht. 
Soon after his liberation Reape went to New- 
port, R, I., where he engaged in mercantile 
business, and was living there when he became 
interested in the Monmouth patent. He was 
one of the first settlers who came to make their 
homes on the Navesink Indian purchase in 
1665. 

John Tilton was anotlier of the twelve Mon- 
mouth patentees. " When he first came from 
England he located at Lynn, Massachusetts. 
His wife was a Baptist, and in Decemljer, 1642, 
she was indicted for ' holdinge that the Baptism 
of Infants is no Ordinance of God.' They 
left Massachusetts with Lady Deborah IMoody 
and other Baptists and settled at Gravesend, 
Long Island, where again they were made to 
suffer for conscience' sake. In 1658 he was 
fined by the Dutch authorities for allowing a 
Quaker woman to stop at his house. In Sep- 
tember, 1662, he was fined for ' permitting 
Quakers to quake at his house.' lu October of 
the same year himself and wife were summoned 
before Governor Stuys-esant and Council at 
New Amsterdam (now New York), charged 
with having entertained Quakers, and frequent- 
ing their conventicles. They were condemned 
and ordered to leave the province before the 
20th day of November following, under pain 
of corporal punishment. It is supposed that 
through the efforts of Lady !Moody, who had 
great influence with the Dutch Governor, the 
sentence was either reversed or changed to the 
payment of a fine."' They came to Mon- 
mouth among the settlers of 1665. Jonathan 
Tilton, who was also one of the earliest settlers, 
was an ancestor of Theodore Tilton, of Brook- 
lyn, the famous lecturer. The residence of 
Jonathan Tilton (and the place where he died) 
was an old house, still (or recently) standing 
between Balm Hollow and Middlctown, just 
east of Beekman's Woods. 

James Grover, one of the patentees, be- 
came a permanent settler, and built the first iron- 



1 Hon. Eilwin Salter. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



69 



works in New Jersey. Their location was at 
Tinton Falls. They were sold, with a large 
tract of adjacent land, to Colonel Lewis Morris, 
the elder, in 1576. 

William Goulding (whose name heads the 
list of jNIonmouth patentees) was one of the 
Massachusetts Bay Baptists, who were perse- 
cuted and banished from that colony on account 
of their religion. He became a permanent 
settler, and was one of the founders of the old 
Baptist Church at Middletowu. 

Richard Gibbons, who is mentioned as 
" Sergeant Gybbings " in the account of the 
visit of the Long Islanders to the Navesinks in 
December, 1663, was one of the twelve pat- 
entees of Monmouth, and an early settler on 
the o-reat tract. The old records do not men- 
tion his name as frequently as those of many 
of the other patentees and settlers. 

Samuel Spicer, a patentee and one of the 
settlers of 1665, had previously resided at Grave- 
send, L. I. He was a member of the Society 
of Friends, and, like Reape, Tilton and others, 
had been severely dealt with by Governor 
Stuyvesant for non-conformity to the estab- 
lished religion of the Synod of Dordrecht. 

Edward Smith, whose name appears as a 
purchaser of lands within the Monmouth pat- 
ent, was one of those who were indicted at 
Plymouth with Rev. Obadiah Holmes and .John 
Hazell, in October, 16.50, as before mentioned. 
The indictment was as follows : 

" October second, 1650. 
" Wee whose names are here underwritten, 
being the Grand Inquest, doe present to this 
Court John Hazell, Mr. Edward Smith and 
his wife, Obadiah Holmes, Joseph Tory and 
his wife, and the wife of James Man, William 
Deuell and his wife, of the town of Rehoboth, 
for the continuing of a meeting upon the Lord's 
day, from house to house, contrary to the order 
of this Court, enacted June 12, 1650. 

Thomas Robinsox, 
Hexey Toii.sox, etc., 
to the number of 14." 

They were tried before Governor AVilliam 
Bradford, Capt. Miles Standish and other 
magistrates, and soon afterwards Edward Smith 



and William Deuell removed to Rhode Island, 
where Smith became Lieutenant-Governor. Both 
he and Deuell settled in what is now Mon- 
mouth County in or about the year 1 665. 

" John Hance was one of the original settlci's 
of Shrewsbury. He is named as a deputy and 
overseer at a court held at Portland Point, 
December 28, 1669. He held various positions 
in the county, among which was justice, and 
that of 'schepeu,' to which latter he was ap- 
pointed by the Dutch during their brief rule 
in 1673. He was a deputy to the Assembly in 
1668, but refused to take or sub.seribe the oath 
of allegiance but with provisos, and would not 
yield the claims of his people under the Mon- 
mouth patent, and submit to the laws and gov- 
ernment of the proprietors when directed 
against those claims, in consequence of which 
he was rejected as a member, as was also Jona- 
than Holmes, Edward Tartt and Thomas Win- 
ierton, at the same se.ssion, for the same reasons. 
Hance was re-elected a deputy in 1680 and at 
other times." ' 

William Shattock was a native of Boston, 
who, about 1656, joined the Quakers in the 
Massachusetts Bay colony, and for this offense 
was imprisoned, cruelly whipped and banished. 
He removed to Rhode Island and thence to 
New Jensey in or about 1665, settling on lands 
of the iMonmouth patent. A few years after- 
wards he moved to Burlington. His daughter 
Hannah married Restore Lippincott, .son of 
Richard I^ippincott. 

Samuel Shattock (or Shaddock), who was a 
settler on the Navesink purchase, was a Massa- 
chusetts Quaker, who removed thence to Rhode 
Island before his settlement in New Jei-sey. 
Not long after the persecution and banishment 
of Lawrence Southwick and his wife from 
Massachusetts Bay, their son, Josiah - (who had 
also been banished), with Samuel Shattock and 
Nicholas Phelps, went tu England, where, after 
long and persistent efforts, they procured the 
King's order that thereafter all persons indicted 
as Quakers should be sent to England for trial 
instead of being tried in the Massachusetts Bay 

' Hon. Edwin Salter. 

■^ A son or nephew of Josiuh .Southwick settled at Mount 
IIoUv about 1 TOO. 



70 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



colony. After that time the Friends were 
comparatively free from persecution iu New 
England. 

John and Job Throckmorton, ancestors of 
the numerous Throckmortons of the present 
time in Monmouth County, were settlers here 
between 1665 and 1667. They were sons of 
John Throckmorton, who, with Thomas James, 
William Arnold, EdM'ard Cole and Ezekiel 
Holliman (or, more properly, Holman), came 
over from England iu the same ship with Roger 
Williams, and all of whom are mentioned by 
Williams as his friends and associates in an 
account written by him in 1638.' John 
Throckmorton was among the first settlers at 
Providence, R. L, and was afterwards in West- 
chester, N. Y., with Ann Hutchinson. After 
.she was killetl by the Indians he still held his 
lauds in Westchester and on Long Island, but 
returned to Providence, where he spent most of 
his time and held his citizenship. 

John Smith came to the Monmouth great 
tract with the early settlers, and was the first 
" .schoolmaster " of Middletown. He was the 
same person who, with three others, accom- 
panied Roger AVillianis on his first exploring 
jdurney to Rhode Island. Edward Smith, who 
was also a settler in Monmouth, left Massachu- 
.setts Bay with John Smith, the teacher, because 
of the persecution against them as Baptists. 

Richard Hartshorne came to the province of 
Xew Jersey in September, 1660, and located 
himself in Middletown, Monmouth County. 
Sandy Hook was first held under a grant to 
him in 1667. He was a Quaker by profession, 
and an account of the couutry written by him 
and circulated iu England induced considera- 
ble emigration. A letter from him, dated 
Kov. 12, 1675, is one of a collection printed in 
1676, a, facsimile of which is in the New Jersey 
Historical Society Library. He soon attained 
popularity in East Jersey, but did not enter 
into public life until early in 1684, when he 
Mas appointed one of Deputy-Governor Law- 
rie's Council. In the succeeding year he was 
elected to the General Assembly from Middle- 
town ; was chosen Speaker iu 1686, and con- 

1 Backus' "History of the Baptists." 



tinned to hold that position until October, 1693, 
and again from February, 1696, to March, 
1698, when he became one of Governor Basse's 
Council. He still continued to hold his seat as 
a member of the Assembly, and filled both 
positions until the surrender of the government 
to the crown.- He was a brother of Hugh 
Hartshorne, one of the 'twenty-four proprietors, 
who is mentioned as " Citizen and Skinner of 
London " in Leaming and Spicer, p. 141. 

Eliakim Wardell, who was one of the asso- 
ciate patentees of Montuouth, had lived near 
Hampton, X. H., where he and his wife were 
persecuted, imprisoned, whipped and finally 
banished because of their Quaker principles. 
They then removed to Rhode Island, which 
colony, altiiough it offered to the Quakers a 
more peaceful and safe asylum than- they could 
find elsewhere in Xew England, was yet objec- 
tionable to them in some respects.' ilr. War- 



2 This account of Richard Hartshorne is found in Xew 
Jersey .irchives, Series 1, vol. i. p. '220. 

' " In regard to Qualcers in Rhode Island, the toleration 
extended to them was not so unrestricted as in Xew Jersey, 
for the Gener.al Assembly of that colony endeavored to 
compel them to bear arms, which was contrary to the 
dictates of their consciences, in an important point iu their 
religious faith. The General Assembly of Rhode Island 
declared that ' In case thev, the said Quakers which .are 
here, or who shall avise, or come among us, do refuse to 
subject to all duties aforesaid, as training, watching and 
such other engagements as oiher members of civil societies, 
for the preservation of the same in justice and peace ; then 
we detei'mine yea, and we resolve to take, and make use 
of the first opportunity (o inform our agent resident iu 
England that he may humbly present the matter . . .' 
They declared that they wished no damage to the principle 
of freedom of conscience : hut at the same time their 
demands of the Quakers that they should 'train.' or in 
other words, perform military duty, was certainly an 
j effort to compel them to act contrary to the dictates of 
their conscience in an essential part of their religions be- 
lief. This effort to compel them to ' train ' may account 
for the fact that many members of that sect who had been 
persecuted in Massachusetts, and sought refuge in Rhode 
Island, did not become freemen there, but only made a 
temporary stay, and when the Monmouth Patent was 
granted, they came to that county with the original settlei-s, 
where from the outstart they were allowed all the privi- 
leges enjoyed by other settlers, some of their number 
being elected as deputies to frame laws and to other of- 
fices, at the first election, as well as at subsequent elec- 
tions. They were not requited to ' train' against their 
conscientious convictions. Besides which it may be added 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



dell removed from Rhode Island to New Jer- 
sey, where he became oue of the early settlers 
oil the Monmouth patent, and was the first 
sheriff of the county, appointed in 1683. 

Christopher Allmy, who wa.-; at one time 
Lieutenant (or Deputy) Governor of Rhode 
Island, was one of those who came from that 
colony to settle on the Monmouth lauds, in 1665 
or 1666. He afterwards became oue of the 
associate patentees, and remained an inhabit- 
ant of Monmouth County for several years, 
dnriuo- which time he ran a sloop with consid- 
erable regularity (except in the inclement sea- 
son of the year) lietween Wakake Landing 
and the Rhode Island ports. In Monmouth 
County he became involved in a great number 
of lawsuits, by which he was nearly ruined, and 
lie finally left Xew Jersey and returned to 
Rhode Island. 



CHAPTER YI. 

EARLY SETTLEMEXTS AND LAND TITLES 

(Continued). 

Whex Governor Richard Nicolls signed 
the Monmouth patent and other grants of 
land in Xew Jereey neither he nor any other 
person in America knew of the fact that soon 
after Sir Robert Carre sailed from England 
with his fleet, carrying Xicolls and a land 
force for the purpose of disf)0ssessing the Dutch 
at Xew Amsterdam, and while that fleet was 
still on its way thither, the Duke of York 
iiad, as before noticed, conveyed (June 24, 
1664) all his right, title, and interest, of every 
kind whatsoever, to and in the territory lying 
between the Hudson and Delaware Rivers, to 
Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, 
who, being thus invested, not only with the 
pi'fiprietorship of the soil, but also with the 
right and authority of government over its 
inhabitants, proceeded to appoint and com- 
mission Captaiu Philip Carteret as their Gov- 



thal the first settlers here conducted themselves so justly 
and friendly towards the Indians that they had little or no 
occasion to 'train' for fear of them." — Hon. Edwin Sailer. 



ernor, and to frame and execute certain " Con- 
cessions," intended to promote the rapid settle- 
ment of their purchase. 

Captain Carteret arrived in the province in the 
latter part of the summer of 1665, and at once 
proceeded to publish his commission a.s Gover- 
nor of Xew Jersey, and also " The Concession and 
Agreement of the Lords Proprietors of the 
Province of Xew Jersey, to and with all 
and every, the Adventurers, and all such as 
shall Settle and Plant there." This document, 
which was executed by the proprietors on the 
10th of February, 1664-65, contained the fol- 
lowing promises of grants of land and privi- 
leges, viz : " And that the Planting of the said 
Province may be the more speedily promoted: 
"We do hereby grant unto all Persons who have 
already adventured to the said Province of 
Xew Ctesarea or Xew Jersey, or shall transport 
themselves or Servants before the first Day of 
January, which shall be in the year of our Ijord 
One Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty-five, 
these following Proportions, viz : To every 
Freeman that shall go with the first Governor 
from the Port where he embarques, or shall 
meet him at the Rendezvous he appoints, for 
the Settlement of a Plantation there, arm'd with 
a good Musket, bore twelve Bullets to the 
Pound, with ten pounds of Powder and twenty 
pounds of Bullets, witli Bandilears and ]\Iatch 
convenient, andwith six Months' Provision for 
his own Person arriving there. One Hundred 
and Fifty Acres of Land, English Measure ; 
and for every able Servant that he shall carry 
with him, arm'd and provided as aforesaid and 
arriving there, the like quantity of One Hun- 
and Fifty Acres, English Measure: And wiio- 
soever shall send Servants at that Time shall 
have for every able Man Servant he or she 
shall send, armed and provided as aforesaid, 
and shall arrive there, the like quantity of One 
Hundred and Fifty Acres : And for every 
weaker Servant or Slave, Male or Female, ex- 
ceeding the Age of fourteen years, which any 
one shall send or carry, arriving there, Seventy- 
five Acres of Land : And for every Christian 
Servant exceeding the Age aforesaid, after the 
Expiration of their Time of Ser\'ice, Seventy- 
five Acres of Land for their own use." 



72 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



To such as, not going out with tlie first Gov- 
ernor, hut who should go to the province be- 
fore the 1st of January, 16(35, four-lifths of 
the before-mentioned quantity of land was 
promised, according to tlieir respective classes, 
wliich quantity was to be reduced to tliree- 
fifths for persons of each class, wlio should 
go " with an intention to plant," during the 
year ending Januarj^ 1, 1666, and to two- 
fifths of the first-mentioned quantities, resjjcc- 
tively, to those who should go out in the third 
year, ending January 1,-1667; every patent 
to be signed by the Governor (or Deputy-Gov- 
ernor), and a majority of the Council and sealed 
with the seal of the province, and to contain 
an accurate description of the tract granted to 
the person entitled to it under the Concession, 
"to hold to him or her, his or her Heirs or As- 
signs forever, yielding and paying yearly to the 
said Lords Proprietors, their Heirs or Assigns, 
every five and Twentieth Day of March, ac- 
cording to the English Account, one half-penny 
of lawful Money of England for every of the 
said Acres, to be holders of the manner of East 
Greenwich, in free and Common Soccage ; the 
first payment of which Rent to begin the Five 
and Twentieth Day of March, which shall be 
in the year of our Lord One Tiiousand Six 
Hundred and Seventy, according to the English 
Account." And the Governor and Council were 
especially directed and charged by the pro- 
prietors in their Concessions as follows : " They 
are to take care that Lands quietly held, 
planted and possessed Seven Years after its 
being duly surveyed by the Surveyor-General 
or his Order shall not be subject to an}' Re- 
view, Re-survey or Alteration of Bounders, on 
Avhat pretence soe\-er, by any of us, or by any 
Officer or Minister under us. ' . . . We 
do also grant convenient Proj)ortions of Land for 
High-Ways and for Streets, not exceeding One 
Hundred Foot in Breadth in Cities, Towns and 
Villages, etc., and for Churches, Forts, Wharfs, 
Kays, Harbours and for Publick Houses; 
and to each Parish, for the use of their Minis- 
ters, Two Hundred Acres, in sucli Places as the 
General Assembly shall appoint," — all lauds 

' Learning and Spicer, page 20. 



laid out for the purposes named to be " free 
and exempt from all rents, taxes and other 
charges and duties whatsoever." 

Carteret sent agents to IMassachusetts Bay and 
the other eastern colonies to publish there the 
Concessions, with a favorable account of the ad- 
vantages offered by New Jersey, for the purpose 
of inducing people to come from New England ^ 
and make settlements in this province. Many 
did come from that region, but of all who, prior 
to the year 1682, came to settle on lands now 
embraced within the county of Monmouth, few, 
if any, did so on account of the proprietary 
Concessions or with the intention of claiming 
lands under them. They yielded a sort of 
qualified allegiance to the government of the pro- 
prietors, without acknowledging or recogniziug 
their ownership of the soil of the territory em- 
braced within the Nicolls' grant. They regarded 
the Monmouth jiatent as their good and suffi- 
cient title to the lands on which they settled, 
and in support of that claim they referred to the 
language used by the Duke of York in his com- 
mission to Colonel Nicolls as his deputy and 
agent, dated April 2, 1664, viz., — " I do hereby 
constitute and appoint him, the said Richard 
Nicolls, Esq., to be my Deputy Governour 
within the Lands, Islands and Places aforesaid, 
to perform and execute all and every the Pow- 
ers which are by the said Letters Patent granted 

2 The following affidavit, taken before Joseph Cott, Febru- 
.ary 4, 1675, and found in the New York Colonial Docu- 
ments, mentions the situation of affairs with regard to set- 
tlements in New Jersey at the time of Carteret's arrival ; also 
his sending agents to New England to secure settlers : 

" Silvester Salisbury, of New Yorke, Gent., maketh Oiith 
thatin or about the yeare 1G(35, he being then at New Y'orke, 
there arrived Philip Carteret, Esqr., at New Jersey, in 
America, in a Ship called the Philip, wcU s* ship was 100 
tuns & had then aboard her about 30 servants & severall 
goods of great value, proper for the first planting & setling 
of the Colony of New Jersey, & this deponent sayeth that 
at the time of ys arrival of the s'' ship, tliere were about 
four families in New Jersey (except some few at New Sinks, 
[Navesinks] that went under the nomen of Quakers), and 
that y= s* Philip Carteret, after his arrival there, landed y' 
S^ servants and goods and applied himself to y "^ planting and 
peopling of y= si* Colony, & that he sent divers persons into 
New England & other places to publish y« concessions of y« 
Lde Propriety and to invite people to come and settle there, 
whereupon, & within a year's time or thereabouts, severall 
p'sons did come with their families ,and settled there in 
severall towns. . . . '' 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



73 



unto Me to be executed by my Deputy, Agent 
01- Assign." In pursuance of the full power 
tlius given, and not revoked by the Duke, they 
said, Nicolls had granted the iSIonmoutli patent, 
and it was therefore a good and valid title. On 
the other hand, the proprietors referred to the 
fact that the Duke of York had sold and trans- 
ferred the province to thcni several montiis 
prior to the " pretended " granting of the Mon- 
mouth patent by Nicolls ; that the New Jersey 
lauds at that time belouged to them (Berkeley 
and Carteret) and not to the Duke of York ; 
that therefore, his Governor and agent, Nicolls, 
had at that time no power or right to transfer 
those lands ; and that the Monmouth patent, as 
well as all other grants^ made by him, of lands 
in New Jersey, was void. These, in Ijrief, were 
the arguments and claims on both sides, and, 
without entering; more full von the merits of the 
case, it is sufficient to say here that the disa- 
greement between the various ^proprietors, on 
the one hand, and the patentees and their rep- 
resentatives and assigns, on the other, resulted in 
a controversy of title, which continued for more 
tiian a century. 



' Another grant made hy Governor Xicolls of lands in 
New .Jersey was called the " Elizabellitown Grant." On 
the "iOth of September, 1664, .John Bailey and others ap- 
plied to Nicolls for permission to purchase from the In- 
dians certain lands bordering on Raritan River (on the 
north side) and the kills, which permission w.as given by 
the Governor September .30th. The lands were pm-chased 
from the sachems October 28th in that year, and the pur- 
chase was duly confirmed by the Governor, who, on the 
16th of December folloAving, issued his patent to John 
Baker and associates for the land purchased from the In- 
dians ; being of a certain described extent along the river 
and kills, and "to run West into the country twice the 
length of the Breadth thereof, from the North to the South.' ' 
This was the Elizabethtown grant, which embraced the 
preseni sites of Elizabeth, Newark, Rahway, Plainlield, 
Piscataway, Wcodbridge and Perth Amboy. 

"Tliis grant," says Whitehead (Col. Kist. N. .J., 1, i. 
ir), " occasioned for many years great disorder in the 
Province. Having been granted by Governor Nicolls after 
tlie Duke of York h.ad granted New Jersey to Lord Berk- 
ley and Carteret, the rights of Baker and his associates 
were contested by those claiming through them, and the 
litigation that ensued was not ended when the war of the 
Revolution commenced and put an end to all such contro- 
versies. The 'Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery,' printed 
in I74T, and the 'answer ' thereto, printed iu 1759, throw 
all needful light on (he subject." 



The proprietors intended their government in 
New Jersey to be mild and, as nearly as might 
be, unobjectionable to the people, whom they 
hoped by that means to appease, and easily win 
over to allegiance and submission. But as their 
chief object was to realize pecuniary advantage 
from their proprietorship of the province, they 
were not Ion"- iu showino- their determination 
to compel all settlers to take patents from them, 
and having taken them, to pay the required 
cpiiet-reuts. This (especially the payment of 
the rents) the Monmouth patentees and those 
holding under them were equally determined not 
to do. Still, they had their misgivings as to the 
result of a controver.sy with the proprietors. In 
July and August, 1667, they addressed commu- 
nications to Governor Nicolls asking advice, and 
evidently expecting from him a strong assurance 
of the validity of his grant to them as agaiast 
the proprietors; to which, on the 10th of 
August, the Governor replied, — 

" Your address to me, bearing date ye 26th 
day of July, and your letter of ye 4th of Au- 
gu.st by the hands of James Grover, is received. 
In answer to it I shall not deny you my advice. 
Now as I have contributed on my part to your 
first settlement, soe I think I must to remove 
such doubts and questions now remaining 
amongst you. In the first place, you must rest 
satisfied with the assignment made by his Royal 
Highness, the Duke of York, unto Lord Berke- 
ley and Sir G. Carteret, of all the lands lying 
ou the west side of Hudson's Iliver, wherein 
your tract is included. You must submit to ye 
Governour and government established in ye 
Province of New Jersey. You may depend 
safely for your title to ye land upon the Patent 
granted luito you by me, and I am confident 
when you speak with Capt. Carteret [the Gov- 
ernor] he will a.ssure you of the satue, that your 
lands are lands to your.selves, paying oidy such 
moderate acknowledgement as the rest of your 
nai hours doe, or may doe hereafter. 

" Having briefly given you answer to the 
head of your questions, it remains only that I 
must not pass over your kind expressions toward 
me without detaining you with my best assur- 
ances that whenever I can at any tyme contrib- 
ute more to your prosperity you shall not fade 



74 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of further assistance. August 10th, at Fort 
James, iu New York. 

" Your loviug Friend, 

" R. NiCOLLS. 

" To the Inhabitants at Newasink." 

This letter of Colonel Nieolls was not very 
comforting to the Monmouth patentees and as- 
sociates. It simply told tiiem that they would 
be allowed to retain their lands (just as all other 
settlers were allowed the same privilege) by 
submitting to the proprietary government, and 
paying the quit-rents required by Berkeley and 
Carteret. This latter part was what they partic- 
ularly wished to escape, and which eventually 
they did escape in a \'ery great degree; but they 
were finally convinced that it was safest and best 
for them to hold their lands under titles from 
the proprietors. In May, 1672, they petitioned 
Governor Carteret for confirmation of their titles 
and privileges under the Nieolls patent, which 
address and petition elicited the following, 
which, however, was not as favorable to them 
as they had hoped, — viz. : 

" New Jersey, May 28, 1672. 

" Upon the address of James Clrover, John 
Bowne, Richard Hartshorne, Jonathan Holmes, 
Patentees, and James Ashton and .John Hanse, 
Associates, impowered by the Patentees and 
Associates of" the Towns of iliddletown and 
Shrewsbury unto the Governor and Council for 
Confirmation of certain Priviledo;es y;ranted 
unto them by Colonel Richard Nieolls, as by 
Patent under his Hand and Seal bearing Date 
the 8th Day of April, Anno Domini One Thou- 
sand six Hundred Sixty-five, the Governor and 
Council do confirm unto the said Patentees and 
Associates these Particulars followingp; beinsr 
their Rights contained in the aforesaid Patent, 
viz. : 

" Imprimis. — That the said Patentees and As- 
sociates have full Power, License and Authority 
to dispose of the said Lands expressed in said 
Patent, as to them shall seem meet. 

" IT. That no Ministerial Power or Clergymen 
shall be imposed on or among the Inhabitants 
of the said Land, so as to inforce any that are 
contrary minded to contribute to their main- 
tenance. 



"III. That all Causes Whatsoever (Crimi- 
nals excepted) shall first have a hearing within 
their Cognizance, and that no appeals unto 
higher Courts, where Sentence have been passed 
amongst them, under the Value of Ten Pounds, 
be admitted. 

" IV. That all Criminals and Appeals above 
the Value of Ten Pounds, which are to be 
referred unto the aforesaid higher Courts, shall 
receive their Determination upon Appeals to 
his Majesty, not to be hindered. 

" V. That for all Commission Officers, Ijoth 
Civil and Militaiy, the Patentees, Associates 
and Freeholders have Liberty to present two 
for each Office to the Governor, whom they 
shall think fit, one of which the Governor is to 
Commissionate to execute the said Office ; and 
that they have Liberty to make peculiar 
prudential Laws and Constitutions amongst 
themselves, according to the Tenor of the said 
Patent." 

" Ph. Carteret. 

" John Kenxy, 

" lordue axdress, 

"Samuel Edsall, 

" JoHX Pike, 

" John Bishop." 

This compromise arrangement by Governor 
Philip Carteret and his Council with the people 
of Monmouth did not meet the approval of Sir 
George Carteret or the later proprietors. It 
had the effect, however, to quiet the people for 
sometime; but afterwards, when the proprietors 
in effect ignored the agreement made by their 
own Governor with the Nieolls patentees, a new 
and more determined opposition arose, but it 
was manifested through their deputies in the 
General Assembly of the province. 

On the 25th of November, 1672, the Duke 
of York, in a letter to Colonel Lovelace, his 
Governor at New York, in referring to the 
matter of the Nieolls patents in New Jersey, 
says he wrote Governor Nieolls on the 2sth 
of November, 1664, notifying him of the re- 
lease to Berkeley and Carteret, and requiring 
him (Nieolls) to recognize the proprietors' 
rights of soil and government in New Jersey, 
and to give his best efforts and assistance to 
secure them in the quiet possession of them ; 



EAELY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



and he continues : " I am informed that some 
contentious Persons tliere do lay Claim to cer- 
tain Tracts of those Lands, under Colour of 
pretended Grants thereof from the said Colonel 

Nicolls, and therefore I would 

have you take Notice yourself, and when Occa- 
sion offers make known to the said Persons, 
and to all others, if any be pretending from 
them, that my Intention is not at all to counte- 
nance their said Pretensions, nor any other of 
that kind, tending to derogate in the least from 
my Grant above mentioned, to the said Lord 
John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, their 
Heirs and Assigns. ..." 

On the 6th of December, 1672, eleven days 
after the date of the Duke's letter of instruc- 
tions to Lovelace, the "Lords Proprietors of 
New Cfesarea, or New Jersey," issued a " Decla- 
ration ... to all Adventurers, Planters, 
Inhabitants, and all other Persons to whom it 
may Concern," including the following : — 

"We being; made very sensible of the great 
disorders in the said Province, occasioned by 
several Persons, to the great Prejudice of our- 
selves, our Governor and Council, and all other 
peaceable and well-minded Inhabitants, within 
our said Province, by claiming a Right of Pro- 
priety both of land and Government.^ . 
For such as pretend to a Right of Propriety to 

' The people of the "two towns of Navesink " assumed 
the right of government under the XicoUs patent, and 
until about 1672 held sessions of "General Assembly," 
which was made up of patentees, associates and general dep- 
uties, and which also acted as a court, and was sometimes 
called the General Court. It was held at Jliddletown, 
Shrewsbury and Portland Point. At one of the sessions 
of this body, held at Shrewsbury, December 14, 1667, it 
was declared, — 

"That every person who hath right to debate and deter- 
mine off things pertaining to the orderly settlin' of the 
land may upon all meet occasions exercise liberty by way 
of vote. That is to s.ay, such men as shall be made choice 
off by the gener.al Vote otf the Inhabitants, with the proper 
number of Persons expressed in the charter or Grand 
Patent, and have full power and Charge to make all pub- 
lique Laws and orders, authentique, or the major Part of 
them soe chosen, which Privilege is granted only to the 
number of pui'chasers. The towns-men, chosen inhabi- 
tants, holders of shares of land, are hereby restricted and 
confined to their own Town affairs, according to the second 
proposition. ... It is ordered that three men out of 
each Town, that is to say, two of them tc be Surveyors, 
shall in the first place take a full view of each neck of 



Land and Government within our Province 
by virtue of any Patent from Colonel Richard 
Nicdlls, as they ignorantly assert, wo utterly 
disown any such thing. A Grant they had 
from him upon such Conditions which they 
never perform 'd : For by said Grant they 
were obliged to do and perform such Acts and 
Things as should be appointed by His Royal 
Highness or his Deputies ; the Power whereof 
remains in us by Virtue of a Patent from his 
said Royal Highness, bearing Date long before 
these Grants; which liath been often declared 
by our Governor (and now ratifietl and owned 
under the sign Manual of his said Royal High- 
ness to Colonel Lovelace, bearing Date the 25th 
of November, 1672), who demanded their sub- 
mission to their Authority, and to Patent their 
Land from us, and pay our Quit Rent according 
to our Concessions ; which, if they had done, 
or shall yet do, we are Content that they shall 
enjoy the Tract or Tracts of Land they are 
settled upon, and to have such Privileges and 
Immunities as our Governor and Council can 
agree upon ; but without their speedy compli- 
ance as above said, we do hereby Order our 
Governor and our Council to dispose therefore, 
in whole or in part for our best Advantage, to 
any other Persons. And if any Person or 
Persons do think they have injustice or wrong 
done by this, our positive Determination, they 
may address themselves to the Kixciand Coun- 
cil ; and if their Right to that Land or Gov- 
ernment appears to be better than ours, we will 

readily submit thereuntt That all 

Grants of Land, Conveyances, Surveys or any 
other Pretences for the Hold of Land whatso- 
ever within our said Province, that are not de- 
rived from us, according to the Prescriptions in 
our Concessions, and entered upon Record in 
our Secretary's Office in our said Province, we 

Land commonly called Newasink and Narumsunk, and to 
give report of the same, to the best of their judgment and 
observation, as to the quanlity of upland and meadow, that 
soe a fair and equal division may proceed, whereby the 
lymits of e.aeh Town might bee appointed and set down 
with all convenient expedition. That is to say, between 
this and the first of February ; and that good observation, 
as well of qualitj' as of quantity, may be given in, that soe 
each neck might be peopled in such fitt proportion as shall 
be (bought most fitt and equall." 



16 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



declare to be null and void in Law. . . . 
That the Constable of every respective Town 
within our Province shall have Power by War- 
rant from our Governor to take by way of dis- 
tress from every individual Inhabitant within 
their respective Jurisdictions, their just Propor- 
tion of Rent due to us yearly, beginning the 
25th Day of March, 1670, and for his Charge 
and trouble about the same, if they refuse to 
deliver it at some (iouvenient Place which the 
said Constaljle shall apjjoint within their re- 
spective Jurisdictions, by the 25th Day of 
March, yearly ; the Constables only to be ac- 
countaljle to our Keceiver-General : And altho' 
our Concessions say it shall be paitl in current 
or lawful Money of England, yet at the request 
of our Governor and Council, we shall accept 
of it in such ]\Ierchantable Pay as the Country 
doth produce, at Merchant's Price, to the value 
of Money Sterling; and if by this Means we 
cannot obtain our Rent, then the Marshal of 
the Province shall be impowered, as above said, 
to collect the same at the Charge (jf such the 
Inhabitants as do refuse to pay at the Time and 
Places aforesaid." ' 

And in the same document the proprietors 
declared that " No Person or Persons wJiatso- 
ever shall be counted a Freeholder of the said 
Province, nor have any Vote in electing, nor be 
capable of being elected for any Office of Trust, 
either Civil or Military, until he doth actually 
hold his or their Lands by Patent from us, the 
Lords Projjrietors." 

This declaration of the proprietors was not 
satisfactory to the patentees, associates and pur- 
chasers under the Monmouth grant, and in 
May, 1673, John Bowne and James Grover, on 
beiialf of the j^eople of the Navesink settle- 
ments, petitioned the Governor and Council to 
make no decision or conclusion as to tiie rights 
of the Nicolls patentees until tliiy could make 
an address to the jiroprietor.s, whose decision 
upon such address they would acquiesce in. 
This petition was forwarded to England and 
received, September 5, 167.3, by Sir George 
Carteret (Lord Berkeley having sold his inter- 
est, and so ceased to be a ))r()prietor, in the pre- 

' Learning and Spicer, pp. 85-37. 



ceding March). Sir George replied, in his 
instructions to the Governor, dated July 31, 
1674, which were in the main but a reiteration 
of the proprietors' declaration (before quoted) 
of December 6, 1672; but he added, — "As 
to the Inhabitants of Xavysink, considering 
their faithfulness to the Lords Proprietors,^ 
that ujjon their Petition their Townshijis shall 
be survey'd and shall be incorporated, and to 
have equal Privileges with other Inhabitants of 
the Province, and that such of them who were 
the pretended Patentees, and laid out Money 
in purchasing Land from the Indians, shall 
have in consideration thereof Five Hundred 
Acres of Land to each of them, to be allotted 
by the Governor and Council in such Places 
that it may not be prejudicial to the rest of the 
Inhabitants ; and because there is much Barren 
Land, after Survey taken, the Governor and 
Council may give them Allowance ; " the 
allotments of five hundred acres and allowance 
to be made by the Governor and Council, inde- 
pendent of all action by the General Assembly. 
During the time which intervened Itetweeu 
the presentation of Bowne and Grover's peti- 
tion on behalf of the Navesink people and the 
pul)lication of Sir George Carteret's reply, as 
above, the Dutch had retaken the country em- 
braced in the jirovinces of New York and New 
Jersey, and their Governor, Colve, had con- 
firmed to the Englisli settlers their rights of 
property. This, together with the fact that 
Sir Edmund Audros, on assuming the Gover- 
norship at New York, after the second exjjulsion 
of the Dutch, in 1674, published a proclama- 
tion promising the confirmation of " all former 
grants, privileges or concessions heretofore 
granted, and all former estates legally possessed 
by any under his Royal Highness before the 
late Dutch government," revived the hopes of 
the Monmouth patentees that the validity of 
their grant from Nicolls would, after all, be 



^ This, doubtless, has reference to the fact that the peo- 
ple of the Navesink to\yns were not represented in the 
disorganizing sessions of the East Jersey Assembly, held 
in 1671-72, and took little, if any, part in the attempt 
made at that time to establish a new government, with 
Captain James Carteret at its head as " President of (he 
Country." 



EAKLY SP]TTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



77 



finally coaceded and established.' Nevertheless, 
they very readily accepted the five hundred 
acre grant*;, in reference to which the following 
is found in the " Itecord of the Governor and 
Council of East Jersey," under date of May 17 
and 18, 1683: "The patentees accepted of 
the same [the five hundred acre tracts] and pe- 
titioned to have the same laid out. Warrants 
were granted for the same. Some were sur- 
veyed and patented, particularly that of Rich- 
ard Hartshorue, which appeared to Ije a full 
conclusion of tliat affair, unless it was made to 
appear that such petition and procedure were 
not by consent or approbation of the Towns." 

On the following day (May 18th) the Gov- 
ernor and Council lield a consultation with John 
Bowne, Richard Hartshorne and Joseph Par- 
ker, representing the Navesink .settlements. 
" We inquired," says the record, " into the truth 
of those petitions and addresses, and the sob- 
mission and resignation of their pretended 
rights to the late Lords Proprietors.^ And 
they owned and agreed they were true, but 
allesred tliat the same was done for fear. It was 
answered that the lilce alleg-ation mav ever lie 
made, but as an evidence to the contrary, the 
petitioners themselves demonstrated, besides, 
that the patentees had, after the Lords Proprie- 
tors' grace and favour granted them five hun- 
dred Acres of Land apiece, they returned a 
letter of acknowledgement and thanks. And 
their Associates, in compliance therewith, all 
patented their land according to the Concessions, 
none, excepted, and continued ever after satisfied 

' The patentees and associates confidently believed tlirl 
the Dutch occupation of 1673-74 had extinguished the 
King's title, and consequently that of the Duke of York 
and the proprietoi-s under him, and that a decision to 
that efiFect would be had at Westminster Hall. In th.at 
case they (the patentees and settlers) believed they could 
safely rely on the fact of their nine years' possession, con- 
firmed by the Dutch, and promised to be confirmed by An- 
dros, as afi'ording them a valid title. Some such doulus 
obtained with the Duke and the proprietors, and so, to 
make all sure, after tlie country had again passed to the 
English crown by right of conquest, in 1074, the royal and 
ducal grants were renewed and confirmed, as mentioned in 
a preceding chapter. 

- At the date of this record the province was in the pos- 
session and under the government of the twenty-four 
proprietors. 



therewith." Then the agents, Bowne, Harts- 
horne and Parker, claimed for the people that 
the five hundred acre grants were to be free of 
quit-rents ; but this the Governor and Coimcil 
positively denied, and refused to accede to, and 
finally, after much further unavailing di.scus.sion, 
the conference (which appears to have been the 
last which was held by the Monmouth patentees 
with the Governor and Council on the subject) 
was closed without any satisfactory result to 
either side. 

In 1G77 the following "Opinion concerning 
Coll. Nicolls' Patent and Indian Purchases " 
was given by the King's Council, viz.: 

" Upon the questions submitted : I st, whether 
the grants made by Col. Nicolls are good 
against the assigns of Lord Berkeley and Sir 
George Carteret, and 2d, whether the grant 
from the Indians be sufficient to any planter 
without a grant from the King or his assigns. 

" To y'^ first Question the authority by which 
Coll. Nicolls acted Determined by y® Duke's 
Grant to y*^ Ld. Berkeley and Ld. George 
Cartrett and all Grants made by him after- 
wards (though according to y'^ Commission) 
are void, for y'^ Delegated power w'^ Coll. Nic- 
olls had of making grants of y'^ land could 
La.st no Longer than his Maj' Intre.st who 
gave him y' Power, and y® having or not hav- 
ing Notice of y^ Duke's Grant to y^ Lord 
Berkeley & S'' George Cartret makes no Differ- 
ence in y^ Law, but y® want of Notice makes 
it great Equity y' y® Present Proprief should 
C'onfirm Such Grants to y^ People who will 
submit to y'' Cons'sions and Payments of the 
Present Proprietors' Quitt rents, otherwise they 
ratiy look upon them as Desseizors, and treat 
them as such."^ 

In November, 1684, the twenty-four projjri- 
etor.s, in a letter of instructions to Deputy-Gov- 
ernor Gawen Lawrie, empowered and directed 
him to join with five other proper persons in New 
Jersey "to end all Controversies and Differ- 
ences with the Men of Neversinks and Eliza- 
beth Town, or any other Planters or Persons 
whatsoever, concerning an}^ pretended Titles or 
claim to Land in the said Province; And we 



■^ N. .T. Archives, 1st Series, vol. i. page 273. 



78 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



do hereby declare tliat we will not enter into 
any Treaty on this side with any of those j)eo- 
ple who claim by Colonel Nicolls' Patent, nor 
with any others that challenge Land by any 
Patents from the late Governour Carteret, as 
being an Affront to the Government there, and 
of evil consequence to make Things to be put 
off by delays, and thereby hinder the settle- 
ment of our affairs in the Province." 

The Monmouth patentees were beaten at all 
points iu the matter of validity of title, and 
they and those claiming nnder them all took 
patents for their lands from the proprietors,' 
though they eventually gained their paramount 
object, for they continued to hold their lands 
and avoided the payment of even the slight 
quit-rents which were required by the conces- 
sions. Neither Governor Lawrie, however, nor 
any of his successors succeeded in performing 
the duty with which he was charged, viz : "To 
end all Controversies and Differences with the 
Men of Neversinks and Elizabeth Town." 
They resisted the payment of the quit-rents, 
and, holding jiossession of the lands, they were 
too numerous to have a general eviction practi- 
cable, tliough a few were dispossessed. The 
controversy (which at times assumed, on the 
part of the people, much of the character of a 
revolt against the provincial government) was 
continued with moi-e or less of intensity until 
closed by the War of the Revolution. But 
even that great convulsion did not extinguish 
the proprietary title. The Hon. A. Q. Keas- 
bey, in an address delivered before the Histori- 
cal Society of New Jersey on the bi-centenuial 
anniversary of the purchase of East New Jer- 
.^ey by the twelve proprietors, saitl : " ( )n the 
1st of February, 1682, the deed was made and 
delivered, and twelve land speculators, headed 
by William Penn, became the sole owners in 

In an answer made by the proprietors, December 9, 
1700, to a remonstrance of the inhabitants of East Jersey, 
they say : " And y Licenses granted to the Petrs by 
Col. Nicolls then and by the Propriety since were ex- 
pressly under a condition to hold the Lands so purchased 
of the Proprietors by Patent, and a certain Rent; and all 
Clauninp under the License of Cfll. Nicolls actually look 
Patents of the ^ame Lands at certain Rents, as by the records 
thereof appears ; which ye Pefs have artfully foreborne 
to mention, and rely wholly on the Indian title." 



fee of all this fair domain, and from them must 
be traced the title to every lot and jiarcel of 
land which changes owners in East Jersey. 
And the direct successors of Penn and his 
eleven associates — still an organized body with 
active managing officers — own every acre of 
land which they have not sold ; and everv pur- 
chaser M'ho wants to buy can now make his 
bargain with them, as purchasers did two hun- 
dred years ago." 

The next settlements in Monmouth County, 
' after those of the Long- Island and New Ens- 
land people at Middletown and Shrewsbury, 
and of a few others who came from other parts 
(among the most prominent of whom were 
Richard Hartshorne and Col. Lewis Morris) 
and who settled in the region contiguous to 
those places, were made by Scotch who began 
to come in the years 1682-83, as a result of tiie 
efforts made by Robert Barclay, of Scotland, to 
promote the emigration of his coiiutiyraen to 
East New Jersey, of which province he had 
then recently been appointed Governor under 
the jn-oprictors. They made their settlements 
chiefly in Freehold township and along the 
northwestern border of the county^ adjoining- 
Middlesex. Of the coming of these people to 
Monmouth County the Hon. Edwin Salter 
says: "About 1682-85 there were many 
refugee Scotch Quakers and Scotch Presbyte- 
rians who fled from persecution in Scotland, 
and located in East Jersey. Occasional de- 
scendants of the persecuted and banished 
Huguenots also came to this State ; among tliem 
it is said were the Bodiues, Gaskells or Gaskins 
(originally Gascoyne), Dupuy, Soper and 
D'Aul)igne, wliich latter was corrupted to Daw- 
been, and liually to Dobbins." 

Among the first (as they M^ere also the most 
prominent of the Scotch settlers in Monmouth 
county) were John Reid and George Keith, 
both of wJiom tilled the office of surveyor- 
general of the province. Reid, who, during a 
period of nearly forty years, was one of the 
most widely-known and influential citizens of 
Monmouth County, was a Scotch Quaker, and was 

" Freehold township at that time extended to the Middle- 
sex County line. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



79 



employed in 1683 by Barclay and the other 
Scotch proprietors of East New Jersey as " over- 
seer," to have charge of a party of emigrants 
from Scotland. John Hanton was also em- 
ployed in the same capacity and at the same 
time, each to receive £25 sterling as an annual 
.salary, and a "share" of ten acres of land at 
Ainljo Point (Perth Araboy). On the 28th of 
Angnst in the year mentioned, they sailed from 
Alierdeen with their families in the shi]) " Ex- 
change," Captain James Peacock, and on the 19th 
of December following were landed on Staten 
Island. Hanton brought with him nine cows, 
two horses and one mare, six oxen and " two 
breeding sowes," and liad the value of £144 
Gs. lid. in " provisions and necessaries." Reid 
liad eight cows, two horses, six oxen, four 
swine and £147 2s. worth of " provisions and 
neces.saries." Immediately after his arrival he 
went to Elizabethtown, thence to Woodbridge, 
and thence, in January, 1683-84, to Perth Am- 
l)oy, where he took up his abode " in the field," 
in a house the building of which is mentioned 
ill David Barclay's statement of account with 
the proprietors. 

Soon after his arrival in New Jersey he was 
appointed deputy surveyor, and while engaged 
in that capacity made a map' of lands on the 
Earitan, Rahway, Millstone and Soutli Rivers, 
for which, and for other services, he received 
the grant of a tract of land named " Hortensia," 
located " on the east branch of Hop River in 
ISIoninouth County," to which tract he removed 
from Perth Amboy in the latter part of 1686. 
During tiie long jjeriod of his residence in this 
county he was several times elected a member 
of the General Assemljly, and held otiier hon- 
orable positions, being appointed surveyor- 
General in the year of the surrender of the 
government by tlie proprietors to Queen Anne. 
While living at Perth Amboy he was clerk of 
Amboy Meeting of the Society of Friends, and 
he continued a member of that society after his 
removal to Monmouth County until the year 
1703, when he adopted tiie faith of the Estab- 
lished Church of England. He died on the 
16th of March, 1722-23, aged sixty-seven years, 

'An engraved copy of this map is now in possession of 
the New Jersey Historical Society. 



and was interred in the old burial-ground of 
Topanemus, where a stone, still standing, marks 
his grave." 

George Keith was a native of Aberdeen, 
Scotland. In his early life he was a Presbyte- 
rian, ^yhich faith he abandoned to adopt tliat of 
the Society of Friends. In 1683 he was teacher 
of a school in Theobalds, having among his 
pupils a son of Robert Barclay, the proprietai-y 
Governor of East ^ew Jersey. This fact, wiiich, 
together with his Quakerism, bi-ought him to 
favorable notice of the Governor, and the addi- 
tional fact that he was known to be " an excel- 
lent surveyor," secured for him the appointment 
of surveyor-general of East New Jersey, to 
which office he was commissioned August 8, 
1684. He arrived at New York in the siiip 
" Blossom," Martin, master, in the spring of 



-■' John Reid," says Mr. Whitehead, "appears to have 
been a bookseller in Edinburgh when selected by the pro- 
prietaries to take charge of a party of emigrants sent to 
East Jersey in 1083. A memorandum, written by himself, 
in the possession of his descendants, gives the following in- 
formation respecting himself and family. His father and 
grandfather before him were gardeners, and he was born at 
Mildrew Castle, in the parish of Kirkliston, on the 13th of 
February, 1655, and when twelve years old (1667) was 
bound apprentice to a wine merchant in Edinburgh. His 
master dying, he returned to his family in 1673, but his 
father being dead and his mother married again, he ' went 
to learn the art of gardening' the ensuing year, seeking 
improvement in the 'famous Hamilton Gardens.' At ihis 
time he became a Quaker. After sojourning a while at 
Drummond, he went, in 1676, to Lawres alias Fording, 
where he wrote a book entitled 'The Scotch Gardener,' and 
in 1678 married Margaret, daughter of Henry Miller, of 
Cashon, in the parish of Kirkiutiloch. She was eleven ye.ars 
his senior. Previous to leaving Scotland for New Jersey 
three daughters — .\nna, Helen and Margaret — were born 
tothem. His youngest daughter, yet an infant, died on 
the loth of January, 1683-8-1, and was buried the next day, 
at Perth Amboy, where his son John was afterwards born, 
in July, 1686. His daughter Anna married John Ander- 
son, who filled several important positions, and at the time 
of his death, in 1736, was President of the Council and 
Acting Governor of the province, in consequence of the 
death of Governor Cosby. One of their sons was named 
Kenneth. His daughter Helen married the Rev. John 
Bartow, of Westchester, N. Y., and left several children. 
His only sou, John, studied law in the office of John Cham- 
bers, one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the prov- 
ince of New York, and afterwards practiced at Westchester ; 
was surrogate of the county from 1760 to 1764 and died at 
West Chester aged eighty-seven." — Neiv Jersey Archives, First 
Series, vol. i. p. 010. 



80 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1685, and on the Dth of April reported to the 
Proprietary Council at Perth Aiuboy, where a 
house was assigned to him, but he was not sworn 
into his office until the 12th of June following. 
Not long afterwards he removed from Perth 
Amboy to lands M'hich he had purchased in 
Freehold township, where he " made a fine 
plantation, which he afterwards sold and went 
into Pennsylvania." 

His residence iu Monmouth County was of 
about three years' duration, iu which time (in 
1687) he ran the province line between East 
and West New Jersey, as ha.s already been men- 
tioned. In 1689 he removed to Philadelphia 
at the invitation of the Quakers of that town, 
and there engaged in the teaching of a school, 
for which service he received the assui'ance of 
£50 for the first year and £120 yearly after- 
ward, with whatever profits might be real- 
ized from the school beyond that sum, but the 
children of the jjoor to receive tuition free. He 
however, continued iu charge of the school only 
one year. 

After his resignation of the position of teacher 
he became a leading Quaker preacher in Phila- 
delphia, but he was o\'erl)earing antl aggressive, 
and created so much trouble among the Friends 
in Pennsylvania that he was publicly denounced 
by the Meeting in 1692, and finally, in 1694, 
he abandoned the Quaker doctrines and adopted 
the faith of the Established Church of England, 
iu which he soon attained considerable eminence 
as a clergyman. 

In 1700, Keith was strongly recommended 
by Lewis Morris (in a memorial to the Bishop 
of London, concerning the religious condition of 
the people of New Jersey and other colonies) as 
the most suitable person to be sent here as a mis- 
sionary ; and in 1702 became back to America 
in that capacity, under the auspices of the then re- 
cently established Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to awaken in the 
people of the provinces " a sense of the duties of 
Religion." He was the first missionary to the 
people of " Shrewsbury and the region round 
about," and of Freehold, of which church (St. 
Peter's) he was the founder. He also traveled 
as a missionary of the church through all the 
colonies from Massachusetts Bay as far south 



as North Carolina, devoting most of his time 
and efforts, however, to the churches in New i 
York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in all of 
which, as is recorded, he was very successful in 
his ministrations, bringing iu many of his for- 
mer co-religionists, the Quakers, as converts to 
the faith and discipline ( if the Established Church. 
x\.t the conclusion of his labors iu A-'^irginia he 
returned thence to England, where he received 
a benefice, at £120 per annum, at Edburton, in 
the count}- of Sussex, and in this he continued 
during the remainder of his life. 

The early Scotch settlers in New Jersey were 
nearly all landed at Pertli Amboy, whence 
they scattered in different directions, locating 
in Monmouth, Middlesex and other counties. 
Thomas Lawrie and John Barclay, both Scotch- 
men of some note, settled in 1684 very near 
the county line of Monmouth and Middlesex, 
but on which side of the boundary cannot now 
be definitely ascertained. A number of Scotch 
peojile settled at the place which is now Mat- 
awan, l)ut which they named New Aberdeen. 
Nearl}' the whole northwest border of the 
county was first peopled by Scotch Presbyte- 
rians. 

In 1685 a large number of Covenanters, who 
had suffered the extreme of persecution for their 
religious faith, wei'e gathered in the prisons of 
Scotland, under sentence of banishment, because 
of their absolute refusal to take the oath of al- 
legiance as " embodied with the supremacy." 
Under these circumstances, George Scott, of 
Pitlochie, made application, asking that a ship- 
load of these unfortunates might be turned 
over to him, to be transported to East Jersey 
as servants in a colony which he intended to 
plant there. His request was granted, and he 
received a large number of the proscribed Cov- 
enanters, the story of wiiose sufferings during 
the voyage to America, and of the manner iu 
which they were received on their arrival, is 
told in Chambers' " Domestic Annals of Scot- 
land," as follows: 

Pitlochie, who was himself a "vexed Pres- 
byterian," being now in contemplation of a set- 
tlement in the colony of East Jersey and in 
want of laborers or bondmen for the culture of 
his lands, petitioned the Council for a con- 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



81 



signment of these teuder-conscieuced men, and 
nearly a hundred who had been condemned to 
banishment were at once "gifted" to him. He 
freighted a New Castle ship to carry them, and 
the vessel sailed from Leith Roads [September 
5, 1685], carrying also with her cargo "dy- 
vours and broken men," besides the Covenant- 
ers. It was a most disastrous voyage. Partly, 
perhaps, because of the reduced, sickly state of 
most of the prisoners at starting, liut more 
through a deficiency of healthful food aud the 
want of air and comfort, a \i<)leiit fever broke 
out in the ship Ijefore she had cleared Land's 
FA\d. It soon assumed a malignant tyjie, and 
scarcely an individual on board escaped it. 
The whole crew, except the captain and boat- 
swain, died. Pitlochie himself, and his wife, 
also, died. Three or four dead were thrown 
overboard every day. Notwithstanding this 
raging sickness, much severity was used towards 
the prisoners at sea by the master of the ship 
and others. Those under deck were not al- 
lowed to -norship by themselves; and when 
they were engaged in it, the captain would 
throw down great planks of timber upon them 
to disturb them, and sometimes to the danger 
of their lives. Fifteen long weeks were spent 
at sea before the prison-ship arrived at her 
destination ; and in that time seventy had per- 
ished. The remainder were so reduced in 
strength as to be scarcely able to go ashore. 
The people at the place where they landed 
(Perth Amboy), not having the gospel among 
them, were indifferent to the fate of the Scot- 
tish Presbyterians; but at a place a few miles 
inland, where there was a minister and congre- 
gation, they were received with great kindness. 
They then became the subjects of a singular 
litigation ; a Mr. Johnston, the son-in-law and 
heir' of Pitlochie, suing them for their value 
as bond-servants. A jury found that there was 



' That this should read " one of the heirs," etc., is shown 
by tlie following extract from the minutes of a meeting of 
the Council at Perth Amboy, October .30, 1080, Tiz. : " .James 
Scott, sonn of George Scott, of picklorkey [Pitlochie], late 
of the Kingdom of Scotland, Deceased, came before this 
Council!, being a Minor, and made choyse of m' John 
Johnstone and m' George Willox to bee his Guardians, — 
who were admitted accordingly." 
6 



no indenture between Pitlochie and them, but 
that thty were shipped against their will ; there- 
fore Mr. Johnston had no control over tliem. 

At the time when these distressed people 
were landed at Perth Amboy, John Reid was 
living there; and being a Quaker, and taking 
an interest in his suffering countrymen, he prob- 
ably advised and assisted them to leave Amboy 
and go to the settlement of the Friends at To- 
pauemus, which was doubtless the "place a few 
miles inland, where there was a minister and 
congregation," and where they were induced to 
remain as settlers, l)y reason of the "great 
kindness" which they received, aud also by the 
attractiveness of the country. A few years 
later a Presbyterian Church was formed, and 
a house of worship erected about two miles 
north of the old Quaker Meeting-house at 
Topanemus. This was the first Presbyterian 
Church edifice built in Monmouth County, and 
one of the first two or three in the province of 
New Jersey. Not a vestige of the old building 
now remains; but its site may still be known 
by a slight depression on a vacant spot in the 
"Old Scotch Burying-Grouiid," in Marllior- 
ough township. 

Between the Scotch and the English settlers 
in Monmouth County (as in other parts of the 
province) there sprang up a mutual jealousy 
aud dislike, which became intensified into some- 
thins: verv much akin to hatred. The cause of 
this cannot, at this time, be clearly understood, 
but its existence — which, in no small degree, 
ao'irravated the disorders which disturbed the 
peace of the province in the last part of the 
seventeenth and the earlier years of the eigh- 
teenth century — is clearly shown in the records 
of that time, from which a few pertinent ex- 
tracts are here given. 

In a letter by Col. Robert Quary to the 
Lords of Trade, dated June 16, 1703, he said : 
" The contests of West Jersey have always 
been betwixt the Quakers and her majesty's 
subjects who are no Quakers. . . . The 
contest in East Jersey is of a different nature, 
— whether the Country shall be a Scotch settle- 
ment or an English settlement. The Scotch 
have had for many years the advantage of a 
Scotch Governour, Colonel Andrew Hamilton. 



82 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



But it is the expectation of all that his Excel- 
lency, My Lord C'ombury, will reconcile all 
these differences." That expectation, however, 
wa.s not verified. 

In a memorial of that time, by Edward Ran- 
dolph (N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. "ii. p. 122), he 
said : " Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a Scotchman, 
is the Gov' of those Provinces. Appointed 
by the Proprietors to lease out their Lands and 
receive their Quit-Rents. He is a great favourer 
of the Scotch Traders, his Countrymen." 

The proprietors of East Jersey, in a memorial 
to the Lords of Trade, asking for the ap^joint- 
meut of Peter Sonmans as councillor in place 
of Lewis Morris, said : " Yet some of the un- 
ruly Scots and those of their faction (abetted 
by their Ring-leader') in New Jersey, M'ho are 
the correspondents and informers of the Me- 
morialists here against the Lord Cornbury, op- 
posed Mr. Sonmans' commission there, etc." 

Col. Robert Quary, in another letter to the 
Lords of Trade, in reference to Xew Jersey af- 
fairs, dated December 20, 1703, said : " The 
Eastern Division hath been for a long time in 
the hands of a very few Scotch, the head of w""" 
party is now Coll. Morris; the whole Xumber of 
tliem are not at most above Twenty, and yett 
they have always, by the Advantage of a Scotch 
(lovernour, carryed it with a high hand ag' the 
rest of the Inhabitants, tho' more than a thou- 
sand in Number, and y' greatest part of them 
Menu of Substance and Sence. The hardships 
they have received from this small iniml)er of 
Scotch have so prejudiced the whdle country 
ag' them that it is Impossible to reconcile it (It 
must be a work of time)." 

The first settlements of Dutch people in ^Ion- 
month County were made several years later than 
those of the Scotch, and a full quarter of a cen- 
tury after the first of the English pioneers came 
to locate on their lands patented from Governor 
Nicolls. ^Vith (so far as is known) only a sin- 
gle exception," there were no Dutch settlers in 

'Lewis Morris. 

' That of Hugh Dyckman, of Shrewsbury, who, at the 
time of the reoccupatiou of the Xew Netherlands by the 
Dutch under Governor Colve, was chosen one of the "sche- 
pcns,' and, with Eliakim Wardell and John Hance, was 



the county prior to 1690, and very few before 
1695; and not until two or three years after 
the latter date (excepting in the case above- 
mentioned) do names of that nationality — 
Schanck, Hendrickson, Guybertsou and Van 
Dorn — appear in the records as jurymen or oth- 
erwise. Following is given a list of settlers in 
Monmouth County prior to the year 1700, addi- 
tional to those given in a preceding chapter of 
patentees, associates and other inhabitants within 
the Monmouth purchase in the year 1670. It 
is not claimed that the list which follows is any- 
thing like a complete one of jieople who had 
located in Monmouth between the last-named 
year and 1700 ; in fact, it is not at all likely that 
it embraces more than one-fourth part of the 
names of the settlers who came within that 
period, but, as far as it goes, it is a correct one, 
having been gathered entirely from list.s of jury- 
men and other matters of official record, viz. : 



Ashton, William, 
Applegate, Daniel, 
Allen, Jndah, 
Allen, Elisha, 
Allen, Ephraira, 
Allen, Jedediah, 
Allen, Caleb, 
Adam, Alexander, 
Baker, John, 
Barelay, John, 
Barnes, Richard, 
Blackman, Bryan, 
Brown, Abraham, 
Brown, Abr.aham, Jr., 
Bray, John, 
Bennett, Arian, 
Bennett, Jeremiah, 
Bryan, Morgan, 
Boel, Thomas, 
Compton, Cornelius, 
Compton, Richard, ■ 
Cottrell, Eleazer, 
Cheeseman, William, 
Cheeseman, William, Jr., 
Chaml)erlain, Adam, 
Craft'nrd, .John, 
Crafford, John, Jr., 
Cook, Stephen, 
Cannon, Patrick, 
Case, William, 
Curliss, George, 
Cook, Benjamin, 
Child, Samuel, 
Cammock, Nathaniel, 



Dennis, Samuel, 
Dorsett, .lames, 
Dennis, Charles, 
Drummond, Gawen, 
Davison, AV'illiam, 
Dyckman, Hugh, 
Eaton, Thomas, 
Edwards, Abiah, 
Estill, William, 
Estill, Thomas, 
Emly, Peter, 
Fullerton, James, 
Forman, Alexander, 
_Gordon, .Augustus, 
Gardner, Ricliard, 
Gilford, Hanauiah, 
GoodI)ody, William, 
Gibbons, Mordecai, 
Guyberson, John, 
Hankinson, Thomas, 
Hewitt, Thomas, 
Hopping, Samuel, 
Harbert, Thomas, 
Hick, Benjamin, 
Hamilton, Robert, 
Harbert, Francis,^ 
Hilborn, Tliomas, 
Harbert, Daniel, 
Hendricksou, Hendrick, 
Hendrickson,^ Daniel, 
Hewlett, Samuel, 
Hoge, William, 
Ingram, Thomas, 
Jobs, George, 



sworn into that office at Fort Willem Hendrick, September ^ 

Ist, 1673. j 

* The first Dutch sheriff of Monmouth County. ^ 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND LAND TITLES. 



83 



Jiickson, Francis, 
Jeimings, John, 
James, Robert, 
Jeffrey, Francis, 
Joltuston, John, 
Jollis, Peter, 
Laing, William, 
Leeds, William, 
Leonard, Capt. Samuel, 
Leonard, John, 
Li]>pitt, Moses, 
Lnwrence, John, 
Lawrence, Elisha, 
Lijipineott, Remembrance, 
Marsh, Henry, 
Masters, Clement, 
Merling, James, 
Mott, Gershom, 
Morford, Thomas, 
Morford, John, 
Merrill, William, 
Melvin, James, 
Oung, Isaac, 
Potter, Ephraini, 
Piutard, Anthony, 
Pattisou, Robert, 
Redtbrd, Samuel, 
Reed, James, 
Renshall, Thomas, 
Stillwell, Jeremiah, 
Sloeum, Nathaniel, 
Snawsell, Thomas, 
Shrit've, Caleb, 
Stout, William, 
Stout, David, 
Stout, Benjamin, 
Stout, James, 
Stout, Jonathan, 
Stout, Richard, 



Stout, Richard, Jr., 

Stout, Peter, 
Skelton, Robert, 
Scott, William, 
Starkey, John, 
Sarah, Nicholas, 
Stevens, Nicholas, 
^chanck, John, 
Schauck, Garret, 
Sharp, Thomas, 
Thomson, Cornelius, 
Tucker, .lohn, 
Taylor, Edward, 
Trewax, Jacob, 
Usselton, Francis, 
Usselton, Thomas, 
Van Dorii, Jacob, 
_-Vaughan, John, 
Vickard, Thomas, 
Whitlock, William, 
West, John, 
West, Stephen, 
West, Joseph, 
West, William, 
Williams, Edward, 
Williams, William, 
Williams, John, 
Warne, Thomas, 
Wall, Garrett, 
Worth, William, 
Webley, Thomas, 
White, Samuel, 
Winter, William, 
Woolley, William, 
Woolley, John, 
Whitlock, John, 
Worthley, .John, 
Wilson, Peter, 
Willett, Samuel, 



The Hollanders in Monmouth' came in the 
first place from Jsew York and the western 
towns of Long Island, principally between 1690 
and 1720. Since then there has been some 
influx of them from Middlesex and Somerset 
Counties of this State. The original settlers 
^\■ere generally the younger sous, and left the 
crowded homesteads of their fathers on Long 
Island to make new ones for themselves. Ao-ri- 
culture was their chief business, and the owner- 
ship of a large unincumbered farm, with a sub- 
stantial house, large, well-filled barns and good 
stock, their highest desire. As farmers they 
had and have no superiors. As citizens thev 
were, and have ever been, conservative and 



^ This and the three succeeding paragraphs, relative to 
the Dutch settlers in Monmouth County, are from the pen 
of Hon. G. C. Beekman, of Freehold. 



peaceable, more ready to do than to talk of 
what they do, and, with very few exceptions, 
true to the cause of liberty and free institutions. 
They were the descendants of the only people 
who were free when they colonized New York 
and New Jersey, and were the only original 
Republicans and Democrats of America. Dur- 
ing the Revolution they were the principal 
sufferers from the dejiredations of the Tories in 
Monmouth and the ravages of the British army 
in its march through the county. 

From such a stock have descended the people 
of Monmouth who bear the names of Schanck, 
Smock, Statesir, Stryker, Siiydam, Spader, Sut- 
pheu, Lefferts, Leffertseu, Hyer, Quackenbush, 
Polhemus, Conover, Vandeveer, Barkalow and 
Barricklo, Antonides, Wyckoff, Hoff and Hoff- 
man, Beekman, Neafie or Nevius, Hendricks 
and Hendrickson, Probasco, Terhune, Cortel- 
you, Gulick, Teunis, Denise, Bergen, Brincker- 
hoff, Remsen, Du Bois, Yoorhees,Vredenburgh, 
Vought, Veghte, Truax, Schujder, Hageman, 
Honce, Ten Eyck, Luyster, Yan Kirk, Yan 
Sickelin or Sickles, Yan Dyke, Yan Brunt, 
Yan Dorn, Yan Mater, Yan Schoick, Yan 
Deventer, Yan Cleaf, Yan Hise, Yan Pelt and 
others of the " Yan " prefix. 

It was by the ancestors of many of these 
pcojjle that the old, substantial farm-houses, 
still seen here and there in parts of this county, 
were built, with roofs running almost to the 
ground and jjrojecting over both in front and 
rear, and under them the "stoep;" the out- 
buildings large and massive and often painted 
red. The old Dutch farmei's of Jlonmouth 
delighted in large barns, well filled, and with 
their stock, including negro slaves, sleek, fat 
and contented.- Their hospitality was as solid 

^ "There were also [among the early Dutch settlers in 
Monmouth] a few large land-owners, with numerous slaves, 
who lived like kings on their farms. The leading charac- 
teristics of this class are happily described by Edmund C. 
Stedman, in his poem called '.Alice of Monmouth,' by the 
following lines: 

' Hendrick Van Ghelt, of Monmouth Shore, 
His fame still rings the county o'er, 
The stock he raised, the stallion he rode, 
The fertile acres his farmers sowed, 
The dinners he gave ; the yacht which lay 
At his fishing dock in the Lower Bay ; 



84 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and wide as the great doors wliieh led into their 
dwellings, and the open fire-place and hearth, 
on which blazed and crackled a load of wood 
at a time. 

In the same way and for the same purpose 
that the younger sons of the Dutch farmers of 
Long Island left their homesteads to make homes 
for themselves in New Jersey, the yonnger 
members of the families of their descendants 
have, at different periods, emigrated from Mon- 
mouth County and settled in some of the 
counties of Eastern Pennsylvania, along the 
Mohawk Eiver in New York, in the Miami 
Valley in Ohio, in the Jersey settlement in 
Illinois, and elsewhere ; and wherever they 
have gone, the same industry, energy, honesty 
and hospitality have ever characterized them. 
Of those who remained on the lands where their 
ancestors tirst settled, almost two centuries ago, 
it may be said that through that long period 
they and their descendants have so continually 
intermarried with those of the English, Scotch, 
and other settlers that the blood of the Bata- 
viaus now flows through the veins of a large 
proportion of the permanent residents of Mon- 
mouth County. 

A^'ith regard to the English and Scotch people 
who preceded the Dutch as settlers in this region, 
history records a similar migration in later years. 
From Monmouth County, wliich had afforded 
an asylum for these victims of religious perse- 
cution in Europe and New England, many of 

The suits which he waged thro' many a year 

For a rood of land behind his pier. 

Of this the chronicles yet remain 

From Navesink Heights to Freehold Plain. 

'The Shrewsbury people in autumn help 
Their sandy topland with marl and kelp, 
And their peach and apple orchards fill 
The gurgling vats of the cross-road mill. 
They tell, as each twirls his tavern-can, 
Wonderful tales of that staunch old man. 
And they boast of the draught tliey have tasted and smelt, 
'Tis good as the still of Hendrick Van Ghelt.' 

" Some of the oldest citizens of the county can remember 
how well these lines describe certain characteristics of 
several farmers of Monmoutli who were famous in the earJy 
part of the present century, — men like .Joseph H. Van 
JIater, Col. Barnes Smock, Hendrick Schanck, Capt. John 
Schanck, Capt. Daniel Hendrickson, 'Farmer' Jacob Con- 
over anfl others." — Hon. G. C. Beekman. 



their descendants removed to other provinces 
and States, and made for themselves new homes 
in the valleys of the Delaware, the Susquehanna, 
the Potomac, the Shenandoah and the Kanawha. 
" Among the first settlers of the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, who began to locate there about 1732," 
says the Hon. Edwin Salter,' "were Formans, 
Taylors, Stocktons, Tiirockmortons, Van Me- 
ters, Piittersons, Vances, Aliens, Willets (or 
"Willis), Larues, Lucases and others of familiar 
New Jersey names. Fourteen or fifteen Baptist 
families from this region settled near Gerards- J 
town, and there were also many Scotch Pres- ' 
byterians from New Jersey, among whom were 
Cra^vfo«1s, McDowells, Stuarts, Alexanders, 
Kerrs, Browns and Cummingses. Many of these 
families eventually passed into the Carolinas, 
Kentucky and elsewhere, and descendants of 
some bectuue noted not only in the localities or 
States where they settled, but in the annals of 
the nation. Among those of Scotch origin may 
be named "William H. Crawford, of Georgia, 
once a United States Senator from that State, 
and also a Presidential candidate, and General 
Leslie Combs, of Kentucky. Anotlier man still 
more noted in the history of the nation, who 
descended from early settlers of New Jersey, 
and whose ancestors went from ]\Ionmouth 
County to Eastern Pennsylvania, and thence to 
the Valley of Virginia, \\;is President Abraham 
Lincoln," one of whose ancestors was John 

1 In an address delivered at the celebration of the bi- 
centennial anniversary of the New Jersey Legislature iu 
1883. . 

'"A few years ago Judge Beekman, in looking over 
ancient records in the court-house at Freehold, found fre- 
quent mention of the name of Mordecai Lincoln, and he 
supposed it was possible that this man might be the an- 
cestor of Abraliam Lincoln, as he went to Eastern Penn- 
sylvania, and it was said by the late President that, 
according to a tradition in his family, his ancestors came 
from tlience, but in his lifetime he could trace his ancestry 
no farther back than to his grandfather, Abraham, who 
originally lived in Rockingham County, in the Valley of 
Virgiuia. Recently it has been definitely ascertained that 
Judge Beekman's supposition was correct. A relative of 
the Lincoln family, Mr. Samuel Shackford, of Cook County, 
Illinois, has been most indefatigable in efforts to trace 
back the ancestry of the late President by visits to and 
searches in records in Kentucky, the Valley of Vii-ginia 
and Eastern Pennsylvania. He found that the great-grand- 
father of the late President was named John, who came 



THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



85 



Bowne, of Monmouth, S]ieaker of tlie House of 
Assembly more thau two hundred years ago. 

"The founder of the family was Samuel 
Lincoln, who came from Norwich, England, to 
Mussachusets ; he had a son, ]SIordecai (1st), of 
Hingham ; he in turn had sons, — ^Iordecai(2d), 
born April 24, 16S6 ; Abraham, born January 
13, 1689; Isaac, born October 21, 1691,— aud 
a daughter, Sarah, born July 29, 1694, as 
stated in Savage's ' Genealogical Dictionary.' 
Mordecai (2d) and Abraham moved to jSIon- 
mouth County, N. J., where the first named 
married a granddaughter of Capt. John Bowue, 
and his oldest sou, born in Monmouth, was 
named John. About 1720 the Lincolns moved 
to Eastern Pennsylvania, where Mordecai's first 
wife died, and there he married again. He 
died at Amity, Pa., and his will, dated February 
23, 1735, aud proven June 7, 1736, men- 
tions his wife, Mary, and children, — John, 
Thomas, Hannah, Mary, Ann, Sarah, Morde- 
cai (born 1730) and a ' prospective child.' The 
latter proved a boy and was named Abraham, 
who subsequently married Ann Boone, a cousin 
of Daniel Boone. John Lincoln, the eldest son, 
with some of his neighbors, moved to Rock- 
ingham County, Va. ; he had sons, Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, Thomas aud John. John, (1st) 
died at Harrisonburg, Va. His oldest sou, Abra- 
ham, who was grandfather of President Lin- 



fi'om Eastern Pennsylvania, where liis tather, a Mordecai 
Lincoln, had settled, ilr. Shackford gained the impression 
that iMordecai and his son .John came from New .Jersey, and 
therefore he wrote to persons whom he supposed familiar 
with old records here, inijuiring if there was any mention 
of a Mordecai Lincoln and his son .John in ancient New 
Jersey records. The records in the office of the Secretary 
of State at Trenton furnished the desired information. In 
that office is the record of a deed, dated November 8, 
17-48 (in Book H, p. 437), from John Lincoln, who describes 
himself as son and heir of Mordecai Lincoln, late of Caer- 
narvon Township, Lancaster County, Pa., formerly of New 
Jersey, for lands in Middlesex County, New Jersey. ]5y 
reference to a previous record in the same book (page 150) 
it is found that this was the same land deeded to Mordecai 
Lincoln, of Monmouth County. February 12, 1720. Thus, 
after patient researches, running through some twenty-five 
years, records are discovered in the State House which 
enable those interested to trace the late President's an- 
cestry in an unbroken chain back to New Jer.sey, and 
thence to the first comer from England." — Hon. Edwin 
Siillfr^s Address. 



coin, married Mary Shipley, of North Carolina, 
and had children, — Mordecai, Josiah, Thomas 
Mary and Nancy. About 1780-82 he moved 
to Kentucky with his brother Thomas. lu the 
spring of 1784, Al)raham, while planting in a 
field, was killed by an Indian. His son, 
Thomas (President Lincoln's father), who was 
then about six years old, Avas with his father in 
the field, and the Indian tried to capture him, 
but was shot and killeil by Mordecai, the old- 
est brother of the boy. Thomas Lincoln h:id 
only one son, Abraham, who became President 
of the Uuited States." 



CHAPTER YII. 

THE PROVIN'CIAL REVOLT. 

The Provincial Revolt, or (less properly) 
Provincial Revolution, is the term which has 
frequently been applied to a series of disorders 
which occurred in East New Jersey in the pe- 
riod extending from the first English settle- 
ments in 1664 to the time of the proprietary 
surrender of the government to the British 
crown, and even afterwards (to some extent) 
nearly to the opening of the war of independ- 
ence. These disorders were principally the 
results of a determined resistance to the pro- 
prietors' claim of ownership of the soil, aud, 
(in a less degree) of opposition to their right of 
government. In those parts of the province 
where the settlers had purchased their lands 
from the Indians, and — having subsequently 
fortified themselves l)y patents of the same 
lauds from Governor Nicolls — had taken peace- 
able f)Ossession, established farms, and built 
houses and mills, they regarded their titles as 
good and valid, and were disposed to hold them 
against all proprietary claims of ownership), 
even to the extent of open resistance to the 
government. This was particularly the case 
in Monmouth and Essex, aud it was in these 
counties that the spirit of resistance was most 
ol).«tinate ;uid aggressive. 

In June, 1667, a Legislature, compo.sed of 
dejjuties from ]Middletown, Shrewsbury and 



86 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Portland Point, convened at Portland Point, adja- 
cent to the Highlands of Navesiuk. This, the 
first Legislature that assembled in New Jersey, 
was called under authority conferred by the 
Nicolls jjatent, and it met nearly a year be- 
fore Governor Carteret, his Council and the 
representatives of the other towns of the jirov- 
iuce assembled at Elizabethtown. This Assem- 
bly of the Monmouth settlers continued to meet 
at Portland Point, as a body distinct from, and 
indej)ondent of, the proprietors' government, for 
some years. The records of this Legislature 
have been preserved. It ajjpears to have been 
a law-making body, a court and a l)oard of 
land ijroprietors combined, and was designated 
in its proceedings as "The General Assembly 
of the Patentees and Deputies." ' 

Besides this representative body, the people 
of each town had its distinct local government. 
This was a pure democracy, all proceedings 
affecting the interests of each particular town 
being had before the people assembled in town- 
meeting by a viva-voce vote. The first town- 



' The proceedings of the General Assembly that con- 
vened at Portland Point is preserved in one of the old 
hooks in the Monmouth County clerk's office. The record 
of the first meeting opens thus: "At a General Assembly 
the 12th of December, 16B7. OiBcers chosen by the in- 
liiibitants of Middletown.on Newasunk neck, and established 
by oath at this present Assembly or Court held this day 
and year above written. 

Officers for Middletown 
Richard Gibbons Constable 
Jonathan Hulms 
AVilliam Lawrence 

Shem Arnold 1 

-I t 1 . I Deputies 

James Ash ton > ' 

For Portland Point 
Henry Percy 
Richard Richardson 
James Bowne 

Officers for Shrewsbury on Narumsick 
Peter Parker Constable 
Edward Patterson 
Eliakim Wardell 
Earth West 



I Overseers 



I Overseers and 
j Deputies." 



Then follows this entry as a heading : 

"The several acts or orders enacted at this present 
Assembly upon the proof presented by the inhabitants to 
the Patentees and Deputies are in order set down, viz." 
Here follow the acts passed upon a variety of subjects. 



book of one of these communities is in exist- 
ence. The first record is in 1667, and it continues 
almost to the year 1700, embracing interesting 
matter which has never been published, with 
reference to the controver.sy which agitated the 
province for many j-ears, and concerning which 
so little has heretofore been "known. As this 
protracted controversy produced a change of 
government, in the surrender to the crown,^ the 
information here obtained is important in a 
historical point of view, to show the part the 
early settlers of ]\I(iiniiouth took in the Provin- 
cial Revolt. 

The first Assembly under the jn-oprietors 
convened at Elizabethtown in May, 1668, and 
it appears by the jiroccedings that James Gro- 
ver and John Bowne claimed to be deputies 
for Middletown and Shrew.sbury, and took the 
oath. This was always construed as an ac- 
knowledgment by the towns of the right of the 
proprietors, not only to the government, but 
also to the soil. It appears, however, by the 
town-book of INIiddletown, that the inhabitants 
at the next town-meeting hastened to repudiate 
Grover and Bowne, and to deny that they were 
ever chosen representatives. This is an import- 
ant fact, for their particii)ation in the proceed- 
ings of the first Assembly at Elizabethtown, and 
voting for the rates to be levied, was made a 
strong point against the patentees in the con- 



- The question which agitated the inhabitants of Middle- 
town and Shrewsbury was on« of title to their lands. The 
same question .iffected other portions of the province, and 
produced such dissatisfaction and disorder that the pro- 
prietors finally were obliged to surrender the government. 

The grant from the Duke of York to Berkeley and Car- 
teret was prior to that from Nicolls to the patentees, hut at 
the date of the Monmouth patent neither Nicolls nor the 
patentees had notice of the Duke's grant. Nicolls had 
authority to grant, and promised the patent to those who 
should settle in Middletown and Shrewsbury, if they would 
first extinguish the Indian title. This they did, received 
their patent, and had it recorded previous to notice that 
the Duke had conveyed to the proprietors. From these 
conflicting titles piroceeded the trouble and contention that 
followed. The pi-oprietors insisted not only upon the right 
of government over the inhabitants of the towns of Mon- 
mouth, but also claimed title to the soil, and deninnded 
taxes and quit-rents. The inhabitants of Middletown and 
Shrewsbury would have consented to submit to the govern- 
ment of the proprietors, but denied their title to the lands 
included in the patent from Nicolls. 



THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



87 



troversy that followed, and was taken by the 
Assembly as an acknowledgment of the pro- 
prietors' title. The entry in the town-book is 
as follows: "October 28, 1(J68.— In a legall 
towne-raeeting, it was ordered that this follow- 
ing declaration shall bee .sent by the Deputies to 
the General Assembly : Wee, the freeholders, 
for the satisfaction of the Governonr and Coun- 
sell declare, that whereas certaine men, (by 
name) James Grover and John Bowne, appear- 
ing as Deputies to act in the countrcy's behalfe ; 
this wee declare, that the men were not Legally 
chosen, according to summons, it being uott 
published in any part of the countrey till the 
night before, lieing the 24th of May. The in- 
habitants being maney and setled neere twenty 
miles distance, could nott be ghathered to- 



granted by pattent, and fearing to have their 
Deputies any way involved under any oath, 
engagement or subscription whereby any pre- 
judice or infringement may come upon the 
lilierties and privileges thereof, doe hereby order 
and enact, and V)y these presents it is ordered 
and enacted, That this following proviso shall 
be presented to the Governor and Counsel, de- 
siring to have it inserted either in the oath, en- 
gagement or subscription, viz. : provided that 
noe law, or act or command w"" is or may bee 
made, acted or commanded, may any way be 
forceible against the liberties and privileges of 
your patent. It is further ordered that if the 
Governouraud Counsell please not to admitt of 
the proviso in the oath, engagement or sul)mis- 
sion, that then the Deputies shall refuse either 



ghether as above said; yet it appears that some ' to engage, promise or subscribe." This action 



few to whom the summons first came made 
choyce of them unknown to the major part of 
the countrey, who had noe hand in the choyce, 
nor knew not of their going till they were gone ; 
and this wee declare to the Governonr and 
Counsell, conceiving under correction : that we 
are not at all obliged to stand to their acting, 
the choyce being soe illegal, being fearefull to 
act anything that miglit infringe or violate any 
of the liberties and privileges of our pattent ; 
and this is our result, that we desire our Depu- 
ties to present to the Governonr and Counsell for 
their satisfaction, that it was neither contempt 
nor obstinacy, nor willfull on our parts, that the 
choyce was not legall according to the summons. 
Testis. James Grover, Town Clarke." 

From the above it will be seen that while 
they denied the legality of the election of 
Grover and Bowne, they were not unwilling to 
elect deputies in a legal manner, provided (as 
it appears afterwards) their representatives 
sliiiuld not be obliged to take an oath that 
would compromise tlieir patent. From the 
town-book it appears that neither Grover nor 
Bowne had been chosen, as there is no entry to 
that eifect. Neither had Shrewsbury sent dele- 
gates to Elizabethtowu, but the Middletown 
men had assumed to act for Shrewsbury. 

The town-meeting of October 28, 1668, also 
pa.ssed the following : " The inhabitants, taking 
into consideration the liberties and privileges 



amounted to open rebellion. 

On the 1st of November, 1668, it is re- 
corded that " in legal town-meeting, Jonathan 
Hulmes and Edward Tart were this day, by 
the pluralities of votes, cho.sen Deputies to act 
with the General Assembly at Elizabethtowu." 

On the 3d day of November, 1668, the 
Assembly met at Elizabeth town, and Jonathan 
Hulmes and Edward Tart for Middletown, 
and Thomas Winterton and John Hans, for 
Shrewsl)ury, appeared. The entry in the 
minutes, as found in Learning and Spicer, is as 
follows : " The Deputies for Middletown and 
Shrewsbury, refusing to take or subscribe to 
the oaths of allegiance and fidelity but with 
provisoes, and not submitting to the laws and 
government, were dismissed. ' 

At the May session of 1668 a law had been 
passed by the Elizabethtowu Assembly levying 
a tax of five pounds on each town. The towns 
of Middletown and Shrewsbury refused to pay 
this rate because the NicoUs patent exempted 
from taxes for .seven years. This refusal, to- 
gether with the conduct of their i-epresentatives 
in declining to take the oath at the opening of 
the session of November, 1668, called for 
pi-ompt and decisive action on the part of the 
provincial government, and the following act 
was passed, viz.: "Item. — Whereas there was 
an act of Genei-al Assembly passed the thirtieth 
day of May last, for a rate of thirty pounds fo 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



be raised upon the county for the defraying of 
public ciiarge, equally to be laid upon the 
towns then in being, viz.: the towns of Bergen, 
Elizabethtown, Newark upon Pishawack river, 
Woodbridge, Middletown and Shrewsbury, that 
is to say, five pounds on each town Now the 
major part of the inhabitants of Middletown 
and Shrewsbury, refusing to pay the same, cou- 
traiy to tiie consent and act of their own Dep- 
uties, and likewise refuse to submit to the laws 
of this government. It is hereby enacted by 
the present General Assemlily that Mr. Luke 
Watson and Mr. Samuel Moore shall go and 
demand the aforesaid rate of five pounds from 
each town, together with forty shillings more 
from each of said towns, which is their just 
proportion of the rate of twelve pounds now 
made by this present General Assembly for the 
defraying of public charges, which if they re- 
fuse to pay, the said Luke Watson and Sanmel 
Moore to take by way of distress, together with 
the charges and expenses the county is and shall 
be at for their obstinate refusal of paving their 
just dues according to law, and for so doing, 
the General Assembly doth undertake to save 
them harmless. It is further enacted, by the 
authority aforesaid, that Luke Watson and 
Samuel Moore, aforesaid, do demand the posi- 
tive resolution of the inhabitants, or the major 
part of them of the said towns, whether or no 
they will submit to the laws and government of 
this province, under the Right Honorable John 
Loi-d Berkley and Sir George Carteret, Knight 
and Baronet, the absol ute Lords Proprietors of 
the same, according to His Royal Highness, the 
Duke of York's grant, upon which answer the 
General Assembly will proceed accordingly." 
Luke Watson and Samuel ]\Ioore \vere "Wood- 
bridge men of some note, the latter afterwards 
being the treasure)- of the iirovinee. They 
were not ver_y prompt in performing their 
duties under the act, probably from fear of en- 
countering the rebels of the two revolting 
towns, who were not at all intimidated by this 
action of the Assembly, as is apparent from 
the following significant entry, dated Feb- 
ruary, 1669,' bidding defiance to the Lords 

' 1668, Old Style. | 



Proprietors and prejiaring to defend their pat- 
ent : 

" In a legall towue meeting, flbr future se- 
curity of the goods and cattle that belongs to 
the inhabitants of the towue, it is hereby 
ordered and agreed upon that eveiy inhabitant 
is jointly enjoyned to give their assistance to 
secure the goods of every partii-ular inhabitant 
from any one that shall attempt to take or cary 
anything out of the towue under what couler 
soever ; and it is further ordered that every 
jjarticular inhabitant shall make their appear- 
ance at all demands or warning by the constable 
or other authorized by him to meet any\\'here 
in the towue, upon penalty of five pounds for 
non-apearance or uon-asistance ; and it is 
likewise ordered and agreed upon by the inhab- 
itants that if any one being an inhabitant shall 
come or fall into any trouble about anything 
coueerning the premises above specified, or shall 
be called by virtue of any writt or warrant to 
appeare l)efore any Gouvernour or Court ujjon 
the same account of such apearauce or such 
asistance, that every such inhabitant shall have 
his time and expenses discharged by the towne, 
and his domestick business goe forward all the 
time of his abseuce, and these orders to stand 
forcible till ffurther order. Ordered to be en- 
tered and subscribed by the major part of the 
towne." 

This meant resistance by force to the collec- 
tion of the rates by distraint. The five pounds 
was a small sum for the town to pay, but there 
was a principle involved, and the jjeople «'ere 
resolved not to sulimit to it. The order was 
directed to be signed by the major part of the 
inhabitants, as a declaration of their rights, and 
an alliance defensive to stand or fall tosrether. 
It was a solemn agreement to provide for the 
families of those who might suffer for the pub- 
lic good. On the same day James Ashton, 
Jonathan Holmes, Richard Gibbens, Richard 
Stout, William Lawrence and Edmund Tartt 
were ordered to give answer to the Governor's 
men in the town's behalf, and that the " Clark " 
sign and seal the same writing, to be sent to the 
Governor. The town-meeting at the same time 
resolved that the Clark at present shall receive 
the laws from the Governor's messengers, viz. : 



THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



89 



Luke Watson aud Samuel Moore, and upon re- 
ceipt shall declare that the town receives them 
for tlicir own security only ; and it was likewise 
ordered that " no inhabitant shall be seized 
upon, or cari'ied by violence out of the towne, 
until the towne sees further." On the same 
day another entry was made by the town clerk, 
as follows, viz. : " For as much as Luke Wat- 
son and Samuel Moore, the Gouvernour's raes- 
ingers, doe command us to aid and assist you in 
talcing- distraint of goods from the inliabitants 
of ^liddleton to discharge levies levied upon 
them, This wee declare : That wee own Captain 
Pliillip Carteret to be our Gouvernour, whose 
lawfull, good and just commands wee shall aud 
will oliey in all things not for wratli, but for 
Conscience' sake towards God, the liberties and 
privileges of ourpattent only maintained in full 
and ample manner ; liut for as nnivh as the 
Gouvernour has sent yee to take a distraint of 
goods from a people that as yet are nott sub- 
mitted to him (if the act of the General Assem- 
bly did not hold forth soe much, we would not 
say so), though the same people will l»e read^'to 
yield true submission to him, their Gouvernour, 
in all thiuffs good and lawful, the liberties and 
privileges of their jjattent only maintained ; 
wee say, for as much as he hath sent yee to 
take distraint of their goods, as in our con- 
sciences wee judge not to bee just, for how can 
anj'thing be due from any man or people who 
are not submitted "? wee shall be passive here in 
refusing either aide or assistance to yee in the 
distraynt." 

On the succeeding 1st of March the follow- 
ing self-explanatory documents relative to the 
troubles in Monmouth were issued by the Pro- 
prietary Governor and Council, viz. : 

" A\'arrant for the Xavesink !Men to Produce 
the Laws and to Publish them : 

" Whereas there W;is a boddy of Lawes made 
by the Generall assembly, barring date the .30th 
]NLiy, and another past the 7 Xov' last, the cap- 
tions Whereof \Miere .sent to the Towns of 
Shrewsbiuy and Midleton, and, as I am in- 
fornied, are bv sonic disaflPected p'sons Concealed 
and not published : ^^'herefore these are to Will 
and Iie(iuii'e you to demande the said Lawes In 



Whose hands or Custodie so ever they are, and 
In Case of Refusall to take them by force, and 
the same to publish in Ijoth the said Towues of 
Shre\vsbury aud Midleton, hereby requiring all 
p'sons to be Ayding and Asisting to you in the 
Execution of yo' office; and for you so doing 
this shall be yo' sufficient Warrant. Giuen 
Vnd"' my hand and Scale the first day of IMarch, 

1668 [1668-69]. 

"Ph. Carteret. 
"To Mr. Peter Parker, 

"Con.stable of Shrewsbury." 

"A warrant to Require a paper signed by the 
Inhabitants of Midleton ag' the Lawes: 

" These are, l>y the advice of my Councell, to 
Require you to demande a certaine paper Sub- 
scribed by the Iuhal)itants of ]\Iidleton Con- 
cerneing the Ojjpositiou of the Lawes, in Whose 
hands or Custodie so ever it Is in, and in Case 
of Refusall to take it by force and to Conway 
or bring the same vuto me aud my Councell, 
Requiring all p'sons to be ayding and assisting 
Ynto you in the Executing of this ord'; and 
for vo'' .so doing this shall bee your sufficient 
Warrant. Given Vud' my hand aud Scale the 
first day of March, 1668 [1668-69]. 

"[Ph. Carteret.] 

" To M^ Peter Parker, 

" Constable of Shrewsbury." 

" Prohibition for those at Xavesinks to bare 
any office or have any Vote in Election till they 
have taken the Ooath : Whereas, by the Lords 
Proprietors' Concessions, no person or persons 
are to be admitted as a Freed man or Free- 
holders of this Province of New Jersey, or have 
or lujoy the Privilledges granted by the said 
Concessions until they have taken or subscribed 
to tlie Oath of Alaegance to our Sovereign Lord 
the King and his successors, aud to be true aud 
faithfull to the Interest of the Lords Proprie- 
tors, their heires and successors, it is this day 
Ordered by the Govern' and his Councell that 
from henceforth no person or persons within 
the Townes of Midleton ct Shrewsbury and 
places Adjacent Shall liave any Authority or 
power to l)are any Office in any Military or 
Civil Affiiirs, nor to have any Vote in Election 
or publick business, until they have taken the 



90 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



said Oath of Alegiance to the King and Fidelity 
to the Lords Proprietors, iqiou the penalty of 
being proceeded against as ^Mutineers against 
the Authority of this Government and the Dis- 
turbers of the Publick Peace; and tliat all per- 
sons may take Notice hereof, ^Ir. Peter Parker, 
the sworne Constal)le of Shrewsbury, is hereby 
required to Publish this our Order in both the 
aforesaid Towne.s and to fix a Copie of the same 
in some j)ublicq place or places where it may be 
Seen and Read, & to take Notice with good 
sufficient Witness in Writing when it was pub- 
lished. Given under the Scale of the Province 
the first day of March, 1668 [1668-69], and in 
the one-and-tweutieth yeare of His Majesties 
Raigne, King Charles the Second, etc. By 
Order of the Governor & Councell. 

"JA^ BoLLEN, Pres'." 

On the 17th of the same month, at a legal 
town-meeting, — the major part being present, — 
it was put to vote concerning that ])art of the 
act of May, 1668, which required Luke 
Watson and Samuel Moore to demand the posi- 
tive resolution of the inhabitants of the towns 
as to submission to tlie government of the abso- 
lute Lords Proprietoi'S, "and it was unani- 
mously resolved that the following shall be the 
positive resolution, and shall be presented to the 
General Assembly." This document, though 
long, Ls here given at length, because it fully 
sets forth the position and claims of the .settlers 
on the Nicolls patent. It has sometimes been 
called the Monmouth declaration of independ- 
ence : 

"March 17, 1668-9.— In a legall towue- 
meeting, the major part being present, it was 
this day putt to the vote concerning answearing 
the Demand of Luke Watson and Samuel 
Moore, who were authorized by th(3 General 
Asseraldy to demand our positive resolution of 
submission to the government of ttie absolute 
Lords Proprietors, as sayeth the Act bearing 
date the seventh of November, it was unani- 
mously resolved that this following act shall be 
our positive resolution, and shall be presented 
to the General Assembly, viz : 

" That if the oath of alleagancc to our Sov- 
ereign Lord, the King, and fidelity to the 



Lords Proprietors' interest, bee the submission 
intended in the act, this is our result : that as 
true loyal subjects to the King, we are ready at 
all demands either to engage, swear or subscribe 
all true alleaganee to his Royal Majesty of 
England, as in duty bound, either before the 
Gouvernour, or any other minister of justice 
authorized by him to administer the same, with- 
out any equivocation or mentall reservation, as 
true loiall subjects ought to doe; and this wee 
will perforine absolutely. . . . 

"As to the Lords Proprietors' interest, it 
being a new, unheard thing to us, and soe 
obscure to us that at present we are ignorant 
what it is; yet as men not void of judgment, 
knowing right well that all oaths, engagements 
or subscriptions ought to be administered in 
truth, in righteousness and in judgment, ujwn 
which consideration wee are nott willing to 
sweare to (wee know not what), yet by what 
hath been presented and come to our hands 
from the Governour at sevoral times, viz: an 
order or law came in the year 1666, prohibiting 
any from selling wine to the Indians, under great 
penalty, though it seems now that above the (juan- 
tity of two gallons may be tollerated by a law. 
2d. Warrants coming to our hands, nott in His 
Majesties name, but in the Lords Pro})rietors' 
name, being such a name as wee simple crea- 
tures never heard of before. 3d An account 
that our Deputies gave us, being returned from 
the General Assembly held in November last, 
who informed us that the hounoured Gouver- 
nour told them (speaking concerning their 
patent) that notwithstanding your pattent, said 
hee, yett new Lords must now have new lawes, 
and further they declared to us that the Gouv- 
ernour toukl them that Gouvernour Nicolls 
could not give away his master's land, and 
further said that when your pattent was in 
granting, that Captaine James Bullen, my 
Secretary, putt in his caveat, and soe put a stop 
to it, Captaine Bullen then affirming the same. 
4th. An order coming from the Gouvernour 
and Counsell, bearing date the first of March, 
'68, proJiibiting the townes of Middleton and 
Shrewsbury from electing any officer, or any 
officer from executing any office, upon penalty 
of being proceeded against as mutineers. 6th. 



THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



91 



.Vn Act of the General Assembly, stiling (the 
Right Honorable John Lord Berkley and Sir 
George Carteret) the absolute Lords Proj)rietors. 

"By all M'"", wee conceive: that the Lords 
proprietors interest is:: uotonly: the absolute 
sovereignty : from w"'' all laws must be given : 
but allsoe: the absolute propriety: from w""" all 
lands must bee holden : (wee say) if this bee 
tlie interest soe specified in Gouveruour's late 
order: and intended in the oath: and in parte 
the submission demanded by the Act. 

"This is our result: wee have received a 
pattent from his Roiall highness the DidvC of 
York's Deputy : owning us: nott only to have 
purchased our lands from the Chief Pi'oprietors 
of the countrcy : l)ut allsoe impowering us to 
give prudentiall lawes to oyrselves: both for 
our own safety : and our well being : ; and 
should wee submit to interest soe farre: as by 
either engaging: swearing: or subscribing to 
the lawes of the government under the Lords 
proprietors how contrary and prejudiciall to our 
present safety, as witness a law made the last 
Generall Assembly: giving liberty to sell wine 
to the Indians: w''" liljerty tends merely to 
our destruction, many sad former experiences 
have we had among us witnessing the same: 
it being a Liberty .soe contrary to the lawes of 
Xew Yorke from whence our pattent had its origi- 
nall: and besides, our pattent giving us such 
liberty as giving lawes to ourselves, how are wee 
bound to take lawes from the goverment of the 
Lords Proprietors (criminalls and aj)eals ex- 
cepted) by w"" it is manifest: that neither tlie 
Lords proprietors nor the Generall Assembly 
can in the leaste breake our liberties and privi- 
leges : but wee ourselves will bee found to bee 
.self-viojaters of them in submitting by swearing 
to such an interest: as wee are not Ijound to: 
besides at present noe provision being made by 
the Lords proprietors' government for the con- 
servation of the liberties and privileges of our 
pattent, they are liable te bee infringed upon by 
such acts w°'' are resolved by the major vote of 
the generall assembly: then how should wee 
submit by swearing to the lawes of the gover- 
ment: and nott bee guilty of self- violation of 
our pattent ourselves. 



" And forasmuch as they are styled the ab.so- 
lute Lords proprietors ffrom hence, it abso- 
lutely granted and necessarily followeth that all 
such inhabitants as lives upon this propriety : 
are absolute tennants to the Lords propri- 
etors : and by virtue of this theu* submission : 
by oath to their interests are irreeoveral)ly 
involved to pay such Lords rents : as will answer 
the interest to w""" tliey have sworne : and should 
we submit to the interest so farre as by swear- 
ing thereunto : having a propriety of land nott 
onely purchased from the Chief Proprietors of 
the Countrcy : viz. the Indians : but alsoe 
granted unto us by the Deputy to his Royall 
highness the duke of Yorke (w"'' appears under 
hand and seal) : it would be an act beneath the 
wisdome of the owners of such a patent : and 
herein wee should apeare to bee self- violators of 
our pattent ourselves : and for as much as the 
Lords Proprietors rents from such inhabitants 
as lives upon the projjriety a]iears in the eon- 
cessions : viz. a half i)cnny an acre at least : 
should wee submit soe farre to tiie interest by 
swearing : whose acknowledgments by virtue of 
pattent to his Royall Highness : have their de- 
pendancy upon such payment as others his 
majesties subjects, doe in the government of 
New Yorke to his Royall Highnes: it would l)e 
an act, as wee conceive, w"*" would bee a dis- 
honner to him that gave it. 

" Herein wee should apeare to be self-viola- 
tors of our pattent ourselves : but for as much as 
there is an assignment made by his Royall 
Highnes to the Lords proprietors of such a 
tract of land in w"'' our pattent may bee com- 
prehended : wee looke at ourselves to be (noto- 
riely) responsible to the Lords Proprietors in all 
such acknowledgments as others his majesties 
subjects doe : in the government of New Yorke 
to his Royall highness: (butt alsoe) -to transmitt 
all criminalls arising amongst ourselves : and 
such ajiealls as are proper to bee transmitted to 
the trial of Lords Proprietors' government : 
These : and no other being the same injunctions : 
w""" once we were subordinate to the goverment 
of New Yorke nott any way noM' uullitied : 
altered: or changed as wee conceive: butt only 
transferred by virtue of assignment to the sayd 
Lords Proprietors and their government : Not- 



92 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



withstanding for the future benefitt and tran- 
quility : and for the establishment of peace in the 
province: wee shall bee willing to submit to the 
Lords proprietors' interest according to the late 
order provided that some secure way could be 
projected or some provision made by the Lords 
projjrietors' government w°'' might secure us 
from destroying of ourselves by weakning this 
our interest w'*' we so highly prize w"'' indeed is 
the very foundation of our livelyhood : if noe 
secure way or course can be thciuglit of or pro- 
jected to sectn-e our owue interest : wee are att 
present resolved not to entangle ourselves into 
any other interest apj^ertaining to any men : but 
shall (by the assistance of God) Stick to our 
patteut : the liberties and pi-ivileges thereof w"^ 
is our interest : w""" once was committed to us : 
nott to betray : like treacherous men : who for 
filthy lucre's sake have bin ready to betray them- 
selves and others : but to deale faithfully with 
it being a trust committed to us : and in soe 
doing wee conceive : we need not feare what 
any man : or power : can doe unto us : and for 
as much as att present wee conceive : that upon 
this our interest thare hath bin lately au inroad 
made upon it : by virtue of an order coming 
from the Governour and Counsell : and by com- 
mission: published in our towne : prohibiting 
any officer that hath bin constituted by virtue 
of pattent to execute any office till they bad 
sworne to the Lords jjroprietors' interest upon 
penalty of being proceeded against as mutineers : 
(to salve w"""), wee shall make our addresses unto 
the highest authority in the countrey for remedy : 
and this is our jiositive resolution iu answear to 
the Act : desiring further that this our answer 
may be presented to the generall asembly to 
prevent misinformation." 

How this resolve of the Monmouth men to 
stand by their patent was received by the pro- 
prietors' goveriunent is not known, for no min- 
utes of the Elizabethtovvu General Assembly 
from November, 1668, to 1675 have been found. 
There is reason to believe that the Assembly 
met occasionally during that period, but it is 
probable that no business of any importauce 
was transacted. The next entry here quoted 
from the Middletown town-book proves there 
was au occasional session, — ; 



"December 6, 1671. — In a legall towne 
meeting : the major partt beiug present, it was 
ordered that following writing shall be sent to 
the Governour and Counsell and Deputies of 
the townes of the ])rovinee assembled together 
at Elizabethtown the 12th of this present 
month. . . . Honoured Governour : the 
Counsell and Deputies of the generall assembly. 
. Wee received by tlie hands of some of 
the men of Woodbridge the late acts of the 
generall assembly at their last adjournment 
bearing date 22 of November : as allsoe a sum- 
mons under hand and seale of the province for 
choice of Burgesses for a further Assembly to 
bee held on the 12th of this present month : 
both w"'' beiug enclosed in a paper sent unto us 
by the Honoured Governour : desiring our 
compliance to answere the summons : and fur- 
ther i-equiring our positive answer by the 
bearer : to w""" wee say : that such is : and hath 
bin our forwardness for compliance at all times: 
that there hath bin : and is noe need of any 
ocasion : either to instigate or augment our for- 
wardnes thereunto : having not at any time 
wilfully omitted any opertunity of apearing by 
our deputies to doe such service as hath bin re- 
quired of us : besides : the sincerity of our de- 
sires : being soe well known to God, and our 
own consciences herein : in point of true Loyall 
submission to the government of the Lords 
proprietors soe farre forth as is proper to our 
couditon lo the very utmost that can bee claimed 
from us : whose just power wee have formerly 
(as it is well known) with all . . . owned: 
but when we consider : (having jjondered we in 
our minds) the late act was presented to us: 
and being therein charged : with noe les than 
contempt of authority of government : the 
charge being soe generall : viz. the townes of 
Middlesex and Shrewsbury, the forciblenes of 
the charge be great : viz. an Act of the 
generall assembly : and withall judging the 
charge the whole ground of the Act : for what 
greater force can there be than a generall act : 
wee say : wee (weighing these things in the 
ballances of ei[uity) judge ourselves at present 
alltogether incapable of auswearing the sum- 
mons : aprehending ourselves at present rather 
fitter to be cleared publicklv of soe weiaiitv a 






THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



93 



charge : then to joyue witli the Goiivernour : 
Counsell : and deputies of the townes of the 
province in the exercise of any legislative 
power : for the settlement of any thing : need- 
ful and necessarv for the well "-overning of this 
province : and should have now apeared to 
have answered to the charge if that writt had 
apeared amongst us w°'' the late asembly gave 
the Gouvernour thatt power to issue forth : 
further more (conceaving under correction) that 
noe such prerogative or privilege may bee con- 
ferred upon contemners and despisers of gov- 
ernment, much les noe such thing as either the 
dignity of a freeholder to elect or the dignity 
of a Deputy to act for the good and welfare of 
any state or province, and therefore for the full 
clearing: of ourselves our desire is that the late 
act (according to the current thereof ) may bee 
exactly prosecuted : that so that power (w"*" the 
late asembly of deputies at their last adjourn- 
ment tooke upon them to give the gouvernour) 
may now bee putt in execution : for had that 
writt apeared now amongst us : wee question 
nott : but wee should have shewed our ready 
and Avilling- obedience to have answeared there- 
unto: being cai'efull of incurring upon any 
Attayndor of rebellion : but that writt apear- 
iug nott amongst us : wee judged ourselves not 
ol)li":ed to come to answear : and tiius in briefe 
have wee given account of our present condi- 
tion : under favour waiting onely with all hu- 
mility (pro forma tantum) as to what is further 
required of us in the late act : viz : to shew 
cause why wee will nott pay our just projior- 
tion of expences of provision expended at two 
asemblies in the yeare (68) wee answear that 
which was expended at the aseml^ly Held 25, 
May (68) wee had then noe deputies there to 
expend and further what was expended at the 
adjournment : in November following in the 
same yeare : our deputies who were there and 
nott suffered to act but sume how agayne re- 
ported to us : that the deputies for the townes 
of the province : invited them one night to 
supper w"'" l:>efore their departure thence they 
tendered them money for itt soe that : as wee 
abhorre all such l)aseness of speritt as to eat 
anv mens bread for nouoht: soe wee come nott: 
by what wee have soe lightly as to pay other 



mens expences: who wee conceive rather show 
an evell mind iu desiring itt : soe that if any- 
thing by the power of the province be forced 
from us at any time (upon this account), viz.: 
for the discharge of expences of provisions for 
those two asemblies: wee hope wee shall nei- 
ther be ashamed uor affrayd to declare it to be 
open and manifest ^rong: further wee give yee 
to understand the cause and reason why our 
deputies apeared not at the la.st adjournment: 
when the time came that they should goc : our 
vessel was accidentally drove away, by w"" 
means they were disabled from coming and 
for the season of neere fourteen davs togrhether 
noe vessell could not bee gott in any capacity 
to transport them : this being the very ground 
and reason why they came nott : and therefore 
wee conceive that w"' providentially fall out 
men of reason and understanding; will bee well 
satisfied withal .... It is further ordered : that 
the clarke (at present) shall signe to this above 
answear in the name of the towue and shall 
send it baeke by A^'oodbridge men with its di- 
rection running thus : viz. : To the Honoured 
Gouvernour and Counsell : and Deputies of the 
townes of the province asembled toghether at 
Elizabethtown. 

"Testis, Edward Tarrte, T. C." 

it tiius appears that the inhabitants of the 
town of ]\Iiddletown Mould not refuse to ac- 
knowledge the government of the proprietors 
and to send deputies; Init they denied the right 
of the proprietors to the land ; nor did they 
ever rescind the order forbidding their repre- 
sentatives taking the oath, except with the pro- 
viso saving their patent. The allusion to the 
invitation to supper is amusing. It seems that 
this mode of procuring legislative favor com- 
menced at an early day. The unsophisticated 
men two centuries ago could not understand 
how expensive suppers could be paid for, unless 
they who gave them reimbursed tliemselves 
from the public funds. It is evident that they 
thought the province was in some way to pay 
for the fe:ist, their offer of payment having 
been declined. It is probable that the supper 
was given at the instance of those representing 
tlie [triiprietors, to induce the deputies of ^lid- 



94 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



dletowu and Shrewsbury to take the oath with- 
out tlie proviso; but they stood firmly by their 
pateut, and could not be influenced by fine sup- 
pers or other entertainment. 

In December, 1672, Berkeley and Carteret, 
the Lords Proprietors, issued declarations to 
the people, among \\hich \\-as the following, 
which proves that Middletown and Shrewsbury 
still held out : " For such as pretend to right of 
property to laud and govermnent within our 
province by virtue of patent from Gov. Col. 
Richard Nicolls, as they ignorantly assert, we 
utterly disown any such things, — a grant they 
had from him on condition they never per- 
formed. Lovelace demanded they patent their 
laud from us and pay our quit-rent, wiiich, if 
they do, we are content they sliall enjoy tiie 
land they are settled on ; but without their 
speedy compliance as aljove said, we do order 
our Governor and Counsel to dispose thereof in 
whole or in part." They also authorized the 
constables of tiie respective towns to talce by 
warrant from the Governor, by way of distress, 
from e\-erv individual inhabitant their just pro- 
portion of rent due to them yearly, beginning on 
25th March, 1670; and if not thus collected, 
the marshal of the province be impowered, etc. 

In the alcove it will be observed tliat the 
proprietors did not base their title upon a grant 
from the Duke of York prior to the Xicolls 
patent, but upon the allegation that the patentees 
had not performed the conditions of their patent, 
in wluit particular is not stated. The command 
to collect the rents in this summary way was 
inconsistent with the previous action of the 
Governor and Council; for in May, 1672, upon 
tlie address of James Grover and others, jjatent- 
ces, and their associates, of tlie towns of Mid- 
dleto^vu and Shrewsbury, unto the Governor 
and Council, for confirmation of certain priv- 
ileges granted them by Colonel Ricliard Nicolls, 
the Governor and Council did confirm unto 
said patentees and their associates these partic- 
ulars following, being their rights contained in 
the aforesaid patent, among which was the fol- 
lowing : " Impnmis, that the said patentees and 
a.ssociates have full power, license and authority 
to dispose of the said lands expi-cssed in the 
said patent as to them shall seem meet." The 



action of the Lords Proprietors in December 
can only be accounted for ujjon the supposition 
that they had not received information of the 
action of tlieir Governor and Council the prev- 
ious May. They were certainly bound by the 
previous action of their Governor and Council 
confirming the Nicolls patent. The confir- 
mation of this patent by the Go\ernor and Coun- 
cil also gave the inhaliitants of the towns of 
Monmouth the libei'ty to make prudeutial laws 
and constitutions among themselves according 
to the tenor of the patent; and if this confir- 
mation was valid, it follows that they were free 
from the crown before tiie American Revolu- 
tion, for the proprietors could not in 1702 sur- 
render the government over them. 

In 1670 the quit-reuts as claimed by the 
proprietors had become due. They who held 
under Xicolls refused to pay them, and there 
followed great confusion, not only in the towns 
of Monmouth, but in Essex and elsewliere. At 
length tlie revolutionists determined to establish 
a new government, and on the litli of JNIay, 
1672, certain delegates from the towns, calling 
themselves " Deputies or Representatives for 
tiie Country," met at Elizabethtown, elected 
Captain James Carteret (a son of Sir George, 
the proprietor) " President of the Country," 
and made proclamation to that eifect. On the 
28tli of the same mouth Governor Philip Car- 
teret and his Council made proclamation, offer- 
ing amnesty to all pereons who were concerned 
in the revolt, who should within ten days give 
in their written submission to the proprietary 
government ; otlierwise they would be pro- 
ceeded against as mutineers and enemies to the 
peace of the province.^ The trouble, however, 
continued through the year, and the " President 
of the Country," James Carteret, carried mat- 
ters with a high hand, arresting and imprison- 
ing some of the projirietary officers and warning 
others against attempting to act in their official 
capacity. In these acts he was sustained by 
the revolutionary Assembly. Governor Philip 
Carteret was obliged to leave the province for 
England, where lie remained more than two 
yejirs, John Berry remaining in New Jersey 

' New Jersey Archives, 1st Series, vol. i. page 89. 



THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



95 



as his deputy, but exercising no power as 
such daring: the brief" control of James Carte- 
ret, who early in the following year abandoned 
liis so-called office of " Pre;!iideut," and fled to 
Carolina, taking with him his wife, who was a 
daughter of Thomas Delavall, mayor of New 
York. The events of the James Carteret re- 
volt are told, in part, in an address by the 
Council of Governor Philip Carteret to the 
])ropnetoi-s, dated July 1, 1672. In that 
document they set forth : 

" That whereas Several persons in this Prov- 
ince who have a long time been discontented 
and Opposite unto the Governor and Govern- 
ment, who have of Late by their plottings and 
Combinations so Carried matters that they 
liave had such Influence into the Election of 
Deputies for the Assemblys as that there are 
such persons chosen as Deputies who having 
avoided taking the Oath of Assemblymen 
accoi-ding to the Concessions, and have taken 
Liberty to differ from the Governor and 
Council] iu Establishing matters for the 
Peace and Settlement of the People, and have 
now At last disorderly Assembled and pro- 
cured Cap' James Carterett as their Pi-es- 
ideut, who Joyned with them in making dis- 
turbance in this Province, he taking upon him 
to head the said persons, endeavoring not only 
to disengage the people from subjection unto, but 
also opposing and abusing the Governor and 
Councill, commanding their Obedience to him- 
self by virtue of his Warrants which he puts 
forth in the King's Name for that end, and 
also Prohibiting; such Officers as act bv the 
Governor's Commission, and commanding them 
wholv to cease acting in their offices untill they 
receive orders from himself; and unto such a 
hight hath he proceeded that he hath impris- 
oned Several persons, in p'ticular the Deputy 
Secretary for Executing his Office, who, having 
l)y the Governor's order made an Escape out of 
their hands, we understand they have seized 
his goods, and the Like we Expect daily will 
be the Condition of all others that will not 
concurr with his Illegall proceedings, he givinsr 
forth Continual threateuinij:s against those that 
doe not obey his orders, and having persons ad- 
liering to him that probably will be ready to 



Execute his Will so as they may have the 
Plundering of o'' Estates, and all these proceed- 
ings he carried on with pretence that he hath 
Power sufficient, he being Sir George Carter- 
ett's Sonn, and that he himself is Proprietor 
and can put out the Governor as he pleases, 
and that his Father hath given him his part of 
the Province ; although he doth not shew any 
grant or Commission or Legal Power to doe 
any such thing, but saith he Scorneth to Shew 
his Power to such fellowes as wee, neither need 
he do so, being- on his own Land. And as for 
the Lord Berkeley's part, he saith that is but a 
small matter; so that pretending himself to be 
Proprietor, his proceedings gives the greater 
hoj)es to his followers, and Consecpiently are the 
more dangerous as to your Honnours' Interest, 
and the Inhabitants' peace and Safety, both in 
respect of Liberty and Estate, if not Life also, 
according as their Outrage may prevail ; and 
those that doe not submit and yield Obedience 
to his Orders and Cammands, but doe appear to 
be faithful to your Honnours' Interest and Gov- 
ernment, because of their Oath they have 
taken, thev are in Continual Danger of being 
surprised and imprisoned by him. All which 
Actings of his do Evidently tend to the ruin of 
the Province a.s to your Honno" Interest, for 
either wee must I'omply with him and his fol- 
lowers and their proceedings, who aim to get all 
into their own hands, or Else we mu.«t remove 
out of the Province, Except he doth prevent us 
by Casting us into Prison ; and although he be 
Sir George Carterett's Sonn, and for his Father's 
sake wee Honnour him accordingly, yet our owne 
reason doth persuade us to believe that his 
Hon"'" Father will never Countenance his sonn 
iu such dishonorable, unjust and Violent pro- 
ceedings, which tends to nothing but ruin. . . . 
Craving pardon for our boldness, wee beseech 
the God of Wisdom to Give your Honnours a 
Spirit of discerning, to see where Integrity and 
faithfulluess are fixt, and where private designs 
are driven at, that you may Administer that 
M-hich is Just and Eipud to all. Encouragement 
to those that mcrrit it and Reproof to Evil 
doers." 

In response to this repre.sentation of the 
Council, the proprietors, Berkeley and Carteret, 



96 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



wrote the instructions of December, 1672 (be- 
fore quoted), authorizing and directing the col- 
lection of rents by distress frt)ni every individual 
inhabitant in the province, and that they be 
dispossessed of their lands in case of non-pay- 
ment. Also King Charles, on the Otli of the 
same December, signed instructions to Deputy- 
Governor John Berry, reciting that " having 
been informed that some turbulent and disaf- 
fected Persons " had committed disorders and 
excesses in New Jersey, and directing the Deputy- 
Governor, in the royal name, to demand and 
enforce obedience to the laws and government 
of the proprietors, they " having the sole power 
under us to settle and dispose of the said Coun- 
try upon such Terms and Conditions as they 
shall think tit ;" and to proceed against the mal- 
contents " with due severity according to Law," 
in case thev should fail to yield submission 
without delay. 

The conquest of New York and New Jersej' 
bv the Dutch, in 1673, and the restoration of the 
country to the English in the following year, as 
also several acts done with reference to the ilon- 
mouth County people by the Dutch authorities 
during their brief term of power, have already 
been fully noticed in a jireceding chapter. After 
the conquest, King Charles gave new grants of 
soil and government, and on the 31st of July, 
1674, Sir George Carteret ' gave new instructions 
to his Governor and new concessions to the set- 
tlers on the Xew Jersey lands. The new con- 
cessions of Carteret disowned the Xicolls patent, 
and ordered that if the inhabitants did not take 
out new patents, the Governor and Council 
should dislodge them. It is difficult to under- 
stand this action, after the previous confirmation 
of the Nicolls title, unless it be that it was held 
that the Dutch war and conquest destroyed all 
patents, deeds and grants. 

In November, 1674, Philip Carteret returned 
from England, and resumed the office of Gov- 
ernor. The next general Assembly convened 
in November, 1675, and was loyal to the pro- 
jirietors. The deputies from iliddlctown. Cap- 
tain John Bowne and John Throgmorton, took 



' Lord Berkeley liail sold out his iuterest in the province 
March 18, 1G73. 



the oath, as also did John Slocum, from Shrews- j 
bury ; but William Shatock, the other delegate j 
from Shrewsbury, refusing to swear or subscribe, 
was dismissed. At this session an Act of Ob- 
livion, as it was called, was passed, abolishing 
all actions against any and all those who had 
been in any way concerned in the attempt to 
change the government here settled by the Lords 
Proprietors at any time from 1670 to June, 
1673 ; and the inhabitants were, by this act, ab- 
solutely and fully pardoned of all offenses what- 
soever. 

On the 10th of October, 1677, the General 
Assembly, then in sessitm at Elizabethtown, de- 
clared : " ^Ve find l>y constant Experience for 
several years past, that theTown of Shrewsbuiy 
hath been deficient, if not uegligeut and careless, 
in sending of their Deputies, or in sending such 
as will not conform to the Order of the Conces- 
sions respecting the Deputies, whereby the said 
Assembly is weakened and the jjublick Work 
hindered." 

For several years preceding the final surren- 
der of the government by the proprietors, there 
were frequent disorders in the province, these 
occurring in Essex and ^liddlesex Counties, as 
well as in Monmouth. The immediate cause 
was a long and acrimonious dispute between the 
adherents t)f Andrew Hamilton on the one side, 
and of .Jeremiah Basse on the other, each of 
whom claimed to be Governor of the province. 
Andrew Hamilton was understood to be in favor 
of maintaining the proprietary title, and the in- 
habitants of the towns of INIonmouth who had 
claimed title to their lands under Indian rights 
and the patent of Nicolls joined the party which 
sustained Basse. But besides the question of 
the jiroprietai"}^ title and right to the soil, there 
was at this time (1695 to 1702) in the contro- 
versy, an element which ,did not exist in the 
earlier disorders. This element was a Scotch 
and an anti-Scotch partisanship, which (particu- 
larly with regard to the latter) was very strong 
and bitter. Andrew Hamilton, himself a Scotch- 
man and firndy supported by the Scotch pro- 
prietors, was accused of gross fiivoritism towards 
his countrymen, by appointing and keeping them 
in the principal offices of the province, regard- 
less of their fitness or honesty ; while on the 






THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



97 



other hand Governor Basse was charged by his 
opjionents with various malfeasances, among 
which was that of harboring — or at least pro- 
tecting from punisluiient — the numerous pirates 
who at about that time sJiowed themselves boldly 
in the bays of Sandy Hook, Earitan and Dela- 
ware, and even recruited men from the regions 
of country bordering those waters. And there 
appears to have been some foundation of truth 
(as will be seen) for this charge, with regard to 
the conduct of some of Basse's adherents at least. 
Of the " Scotch party," adhering to Hamilton, 
one of the chief leaders was Lewis Morris,^ at 
that time the most prominent and influential 
man of Jlonmouth County. He was crafty, 
unreliable and time-sei'ving, but the most active, 
energetic and aggressive of the opponents of 
Basse and his adherents. At a Court of Com- 
mon Right, sitting at Perth Amboy on the 11th 
May, 1699, — Governor Basse, present, — Lewis 
Morris, of Tinton Manor, came in and "de- 
manded by what authority they kept Couit." 
The court declared " by the King's authority," 
which was denied by Morris, and the court 
then ordered him to be taken in custody; 
whereupon he "tried to draw his Hanger," and 
defied any one to dare lay hands upon him, "and 
when a constable, by order of the Court, layed 
hold on him, he, in the face of the Court, re- 
sisted." He was fined £50, and on the follow- 
ing day he, with George Willocks, was indicted 
by the grand jury and committed to Wood- 

' This partisan leadership of Morris was mentioned in a 
letter written in 1702 by the Earl of Xotlingham, who, 
aftsr proposing certain men in New Jersey (among whom 
were RicharJ Hartshorne, Andrew Bowne, Obadiah Bowne 
and William Lawrence, of Monmouth County) as fit persons 
to serve in ihe Provincial Council, proceeds : '■ But against 
The following Persons many objections are made, as being 
of the Scotch & Quaker ffactions, concerned sundrj' years in 
ye Divisions and incendiary Parties that has brought those 
Provinces into Confusion of Government, Injustice to 
ye Proprietors and aversion of ye Planters & Inhabitants, 
vizt. 

"Mr. Lewis Morris, ye Head of ye ffaction, Mr- Samuel 
Leonard, Mr. George Willocks, Mr. John Barclay, Mr. Michael 
Harden, Mr. Thomas Gordon, Mr. David Lyall. Mr. Miles 
fforster, Mr. John Johnstone, Mr. John Bishop, Samuel Den- 
nis, William Pinhorne, Samuel Hale. 

"These last four have other characters rendering them 
unfit for that Station." — Xew Jersey Colonial Documents, 
Sfries 1, vol. a. paffc 488. 



bridge jail till £300 security should be given 
for their good beliavior and appearance at the 
October term of the Court of Common Right. 
But a mob of ^lorris' adherents was collected, 
and " with a Beam of an house they Batteretl 
Woodbridge Jail to Pieces, and set him and his 
Seditious Companion Willocks at liberty." This 
was done between two and four o'clock in the 
morning of the 13th of May, Captain Isaac White- 
head being a ringleader of the mob of rescuers.' 

At Piscataway, in the county of Middlesex, 
on the 3d of March, 1700," a mob collected and 
debarred the court from the place of its sitting 
" in the Publick Meeting-House," nailing iip' 
the doors, etc. On the 12tii of the same int)nth 
" Samuel Carter and a large number of others" 
made successful resistance to the authoritv of 
the Essex County Court, then and there assem- 
bled ; and in the summer of that year there- 
were troubles of the same nature in Mon- 
mouth County, as appeiirs fi'om a statement' 
made by Captain Andrew Bowne and Richard 
Hartshorne^ on the 23d of July, viz. : 

" Since the departure of Mr. Slater [Salter], 
Col. Hamilton hath jiut Mr. [Lewis] Morris 
into commission of his Couucill and Justice, 
believing him to be the onely man that can 
make the province Submit to him as Goveruor 
without the King's aprobation, & in Order to 
Eifect itt they turned out an English Man who 
was Sherif and jjut in a Scotch Man who they 
thought would Obey them without Reserve, & 
itt is saide jNIorris hath given out that he will 
carrie his point in making the people submit to 
Coll. Hamilton's Government, or he will em- 
brue the province in Blood,^ in order to which 

' March 3, 1699, Old Style. 

' N. J. Col. Doc, Series 1, vol. ii. page 327. 

* " We whose names are under-written, do say that some 
time in the month of June, 1700, w,as at the house of Abra- 
ham Brown, in Shrowsburry, in company with Lewis 
Morris, Esqr., then did hear him say that he had been with 
the Govern"'. & had taken an office upon him & that he 
would go through with it. & if any man resisted him lie 
would spill his blood, or he should spill his, for he made 
no Scruple of Conscience, & in further discourse the 
sd Morris did say that he had taken an office and he would 
go through with it, though the Streets run with blood." 
"Joseph Clakke, 
" NicHOL.\s' Brown, Jun., 
"Sarah Potter." 



98 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



they seised upou several! persons intending to 
force them to Give security for tlieir good beha- 
vior, whicii one of them refused and so Con- 
tinued in the Sherif 's Custody ; this the people 
took Greaviously, itt being Plarvest time & they 
had given ontt warrants to seise Richard Salter 
& Others, & the Sherif had like to have taken 
him, w"*" some of his neighbours onderstandiug 
went & met the Sherif, banged him, broake his 
head and sent him packing, upon which, as we 
are informed, the people Resolved to meete on 
Friday, the lOtii July, in order to goe & 
featch home him that was in the Sherif 's hands, 
upon the which Morris <fe Leonard disjmtched 
an Express for C'oll. Hamilton, who imediately 
come to them & they pressed al)out men & came 
on the 19th July in Armes to Middle Towne & 
came to the Ordinary, And theare Inquired for 
the said Salter & one Bray, And then marched 
off; the people of Middletown were assembled 
to the number of aboutt an hundred, but with- 
out armes, onely Sticks, yet had itt not been for 
the pei'suations of some, much in the people's 
favour, theare would have been broaken heads, 
if not further mischiefe; the said Justices had 
porswaded the person in the Sherif's hand to 
give security for the good behaviour the day 
before this meeting. In this posture things 
stand in this County, & we believe. Including 
the Scotch, that throughout the province theare 
is six to one against owning Col. Hamilton 
Governor and almost all biterly against Morris, 
whome they looked upon as the first man, as 
ludead he was, that opposed Government." 

Another account of the same transaction is 
found in a letter (without signature) addressed 
to Jeremiah Basse, and dated, " East Jersey, 
30th July," 1700," viz. : 

" . . . Contrary to all Expectation, Col. 
Hamilton hath put in M^ Morris president of 
the Councill & ordered him, by wliat means he 
could, to Subdue all that oppose liis authority 

■' Mr Morris did say that he would quell the opposite 
party if they did resist the authority, or he would imbrew 
the Province in blood, or to that effect. 

" James Bollen. 
-Julys, 1700." 

— Colonial Documents of Ntw Jersey, Series \, vol. in. page 

485. 

' Col. Doc. of N. J., Series 1, vol. ii. page .329. 



& Settle the Country in his Obedience, oppon 
which Commission and orders M'. Morris hath 
undertaken the worke & threatned that he 
woulil (jbtain his end (which is to settle Col. 
Hamilton in the Government, Notwitli.standing 
he is in no wayes cpialified for Governor) or he 
would Embrue the Country in Blood ; Com- 
plaints were made to Col. Hamilton and Cap- 
tain Leonard again.st the saide Morris, but they 
were so farr from disowning such inliumane 
actions tliat tliey, on tlic contrary, rather ju.sti- 
fied & ridiculed itt. But it went further tiian 
words, for just as harvest began, Morris & 
other gave warrants to an Indigent Sherif to 
Apprehend severall men in Monmoutli County, 
who, in their owne just defence, beate the saide 
Sherif to the Siiedding of blood on both sides. 
Col. Hamilton, who resides chiefly att Burling- 
ton, was sent to inmiediately, who came & 
raised betwixt fourty & fifty men & armed 
them and marched from Shrewsbury to Middle- 
towne, to meete the Country, who oppo.sed him 
M'ith one hundred & Seaventv men, butt without 
armes. He, when he came up to them, asked 
for two men, but they not being theare, he with- 
drew his men without further harme, but swore 
biterly he would have them if above ground, 
left orders with his friend Morris not to dis- 
perse oiitill he had got them, and then returned 
to Biu'lington. The Ambition & folly of Mor- 
ris being known to the people of Monmoth, they 
sent to atlvise witli their neighberring Countvs, 
]\Iiddlesex & Essex, wluit was best and most 
convenient to be done, who generally advised to 
secure themselves and oppose Morris & the rest 
that assert and would endeavour to .set up Col. 
Hamilton's arbitrary & illegal power, and witli- 
all have jiromised assistance if ocation requires." 

The following entry in the record" has refer- 
ence to the same affair, viz : 

" At a Court of inquirie held at Shrowsberry 
for tile Countie of Monmoutli this twentie-scx- 
entli <lay August, one thousand seven hundred. 
Present, Lewis Morris, President ; Samuel 
Leonard, .Tedidiah Allan, Samuel Denis, An- 
thony Pintard, Esquires, Ju.stices. The grand 
jurie of inquirie for the jireseiit .service were 

« N. J. Col. Doc., Series 1, vol. ii. p. 332. 



THE PROVINCIAL REVOLT. 



99 



tlu'i'se, — Jolni Roid, Jeremiah Stilwell, Jolin 
Slueuin, Thoma.s Hewitt, Abiah Edwards, Juhu 
West, John Leonard, William Hoge, Alexander 
Adam, Thomas Webley, Patrick Cannan, Jame.s 
Melven, Fetter Emley, Samuel Hopemyre, 
William Lawtoue. And having thir ingage- 
nieiit, Had the eharge given them by tlie presi- 
dent, Withdrew with a constable to attend 
them. The said jurie being called againe gave 
in thi.s following presentment : 

" ' August y" 27tli, 1 700 : Wee jurors present, 
Kichard Salter, John Bray, James Stout, David 
Stout, Benjamine Stout, Coijielhis Compton, 
William Bonne, Thomas Taylor, Tliomas 
Hankison, Jacob Vandorne, Arian Bennett, 
Thomas Sharp, Benjamine Cook, Robert Innes, 
Thomas Estal and Samuel, a servant to said 
Salter, ifor Riotously assembling on the I7th 
day of July and assaulting John Stewart, high 
Sheriff, and Henry Leonard on the jiath neer 
to the hoiLse of Alexander Adam, Beat and 
grievously wound the said pei'sons, tok their 
swords from them, cary'd them away and keept 
tliem to the value of ffive pounds money of this 
province. In breach of the jjeace and terrour 
of the King's leidge people. Signe in behalf of 
the rest by John Reid, forman.' " 

On the 12th of September, 1700, the Court of 
the County of Essex, then sitting at Newark, 
was interrupted by a mob of rioters, who chal- 
lenged the authority of the court. " The Presi- 
dent, AVilliam Sandford, was pulled off the 
Bench by Abi-am Hettfield & Daniel Craine, and 
his hat & wigg pulled off his head by the S'' 
Hettfield." The clerk of the court was also 
abused, struck and had his wig torn from his 
head, " the President allso havanghad his Sword 
Taken from him by Daniel Craine, & broak in 
))ieces." The other justices were grossly abused, 
their clothes torn off, " with many other abuse- 
ful words & Actions, Received fi-oni the Rabell 
of Elizabeth Towne." The "Rabell " consisted 
of sixty horsemen. Before tlie grand inquest the 
following testimony ^ with regard to the above- 
mentioned affair was given,' viz. : 

"John Johnson, of Newark, Sein'', saith that 
Jos. Lyon Tould him that he knew who took 

IN. J. Col. Doc, 1, ii. p. 336. 



away the keys of the prisson from the Sheriffe, 
and that another stood l)y and see it as well as 
he. It was done by a jjarcell of men who came 
from Elizabeth Towne in a Riottous manner 
Sep' y" 12th, 1700, with clubs in their hands, to 
the house of Mr. Theophilus Pearson, and De- 
manded of him y° prissoner & asking where 
these ])ittifhl Rasskalls were that putt this man 
in prisson, & demanded him out of prisson, & 
they was ask't by what power they demanded 
him out of prisson, and they held up their Clubs 
antl said that was their j)ower. Then they de- 
manded where the Sheriffe was and said they 
would have him if he was above ground." 

At a Court of Sessions held at Middletown, 
March 6, 1701,^ Eleazer Cottrell was fined £5, 
Richard Salter £1.5 and John Ruckmau, Sr., 
John Bray, John Wilson, Jr., Daniel Hendrick- 
son, John Cox, Richard Davis, Mordecai Gib- 
bons, Nicholas Stephens and Moses Lippett each 
forty shillings " for contempt and misbehaviour 
before the Court." And in the minutes of the 
same session, under date of March 25th,^ there 
is found the following entry, viz.: 

"Session at Middletown, March, 1701, being 
present Col°. Andrew Hamilton, Governour ; 
Lewis Morris, Sanuiol Leonard, of the Gover- 
nour's Council; Jedediah Allen, Samuel Dennis, 
Justices. The Court being opened, one Moses 
Butterworth, who was accused f)f piracy (& had 
confessed y' he did sail with Cap' William 
Kidd in his last voyage when he came from y° 
East Indies & went into Boston with him), & 
was bound to make his appearance at this 
Court, y' he might be Examined & disposed of 
according to his Maj'ties oi-ders, the s*" Butter- 
worth was Called & made his appearance & 
when y" Court was Exaijiining him, one Sam" 
Willet, In holder, said y'y°Gover''& Justices 
had no authority to Hold Court and y' he would 
break it up, & accordingly went down stairs to 
a Company of men then in arms & sent up a 
Drummer, one Thomas Johnson, into y" Court, 
who beat upon his drum & severall of y° Com- 
pany came up w"" their arms & Clubs, w""" to- 
gether with y" Drum beating Continually, made 



2A.D. 1700, 0. S. 

' N. .1. Col. Doc, Series 1, vol. iii. p. 362. 



LOFC, 



100 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



such a noise (notwithstanding open proclama- 
tions made to be silent & keep y" King's peace) 
y' y° Court Could not Examine y" Prisoner at 
tiie Barr, & when there was, as y" Court Judged, 
betwixed 30 & 40 men Come up into y' Court, 
some with their arms & some with Clubs, two 
persons, viz., — Benjamin Borden & Richard 
Borden, — attempted to Rescue y' prisoner at y" 
Barr, <t did take hold on him by y" arms & 
al)out y' midle & f'orc't him from y" Barr, y" 
Constable & under Sheriff by y° Command of y° 
Court, apprehended y" s'' Borden, u]ion w'"" sev- 
erall of y" persons in y" Court assaulted y" Con- 
stable & under sheriff (the Drum still beating & 
y' people thronging up Stairs w"" their arms),' & 
Rescued y° two Bordens, upon w"'" y" Justices & 
King's Attorney-Generall of tiie province after 
Commanding y° King's peace to be kept, & no 
heed being given thereto, drew their swords and 
Endeavoured to Retake y' prisoner & appre- 
hend some of y" persons Concerned in y" Res- 
cous, but was Resisted & assaulted themselves, 
& y" Examination of y" prisoner torn in pieces 
& in y" scufle both Richard Borden & Benj. 
Borden were wounded, but y= Endeavours of y" 
Court were not Effectuall in retaking y" pris- 
oner, for he was Rescued & Carried off & made 
his Escape, and the people, — viz.. Cap' Safetie 
Grover, Richard Borden, Benj. Borden, Oba- 
diah Holmes, Obadiah Browne [BowneV], Nich- 
olas Stepliens, George Cooke, Benj. Cooke, Rich- 
ard Osborne, Sam" Willett, Joscpli West, Garret 
Bowler, Garret Wall, James Bollen, Sam" Fore- 
man, Wiir Winter, Jonathan Stout, James Stout, 
Wiir Hendricks, John Bray, Will™ Smith, Ger. 
son Mott, Abner ITewglit, George Allen, John 
Cox, .John Vauglian, Eiisha Lawrence, Zeliulon 
Clayton, James Grover, Jun'"., Richard Davis, 
Jercmiaii Evrington, Joseph Ashton, with others 
toy" number of aboutone hundred persons, — did 

' In a petition by Governor Hamilton and some of the 
justices to tlie King, praying to liave tlieir authority sus- 
tained, they narrate the circumstances of this affair, and 
say they " were Surrounded by the Riotters in great Num- 
bers in Arms, having (appearingly) on purpose appointed 
the same day to be a Training day on which the Court was 
to sitt, and their destruction by them most insolently 
threatened (which had been most certainly executed had 
the Wounded died upon the Spott), and were confined by 
them flour days, till they thouglit him past hazard." 



tray torously seize y° Governour & y" Justices, the 
King's Attorney-Generall & y° under sheriff & 
y' Gierke of y° Court, & iveept them close pris- 
oners under a guard from Tuesday, y' 25th 
March, till y" Saturday following, being y= 29th 
of y" same month, & then Released them. 
" Vera Copia. 

" P. me, Gav. Drummond, Clark." 

The proprietors of New Jersey, being finally 
driven to a relinquishment of their right of gov- 
ernment, surrendered it to Queen Anne in April, 
1702. In September of the same year the condi- 
tion of the province was set forth by Lewis ]Mor- 
ris in a letter to the Lords of Trade,^ as follows : 

" New Jersie is still without Government, 
and the receptacle of abundance of rogues that 
Cannot be safe anywhere Elce : who dayly re- 
pair to this Province as to any Asyle ; and so 
many of the Soldiers from New Yorke are here 
Protected, y' in a little time who shall be able 
to Suply that Garrison. I cannot say we suffer 
all y° miseries of Confusion, but realy a great 
part of them we do ; Our Province being with- 
out Law and gospell, having neither Judge or 
Priest. ... I dare not determine that the 
present ill circumstances of New Yorke, Jersies, 
Pennsilvauia, y° Carolinas and Lucay Islands 
are derived from New England ; but y' tran- 
scripts were so Exact in most or all the circum- 
stances, y' I feare they were too much Influ- 
enced by that worst of examples. . . . Y" 
conservation of the Peace, Putting in Execution 
the Laws and Administering Justice was both a 
benefit to the People and a service to the King; 
on the contrary, the beating and wounding 
Sheriffs, Affronting the Courts, driving the 
Justices of the bench, laying violent hands on 
y° Governour and Part of his Councill and Im- 
prisoning them, And all this (excepting three 
or foure) done by the Verry dreggs and rascal- 
lity of the People, was an allmost Ireparable 
Losse to y° Province an' Affront to y* Crowne. 
. . . I am sorry for the Occasion, but to see 
men of the best figure and Estates in y" Prov- 
ince daily insulted by crowds of the most neces- 
sitous Scoundrells, the scum and dregs of man- 
kind, is no small temptation to resentment." 



' N. J. Col. Doc, Series 1, vol. ii. page 504. 



ORGANIZATION AND SUBDIVISION OF THE COUNTY. 



101 



After the sui'render the spirit of lawlessness 
and disorder subsided almost entirely in Mon- 
mouth County, but in some other parts of the 
province it was kept alive, and for half a cen- 
tury afterwards it continued at times to break 
out in at-ts of violence. These outbreaks oc- 
curred in the comities of Morris, Middlesex, 
(Somerset and Hunterdon, but more than all in 
the county of Essex. They were described, in 
a memorial addressed to the liOrds of Trade, as 
" the gathering together of great Xumbers of 
people Armed, Assaulting and woiniding Sheriffs 
& other Officers, Breaking open the County 
Gaols tt Rescuing and Releasing prisoners 
Jjegally Committed." The most notable of 
these riots occurred at IS^ewark in the fall of 
1745, and at Perth Amboy in July, 1747, and 
there were other and scarcely less formidable 
demonstrations at various places in the counties 
mentioned from 1745 to 1750. In a memorial 
addressed to the King by the proprietors of 
New Jersey, December 23, 1748, giving an 
account of the excesses committed in the prov- 
ince by the insurgents, they sa}': 

" Having associated to themselves great Num- 
liers of the poor and Ignorant Part of the 
People of the Province, they, in the Month of 
September, 1745, began to carry into Exei'utiou 
their wicked schemes, when in a Riotous man- 
ner they broke open the Goal of the Count}- of 
Essex and took from thence a Prisoner there 
Confined b}' due process of Law, and have since 
that time gon on like a Torrent, bearing down 
all before them. Dispossessing some People 
of their Estates and giving them to their Ac- 
complices, Plundering the Estates of others who 
do not join with them and dividing the Spoil 
amongst them, breaking open your Majesty's 
Prisons as often as any of them are committed 
and rescuing their accomplices from thence, and 
keeping daily in Armed Numbers, and travel- 
ling often in Armed Multitudes to different 
Parts in this Provin<'e for those Purposes, to 
the great damage and Terror of the People." 

From 1750 to the end of the royal authority 
in New Jersey there were no outbreaks of 
especial note, except the "anti-lawyer riots" 
of I'ifBG: and 1770, which are mentioned in 
another chapter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OUGAXIZATIOX AND SUBDIVISION OF THE 
COUNTY MONMOUTH CIVIL LIST. 

On the 13th of November, 1676, the Provin- 
cial Asseml)ly of New Jersey, then in session 
at Elizabethtown, passed an act establishing 
County Courts of Sessions. At that time the 
province had not been divided into counties, liut 
the courts were established to have jurisdiction 
over certain towns and settled districts, which 
were thus temporarily made counties for judicial 
[)urposes. The only settlcfl portion of the ter- 
ritory which afterwards became Monmouth 
County was then so temporarily erected l)y the 
act referred to, in these words: "The two 
Towns of Nevysink to make a county; their 
Sessions to be the last Tuesday in March and 
first Tuesday in Septendier." ' The " two towns 
of Nevysink," so mentioned, were Shrewsbury 
and INIiddletown, and the judicial organization 
which they were formed into was then called 
" the County of Nevysink " or (as it was in a few 
instances designated) " theCounty of Middleton." 
On the 6tli of April, 1670, the General Assem- 
bly enacted : " Whereas a near Injunction is laid 
upon the Deputies for their timely Appearance 
at the General Assemblys, and the Nevysinks 
lying so remote, and the Difficulty of Passages 
by Water sometimes so much, and upon the 
Request and Desire of the aforesaid Deputies of 
Middletown and Shrewsbury . . . that for 
the more sure and speedy Passage of the afore- 
said Deputies for the future, that Care be taken 
by the Inhabitants of the Town of Middletown 
to make choice of two or more Men out of the 
said Town, them to join with two or more 
chosen out of Piscataqua, to make out the 
nearest and most convenient Way that may be 
found between the said Towns upon the Country 
Charge; and this to be done between this and 
the Tenth of May next, upon the Penalty of 
what Damages may ensue for the want thereof."' 

The county of Monmouth^ was erected as 

1 Learning and Spicer, pp. 06-97. 
'' Leiiniiiig and Spicer, page 118. 

■* The name " Monmouth" was given to the county at the 
request of the most prominent and influential citizen then 



102 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



one of the four original counties of New Jersey 
by an act of the Proprietary Assembly passed 
in March, 1683/ which provided and de- 
clared : " That this Province be divided into 
four counties, as followeth: Bergen County, 
to contain all the settlements between Hudson's 
River and Hackensack River, beginning at 
Constable's Hook and so extend to the upper- 
most bound of the Province northward between 
the said rivers. 

" Essex and the county thereof, to contain all 
the settlements between the west side of Hack- 
sack River and the parting line between Wood- 
bridge and Ellizabeth Town, and so to extend 
Westward and Northward to the utmost bounds 
of the Province. 

" Middlesex County to begin from the part- 
ing line between Essex County and Woodbridge 
Line, containing Woodbridge and Piscataway, 
and all the Plantations on both sides the Raritan 
River as far as Cheesequake Harbour East- 
ward, and extending South West to the Divi- 
sion Line of the Province. 

" Monmouth County to begin at the West- 
ward Bounds of Middlesex County, containing 
Middletown and Shrewsbury, and to extend 
Westward, Soutliward and Northward to the ex- 
tream Bounds of the Province. Provided this 
distinction of the Province into Counties do not 
extend to the infringement of any Liberty in 
any Charter already granted."^ 

The boundaries of the several counties, as es- 
tablished by the act of 1683, were so vaguely 
described that some confusion resulted, the 
officers of some of the counties being unable to 
determine the limits of their jurisdiction. To 
remedy this, the Provincial Assembly, on the 



residing witbin liei' houndaries, viz., Colonel Lewis Morris 
the surveyor-general of the province, who suggested it in 
honorof his native county, Monmouthshire, in Great Britain. 
His residence in Monmouth County, New Jersey, was on a 
tract of land which he called Tinton Manor, contiguous to 
Tinton Falls, where he had quite extersive iron-works. 
His estate in Monmouth County was inherited from him by 
Uis nephew, Lewis Morris, who became Governor of New 
Jersey. 

'The Assembly by which this act was passed was in 
session at Elizabethtown from March 1 to March 26, 
1683, or, as written in the Old Style method, 1682-83. 

' Learning and Spicer, page 22'J. 



21st of January, 1709-10, passed "An Act for 
dividing and ascertaining the boundaries of all 
the Counties in this Province," containing the 
following in reference to the bounds of Mon- 
mouth and Middlesex : 

" The county of Middlesex begins at the 
mouth of the creek that parts the lands of 
George Wilcocks and the land that was for- 
merly Cajrtaiu Andrew Bownes, deceased ; 
thence along the said Captain Andrew's line to 
the rear of the said land ; thence upon a dire<'t 
course to Warn's Bridge, on the brook where 
Thomas Smith did formerly live ; thence upon 
a direct course to the south-east corner of Bar- 
clay's tract of land that lies near Matchiponix ; 
theuce to the most southernmost part of said 
tract of laud, including the whole tract of land 
in. Middlesex County ; thence upon the direct 
line to Sanpiuek Bridge on the high road, in- 
cluding William Jones, William Story, Thomas 
Richman [Ruckman] and John Guyberson in 
INIonmouth County ; tlicnce along the said road 
to Aaron Robins' land ; thence westerly along 
the said Aaron Robins' line and James Law- 
rence's line to the line of the eastern and 
western division aforesaid,^ including the 
Robins and Lawrence in Monmouth County; 
thence northerly along the said line to Sanpinck 
brook, being part of the bounds of Somerset 
County ; thence following the lines of Somerset 
and Essex Counties, and so to the sound and 
thence down the sound to Amboy Point, and 
from thence to the creek ^\•here it first began." 

" The county of Monmouth begins at the 
creek aforesaid, that parts the lands of Captain 
Andrew Bowne, deceased, and George Wil- 
cocks ; thence following the line of Middlesex 
County to the line of the eastern and western 
division aforesaid ; thence southerly along the 
said division line to the sea ; thence along the 
sea to the point of Sandy Hook ; thence up the 
bay to the aforesaid creek where it first began." 

Again, March 15, 1713-14, the A.ssembly 
passed " an Act for settling the bounds between 
the counties of Somerset, Middlesex and Mon- 
mouth ; " but it does not appear that the bound- 
aries of Monmouth were at all affected by it, as 



' The division line between East and West Jersey. 



I 



ORGANIZATION AND SUBDIVISION OF THE GCUNTY. 



103 



the description of the bounds established by 
tliis act, as between Monmouth and Middlesex, 
is precisely the same as that given in Section 
■4 of the act of January 21, 1709-10. 

A supplemental act, passed November 28, 
1822, declares "the middle or midway of the 
waters of Karitan Bay, from the line of Middle- 
sex County to the main channel which passes 
by Sandy Hook and along the said channel to 
the sea," to be Monmouth County's northern 
boundary. It was, however, again defined by 
an act passed April 9, 1866, which declares 
"that the northerly bounds of Monmouth 
County, from the line of Middlesex County, 
are extended along the midwaj' of the waters of 
Raritan Bay to the main sea." 

By the provisions of an act passed February 
28, 1844, the line between Monmouth and 
Middlesex Counties was changed by the taking 
of a part of the township of IMonroe from the 
last-named county and annexing it to Mon- 
mouth, as a part of the then erected township of 
Millstone. But this change gave dissatisfaction 
to people interested, and in the following year 
an act was passed restoring to Middlesex the 
territory taken from it by the act of 1844, and 
leaving the boundary the same as before the 
passage of that act. In 1847 an act was passed 
taking from Middlesex and annexing to Mill- 
stone township, in Monmouth County, a small 
triangular piece of the territory of Monroe 
township lying south of a certain line, of which 
the full description will hereafter be given in 
the account of the erection of the township of 
Millstone, and which, as the act declares, " shall 
hereafter be the boundary line between Mon- 
mouth and Middlesex Counties." ' 

The northern line of Monmouth and its 
i)oundary against Middlesex County being thus 
fixed, its other limits required no re-definition 
iiy legislative enactment, as its entire eastern 
line was (and is) formed by the ocean, and its 
southwestern boundary from the ocean to where 
Monmouth joined ^liddlesex was the "prov- 
ince line" established by Surveyor-General 
George Keith in 1687, which, being straight 
and clearly defined, needed no adjustment, 

' Pamphlet Laws of 1847, p. 86. 



and remained the boundary of Monmouth until 
the southern part of its territory (more than one- 
half of its total area) was taken to form the 
county of Ocean, which wa.s erected in 1850, as 
will hereafter be more fully mentioned. 

The first subdivision of Monmouth County 
into townships was made by the provisions of 
an act passed in October, 1693, and approved 
by Governor Hamilton on the 31st of that 
month, erecting the three original townsiiips of 
Monmouth, viz. : Middletown, Shrewsbury and 
Freehold. The line between the first two 
named was Navesink lliver, Swimming River 
and Saw-Mill Brook, as far west as the Burling- 
ton Path. North of this line was Middletown, 
extending north to Raritan Bay, and including 
the territory of the present townships of Rari- 
tan, Holmdel and Matawau and a part of that 
of Atlantic township. South of the boundary 
mentioned was the township of Shrewsbury, ex- 
tendintc to the southern and southwestern bounds 
of Monmouth County, int^luding the present 
town-ships of Howell, Wall, Eatontown, Nep- 
tune, nearly all of Ocean, a part of Atlantic and 
all of Ocean County. The township of Free- 
hold extended to the Middlesex County line, 
embracing the territory of the present townships 
of Marlborough, Manalapan, Millstone and 
Upper Freehold, as also a considerable area 
in what is now the county of Ocean. 

The next township formed was that of Upper 
Freehold, taken from Freehold and Shrewsbtuy. 
The exact date of its erection cannot be found, 
but it is known to be prior to 1730, as an as- 
sessment roll of the township for that year is 
now in existence. It embraced, in addition to 
its present territory, a part of that of the town- 
ship of Millstone and a large area in what is 
now Ocean County. 

In 1749 that part of Shrewsbury township 
lying south of Barnegat Inlet was taken off, 
and erected into the township of Stafford, it 
being entirely within the limits of the present 
county of Ocean ; and in 1767 another por- 
tion of the territory of Shrewsbury was cut off, 
and formed into the township of Dover, this 
also being in what is now Ocean County. 

On the 16th of November, 1790, the New 



104 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Jersey Legislature enacted that " the jurisdiction 
of this State in and over a lot of land situate 
at the ])oint of Sandy Hook, in the county of 
Monmouth, containing four acres, on which a 
light-house and other buildings are erected,' 
shall be, and the same is hereby ceded to 
and vested in the United States of America for- 
ever." And on tlie 12th of March, 1846, the 
State ceded to the United States the jurisdic- 
tion over that part of Sandy Hook " lying 
north of an east and west line through the 
mouth of Young's Creek at low water, and ex- 
tending across the island or cape of Sandy 
Hook from shore to shore, and bounded on all 
sides by the sea and Sandy Hook Bay," the 
government to retain jurisdiction over these 
lands only as long as they are used for military 
or other public purposes, and the civil and crim- 
nal laws of New Jersey to be ojjerative within tiie 
ceded territory so far as not incompatible with 
its use by the United States for the purposes 
meutioued. 

Howell township was erected by an act of the 
Legislature passed February 23, 1801. It 
was taken from Shrewsbury, and at the time of 
its erection, embraced, in addition to its jiresent 
territory, that which was afterwards taken for 
the formation of Wall township and also some 
in the northern part of Ocean Comity. 

An act of Legislature, passed February 28, 
1844, set off parts of the townships of Freehold 
and Upper Freehold, and of Monroe township 
in Middlesex County, to form the township of 
Millstone, the boundaries of which will be given 
in full in the hfstory of that township. The 
part taken from Monroe township was (as be- 
fore mentioned) annexed to the county of Mon- 
mouth, but was restored to Middlesex by an act 
passed in the following year. In 1847 another 
small piece of Monroe township was annexed to 
Monmouth County and to the townsliip of Mill- 
stone. 

In 1844 the township of Jackson was erected 
from parts of Freehold, Upper Freehold and 
Dover. This township is now wholly in the 



' The light-house on Sandy Hook was erected in 1763, 
and the beacon was first liglited on the niglit of January 
18, 1764. 



county of Ocean, but when erected it embraced 
a small area of what is now Millstone township, 
Monmouth County, this part being annexed to 
Millstone in 1846. 

Plumsted township was erected from a part 
of Jackson in 1845, and Union was set off and 
formed into a township from parts of Stafford 
and Dover in 1846. These townships are now 
in Ocean County. 

In 1847 parts of the townships of Freehold, 
Shrewsbuiy and Middletown were taken to form 
the new township of Atlantic. In 1848 Marl- 
borough, JNIanalapan and Raritan townships 
were erected, the latter being taken from the 
old township of Middletown and the others 
from Freehold. Ocean township was formed 
from a part of Shrewsbury by an act passed in 
February, 1849. It included the present town- 
ship of Neptune, and the grea:ter part of the 
township of Eatontown. 

In 1850 the southern part of MonmoutJi 
County, embracing the larger part of its terri- 
tory, was cut off to form the county of Ocean, 
which was erected by an act approved February 
15th in the year mentioned. The part of the 
act having reference to the line of division is as 
follows : 

" All that part of the county of Monmouth 
contained within the following boundaries, viz. : 
beginning at Mauastjuan inlet and mouth of 
Manasquan river ; thence up the middle of said 
river to the first bridge over the same ; thence 
westerly to a corner on the south side of said 
river near the old bridge ; thence southwesterly 
to the road leading to Jackson's mills ; thence 
along said road till it strikes the line between 
Howell and Jackson townships ; thence along 
said line to the northeast corner of Jackson 
township ; thence along the line between Jack- 
son and Freehold townships till it strikes the 
road leading from Freehold to Mount Holly ; 
thence up the middle of said road to the Plum- 
sted line ; thence down said line to Moses Ivins' 
floodgate bridge over the Lahaway creek, being 
the beginning corner of Plumsted township ; 
thence following the Plumsted line, the several 
courses thereof, to the line between Burlington 
and Monmouth counties ; thence along said line 
to the ,sea-shore; thence along the sea to the 



MONMOUTH CIVIL LIST. 



105 



place of beginning, be, and the same is liereby 
erected into a separate county, to be called the 
county of Ocean ; and the said Hues shall here- 
after be the division lines between the counties 
of Monmouth, Burlington and Ocean." 

Wall township (so called in honor of Gar- 
ret D. Wall) was erected in 1851 from the south- 
eastern part of Howell township, extending along 
the ocean shore from Shark River southward 
to the Manasquan. In 1857 the townships of 
Matawan and Holmdel were erected, both being 
tiiken from the territory of Raritan township. 

A townshi[) called " Lincoln " was erected in 
18(37 from a part of the territory of Ocean 
township. But in the following year the act 
erecting it was repealed, and the township of 
Lincoln was erased from the map of INIon- 
mouth County. 

Eatontown townshi]) was formed from parts 
of Ocean and Shrewsbury in 187o, and Nep- 
tune, the youngest of the townships of Mon- 
mouth County, was erected from a part of the 
territory of Ocean townshij) by an act of the 
Legislature passed in February, 1879. 

Monmouth Civil List. 
The following is a list of persons who held 
or have held offive by election or appointment 
in the county of Monmouth, aud also of those 
who, being natives or residents of the county, 
have held important offices under the State or 
national government : 

GOVERNORS OF XEW JERSEY. 

Lewis Morris, 1738-46. 
George F. Fort, 18r)l-54. 
William A. Newell, 1857-60. 
Joel Parker, 186.3-66 and 1872-75. 
.Tosepli D. Bedle, 187.5-78. 

.TIDGES OF THE COURT OF ERRORS AND APPEALS. 

Thomas Arrowsmith. 
.Joseph Combs. 

JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT. 

David Brearley. 
William L. Dayton. 
.Toseph F. Randolph. 
Peter Vredenlnirgh. 
Joel Parker. 

STATE TREASURERS. 

James Mott, elected 1799, held to 1803. 
Charles Parker, elected 1821, held till 1832 ; again 
■ elected in 1833, held till 1836. 



Thomas Arrowsmith, elected 1843, held till 1845. 
Samuel Mairs, elected 1848, held till 1851. 

Charles Parker, son of Thomas and Sarah 
Stout Parker, was born on the 27th of April, 
1787, in what was then Freehold township. 
The Parkers were among the first settlers of 
INIon mouth Comity. Thomas Parker was a 
large land-owner in the vicinity of what is now 
called Smithburg, owning several farms, all of 
which were then in Freehold township, now 
in Millstone, Manalapan and Jackson townships. 
The mother of Charles Parker was one of the 
Stout family, so numerous at the present day in 
Monmouth, Hunterdon and Mercer Counties. 
The Stout family descended from the famous 
Penelope, whose shipwreck at Sandy Hook and 
subsefpient adventures among the Indians have 
been narrated. She bore her luLsband (Richai-d 
Stout') seven sons and three daughters, and lived 
to see her offspring multiply to five hundred and 
t\vo. She died in her one hundred and tenth year. 
Altiiough Thomas Parker was in comfortable 
circumstances, it became uecessaiy for some of 
his numerous family to leave home and shift for 
themselves. When quite young, his son Charles 
went as clerk to Barzillai Hopkins, then the 
most enterprising merchant in his section, who 
had two large mercantile establishments, one 
located at New Egypt and the other at Tom's 
River. He served as clerk at both of tho.se 
towns (jirincipally at Tom's River) for seven 
years. In August, 1808, lie married, at Tom's 
River (where he then resided), Sarah S., daugh- 
ter of Captain Joseph Coward, a soldier of the 
Revolution, who had served in the Continental 
line throughout that war. After his marriage 
Ciiarles Parker commenced house-keeping at 
Forked River, where he kept a store for two or 
three years, and served also as wreck-master for 
three years, his district extending along the whole 
.coast of Monmouth County, from Sandy Hook 
to Egg Harbor. He then returned to Freehold 
townsliip and settled on a farm near Hartshorne's 
Mill. About that time emigration from the 
Ea-stern States to what was called the Miami 
country (in Ohio) began, and he went there and 
bought a tract of land where the city of Dayton 
now .stands, intending to remove there the next 
season with his family. Upon his return the 



106 



HISTORY OF MONxMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



leaders of the Democratic party, to which he be- 
longed, persuaded him to remain aud run for 
sheriif of jSIoniuouth County, then including 
what is now Ocean County. He was nomi- 
nated and elected in the fall of 1814. He, of 
course, forfeited the part of the money he had 
paid on the purchase in Ohio, but some twenty 
years afterwards the owner of the land, hav- 
ino; sold it for a large advance, o-enerouslv re- 
turned him the 
money he had 
paid. 

Afterserviugas 
sheriff for three 
years Mr. Parker 
was elected, in 
the fall of 1817, 
a member of the 
House of Assem- 
bly, and re-elect- 
ed in 1818 and 
1819, and again 
in 1821. Whilr 
a member of As- 
sembly, in 1821, 
he was chosen 
by joint meeting 
State treasurer 
of New Jersey, 
and re-elected to 
the same office 
every year to and 
including 1831. 
Again, in 1833, 
he was electee 
State treasure!' 
aud re-elected 
in 1834 and 
18 3 5, t h u ; 
holding that 

important office by 3'early elections under all par- 
ties for thirteen years, \yiiile treasurer, he held 
also during most of the time the position of State 
librarian. In 1835 he was appointed by joint 
meeting one of the judges of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas of the county of Hunterdon, the city 
of Trenton (where he resided at the time), being 
then in that county. He was also one of the 
commissioners who built the present State Prison. 




About the year 1832, Mr. Parker purchased 
a large farm and mill property near Colt's Neck, 
in Monmouth County, to which he intended to 
remove, but being again chosen treasurer of the 
State, and also appointed the first cashier of the 
jNIechanics' and Manufacturers' Bank of Trenton, 
he, in the course of two or three years, sold the 
farm. He continued as cashier and president 
of the bank for many years, and held several 

j)ositions at vari- 
ous times under 
the local govern- 
ment of Trenton, 
such as commit- 
teeman when it 
was a township, 
and subsequently 
as member of the 
Common Council 
under the city 
government, also 
as alderman for 
five years. 

In 1848 and 
I849heresid3din 
the town of Free- 
hold, where he 
was a town com- 
mitteeman, and 
gave valuable aid 
in dividing the 
property between 
Freehold and the 
then new town- 
ships of Manala- 
pan and Marl- 
boro'. Af- 
terward he 
assisted as a 
commission- 
er in division of the property between Monmouth 
and the new county c)f Ocean. 

About the year 1850, Mr. Parker returned to 
the city of Trenton, where he resided until his 
death, which occurred on the 4th of October, 
1862. He lived to see his son Joel nominated 
for Governor of the State on September 4, 
1862, but did not survive the election, which 
took place on November 4th. He was very 



MONMOUTH CIVIL LIST. 



107 



anxious to live until after election, as he often 
expressed himself, having full contidence in the 
election of his son. 

After j\Ir. Parker returned to Trenton to re- 
side, he did not engage in active business. His 
life had been a very busy one. Few men had 
better business qualifications. He did not have 
advantages of early education and was wholly 
a self-uiade man. All his sjjare hours while u 
clerk, were spent in study and reading. Thus he 
acquired knowledge which enabled him to dis- 
charge the most important trusts with an ability 
equal to any with whom he came in contact. 
Having a strong intellect, Charles Parker be- 
came one of the prominent men in New Jersey, 
enjoying the respect and close friendship in early 
days of such men as Richard Stockton, George 
Wood, Garret D. Wall, Peter D. Yroom, Stacy G. 
Potts, Henry W. Green, William L. Dayton, 
Peter Vredenburgh and Daniel B. Ryall, all of 
whom he frequently met socially and in busi- 
ness matters. He Was a man of great integritv 
of character, and was often chosen as executor 
and guardian where large estates were involved. 
He had a legal caste of mind, and being familiar 
with business, he was sought out and consulted 
by his neighbors, to whom he gave advice, with- 
out charge, freely on all matters concerning 
their welfare. He had four children, viz., 
Helen, Mary, Joel and Charles. Helen mar- 
ried Rev. George Burrowes, and died in 
Maryland in 1848 ; Mary resides with her son, 
Rev. Charles P. Glover, in Sussex County, New 
Jersey ; Charles resides in Philadelphia ; and 
Joel, now a justice of the Supreme Court, lives 
at Freehold, his place of residence for over 
forty years. 

QUARTEEMASTER-GEXEKAL OF NEW JERSEY. 

Jonathan Rhea, 1813-21. 
Garret D. Wall, 1824-30. 
Lewis Perrine, 1855 to present time (1885). 

Lewis Perrine, Quartermaster-General of 
New Jersey, was born in Freehold township, 
Monmouth County, on the l-Jtli of September, 
1815. He attended the Higii School at Law- 
renceville and went to Princeton College, where 
he graduated in 1838. He studied law, and for 
a short time after his admission to the bar fol- 



lowed the practice of his profession. He was 
the military secretary of Governor Fort and 
was also on the staff of Governor Price. In 
1855 he was aj>pointed quartermaster-general. 
He made himself thoi'oughly acquainted with 
the duties of that position, and during the war 
of the Rebellion which followed, proved him- 
self an excellent officer by his industry, energy 
and perseverance in equipping troops and for- 
warding them to the field. At the close of the 
war he was nominated by Governor Parker and 
confirmed by the Senate as brevet major-gen- 
eral. 

DELEGATE TO THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 

Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, 1777 to 1779. 

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Thomas Henderson, 1789 

James H. Imlay, 1797 to 1801. 

James Cox, 1809-10. Died September 12, 1810. 

John Anderson Scudder,' 1810. 

Rev. Benjamin Bennett,^ 1815 to 1819. 

Daniel B. Ryall, 1839-41. Died at Freehold, De- 
cember 17, 1864. 

Samuel G. Wright, elected 1844, died July 30, 1845, 
never having taken his seat in Congress. 

William A. Newell, 1847-48, 1849-50, 1863-64. 

George Middleton, 1865-66. 

Charles Haight, 1867-68, 1869-70. 

MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF NEW 
JERSEY.' 

1776. Nathaniel Scudder (Speaker). 
1777-79. Joseph Holmes. 
1780-83. Elisha Lawrence. 

1784. John Imlay. — 

1785. David Forman. 
1786-88. Asher Holmes. 

1789-92. Elisha Lawrence (Vice-President). 
1793-94. Thomas Henderson (Vice-President). 
1795. Elisha Lawrence (Vice-President). 
1796-98. Elisha Walton. 

1800. John Lloyd. 

1801. Thomas Little. 
1808. William Lloyd. 

1810. James Schureman. 

1811. Silas Crane. 

1812. James Schureman. 
1814. Silas Crane. 
1822. William Andrews. 

' To fill vacancy caused by death of James Cox. 

- Died at Middletown, October 8, 1840. 

'The duties and powers of this body were the same as 
are those of the State Senate under the Constitution of 
1844. 



108 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1823. William J. Bowne. 

1825. William I. Emley. 

1826. Henry D. Polhemus. 
1828. William I. Emlev. 

1830. Samuel G. Wright. 

1831. Jehu Patterson. 

1832. Daniel Holmes. 
1835. Thomas Arrowsmith. 

1837. M'illiam L. Dayton. 

1838. Benjamin Oliphant. 

1840. Peter Vredenburgh, Jr. 

1841. James Patterson. 

1843-44. James Patterson (Vice-President). 

STATE SENATORS. 

1845. Thomas E. Combs.^ 

1846. George F. Fort. 
1849. John A. Morford. 
1852. William D. Davis. 
1855. Robert Laird. 

1858. William H. Hendrickson. 

1861. Anthony Reckless. 

1864. Henry S. Little. 

1867. Henry S. Little. 

1870. Henry S. Little. 

1872. William H. C'onover, Jr.^ 

1878. William H. Hendrickson. 
1876. William H. Hendrickson. 

1879. George C. Beekman. 
1882. John S. Applegate. 
1885. Thomas G. Chattle. 

MEMBERS OF THE PROVIXCIAL ASSEMBLY.^ 

^ First Assembly, 1703.-(3badiah Bowne, John Reid 
Richard Hartshorne. ' 

Second Assembly, 1704.-Richard Hartshorne, John 
Bowne, Richard Salter, Obadiah Bowne. 

Third Assembly, 1707.-Lewis Morris, John Bowne 
William Lawrence. 

Fourth Assembly, 1708-9._Gershoni Mott, Elisha 
Lawrence. 

Fifth Assembly, 1709.— Gershom Mott, Elisha Law- 
rence. 

Sixth Assembly, 1710.— Gershom Mott, William 
Lawrence. 

Seventh Assembly, 171G.—Eli.sha Lawrence, William 
Lawrence. 



' Under the Constitution of 1844 the first Senate was di- 
vided into three classes of one-third each, their seats to be 
vacated at the expiration of one, two and three years re- 
spectively, so that one-third of the members should there- 
after be elected every year. Mr. Combs drew his lot in 
the first class, and retired after one year's service. 

» To fill the unexpired term of Mr. Little, who vacated 
the office to accept the appointment of clerk in the Court 
of Chancery. 

5 Otherwise called the " House of Representatives of the 
Province of Nova Cajsarea, or New Jersey." 



Eighth Assembly, 1721.— Garret Schenek, William 

Lawrence. 
Ninth Assembly, 1727.-John Eaton, James Grover 
Tenth Assembly, 1730.— John Eaton, James Grover 
Eleventh Assembly, 1738.-John Eaton, Cornelius 

Vanderveer. 

Twelfth Assembly, 1740.— John Eaton, Corneliu 
Vanderveer. 

Thirteenth Assembly, 1743.-John Eaton, Robert 
Lawrence.* 

Fourteenth Assembly, 1744.-Johu Eaton, Robert 
Lawrence. 

Fifteenth Assembly, 1745. -John Eaton, Robert 
Lawrence. 

Sixteenth Assembly, 1746.- John Eaton, Robert 
Lawrence. 

Seventeenth As.sembly, 1749.-Johii Eaton, Robert 
Lawrence. 

Eighteenth Assembly, 1751. — Robert Lawrence 
James Holmes. ' 

Nineteenth Assembly, 1754.— Robert Lawrence 
James Holmes. ' 

Twentieth Assembly, 1761.— James Holmes,^^ Rich- 
ard Lawrence. 

Twenty-first Assembly, 1769.— Robert Hartshorne 
Richard Lawrence. ' 

Twenty-second Assembly, 1772.— Edward Taylor 
Richard Lawrence. ' 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, STATE OF NEW JERSEY.* 

1776. John Covenhoven, Joseph Holmes, Jr., James 
Mott, Jr. 

1777. James Mott, Jr., Peter Sehenck, Hendrick 
Smock. 

1778. James Mott, Jr., Peter Schcnck. Hendrick 
Smock. 

1779. James Mott, Jr., Hendrick Smock, Thomas 
Seabrook. 

1780. Thomas Seabrook, Nathaniel Scudder, Thomas 
Henderson. 

1781. Thomas Seabrook, Thomas Henderson, John 
Covenhoven. 

1782. Thomas Henderson, John Covenhoven, Dan'l 
Hendrickson. 

1783. Thomas Henderson, Daniel Hendrickson 
Peter Covenhoven. ' 

1784. Thomas Henderson, Daniel Hendrickson ' 

Elisha Walton. ' 

1785. Thomas Henderson.' Daniel Hendrickson 
Elisha Walton.' ' 



'Robert Lawrence was Speaker in 1740-47, and aeain 
from 175410 1758. 

5 James Holmes died in office and John Anderson elected 
to fill vacancy. 

« Under first State Constitution, adopted July 3, 1776. 
' Speaker. 

» Thomas Henderson did not claim his seat. 

» October 26,1785, Charles Gordon, John Covenhoven. 



MONMOUTH CIVIL LIST. 



109 



1786. Elisha Walton, Joseph Stilhvell, Peter 
Scbenck. 

1787. Joseph Stilhvell, Thomas Little, Jas. Rogers. 
1788-89. Joseph Stilhvell, Thomas Little, James 

Kogei-s. 

1790. Jo.seph Stilhvell, Thomas Little, John Imlay. 

1791. Joseph Stilhvell, Thomas Little, John Imlay. 

1792. Joseph Stilhvell, Thomas Little, John Coven- 
hoven. 

1793. Joseph Stilhvell, Thomas Little, James H. 
Imlay. 

1794. Joseph Stilhvell, James H. Imlay, Elisha 
Walton. 

1795. Joseph Stilhvell, James H. Imlay, Elisha 
AValton. 

1796. Joseph Stillwell, James H. Imlay,' William 
Wickoff. 

1797. Joseph Stilhvell, Robert Montgomery, William 
Lloyd. 

* 1798. Joseph Stilhvell, William Lloyd, Jonathan 
Forman." 

1799. Joseph Stilhvell, William Lloyd, Edward 
Taylor. 

1800. Joseph Stilhvell, William Lloyd, David 
' (rordon. 

1801. John A. Scudder, Peter Knott, James Cox. 
1802-3. John A. Scudder, Peter Knott, James Cox. 
1804. John A. Scudder, James Cox, Henry Tiebout. 

i 1805-7. John A. Scudder, James Cox, Henry 
'i Tiebout. 

1808. Robert Montgomery, Tylee Williams, David 
Gordon. 

and others presented a petition to the Assembly for leave 
I to set forth certain illegal proceedings held at the late annual 
election in Monmouth County. Subsequently the Assembly 
resolved : " That the election of Messrs. Walton, Hendrick- 
son and Henderson was illegal, and that the same thereupon 
is void." Also, resolved: "That in the opinion of this 
House the late annual election in the County of Monmouth 
was illegal, as well in the choice of a sheriff as of the mem- 
bers of this House ; and no Coroners having been chosen 
at said election, .and doubts arising whether there is any 
other officer in said county to whom a writ for a new elec- 
tion can be properly directed, a law ought to be passed for 
anew election in said County." On the same day a peti- 
tion was read, praying for a division of the county, and 
that a new county be set off from the territory of Monmouth. 
Subsequently a bill was introduced and passed for a new 
election. At the second session, on the 26th of February, 
I 1786, Elisha Walton and Joseph Stillwell presented a cer- 
tificate of election, and were admitted. The same day a 
, petition was presented from citizens of Monmouth asking 
for a law enabling them to vote by ballot, and recommend- 
ing a general law, to apply to the whole Slate, for the same 
purpose. 
,*l On the 27th, Peter Scbenck appeared and took his seat in 
the House. 
' Speaker. 
Declined to serve 



1809. Robert Montgomery, Tylee Williams, David 
Gordon. 

1810. Peter Knott, John S. Holmes, Thomas Cox. 

1811. John S. Holmes, Thomas Cox, Ja.s. Anderson. 

1812. Tylee Williams, John Stillwell, James Lloyd. 

1813. John S. Holmes, Thomas Cox, Jas. Anderson. 

1814. John S. Holmes, Thomas Cox, Jas. Anderson. 

1815. George Holcombe, Matthias Van Brakle, 
Reuben Shreve. 

1816. George Holcombe, Jlatthias Van Brakle, 
Reuben Shreve. 

1817. Matthias Van Brakle, Reuben Shreve, Charles 
Parker. 

1818. Charles Parker, Matthias Van Brakle, Reuben 
Shreve. 

1819. Charles Parker, William Ten Eyck, Thomas 
Cox, Jacob Butcher. 

1820. Thomas Cox, Matthias Van Brakle, Samuel 
F. Allen, Isaac Hance. 

1821. Charles Parker, William I. Conover, Corlies 
Lloyd, John T. Woodhull. 

1822. AVilliam I. Conover, Corlies Lloyd, John T. 
Woodhull, John J. Ely. 

1823. William I. Conover, John T. Woodhull, Cor- 
nelius Walling, James Lloyd. 

1824. William I. Conover, John T. Woodhull, James 
West, Joseph Conover. 

1825. John T. Woodhull, James West, Joseph 
Conover, James Lloyd. 

1826. John T. Woodhull, James West, Joseph 
Conover, James I^loyd. 

1827. John T. Woodhull, James West, James Lloyd, 
James Hopping. 

1828. James West, James Lloyd, Daniel H. Ellis, 
Leonard Walling. 

1829. James West, Daniel H. Ellis, Augustus W. 
Bennett, Ivins Davis. 

1830. James West, Daniel H. Ellis, Augustus W. 
Bennett, Ivins Davis. 

1831. Benjamin Woodward, Thomas G. Haight, 
Daniel B. Ryall, Anauiah Gittbrd. 

1832. Ananiah Gilford, Elisha Lippincott, James S. 
Lawrence, Nicholas Van Wickle. 

1833. Ananiah Gifford, Daniel B. Ryall, Thomas G. 
Haight, Benjamin Woodward. 

1834. Ananiah Giilbrd, Daniel B. Ryall, Thomas G. 
Haight, William Burtis. 

1835. Ananiah Gifford, Daniel B. Ryall, Thomas G. 
Haight, William Burtis. 

1836. Ananiah Giflbrd, Thomas G. Haight, William 
Burtis, Arthur V. Conover. 

1837. Samuel Mairs, Edmund T. Williams, Thomas 
Miller, James Gulick. 

1838. James Craig, Thomas E. Combs, William P. 
Forman, Garret Hires. 

1839. James Craig, Thomas E. Combs, William P 
Forman, Garret Hires. 

1840. John Mairs, Henry W. Wolcott, James Grovcr, 
Charles Morris. 



110 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1841. Thomas C. Throckmorton, John E. Conover, 
Joseph Brinley, Samuel M. Oliphant, Benjamin L. 
Irons. 

1842-43. Thomas C. Throckmorton, John R.Conover, 

Joseph Brinley, Samuel M. Oliphant, Benjamin L. 

Irons. 

Under the Constitution of 1844. 

1845.' George F. Fort, HartshorneTantum, Andrew 
Simpson, Joseph B. Coward, James M. Hartshorne.^ 

1846. William Van Doren, Hartshorne T.antum, 
Joseph B. Coward, Andrew Simpson, John Borden. 

1847. William Van Doren, Hartshorne Tantum, 
Joseph B. Coward, .\ndrew Simpson, John Borden. 

1848. William W. Bennett, Joel Parker, Ferdinand 
Woodward, Samuel Bennett,' Joel W. Ayres. 

1849. Alfred Walling, George W. Sutphin, John B. 
Williams, James D. Hall, William G. Hooper. 

1850. Alfred Walling, George W. Sutphin, William 
G. Hooper, James D. Hall, Charles Butcher. 

1851. William H. Conover, Bernard Connolly, 
Samuel W. Jones, Garret S. Smock. 

1852. William H. Conover, Samuel W. Jones, 
Garret S. Smock, Charles Butcher. 

Under the District System.* 

1853. Charles Allen, Daniel P. Van Dorn, Samuel 
W. Jones, Robert Allen. 

1854. Forman Hendrickson, John L. Corlies, Henry 
E. Lafetra, Robert Allen. 

1855. Henry E. Lafetra, Thomas B. Stout, William 
H. Johnston, John Van Dorn. 

1856. Samuel Vaughn, John R. Barricklo, Henry 
E. Lafetra, Samuel Beers. 

1857. Jacob Herbert, John R. Barricklo, John V. 
Conover, Samuel Beers. 

1858. George Middleton, Austin H. Patterson, John 
V. Conover, Richard B. Walling. 

1859. George Middleton, Austin H. Patterson, John 
V. Conover, Richard B. Walling. 

1860. William H. Mount, Austin H. Patterson, 
James J. McNinny, James Patterson. 

1861. William H. Mount, William V.Ward, Charles 
Haight, James Patterson. 

1862. William V. Ward, Charles Haight, ■'' George 
C. Murray. 

1863. Michael Taylor, Osborn Curtis, David H. 
Wyckoff. 

1864. Michael Taylor, Osborn Curtis, David H. 
Wyckoff. 

1 Before 1844 the Legislature met in October of each year. 
Under the Constitution of 1884 it meets in .Tanu.ary of each 
year. 

' Mr. Hartshorne Jied, never having taken his seat. 

' Mr. Bennett died, never having taken his seat. 

'Prior to the fall election of 1852 members of .\ssembly 
were elected on a general county ticket. 

* Speaker. 



1865. Michael Taylor, Daniel A. Holmes, George 
Schenck. 

1866. William C. Bowne, Daniel A. Holmes, George 
Schenck. 

1867. Charles Allen, Francis Corlies, Thomas S. R. 
Brown. 

1868. Charles Allen, Francis Corlies, Thomas S. R. 
Brown. 

1869. William H. Conover, Jr., Daniel H. Van 
Mater, Andrew Brown. 

1870. Austin H. Patterson, Daniel H. Van Mater, 
Andrew Brown. 

1871. Austin H.Patterson, John T. Haight, William 
S. Horner. 

1872. Austin H. Patterson, John T. Haight, Wm. 
B. Hendrickson. 

1873. George W. Patterson, John B. Gifford, John 
S. Sproul. 

1874. George W.Patterson, John B. Gifford, Andrew 
Brown. 

1875. George W. Patterson, Charles D. Hendrickson, 
William V. Conover. 

1876. James L. Rue, Charles D. Hendrickson, 
William V. Conover. 

1877. James L. Rue, William H. Bennett, James H. 
Leonard. 

1878. George J. Ely, William H. Bennett, Arthur 
Wilson. 

1879. Arthur Wilson, Sherman B. Oviatt, John D. 
Honce. 

1880. Sherman B. Oviatt," John D. Honce, Grover 
H. Lufburrow. 

1881. Holmes W. Murphy, Grover H. Lufburrow, 
David A. Bell. 

1882. Peter Forman, Jr., David A. Bell, Benjamin 
Griggs. 

1883. Peter Forman, Jr., Alfred B. Stoney, Thomas 
G. Chattle. 

1884. Alfred B. Stoney,*' Thomas G. Chattle, Charles 
H. Boud. N. 

1885. Charles H. Boud,'^'illiam H. Grant, Frank 
E. Hyer. 

SHERIFFS OF MONMOTJTH COUNTY. 

The fii'.st person appointed to the office of 
sheriif of Monmouth County was "Lewis Mor- 
ris, Junior/" in March, 1682-83. Morris de- 
clined tlie office, and Richard Hartshorne was 
appointed. He also declined to serve, and there- 
upon Eliakim Wardell was appointed and com- 
missioned the first sheriff of Monmouth. The 
names of a few of the succeeding sheriffs of this 



" Speaker. 

'The same " Lewis Morris, of Passage Point," wlio was 
murdered by his negroes in 1695. "Passage Point," his 
residence, was the place now known as Black Point. 



MONMOUTH CIVIL LIST. 



Ill 



<'Oiiuty during the colonial period have been 
found, viz., — Samuel Foreman, in 1696-99; 
John Stewart, in 1700; Gideon Crawford, in 
1715 ; William Xicholls, in 1722 ; John Taylor 
in 1760-62 ; and Elisha Lawrence, who was the 
last sheriff of j\Ion mouth under the King of 
England ; but no consecutive list can well be 
given commencing earlier than the establish- 
ment of the State government. From that time 
the list is as follows ; 

1776. Nicholas Van Brunt. 
1779. David Forman. 
1782. John Buirowes, Jr. 
1785. David Ehea. 
1788. Daniel Hendrii'kson. 
1790. Elisha Walton. 
1793. William Lloyd. 
1796. James Lloyd. 
1799. Samuel P. J^orman. 
1802. Elisha Walton. 
1805. James Lloyd. 
1808. David Craig. 

1811. Lewis Gordon. 
1814. Charles Parker. 
1817. John J. Ely. 
1820. James Lloyd. 
1823. Richard Lloyd. 
1825. John J. Ely. 
1828. Daniel Holmes. 
1831. John M. Perrine. 
1834. Thomas Miller. 

1837. Horatio Ely. 

1838. Abraham G. Neafie. 
1841. Charles Allen. 
1844. Holmes Conovcr. 
1847. Samuel Conover. 
1850. John C. Cox. 
1853. Holmes Conover. *^ 
1856. Samuel Conover. 
1859. Joseph I. Thompson. 
1862. Jordan Woolley. 
1865. William B. Sutphin. 
1868. John H. Patterson. 
1871. Samuel T. Hendricksou. 
1874. George W. Brown.' 
1878. Charles Allen. 
1881. John I. Thompson. 
1884. Theodore Aumack. 

COUNTY CLERKS. 

1789. Jonathan Rhea. 
1798. Joseph Scudder. 
1807. Joseph Phillips. 

1812. Caleb Lloyd. 
1817. Joseph Phillips. 



1820. William Ten Eyck.^ 

1830. Peter Vredenburgh, Jr.' 

1831. Daniel H. Ellis. 
1841. Samuel Mairs. 
1840. Daniel Christopher. 
1856. Jehu Patterson. 
1858. John W. Bartleson.' 
1858. Holmes W. Murphy. 
1868. Thomas V. Arrow.smith.' 

1882 (Nov. 29). Joseph C. Arrowsmith.* 

1883. James H. Patterson. Now (1885) in office. 

SURKOGATES.' 

1785. Thomas Henderson. 

1794. Joseph Scudder. 

1797. Caleb Lloyd. 

1804. William Russell. April 13th. 

1804. Richard Throckmorton. December 28th. 

1814. Joseph Phillips. 

1817. Caleb Lloyd. 

1822. Peter C. Vanderhoef. 

1833. Henry D. Polhemus. 

1848. Arthur V. Conover. 

1858. John R. Conover. 

1868. Aaron R. Throckmorton.* 

1882. David S. Crater.' Now (1885) in office. 

PROSECUTORS OF THE PLEAS. 

1828. Corlies Lloyd. 

1833. Joseph F. Randolph. 



' Law fixing term at three years went into effect 1875. 



^ To fill a Tae>incy. 

3 Resigned Nov. 19, 1882. 

*To fill vacancy causei by resignation of Thomas V. 
Arrowsmith. 

'Prior to 1720 the Governor was surrogate-general. In 
that year Michael Kearney was commissioned surrogate 
of New York and New Jersey. Afterwards a surrogate 
was appointed for each division (East and West Jersey), 
and (as occasion required more) sometimes one for a dis- 
trict of (wo or three counties, or one for a single county. 
They were, of course, removable at the pleasure of the 
Governor, and were simply his deputies, the probate of 
wills and other official acts being in his name, and under 
his hand and official seal, .as ordinary. In 1784 Orphans' 
Courts were established, and provision was made by law 
for one surrogate to be appointed in each county, with 
power limited to that county. The original jurisdiction o( 
the ordinary remained as before, until, in 1820, it was re- 
stricted to the granting of probates of wills, letters of ad- 
ministration and guardianship and to the determining of dis- 
putes arising thereon. In 1822 the appointment of the 
surrogate was given to the joint meeting, and so remained 
until the new constitution provided for (he election of that 
officer by a popular vote. — Elmer. 

« Resigned February 12, 1882, to accept the presidency 
of the Freehold National Bank. Died March 3, 1883. 

'Appointed February 12, 1882, to fill vacancy caused 
by resignation of A. R. Throckmorton. Elected November, 
1 882. 



112 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1837. Peter Vredenburgh, Jr. 

1852. Joel Parker. 

1857. Amzi C. McLean. 

1867. Robert Allen, Jr. 

1872. W. H. Conover, Jr. 

1877. John E. Lanning. 

1882. Charles Haight. Now (1885) in office. 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

Following is a list of justices of the peace 
of Moiimoutli County (witli dates of commis- 
sion) from the time (1850) when it was reduced 
to its present limits by the formation of Ocean 
County from the southern part of its territory, 
viz.,— 

William H. Tiltoii, May 1, 1851. 
William Brown, May 1, 1851. 
Nimrod Bedle, May 1, 1851. 
JonesClark, May 1,1851. 
John Statesir, May 1, 1851. 
Thomas Fardon, May 1, 1853. 
John Headen, May 1, 1853. 
Benjamin Day, May 1, 1853. 
Lewis B. Carey, May 1, 1858. 
Daniel B. Strong, May 1, 1853. 
Walter C. Parsons, May 1, 1853. 
Joseph M. Smith, May 1, 1853. 
W. M. D. Oliphant, May 1, 18-54. 
Charles T. Fleming, May 1, 1854. 
Anthony Truax, May 1, 1854. 
James S. Laurence, May 1, 1855. 
Daniel M. Cubberly, May 1, 1855. 
John S. Barton, May 1, 1855. 
Amos Shaw, May 1, 1855. 
John H. Rnlon.May 1, 1855. 
W. M. D. Oliphant, May 1, 1855. 
Robert Miller, May 1, 1855. 
B. Campfield Newman, May 1, 1855. 
Benjamin D. Pearce, May 1, 1855. 
James Cooper, May 1, 1855. 
James W. Borden, May 1, 1855. 
Samuel C. Algoe, May 1, 1855. 
George Finch, M.ay 1, 1855. 
Sidney Thompson, May 1, 1855. 
Edward E. Pitcher, May 1, 1855. 
John W. Davison, May 1, 1855. 
John G. Ely, May 1, 1855. 
James Martin, May 1, 185C. 
Edmund Shotwell.May 1, 1856. 
George W. Cox, May 1, 1856. 
Christopher Doughty, May 1, 1856. 
John Statesir, May 1, 1857. 
Nimrod Bedle, May 1, 1857. 
Daniel B. Strong, May 1, 1858. 
John W. Denyse, May 1, 1858. 
Thomas Fardon, May 1, 1858. 
Benjamin D.ay, May 1, 1859. 



Thomas Ingling, May 1, 1858. 
John Headen, May 1, 1858. 
Walter C. Parsons, May 1, 1858. 
William C. Erwin, May 1, 1858. 
Esek H. Lovett, May 1, 1858. 
Benjamin Wardell, May 1, 1859. 
W. W. Palmer, May 1, 1859. 
Anthony Truax, May 1, 1859. 
John W. Davison, May 1, 1860. 
Sidney Thompson, May 1, I860. 
Thomas C. Throckmorton, May 1, 1860. 
James Cooper, May 1, 1860. 
George L. Britton, May 1, 1860. 
W. D. Oliphant, May 1, 1860. 
John W. Rulin, May 1, 1860. 
Robert Miller, May 1, 1860. 
Bloomfield Newman, May 1, 1860. 
Amos Shaw, May 1, 1860. 
John G. Ely, May 1, 1860. 
Samuel Rogers, May 1, 1860. 
P. D. Kneiskern, May 1, 1860. 
Joseph W. Borden, May 1, 1860. 
John M. Boice, May 1, 1860. 
Samuel Algoe, May 1, 1860. 
William D. Clayton, May 1, 1860. 
John W. Phillips, May 1, 1861. 
J. Horton Cooper, May 1, 1861. 
S. E. W. Johnson, May 1, 1861. 
James Martin, May 1, 1861. 
James F. Earle, May 1, 1861. 
Nimrod Bedle, May 1, 1862. 
John B. Morris, May 1, 1862. 
Benjamin Day, May 1, 1862. 
Henry H. Wolcott, M.ay 1, 1862. 
John M. Lippincott, May 1, 1862. 
T. Forman Taylor, May 1, 1862. 
Levi Scobey, May 1, 1862. 
William Y." Kennedy, May 1, 1862. 
Mark L. Mount, May 1, 1863. 
Samuel Frake, May 1, 1863. 
W. H. Slocum, May 1, 1863. 
John Headen, May 1, 1863. 
D. B. Strong, May 1, 1863. 
Thomas I. Bedle,' May 1, 1863. 
Aaron R. Combs, May 1, 1863. 
Thomas Fardon, May 1, 1863. 
John S. Barton, May 1, 1863. 
Benjamin Wardell, May 1, 1864. 
Elijah Combs, Jlay 1, 1864. 
Benjamin Decker, May 1, 1864. 
Thomas H. Lafetra, May 1, 1864. 
Anthony Truax, May 1, 1864. 
Richard W. Strong, May 1, 1864. 
William C. Irwin, May 1, 1864. 
Joseph McNinney, May 1, 1864. 
John H. Rulin, May 1, 1865. 
John S. Barton, May 1, 1865. 
Thomas S. Throckmorton, May 1, 1865. 
William D. Clayton, May 1, 1865. 



MONMOUTH CIVIL LIST. 



113 



Jacob C. Lawrence, May 1, 1865. 
E. B. Wainiight, May 1, 1865. 
Robert Miller, May 1, 1865. 
Isaac Herbert, May 1, 1865. 
Peter D. Kuie.skern, May 1, 1865. 
Amos Shaw, Jlay 1, 1865. 
Benjamin D. Pearce, May 1, 1865. 
Bloomfield Newman, May 1, 1865. 
Abram Haven.s, May 1, 1865. 
Samuel Frake, May 1, 1865. 
Samuel E. Rogers, May 1, 1865. 
James T. Earle, May 1, 1866. 
John Dawes, May 1, 1866. 
William A. Palmer, May 1, 1866. 
John H. Mount, May 1, 1866. 
John AV. Phillips, May 1, 1866. 
James Martin, May 1, 1866. 
M. H. Jewett, May 1, 1866. 
Alfred H. Campbell, May 1, 1867. 
John B. Morris, May 1, 1867. 
Garrett Forman, May 1, 1867. 
James C. AS'hitmore, May 1, 1867. 
James P. Welling, May 1, 1867. 
Benjamin Day, May 1, 1867. 

C. A. Van C'leef, March 25, 1868. 
Charles B. Clark, M.ay 1, 1868. 
Abraham Thompson, May 1, 1868. 
Mark L. Mount, May 1, 1868. 

P. S. Clayton, May 1, 1868. 

D. B. Strong, May 1, 1868. 

T. Forman Taylor, May 1, 1868. 
Geo W. Houghton, May 1, 1868. 
John E. Hunt, May 1, 1868. 
John D. Beers, May 1, 1869. 
Benjamin Deckers, May 1, 1869. 
Thomas Cook, May 1, 1869. 
Benjamin Wardell, May 1, 1869. 
Th.)s. H. Lafetra, Mayl, 1869. 
John W. Borden, May 1, 1869. 
Timothy JM. Mason, May 1, 1869. 
William C. Irwin, May 1, 1869. 
John E. Xorris, May 1, 1869. 
Samuel E. Rogers, May 1, 1870. 
Robert :\riller, May 1, 1870. 

E. B. Wainwright, May 1, 1870. 
J. C. Lawrence, May 1, 1870. 
Benjamin D. Pearce, May 1, 1870. 
Bloomfield Newman, May 1, 1870. 
Levi G. Irwin, May 1, 1870. 
William C. Norton, May 1, 1870. 
John M. Boice, May 1, 1870. 
John W. Davison, May 1, 1870. 
Ezekiel JIaynard, Jlay 1, 1870. 
Isaac Herbert, May 1, 1870. 
Cornelius G. Matthews, May 1, 1870. 
James Cooper, May 1, 1870. 
Samuel Cowart, May 1, 1870. 
James F. Earle, May 1, 1871. 
William Child, May 1, 1871. 



John W. Perlon, May 1, 1871. 

Daniel W. Thompson, May 1, 1871. 

Peter D. Knieskern, May 1, 1871. 

Robertson Smith, May 1, 1871. 

John W. Philips, May 1, 1871. 

Hendrick Wyckoft', May 1, 1872. 

John B. Morris, May 1, 1872. 

James C. Whitmore, May 1, 1872. 

Henry Johnson, May 1, 1872. 

James E. Johnson, May 1, 1872. 

Garret Forman, May 1, 1872. 

William L. Conover, Jlay 1, 1872. 

Theodore Sickles, May 1, 1872. 

Abraham Thompson, May 1, 1872. 

T. Forman Taylor, May 1, 1873. 

John W^ Denyse, May 1, 1873. 

D. B. Strong, May 1, 1873. 

George Jlartin, May 1, 1873. 

Theodore F. Sniffen. May 1, 1873. 

John Statesir, May 1, 1873. 

R. W. Miller, May 1, 1873. 

A. Van Nortwick, May 1, 1873. 

A. G. Lane. March 11, 1873. 

William J. Chamberlain, May 1, 1873. 

Samuel Algoe, May 1, 1873. 

Levi Scobey, May 1, 1873. 

John AV. Bartleson, May 14, 1874. 

AVilliam Robertson, May 1, 1874. 

Thomas Cooke, May 1, 1874. 

John E. Tilton, May 1, 1874, 

Thomas H. Lafetra, May 1, 1874. 

William C. Irwin, May 1, 1874. 

A. G. Lane, May 1, 1874. 

John E. Norris, May 1, 1874. 

J. C. Lawrence, May 1, 1875. 

Samuel Conover, May 1, 1875. 

John W. Bartleson, May 1, 1875. 

Robert Miller, May 1, 1875. 

Benjamin D. Pearce, May 1, 1875. 
Bloomfield Newman, May 1, 1875. 
J. M. Wainwright, May 1, 1875. 
Harris Allen, May 1, 1875. 
Levi J. i:rwin. May 1, 1875. 
AVilliam Armstrong, May 1, 1875. 
Samuel E. Rogers, May 1, 1875. 
John AV^. Harker, May 1, 1875. 
David Warner, May 1, 1875. 
Benjamin M. Cooper, May 1, 1875. 
Cornelius G. Mathews, May 1, 1875. 
John J. Beers, May 1, 1875. 
John AV. Davison, May 1, 1875. 
C. A. Van Cleef, Mayl, 1875. 
Theodore Guillander, May 1, 1876. 
Jacob Corlies, May 1, 1876. 
Robert AV. Miller, May 1, 1876. 
Frederick H. Earle, May 1, 1876. 
Jeremiah Bennett, May 1, 1876. 
Robertson Smith, May 1, 1876. 
AA' alter R. Brinley, May 1, 1876. 



114 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



James C. Whitmoie, May 1, 1877. 
William Child, May 1, 1877. 
Peter G. Denyse, May 1, 1877. 
John B. Morris, May 1, 1877. 
William L. Conover, May 1, 1877. 
Daniel H. Morris, May 1, 1877. 
Hendrick Wyckoff, May 1, 1877. 
W. J. Cloke, May 1, 1877. 
James E. Johnson, May 1, 1877. 
George Gravatt, March IG, 1878. 
John W. Denyse, May 1, 1878. 
John Stat&sir, Jr., May 1, 1878. 
S. C. Davis, May 1, 1878. 
William I. Chamberlain, May 1, 1878. 
G. G. Denyse, May 1, 1878. 
Abraham Thompson, May 1, 1878. 
J. E. Corlies, May 1, 1878. 
Garret Forman, May 1, 1878. 
Theodore F. Sniffen, May 1, 1878. 
Thomas Cook, May 1, 1879. 
John E. Tilton, May 1, 1879. 
Thomas H. Lafetra, May 1, 1879. 
James Hardy, May 1, 1879. 
Cyrenus V. Golden, May S, 1879. 
William L. Tilton, May 1, 1879. 
Tunis D. Probasco, May 1, 1879. 
William C. Irwin, May 1, 1879. 
William Robertson, May 1, 1879. 
Edward I. Pitcher, May 1, 1879. 
J. C. Lawrence, May 1, 1880. 
J. W. Bartleson, May 1, 1880. 
Levi G. Irwin, May 1, 1880. 
George H. Sickles, May 1, 1880. 
Robert Miller, May 1, 1880. 
William L. Tilton", May 1, 1880. 
George AV. Truax, May 1, 1880. 
James E. Rogers, May 1, 1880. 
David Warner, May 1, 1880. 
John W. Barker, May 1, 1880. 
Cook Howland, May 1, 1880. 
Thoma.s H. Lafetra, May 1, 1880. 
William W. Ramsey, May 1, 1880. 
Cornelius G. Mathews, May 1, 1880. 
Cieorge W. Fielder, May 1, 1880. 
Harris Allen, May 1, 1880. 
Benjamin M. Cooper, May 1, 1880. 
F. R. Perrine, May 1, 1880. 
William J. Dunn, May 1, 1880. 
George D. Bradford, May 1, 1880. 
Samuel Conover, May 1, 1880. 
Robert W. Miller, May 1, 1881. 
Milton Holme-s, May 1, 1881. 
Charles H. Borden, May 1, 1881. 
Henry J. Child, May 1, 1881. 
Hezekiali Mount, May 1, 1881. 
James M. Hopper, May 1, 1881. 
John C. Edwards, May 1, 1881. 
John C. Clayton, May 1, 1881. 
Jeremiah Bennett, May 1, 1881. 



F. E. Bowman, May 1, 1881. 
Walter R. Bromley, May 1, 1881. 
William S. Cloke, May 1, 1881. 
James C. Whitmore, May 1, 1881. 
James E. Johnson, May 1, 1881. 
Jesse Howland, May 1, 1881. 
Frederick H. Earle, May 1, 1881. 
Hendrick Wyckoff, May 1, 1881. 
A. W. Hobart, May 1, 1881. 
William Curchin, May 1, 1881. 
William L. Connor, May 1, 1881. 
Cyrenus V. Golden, May 1, 1881. 
Stacy F. Van Arsdale, May 1, 1881. 
John W. Denyse, May 1, 1883. 
John Miller, May 1, 1883. 
Martin S. Bissell, May 1, 1883. 
Theodore F. White, May 1, 1883. 
John Statesir, May 1, 1883. 
Edwin E. Disbrow, May 1, 1883. 
Charles 0. Huduut, May 1, 1883. 
Samuel S. Scobey, May 1, 1883. 
Eugene Britton, May 1, 1883. 
J. Edwin Corlies, May 1, 1883. 
Daniel Thompson, May 1, 1883. 
Frederick H. Day, May 1, 1883. 
A. K. Ely, May i, 1884. 
Joseph R. Conover, May 1, 1884. 
W. C. Irwin, May 1, 1884. 
John E. Tilton, May 1, 1884. 
Thomas Cook, May 1, 1884. 
Tunis D. Probasco, May 1, 1884. 
Edwin AV. Throckmorton, May 1, 1884. 
W. S. B. Parker, May 1, 1884. 
Arthur M. Brown, May 1 , 1884. 
D. B. Strong, May 1, 1884. 
Charles T. Fardon, May 1, 1884. 
Edmund I. Pitcher, May 1, 1884. 

Politically, Monmouth is almost uniformly 
Democratic, there having been but one instance 
iu the present half-century when the county 
has failed to give a majority of its vote to the 
Democratic Presidential nominee. The votes 
of the county in each Presidential election dur- 
ing that period are here given, viz., — 

1836. Van Buren (Dem.), 2549; Harrison (Whig), 
2344. 

1840. Van Buren (Dem.), 2880; Harrison (Whig), 
2953. 

1844. Polk (Dem.), 3434; Clay (Whig), 3221. 

1848. Cass (Dem.), 3450; Taylor (Whig), 3119. 

1852. Pierce (Dem.), 3179; Scott (Whig), 180(5; 
Hale (Free Soil), 5. 

1856. Buchanan (Dem.), 3319; Fillmore (Whig), 
1815; Fremont (Free Soil), 1003. 

1860. Fusion Ticket, 4089; Lincoln (Rep.), 3006. 

1864. McClellan (Dem.), 4410; Lincoln (Rep.), 
3001. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



115 



1868. Seymour (Dem.), 5236; Grant (Rep.), 3771. 

1872. Greeley (Dem.), 4705; Grant (Rep.), 4250. 

1876. Tildeu (Dem.), 6942; Hayes (Rep.), 4720. 

1880. Hancock (Dem.), 7614; Garfield (Rep.), 
5693 ; Weaver (Greenback), 47. 

1884. Cleveland (Dem.), 7552; Blaine (Rep.), 
6446. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MOX.MOUTH COUNTY IX THE REVOLUTION. 

To tell the story of tiie jjart taken by the 
county of INIonniouth in the war of the Revo- 
lution, and of what the people of the county 
did and sutfei-ed and saci'iliced in the great 
struggle for national independence, it is not 
necessary, nor, indeed, proper, to give a de- 
tailed account of all the long and bloody con- 
flict between the colonies and the mother-coun- 
try, but only of such of its military and civil 
events as occurred within, or in the near vicin- 
ity of, the territory of the county, and of such 
parts of the Revolutionary drama as, being en- 
acted elsewhere, yet were participated in by 
men of Monmouth as prominent actors. 

The causes which drove the American colo- 
nies into the conflict which finally resulted in 
their separation from Great Britain have been 
too frequently enumerated and too fully set 
forth in e-eneral history to need a recital here. 
These causes first began to operate between the 
!] years 1760 and 17G5, when measures were 
proposed in the British Parliament looking to 
the taxation of the American subjects of the 
English King to raise a revenne for the support 
of the home government. The general feeling 
of discontent awakened among the colonists by 
the inauguration of these measures was intensi- 
fied by the subsequent psssage of the odious 
" Stamp Act," the imposition of a duty on tea 
and other similar schemes of taxation ; so that, 
when intelligence was received of the passage 
of the "Boston Port Bill," on the 31st of 
!March, 1774, there arose an almost universal 
nuunnur of indignant i-enionstrance aarainst a 
policy which was .stigmatized as unendurable 
tyranny. The measure last named had been 
directed especially against the chief port of 



New England, but all the other colonies were 
in sympathy with that of ]\Ia.ssachusetts Bay 
and made her cause their own, as well they 
might, for it was clear to the understanding of 
all intelligent persons that if such acts of op- 
2)ression were submitted to in Boston, they 
would ere long be enforced in all the colonies, 
from New Hamjjshire to Georgia. 

This conviction produced among the people 
a feeling, not of indignation alone, but of alarm 
at the dangerous invasion of their rights ; and, 
although as yet there had been awakened no 
general sentiment of disloyalty to King George, 
there were not a few among the more clear- 
sighted of the colonists who even then foresaw 
that they might, and probably would, be finally 
driven to the d read alternati ve of armed resistance. 
" Nothing could have been devised ' by the wit 
of man more eftective for the speedy education 
and enlightenment of the people of the colonies 
than these oljnoxious measures. The colony of 
New Jersey broke out in a simultaneous blaze 
of indignation from Sussex to Cape May, and 
immediate measures were taken to organize the 
various counties into a combination of the 
friends of liberty M-hich should secure prompti- 
tude and unity of action throughout the prov- 
ince." 

It was not the passage of the Port Bill, how- 
ever, which first led the friends of liberty in 
this province to combine for mutual safety, for 
it is found that more than seven weeks before 
the passage of that act, and three months ■ be- 
fore the announcement had reached the shores 
of America, a general " Committee of Corre- 
spondence and Incpiiry " had been constituted 
here, having for its object consultation with the 
most prominent men in the New Jersey coim- 
ties, and correspondence with similar committee.s 
in other colonies. The particulars of the for- 
mation of this committee, its composition, and 
the duties with which it was charged are shown 
by the following extract from the Minutes of 
the House of Assembly of New Jersey, dated 

1 The language of Mr. Charles I). Deshlerin a paper read 
by him before the New Brunswick Historical Club at its 
fifth anniversary, December 16, 1875. 

2 The news of the passage of the Port Act was received 
in Boston on the 10th of May. 



116 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Burlington, Tuesday, February 8, 1774,— 
viz. : 

" The House resumed the consideration of the sev- 
eral Letters and Resolutions of the other Houses of 
Assembly on the subject-matter of the common Rights 
and Liberties of the Colonies; and the House resolved 
itself into a Commitee of the whole House upon Mat- 
ters aforesaid; and after some time spent therein, Mr. 
Speaker resumed the Chair, and Mr. Crane, Chair- 
man of the Committee (by order of the House), re- 
ported the Resolutions of the Committee, as follows, 
viz.: 

" 1. Resolved, That it is the opinion of the Committee 
that the House should heartily accept of the Invita- 
tion 1 to a mutual Correspondence and Intercourse 
with our Sister-Colonies ; to which the House agreed 
Nemine Contradicente. 

" 2. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this commit- 
tee that a Standing Committee of Correspondence 
and Inquiry be appointed, to consist of the following 
persons, to wit : James Kinsey, Stephen Crane, Hen- 
drick Fisher, Samuel Tucker, John Wetherill, Robert 
Friend Price, John Hinchman, John Mehelm and 
Edward Taylor, Esquires, or any five of them, whose 
business it shall be to obtain the most early and au- 
thentick intelligence of all Acts and Resolutions of 
the Parliament of Great Britain, or the Proceedings of 
Administration that may have any Relation to or 
may affect the Liberties and Privileges of His Majes- 
ty's Subjects in the British Colonies of America, and 
to keep up and maintain a Correspondence and Com- 
munication with our Sister-Colonies respecting these 
important considerations ; and that they do occasion- 
ally lay their Proceedings before the House; to which 
the House agreed Nemine Contradicente. 

" 3. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Com- 
mittee that the said Committee of Correspondence do 
write Letters to the several Speakers of the Assem- 
blies on the Continent of America, inclosing these 
Resolutions, and requesting them to lay the same he- 
fore their respective Assemblies ; and that they do 
return the thanks of the House to the Burgesses of 
Virginia for their early Attention to the Liberties of 
America ; to which the House agreed Nemine Contra- 
dicente." 

The Governor, William Franklin (son of 
Dr. Benjamin Franklin, but, unlike his father, 
a man of strono- royalist proclivities), was op- 
posed to the formation of such a committee, 
and in a letter written by him to the Earl of 



Dartmouth, on the 31st of May, 1774, ex- 
pressed his opinion as follows : 

" The Virginia Assembly some time ago appointed 
a Committee of Correspondence, to correspond with 
all the other Assemblies on the Continent, which ex- 
ample has been followed by every other House of 
Representatives. I was in hopes that the Assembly 
of this Province would not have gone into the mea- 
sure; for though they met on the 10th of November, 
yet they avoided taking the matter into consideration, 
though frequently urged by some of the members, 
until the 8th of February, and then I believe they 
would not have gone into it but that the Assembly of 
New York had just before resolved to appoint such a 
committee, and they did not choose to appear sin- 
gular." 

On the 1st of June, the day next following 
the date of Governor Franklin's letter, a meet- 
ing (probably the first one) of the Committee 
of Correspondence and Inquiry was held at 
New Brunswick, and a brief mention of it is 
found- in a letter written by one of the mem- 
bers of the committee, under date of June 2, 
1774, from which the following is extracted, 
viz. : " I returned yesterday from New Bruns- 
wick, where six of our Committee met. We 
answered the Boston letters, informing them 
that we look on New Jersey as eventually in 
the same predicament with Boston, and that we 
will do everything which may be generally 
agreed on. We have signed a request to tlie 
Governour to call the General Assembly' to 
meet at such time as his Excellency may think 
proper, before the first of August next. Our 
Committee is well disposed in the cause of 
American freedom." The Monmouth County 
member of this first Committee of Correspond- 
ence and Inquiry for the colony of New Jersey 
was Edward Taylor, Esq. The meeting of the 
conniiittee at New Brunswick was immediately 
followed by gatherings of the people in nearly 



1 The "invitation" referred to was a proposition made by 
the House of Burgesses of the colony of Virginia to the 
Assembly of New Jersey to appoint from its members a 
Standing Committee of Correspondence for the objects re- 
ferred to above. 



2 Vide Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council 
of Safety, 1775-76, page 4. 

3 In a letter addressed by Governor Franklin to the Earl 
of Dartmouth, dated Burlington, .Tune 18, 1774, he said, 
"I have likewise had an application made to me by some 
of the members of the House of Representatives to call a 
meeting of the General Assembly in August next, withj 
which 1 have not and shall not comply, as there is no pub- 
lick business of the province which can make such a meet- 
ing necessary." 



I 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



117 



all the counties of New Jersey. The object of 
these meetings (wliicli were convened at the 
call of promiTient and influential citizens of the 
several counties) was to perfect, as fiir as possi- 
ble, a general organization of citizens opposed 
to encroachments on the rights of the colonies 
by the home government, and especially to pro- 
vide for the selection of persons to represent 
tliein in :i general congress of deputies from the 
several colonies, 2>roposed by the biu'gesses of 
Virginia, to be held for the purpose of forming 
a jjlan of union, and, in general, to devise 
measures for the public welfare. 

The first of these local gatherings of the 
people was held in Monmouth County, and is 
reported in the INIinutes of tlie Provincial Con- 
gress and Council of Safety, 1775-76, as fol- 
lows : 

"At a meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants 
of tlie Township of Lower Freehold, in the County of 
Monmouth, in New Jersey, on Monday, the Gth day 
of .June, 1774, after notice given of the time, place and 
occasion of tliis meeting ; 

"Resolved, Tliat it is the unanimous opinion of this 
meeting that the cause in which the inhabitants of 
the town of Boston are now suft'ering is the common 
cause of the whole Continent of Nortli America, and 
that unless some general spirited measures for the 
public safety be speedily entered -into, there is just 
reason to fear that every Province may in turn share 
the same fete with them; and that, therefore, it is 
highly incumbent on them all to unite in some effec- 
tual means to obtain a repeal of the Boston Port Bill, 
and any other tliat may follow it, which shall be 
deemed subversive of tlie riglits and privileges of free- 
born Americans. 

"And that it is also the opinion of this meeting 
that, in case it shall appear hereafter to be consistent 
with the general opinion of the trading towns, and 
the commercial part of our counti-ymen, that an en- 
tire stoppage of importation and exportation from 
and to Great Britain and the West Indies, until the 
said Port Bill and other Acts be repealed, will be 
really conducive to the safety and preservation of North 
America and her liberties, they will yield a cheerful 
acquiescence in the measure, and earnestly recom- 
mend the .name to all their brethren in tins Province. 

"Resolved, inoreover. That the inhabitants of this 
township will join in an Association with the several 
towns in the county and, in conjunction with them, 
with the several counties in the Province (if, as we 
doubt not, they see fit to accede to the proposal), in 
any measures that may appear best adapted to the 
weal and safety of North America and all her loyal 
sons. 



"Ordered, That John Anderson, Esq., Messrs. Peter 
Forman, Hendrick Smock, John Forman and Asher 
Holmes, Captain John Covenhoven and Doctor Na- 
thaniel Scudder be a committee for the township, to 
join with those who may be elected for the neighbour- 
ing townships or counties, to constitute a tleneral 
Committee, for any purposes similar to those above 
mentioned ; and that the gentlemen so appointed do 
immediately solicit a correspondence with the adja- 
cent towns." 

"On Tuesday, July 19, 1774,' a majority of the 
Committees from the several Townships in the County 
of Monmouth, of the Colony of New Jersey, met ac- 
cording to appointment, at the Court-House at Free- 
hold, in said county ; and appearing to have been 
regularly chosen and constituted by their respective 
Townships, they unanimously agreed upon the pro- 
priety and expediency of electing a Committee to 
represent the whole county at the approaching Pro- 
vincial Convention, to be held at the City of New 
Brunswick, for the necessary purpose of constituting 
a Delegation from this Province to the general Con- 
gress of the Colonies, and for all such other important 
purposes as shall hereafter be found necessary. They, 
at the same time, also recorded the following Resolu- 
tions, Determinations and Opinions, which they wish 
to be transmitted to posterity as an ample testimony 
of their loyalty to his British Majesty, of their firm 
attachment to the principles of the glorious Revolu- 
tion, and their fixed and unalterable purjjose, by 
every lawful means in their power, to maintain and 
defend tliemselves in the possession and enjoyment 
of those ine.stimable civil and religious privileges 
which their forefathers, at the expense of so much 
blood and treasure, have established and handed 
down to them : 

" In the names and behalf of their constituents, the 
good and loyal inhabitants of the County of Mon- 
mouth, in the Colony of New Jersey, tliey do cheer- 
fully and publickly proclaim their unshaken alle- 
giance to the person and Government of his most 
gracious Majesty, King George the Third, now on the 
British Throne, and do acknowledge themselves bound 
at all times, and to the utmost exertion of their 
power, to maintain his dignity and lawfiil sovereignty 
in and over all his Colonies in America; and that it 
is their most fervent desire and constant prayer that, 
in a Protestant succession, the descendants of the 
illustrious House of Hanover may continue to sway 
the British sceptre to the latest posterity. 

"As a general Congress of Deputies from the several 
American Colonies is proposed to be held at Phila- 
delphia some time in September next, they declare 
their entire approbation of the design, and think it 
the only rational method of evading those aggravated 
evils which threaten to involve the whole Continent 

' Minutes of the Prov. Cong, and Council of Safety, 

1775-7(5, p. lii. 



118 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



in one general calamitous catastrophe. They are 
therefore met this day, vested with due authority from 
their respective constituents, to elect a committee, 
representing this County of Jlonmouth in any future 
necessary transactions respecting the cause of liberty, 
and especially to join the Provincial Convention, soon 
to lie held at New Brunswick, for the jjurpose of nom- 
inating and constituting a number of Delegates, who, 
in behalf of this Colony, may steadily attend said 
general Congress, and faithfully serve the laboi'ing 
cause of freedom, and they have consequently chosen 
and deputed the following gentlemen to that impor- 
tant trust, viz. : Edward Taylor, John Anderson, 
John Taylor, James Grover, and John Lawrence, 
Esquires ; Dr. Nathaniel Scudder and Messrs. John 
Burrowes, John Covenhoven, Joseph Holmes, Josiah 
Holmes and Edward Williams ; Edward Taylor, Esq., 
being constituted Chairman, and any five of them a 
sufficient number to transact business. And they do be- 
seech and entreat, instruct and enjoin them, to give 
their voice at said Provincial Convention for no per- 
sons but such as they, in good conscience and from 
the best information, shall verily believe to be amply 
qualified for so interesting a department, particularly 
that they be men highly ai)iiroved for integrity, hon- 
esty and uprightness, faithfully attached to his 
Majesty's per.son and lawful Government, well skilled 
in the principles of our excellent Constitution and 
steady assertors of all our civil and religious liberties. 
" As under the present operations of the Boston 
Port Bill, thousands of our respected brethren in that 
town must necessarily be reduced to great distress, 
they feel themselves affected with the sincerest sym- 
]iathy and most cordial commiseration ; and that they 
expect, under God, that the final deliverance of 
America will be owing, in a great degree, to a con- 
tinuance of their virtuous struggle, they esteem them- 
selves bound in duty and interest to aflbrd them 
every assistance and allevation in their power, and 
they do now, in behalf of their constituents, declare 
their readiness to contribute to the relief of the suf- 
fering poor in that town ; therefore, they request the 
.several committees of the counties, when met, to take 
into their serious consideration the necessity and ex- 
pediency of forwarding, under a sanction from them, 
subscriptions through every part of this Colony, for 
that truly humane and laudable purpose,^ and that a 

' In accordance with the spirit of this resolution, a large 
amount of supplies were sent to Boston, Monmouth 
County contributing most liberally. Boston acknowledged 
the receipt of tlieni in a letter dated October 1, 1774, from 
which is extracted the foUowiug relating to the Monmouth 
contributions: "The kind and genei'ous don.atious of tlie 
County of Monmouth, in the .lersies.we are now to acknowl- 
edge, and with grateful hearts to thank you therefor ; hav- 
ing received from the Committee of said County, per Cap- 
tain Brown, eleven hundred and forty (1140) bushels of 
rye and fifty barrels of rye meal for the suffering poor of 



proper plan be concerted for laying out the product 
of such subscriptions to the best advantage, and 
afterwards transmitting it to Boston in the safest and 
least expensive way." 

Similar meetings for the choice of com- 
mittees were lield in the other counties, and on 
Thursday, July 2], 1774, "a general meeting of 
the committees of the several counties in the 
Province of New Jer.sey " wa-s convened at 
New Brunswick, and continued in session imtil 
the following Saturday. Seventy- two mem- 
bers were in attendance, of whom nine were of 
Monmouth County. The names of these 
delegates (\vh() had been electetl at a meeting of 
the people held at Monmouth Court-HoiLse on 
the 19th of July) were Edward Taylor, James 
Grover, Joliu Burrowes, John Anderson, Joseph 
Holmes, Edward Williams, John Taylor, Dr. 
Nathaniel Scudder and Josiah Hohiies. The 
general meeting at New Brunswick was organ- 
ized by the choice of Stephen Crane, Estj., of 
Essex, chairman, and Jonathan D. Sergeant, 
of Somerset County, clerk. The record^ of 
the proceedings of the convention is as fol- 
lows : 

" The committee, taking into their serious consid- 
eration the dangerous and destructive nature of sun- 
dry Acts of the British Parliament with respect to 
the fundamental liberties of the American Colonies, 
conceive it their indispensable duty to bear their 
open testimony against them, and to concur with the 
other colonies in prosecuting all legal and necessary 
measures for obtaining their speedy repeal. There- 
fore, we unanimously agree in the following senti- 
ments and resolutions : 

" 1st. We think it necessary to declare that the in- 
habitants of this Province (and we are confident the 
people of America in general) are, and ever have 
been, firm and unshaken in their loyalty to His 
Majesty King George the Third ; fast friends to the 
Revolution settlement ; and that they detest all 
thoughts of an independence of the Crown of Great 
Britain. Accordingly we do, in the most sincere and 
solemn manner, recognize and acknowledge His 
Majesty King George the Third to be our lawiul and 
rightful Sovereign, to whom, under his royal protec- 

the Town, which shall be applied to the purpose intended 
by the donors ; and what further cheers our hearts is your 
kind assurances of a further supply, if necessary, to enable 
us to oppose the cruel Parliamentary Acts, levelled not 
only against this town, but our whole Constitution." 

' Minutes Provincial Congress and Council of Safety, 
1775-76, p. 25. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



119 



tion in our fundamental rights and privileges, we owe, 
and will render, all due faith and allegiance. 

" 2d. We think ourselves warranted, from the prin- 
ciples of our excellent Constitution, to affirm that the 
claim of the British Parliament (in which we neither 
are nor can be represented) to make laws which shall 
be binding on the King's American subjects ' in all 
cases whatsoever,' and particularly for imposing 
taxes for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, 
is unconstitutional and ojjpressive, and which we 
think ourselves bound, in duty to ourselves and our 
posterity, by all constitutional means in our power to 
oppose. 

" 3d. We think the several late Acts of Parliament 
for shutting up the port of Boston, invading the 
Charter rights of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 
and subjecting supposed oilenders to be sent for trial 
to other colonies, or to Great Britain, the sending 
over an armed force to carry the same into effect, and 
thereby reducing many thousands of innocent and 
loyal inhabitants to poverty and distress, are not only 
subversive of the undoubted rights of His Majesty's 
American subjects, but also repugnant to the com- 
mon principles of humanity and justice. These pro- 
ceedings, so violent in themselves, and so truly alarm- 
ing to the other colonies (many of which are equally 
exposed to Ministerial vengeance), render it the in- 
dispensable duty of all heartily to unite in the most 
proper measures to procure redress for their ojipressed 
countrj-men, now suffering in the common cause ; and 
for the re-establishment of the constitutional rights 
of America on a solid and iiermanent foundation. 

"4th. To effect this important purpose, we con- 
ceive the most eligible method is to appoint a Gen- 
eral Congress of Commissioners of the respective 
Colonies, who shall be empowered mutually to pledge, 
each to the rest, the publick honour and faith of their 
constituent Colonies, firmly and inviolably to adhere 
to the determinations of the said Congress. 

" 5th. Resolved, That we do earnestly recommend 
a general non-importation and non-consumption 
agreement to be entered into at such time, and regu- 
lated in such manner, as to the Congress shall seem 
most advisable. 

" Gth. Resolved, That it a]>pears to us to be a duty 
incumbent on the good people of this Province to af- 
ford some immediate relief to the many suffering in- 
habitants of the town of Boston. 

" Therefore the several county committees do now 
engage to set on foot and promote collections without 
delay, either by subscrijitions or otherwise, through- 
iiut their respective Counties ; and that they will remit 
the moneys arising from the said subscriptions, or 
any other benefactions that may be voluntarily made 
by the inhabitants, either to Boston, or into the 
hands of James Neilson, John Dennis, William Oake, 
Abraham Hunt, Samuel Tucker, Dr. Isaac Smith, 
Grant Gibbon, Thomas .Sinnicks, and John Carey, 
whom we do hereby appoint a Committee for for- 



warding the same to Boston, in such way and manner 
as they shall be advised will best answer the benevo- 
lent purpose designed. 

" 7th. Resolved, That the grateful acknowledgments 
of this body are due to the noble and worthy patrons 
of constitutional liberty in the British Senate for 
their laudable efforts to avert the storm they behold 
impending over a much injured Colony, and in sup- 
port of the just rights of the King's subjects in 
America. 

" 8th. Rewlved, That James Kinsey, William Liv- 
ingston, John De Hart, Stephen Crane, and Kichard 
Smith, Esquires, or such of them as shall attend, be 
the Delegates to represent this Province in the Gen- 
eral Continental Congress to be held at the City of 
Philadelphia on or about the first of September next, 
to meet, consult, and advise with the Deputies from 
the other Colonies, and to determine upon all such 
prudent and lawful measures as may be judged most 
expedient for the Colonies immediately and unitedly 
to adopt, in order to obtain relief for an oppressed 
people and the redress of our general grievances. 
" Signed by order, 

"Jonathan D. Sergeant, 

"Clerk." 

A new general Standing Committee of Cor- 
respondence and Inquiry was also appointed, 
consisting of William Peartree Smith, John 
Chetwood, Isaac Ogdeu, Joseph Borden, Ilobert 
Field, Isaac Pierson, Isaac Smith, Samuel 
I Tucker, Abraham Hunt and Hcndrick Fisher. 
It is noticeable, in the proceedings of this con- 
vention, that, although they evinced an unmis- 
takable spirit of opposition and resistance to 
the oppressive measures of the British Parlia- 
ment and ministry, they were profuse in ex- 
pressions of unmeasured loyalty to the King, 
and resolutions of similar imj)ort had l)een 
jjassed in all the preliminary meetings in the 
.■several counties of this province. 

The Congress of Delegates from the several 
provinces assembled at Carpenters' Hall, in the 
city of Philadelphia, on the 4th of September 
in the same year, and organized on thefollowiug 
day, with Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, as 
president. Among the business transacted 
during the somewhat protracted session which 
followed was the adoption of resolutions pro- 
hibiting the importation, jjurchase or use of 
goods from Great Britain, Ireland or any of 
the British dependeni'ies after December 1, 
1774, and also directing that (unless the griev- 
ances of the American colonies should in tiie 



120 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



mean time be redressed) all exportations hence 
to Great Britain, Ireland and the British West 
Indies should cease on and after September 10, 
1775. An association in accordance with the 
requirements of these resolutions was then 
formed, and was signed by all the members 
present. Article XI. of this Association 
(adopted October 20, 1774), provided: 

" That a committee be chosen iu every county, city 
and town, by those who are qualified to vote for Rep- 
resentatives in the Legislature, whose business it 
shall be attentively to observe the conduct of all per- 
sons touching this Association ; and when it shall be 
made to appear to the satisfaction of a majority of 
any such committee that any person within the lim- 
its of their appointment has violated this Association, 
that such majority do forthwith cause the truth of 
the case to be published, ... to the end that all 
such foes to the rights of British America may be 
publickly known and universally contemned as the 
enemies of American Liberty ; and thenceforth we 
respectively will break off all dealings with him or 
her." 

The formation of the iirst local Committee of 
Observation and Inspection iu ISIonmouth 
County, in accordance with the above-noticed 
recommendation of Congress, is recorded in the 
following report of a meeting of the people of 
Freehold township, held for that purpose, viz. : 

"Freehold, December 10th, 1774. 
" In pursuance of a recommendation of the 
Continental Congress, and for the preservation 
of American Freedom, a respectable body of 
the Freeholdere, Inhabitants of Freehold town- 
ship, met at Monmouth Court-House and unan- 
imously elected the following gentlemen to act 
a.s a Committee of Ol)sen'ation and Inspection 
for said Township : John Anderson, Esijuire, 
John Forman, Asher Holmes, Peter Forman, 
Hendrick Smock, Capt. John Covenhoven, Dr. 
Nathaniel Scudder, David Forman and Dr. 
Thomas Henderson. This Committee were in- 
structed by their constituents to carry into exe- 
cution the several imporhtut and salutary meas- 
ures pointed out to them by tlte Continental 
Congress, and, without favoui- or affection, to 
make all such diligent inquiry as shall be found 
conducive to the accomplishment of the great 
and necessary purposes held up to the attention 
of Americans." 



The draft of an interesting communication, 
addressed to the committee above named, was 
found by the Honorable William P. Forman 
among the private papers of his great-grand- 
father, Peter Forman. It was without sio;na- 
ture or date, but there are references in it 
showing clearly that it was made late in the fall 
of 1774. As an evidence of the intense feeling 
of patriotism which then pervaded the greater 
part of the people of the county, a copy of it is 
here given, — 

" To the Committee of the Township of Freehold 
in the County of Monmouth : — Gentlemen : — In an- 
swer to the several questions proposed by you on the 
3d of this instant, it is the sense of the people : 1st. 
That as the Province arms were purchased with our 
money and expressly for our use, we think ourselves 
properly authorized to apply them to service in any 
emergency. We therefore request you to call on the 
Justices and Freeholders, in whose hands they now 
are, for liberty to have them immediately collected 
together and put in good repair, the expense of re- 
pairing them to be defrayed out of the money to be 
raised as hereinafter expressed. We do, moreover, 
think it absolutely necessary that a magazine should 
be immediately established, lest on emergency we 
should be unable to supply ourselves with ammuni- 
tion. To eifect this grand point we do request you, 
as speedily as possible, to prepare and send a petition 
to our General Assembly, praying them to pass an 
Act for raising a sum of money, as well for the sup- 
port of a detachment of men that it may be necessary 
to send from this Colony in defence of your liberties 
as for the purpose of establishing a magazine. And 
should the Assembly be prevented from making this 
provision by a dissolution, or the want of the assent 
of the Governour and Council, or by any other cause, 
we do request you will immediately make us ac- 
quainted therewith, and we will cheerfully subscribe 
a competent sum of money for these purposes. 

"2d. We do fully concur with you in thinking the 
Military ought to be put on a proper footing for 
speedy improvement, as we are constrained to fear 
the melancholy time is near at hand when the Amer- 
ican Militia will, under God, be the only bulwark of 
our religion and property. The mode that appears 
to us most proper to be adopted for our becoming a 
well-regulated Militia is as follows, viz. : That you 
do immediately write iu the name of the People to 
our Captains, and require them to call a general 
meeting of the inhabitants of Freehold on the thir- 
tieth day of this instant at Monmouth Court-House, ( 
where, unless some more eligible method be adopted, ; 
we will l)v agreement constitute companies for every 
neighbourhood, each containing from 40 to 60 men 
from 16 to 60 years of age, and appoint stated times 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



121 



for calling the respective Companies together for 
Graud Muster. By these measures we shall meet to- 
gether with little expense, and, we hope, raise a spirit 
of emulation in the several Companies to excell each 
other. 

"3d. We do request you will call on every mer- 
chant in your district, without favour or affection, 
and demand of them upon honour, and, if necessary, 
upon oath, to inform you of the average advance they 
have had in their goods from the oth of Nov., 1773, 
to the 5th of Nov., 1774 ; and that they give up to 
your inspection their original invoices of the goods 
they purchased this Fall, and permit you to examine 
the advance they now sell at. By these steps you 
will easily discover whether they have infi-ingcd on 
the 9lh Article of the Association of the General 
Congress. 

" In case any of them have tran.sgressed, we do re- 
quest you immediately to advertise it to the Publick. 
The .like inquiry we desire may be repeatedly 
made, and on the second offence we do declare we 
will immediately break oft" all commerce with him or 
her so offending, or with his or her agents or factors, 
and hold them up as enemies to their Country. AVe 
do further entreat this enquiry may be made speedily, 
without information or complaint lodged. 

" 4th. Those persons who shall persist in extrava- 
gance, dissipation, gaming, etc., we will view as ene- 
mies to our Country, and if, after application made 
to them by you, they do persist in open violation of 
the Continental resolves, we will, on information 
from you, wait on the offenders in such a manner sis 
will for the future convince them of the evil conse- 
quences of running counter to the sense of the 
people. 

"oth. As there are many evil-minded people 
among us who, for lucrative prosjiects, would betray 
this country, and are daily endeavouring to sow the 
seeds of Discord around them by condemning the 
measures of Congress, calling our Meetings unlawful 
and rebellious, and declaring the right pf taxing 
America to be in the British Parliament, we do insis" 
that on your being acquainted with any such person 
you will publickly advertise their names and places 
of abode, and we will treat them as rebels against 
their Country. 

"6th. We do request that you may have stated 
times of Meeting, that we may attend, as well to lay 
any new matter before you as to be informed of your ' 
proceedings. 

" 7th. We desire these instructions may be entered 
on the Records or in the Town-Book, and acknowl- 
edged by you as your instruction from us." 



March, for reasons which fully appear in 
the report made by them at that time, as 



follows ■ '■ 



The Freeliold Committee of Observation and 
[Inspection, elected on tiie 10th of Decendier, 
1774, postponed a publication of their forma- 
tion an(] official action until tlic followino- 



" Freehold, Monmouth County, Committee. 
"Freehold, Marcli 6, 1775. 
"Akhough the Committee of Observation 
and Inspection for the Township of Freehold, 
in the County of M(jnmouth, Xew Jersey, was 
constituted e;trly in December last, and the 
members have statedly and assiduously attended 
to the business assigned them ever since, vet 
they have hitherto deferred the publication of 
their institution, in hopes of the general concur- 
rence of the other Townships in the choice of a 
new County Committee, when one puldication 
might have served for the wliole; but finding 
some of them have hitherto declined to comply 
with the recommendation of the General Con- 
gress in that respect, and not knowing whether 
tliey intend it at all, they judge it highly expe- 
dient to transmit the following account to the 
Press, lest their brethren in distant parts of the 
Colony should think the County of Monmouth 
altogether inactive at the present important 
crisis. [Here follows an account of tiie Free- 
hold meeting of December 10, 1774, already 
mentioned.] 

"At an cai-ly meeting of said Committee, a 
pamphlet, entitled Free Thoughti on the Behalves 
of the Congreiss, by A. W. Farmer, M-as handc^l 
in to them, and their i>pinion of it asked by a 
number of tlieir constituents then present. Said 
pamphlet -sias then read, and upon mature de- 
lilieration, unanimously declared to be a per- 
formance of the most pernicious and malignant 
tendency; replete with the mo.st specious soph- 
istry, but void of any solid or rational argu- 
ment; calculated to deceive and mislead the 
unwary, the ignorant and the credulous; and 
designed, no doubt, hy the detestable author to 
damp that nol)]e .-spirit of union which he sees 
prevailing all over the continent, and, if pos.si- 
l)le, to sap tlie foundations of American freedom. 
The pamphlet was afTer\\ards handed back to 
the people, who immediately bestowed upon it 
a suit of tar and turkey-buzzard's feathers; one 



' Minutes Prov. Cong, and Council of Safety, ] 775-76 
pp. 95-97. 



122 



HISTOllY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of the persons concerned in the operation justly 
observing that, altiioiigh the teathere were 
pkicked from the lUdst stinking fo%\"l in the 
creation, lie thoiiaht thev fell far short of being 
a proper emblem of tiie author's odidusness to 
every advocate fi>r true freedom. The same 
person wished, however, he had the pleasure of 
fitting him with a suit of the s;ime materials. 
The pamphlet was tlien, in its gorgeous attire, 
nailed up firmly to the j)iIlory-post, there to 
remain as a momuuent of the indignation of a 
free and loyal people against the author and 
vendor of a publication so evidently tending 
both to subvert the liberties of America and the 
Constitution of the British Empire. 

"At a subsequent meeting of said committee 
it was resolved unanimously that on account of 
sundry publications in the pamjihlet way by 
James Rivington, printer, (if Xew York, and 
also a variety of weekly productions in his pa- 
lmer, blended, in general with the most glaring 
falsehoods, distrorged with the most daring ef- 
frontery, and all evidently calculated to disunite 
the colonies and sow the seeds of discord and 
contention through the whole continent, they do 
esteem him a base and malignant enemy to the 
liberties of this country, and think he ought 
justly to be treated as such by all considerate 
and good men. And they do for themselves 
now publickly declare (and recommend the same 
conduct to theii" constituents) that they will 
have no connection with him, the said Riving- 
ton, while he continues to retail such dirty, 
scandalous and traitorious performances ; liut 
hold him in the utmost contempt as a noxioiLS, 
exotick plant, incapalile either of cultivation or 
imjjrovement in this soil of freedom, and only ' 
fit to be transported. 

"This committee did early make a])[)lication 
to every other townsliij) in the coitnty, recom- 
mending the election of committees; and they 
Soon had intbruiation tiiat tliose of Ujijier Free- 
hold, iNIiddletown and Dover had chosen theirs, 
and were resolved to enforce the measures of 
the Congress. 

"N. B. — -A very considerable number of tlie 
inhabitants of Freehold have formed themselves 
into companies and cliosen military instructors. 



under whose tuition they are making rapid im- 
provement. 

"Signed by order of the Committee, 

" John Anderson, 

" Chairman." 

By this report it is shown that while the 
other townships of Monmouth — Freehold, Cp- 
per Freehold, IMiddletown and Dover — were 
prompt to adopt the recommendation of Con- 
gress, Shrewsbury refused to do so, — partlv 
by reason of the influence of a few Quakers 
living there, but chiefly beauise of the Tory 
element, which was strong in that township 
from the very first, and which had over- 
powered the eftlirts of a few of the patriotic 
inhabitants of the township who had attempted 
to secure the organization of a committee there 
as in the other townshijjs of the comity, and to 
that end had issued the following, which was 
posted in all the public places, viz. : 

"AnVERTISEMEST." 

"Shrewsbury, January '2d, 1775. 

"Agreeable to the Resolutions of the late General 
Continental Congress : The Inhabitants of the town 
of Shrewsbury — more especially such as are properly 
qualified for choosing Representatives to serve in the 
General Assembly, are hereby warned to meet at the 
house of Josiah Halstead, in said Shrewsbury, on 
Tuesday, the 17th of this instant January, at noon, in 
order to choose a Committee for the several purposes 
a.s directed by the said Congress. 

"As the method ordered by the Congress seems to 
be the only peaceable method the case will admit of, 
on failure of which, confirmed Slavery or a civil war 
of course succeeds ; the bare mention of either of the 
two last is shocking to human nature, more piirticu- 
larly so to all true friends of the English Constitutiun: 
Therefore it becomes the indispensable Duty of all 
such to use their utmost endeavours in favour of the 
first or peaceable method, and suffer it not to miscarry 
or fail of its salutary and much desired effects by 
any sinister views or indolence of theirs. Surely ex- 
pecting on the one hand to be loaded with the curses 
arising from slavery to the latest posterity, or on the 
other hand, the guilt of blood of thousands of their 
Brethren and fellow Christians to lay at their door, 
and to be justly required at their hands. Think well 
of this before it is too late, and let not the precious 
moments pass." 

The meeting was held, but without residt as 
to the appointment of a committee, as is shown 
bv the following extract from a letter written 



I 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



123 



by an inhabitant of Shrewsbury (evidently of 
Tory proclivities) to a friend in New York on 
the day following the meeting. He savs : " In 
eonsequence of an anonymous advertisement 
fixed up in this place, giving notice to Free- 
holdei-s and otiiers to meet on Tuesday, the 17th 
inst., in order to choose a Committee of Inspec- 
tion, etc., between thirty and forty of the most 
I respectable freeholders accordingly met, and 
after a few debates on the basiness of the Dav, 
which were carried on with great decency and 
moderation, it was generally agreed (there being 
only four or five dissenting votes) that the ap- 
pointment of a committee was not only useless, 
but they were apprehensive would prove a 
means of disturbing the peace and quietness 
which had hitherto existed in tiie township, and 
would continue to use their utmost endeavours to 
preserve and guard against running upon that 
rock on which, with much concern, they behold 
othei-s, through inattentive rashness, daily split- 
ting." 

The very unsatisfactorv result in Shrewsbury 
and the repeated refusals of the people of tiiat 
township to organize a committee, continued 
and adhered to during the follo\ving two 
months, finalh' brought out the following de- 
claration from the Freehold Committee,' viz. : 

"March 14, 1775, P. M. 
" The Committee of Observation for the Township 
of Freehold, iu the County of Monmouth, New Jer- 

, sey, have made repeated applications to the inhabit- 
ants of the Township of Shrewsbury earnestly re- 
questing and exhorting them to comply with the 
instructions of the late American Congress in consti- 
tuting for themselves a Committee of Observation, that 
they might conspire with their brethren in the other 
Towns belonging to the County in executing the Re- 
solves of said Congress; but although they have 
entertained hopes, notwithstanding their former op- 

) position, that they would do it at their stated annual 
town-meeting, they are at this late hour informed 
that the said annual meeting of Shrewsbury is brolce 
up without a Committee being chosen, or any one step 
taken whereby the least disposition is discovered of 
their being inclined to adopt the Eesolutions of said 
Congress. They think it therefore their duty, how- 
ever painful the declaration, to bearpublick testimony 

. I against them. 

And we do unanimously enter into tlie following 



'Minutes of the Council of -Safety, 1775. page 99. 



Eesolve, viz. : That from and after this day, during 
our continuance as a Committee (unless they shall 
turn from the evil of their ways, and testify their re- 
pentance by adopting the measures of Congress), we 
will esteem and treat them, the said inhabitants of 
Shrewsbury, as enemies to their King and Country, 
and deserters from the common cause of true freedom ; 
and we will hereafter break oft' all dealings and con- 
nection with them while they continue their opposi- 
tion.^ We do furthermore recommend the same con- 
duct towards them to our constituents and all others, 
earnestly hoping it may be a means of reclaiming 
those deluded people to their duty and interest, whom 
we shall always be pleased to receive and treat as re- 
turning prodigals. 

" Signed by order of the Committee. 

" N.VTHAXIEL SC'UDDEE, 

"Clerk, 
" Freehold." 

Finally, more than five months after the first 
committee had been organized in Monmouth 
County, the patriots of Shrewsbury prevailed 
over their opponents, as far as concerned the 
constituting of a Committee of Safety, the 
election of which is thus recorded: 

"At a meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants 
of the township of Shrewsbury, this 27tli day of May, 
1775, the following persons were, by a great majority, 
chosen a Committee of Observation for the said Town, 
agreeable to the direction of the General Continental 

' An instance of action taken by tlie committee under this 
resolution is found in the minutes of the Council of Safety, 
1775-76, p. 100, viz : 



" Freehold, Mo.vmoctii Cocxrr, Committee, 
"April 3, 1775. 

" Thomas Leonard, Esquire, having been dulj- notified 
to appear this day before the Committee of Inspection for 
the township of Freehold, in the County of Monmouth, 
New Jersey, and answer to a number of complaints made 
against him, did not think proper to attend. 

" The Committee therefore proceeded, with care and 
impartiality, to consider the evidence laid before them, and 
were unanimously of opinion that the said Tliomas Leon- 
ard, Esquire, has iu a number of instances been guilty of 
a breach of the Continental Association, and that, pursuant 
to the tenour of said Association, every friend of true free- 
dom ought immediately to break off all conne.'cion and deal- 
ings with him, the said Leonard, and treat him as a foe to 
the rights of British America. 

'•Ordered, That their Clerk transmit a copy of this 
judgment to the Press, 

''Signed, accordingly, by 

" Nath. Scudddeh, 

"Clerk." 



124 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Congress held at Philadelphia, September 5th, 1774, 
viz. : 



' Josiah Holmes 
Joseph Throckmorton 
Nicholas Van Brunt 
Cor. Yanderveer 
Daniel Hendrickson 
Thomas Morford 
.John Little 



Samuel Longstreet 
David Knott 
Benjamin Dennis 
Samuel Breese 
Garret Longstreet 
Cornelius Lane 



"Ordered: That Daniel Hendrickson and Nicholas 
Van Brunt, or either of them, do attend the Provincial 
Congress now sitting at Trenton, with full power to 
represent there this Town of Shrewsbury. And that 
Jusiah Holmes, David Knott and Samuel Breese be a 
sub-committee to prepare instructions for the Deputy 
or Deputies who are to attend the Congress at Tren- 
ton. Josiah Holmes was unanimously chosen Chair- 
man. 

" Josiah Holmes, 

" Chairman and Town Clerk." 

Ou the 11th of January, 1775, the New 
Jersej' members of the Coutineutal Congress 
reported its proceedings to the Assembly of 
their province, which body unanimonsly signi- 
fied its approval of the said proceedings/ and 
resolved that the same delegates should repre- 
sent New Jersey in the next Congress, in which 
they should propose and vote for every reason- 
able and constitutional measure for a .settlement 
of the differences between the colonies and 
Great Britain, and should again report the pro- 
ceedings of the Congress to the Assembly of 
the province. 

A grexit majority of the people in all parts of 
the province of New Jersey approved the ob- 
jects of the association adopted by the Conti- 
nental Congress, and meetings, numerously 
attended, were held in the different counties, 
and in many of the townships, for the purpose 
of organizing to carry its measures into efi'ect. 
Some of the means proposed to be adopted to 
accomplish the objects desired are shown in the 
minutes of a meeting held in Hanover township 
Morris County, February 15, 1775, which re- 
solved unanimously as follows: 

" 1st. That they will discourage all unlawfiil, tu- 
multuous and disorderly meetings of the people within 

1 "Such members as were Quakers excepting only to such 
parts as seemed to wear an appearance or might have a 
tendency to force, as inconsistent with their religious 
principles."— Gori/on's " Hislory of New Jersey," p. 157. 



their Districts, and upon all occasions exert them- 
selves to the utmost of their power, and oppose and 
prevent any violence offered to the person or property 
of any one. 

" 2d. That they will take notice of all Horse Racing, 
Cock-Fighting and every kind of Gaming whatsoever, 
and cause the offenders to be prosecuted according to 
law; and discourage every species of extravagant 
entertainments and amusements whatsoever, agreea- 
ble to the eighth article of the Association of the 
Continental Congress. 

" 3d. That this Committee will, after the first day 
of March next, esteem it a violation of the seventh 
article of the said Association if any person or per- 
sons should kill any Sheep until it is four years old, 
or sell any such Sheep to any person whom he or they 
may have cause to suspect will kill them or carry 
them to market; and, further, that they will esteem 
it a breach of said article if any inhabitant of this 
Township should sell any Sheep of any kind what- 
soever to any person dwelling out of this County, or 
to any person who they may have cause to suspect 
will carry them out of this County, without leave first 
obtained of this Committee. 

" 4th. That we do recommend to the inhabitants 
of this Township the cultivation of Flax and Hemp 
to the greatest extent that their lands and circum- 
stances will admit of. 

"5th. That from several Pamphlets and Publica- 
tions printed by James Rivington, of New York, 
Printer, we esteem him as an incendiary, employed 
by a wicked Ministry to disunite and divide us; and 
therefore we will not, for ourselves, have any connec- 
tion or dealings with him, and do recommend the 
same conduct towards him to every person of this 
Township; and we will discountenance any Post- 
Rider, Stage-Driver or Carrier who shall bring his 
Pamphlets or Papers into this County. 

" (ith. That if any manufacturer of any article made 
for home consumption, or any Vender of Goods or 
Merchandises, shall take advantage of the necessities 
of his country by selling at an unusual price, such 
person shall be considered an enemy to his country; 
and do recommend it to the inhabitants of this Town- 
ship to remember that after the first day of March 
next no East Indian Tea= is to be used in any case 
whatsoever. 



■^ A " Monmouth Tea Party" was held in .\pril, 1775, in 
Sandy Hook Bay. A vessel having arrived at the Hook 
from England, the pilots all refused to take her up to New 
York until they were well assured she had no tea on board, 
—such being their strict instructions from the Committee of 
Safety. It was finally found that eighteen chests of the 
forbidden article were on board, whereupon a party of men 
boarded her, threw the tea into the bay, and even then 
forbade the captain from going to the city, hut forced him 
to put to sea and return to England. 



P 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



125 



" 7tli. That we will in all cases whatsoever, and at 
all events, use our utmost endeavors to comply with 
and enforce eA'cry article of the Association of the 
General Continental Congress." 

These resolutions, being nearly identical in 
their import with those passed by meetings of 
freeholders and committees in nearly all the 
other counties, are reproduced here at length as 
showing tiie remarkable earnestness with which 
the people indorsed and promised "to comply 
witli and enforce every article of the Associa- 
tion." The condemnation of Rivington and 
his publications, so strongly expressed in these 
resolutions — and ([uite as strongly in the decla- 
ration of tlie Freehold committee, before (juoted 
— was enunciated in the same forcible manner 
in other county meetings, by some of which 
he was denounced as "a vile Ministerial hire- 
ling employed to disunite the colonies, and ca- 
lumniate all their measures entered into for the 
publick good;" as an enemy to his country, 
and a person to be iiated, shunned and dis- 
countenanced by all friends of American liberty. 

On the morning of Wednesday, the 19th of 
April, 1775, a detachment of British regular 
troops that had been sent out from Boston to 
the town of Concord, !Mass., met and fired on a 
body of armed, but unorganized and undisci- 
plined, farmers and mechanics, w'ho had collected 
at Lexington Common. The volley of the 
i regulars told with an effect fatal to some of the 
, Provincials, and this was the first blood slied in 
the war of the Revolution. Before the crack 
of the yeomen's rifles had ceased to sound along 
the road from Lexington to Boston, the C-om- 
mittee of Safety of the town of Watertown 
had sent out express-riders to carry the news 
south and west. The dispatch destined for New 
York and Philadelphia passed on through 
M orcester, Norwich, New London, Lyme, Say- 
brook, Guildford, Brandford, New Haven and 
Fairfield (being successively forwarded by re- 
lays by the committees of these places), and 
reached the chamber of the New York com- 
' mittee at four o'clock p.m., on Sunday, the 
-■5d of April. From New York' the dispatch 

1 At New York the dispatch was thus indorsed by the 

committee : " Reed, the within Accounl by express and 



was forwarded with all haste to New Bruns- 
wick, from which place the momentous tidings 
spread like wild-fire up the valley of the 
Raritan to the mountains, and in the other 
direction, across the hills and plains of Middle- 
sex and iMonmouth to the sea, while the mes- 
sengers Avith the committee's dispatch sped on 
to Trenton and I'hiiadeljihia. 

Upon the receipt of the alarming news from 
Lexington, the Committee of C'orrespondence 
for the province was summoned by its chair- 
man to convene for deliberation, and to take 
such action as might seem necessary. The 
committee accordingly met, and the following 
is the record ^ of its proceedings on that occa- 
sion, viz. : • 

" At a meeting of the New Jersey Provincial Com- 
mittee of Correspondence (appointed by the Provincial 
Congress) at the City of New Brunswick, on Tuesday, 
the second day of May, Anno Domini 1775, agreeable 
to summons of Hendrick Fisher, Esq., Chairman. 

" Present, Hendrick Fisher, Samuel Tucker, Joseph 
Borden, Joseph Riggs, Isaac Pearson, John Chet- 
wood, Lewis Ogden, Isaac Ogden, Abraham Hunt and 
Elias Boudiuot, Esquires. 

" The Committee, having seriously taken into con- 
sideration as well the present alarming and verj' ex- 
traordinary conduct of the British Ministry, for carry- 
ing into execution sundry Acts of Parliament for the 
express purpose of raising a revenue in America, and 
other unconstitutional measures therein mentioned ; 
and also the several acts of hostility that they have 
actually commenced for this purpose by the Regular 
Forces under General Gage against our brethren of 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, 
and not knowing how soon this Province may be in a 
state of confusion and disorder if there are not some 

forwarded by express to New Brunswick, with Di- 
rections to stop at Elizabeth Town, and acquaint the 
Committee there with the following particulars. By 
order of the Committee, Isaac Low, Chairman. The 
Committee at New Brunswick are requested to forward 
this to Phila." The other indorsements made on the dis- 
patch in its passage through New Jersey were as follows : 
"New Brunswick, Ap. 24, 1775, 2 o'clock in the morning, 
reed, the above express and forwarded to Princeton, — Wm. 
Oake, Jas. Neilson, .\z. Dunham, come."; "Princeton, 
Monday, Apt- '2i, 6 o'clock, and forwd. to Trenton, — Tho. 
Wiggins, Jon. Baldwin, com. members" ; "Trenton, Mon- 
day, Apt 24, 9 o'clock in the morning, reed, the above per 
express and forwarded the same to the Committee of Phila- 
delphia, — Sam Tucker, Isaac Smith, come." 

'Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of 
Safety, 177-5-76, p. 108. 



126 



HI8T0KY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



effectual measures si^eedily taken to prevent the same ; 
this Committee are unanimously of opinion, and do 
hereby advise and direct, that the Chairman do im- 
mediately call a Provincial Congress to meet at Tren- 
ton on Tuesday, tlie twenty-third day of this instant, 
in order to consider and determine such matters as 
may then and there come before them ; and the 
several Counties are hereby desired to nominate and 
appoint their respective Deputies for the same, as 
speedily as may be, with full and ample powers for 
such purposes as may be thought necessary for the 
peculiar exigencies of this Province. 

"The Committee do also direct their Chairman 
to forward true copies of the above minute to the 
several County Committees of this Province without 
delay. " Hexdrick Fisher, 

^ " Chairman.'" 

In accordance -nitli this call of the committee, 
delegates from tlie several connties of the prov- 
ince assembled on Tuesday, the 23d of May, at 
Trenton, where, on the following day, they 
organized as "The Provincial Congress of New 
Jersey," by electing Hendrick Fisher president, 
Jonathan D. Sergeant secretary, and William 
Paterson and Frederick Frelinghnysen assist- 
ant secretaries. The number of delegates in 
attendance was eightj'-seven. Those represent- 
ing ^Monmouth County were Edward Taylor, 
Josejjh Saltar, Robert IVIontgomery, John 
Holmes, John Covenhoven, Daniel Hendrick- 
son and Nichola-s Van Brunt. One of these, 
Edwancl Taylor, was at the same time a mem- 
ber of the Colonial Assembly of New Jersey. 

The Provincial Congress i-emained in session 
at Trenton eleven days. The most important 
business of the session was consummated on 
the day of adjournment, in the adoption of "a 
plan for regulating the Militia of this Colony," 
and the passage of "an ordinance for raising a 
sum of money for the purpose therein men- 
tioned," — that is to say, for the purpose of 
organizing and arming the militia troops and 
preparing them for active service when neces- 
saiy. The preamble and first three sections of 
the militia bill then passed were as follows: 

"The Congress, taking into consideration the cruel 
and arbitrary measures adopted and pursued by the 
British Parliament and present ministry for the pur- 
pose of subjugating the American Colonies to the 
most abject servitude, and being apprehensive that 
all pacific measiures for the redress of our grievances 
will prove ineffectual, do think it highly necessary- 



that the inhabitants of this Province be forthwith 
properly armed and disciplined for defending the 
cause of American freedom. And, further, considering 
that, to answer this desirable end, it is requisite that 
such persons be intrusted with the command of the 
Militia as can be confided in by the people, and are 
truly zealous in support of our just rights and privi- 
leges, do recommend and advise that the good people 
of this Province henceforward strictly observe the 
following rules and regulations, until this Congress 
shall make further order therein : 

" Ist. That one or more companies, as the case may 
require, be immediately formed in each Township or 
Corporation, and, to this end, that the several Com- 
mittees in this Province do, as soon as may be, 
acquaint themselves with the number of male inhabit- 
ants in their respective districts, from the age of 
sixteen to fifty, who are capable of bearing arms ; and 
thereupon form them into companies consisting, as 
near as may be, of eighty men each ; which companies 
so formed shall, each by itself, assemble and choose, 
by plurality of voices, four persons among them- 
selves, of sufficient substance and capacity for its 
officers, — namely, one captain, two lieutenants and 
an ensign. 

"2d. That the officers so chosen appoint for their 
respective companies fit persons to be sergeants, cor- 
porals and drummers. 

"3d. That as soon as the companies are so formed 
the officers of such a number of companies as shall by 
them be judged proper to form a regiment do assemble 
and choose one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, a 
major and an adjutant for each regiment." 

The " ordinance," also passed on the last day 
of the session, and having for its object the 
raising of funds, principally for the purpose of 
carrying out the provLsions of the militia bill, 
recited and declared that : 

" Whereas, It has become absolutely necessary, in 
the present dangerous and extraordinary state of 
public affairs, in which the usual resources of govern- 
ment appear to be insufficient for tlie safety of the 
people, and in which the good people of this Province 
have therefore thought proper to choose Deputies in 
this present Congress, that a fund be provided for the 
use of the Pro\'ince : We, the said Deputies, being per- 
suaded that every inhabitant is willing and desirous 
to contribute his proportion of money for so import- 
ant a purpose, do, pursuant to the powe'S intrusted 
to us by the people, resolve and direct that the sum 
of Ten Thousand Pounds, Proclamation Money, be 
immediately apportioned and raised for the use afore- 
said; the same to be apportioned, laid out and disposed 
of in such manner as hereinafter is directed." 

The amounts to be raised under this ordinance 
by the several counties of the province were 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



127 



apportioned to them as follows: Bergen, £664 
8s. Od.; Burlington, £1071 13.«. id.; Cape May, 
£166 18s. Od.; Cumberland, £385 6s. 8d.; E.s- 
sex, £742 18s. Od.; Gloucester, £763 2.s. 8d.; 
Hunterdon, £1363 16s. Sd.; Middlesex, £872 
6.S. Sd., Monmouth, £1069 2.>!. 8d. ; Morris, 
£723 8.S. 0(/.; Salem, £679 l2.s. Od.; Somer- 
.set, £904 2s. OcZ. ; Sussex, £593 5s. -Ld. 

Other sections of tlie ordinance pointed out 
the manner of assessing and collecting the tax, 
and provided that when the amount collected 
in a coimty should be received by the county 
collector he should pay the .same over to the 
county committee, " to be disposed of by them 
in such manner as they in their discretion shall 
think most proper" to meet expenses arising 
from the exigencies of tlic times. After the 
adoption of these measures for the public safety 
it was by the Congress 

" Ordered, That Mr. Fisher, Mr. Tucker, Mr. Dan- 
iel Hunt, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. I. Pearson, Mr. 
Dunham, Mr. Schureman, Mr. John Hart, Mr. Bor- 
den, Mr. Deare, Mr. Baldwin, ^Ir. Schenck, Mr. 
Ralph Hart and Mr. Heard, or any three of them, in 
conjunction with the President or Vice-President, be 
a Committee of Correspondence, with power to con- 
vene this Congress." 

Immediately after the appointment of the 
Committee of Correspondence, the Congress ad- 
journed, June 3, 1775. 

i| It is a rather remarkable fact in the history 
of this Provincial Congress of New Jersey that, 
although one of its first acts was to declare that 
its members had '' assembled with the pro- 
foundcst veneration for the person and family 
' if His .Sacred Maiesty, George III., firmly pro- 
fessing all due allegiance to his rightful authority 
and government,"^ the close of its first session 
was marked by the adoption of the most vigorous 
measures in preparation for armed resistance to 
tliat sovereign's authority. 

Two weeks from the day on which the Con- 
gress of New Jersey closed its session at Treu- j 
ton, a force of British regulars moved from 
Boston to C'harlestown, and marched in splendid 
irder and perfect confidence up the acclivity of 

' Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of 

~;ifety, 1775-76. p. 171. 



Bunker Hill to attack the slight defenses of the 
patriot force that stood waiting for them in 
silence upon the summit. Twice were the scarlet 
lines hurled back in disorder down the slope, 
but as often did they re-form and retitrn to the 
assault. Their third charge was successful; the 
Provincial forces, luidismayed, but with empty 
muskets and cartridge-boxes, were at last forc-ed 
from their position, and the soldiers of the King 
carried and held the blood-soaked crest. This 
event — the battle of Bunker Hill — is as well 
known and conspicuous in history as that of 
Marathon or Waterloo, and it was more im- 
portant in its results than either. Just before 
its occurrence General George W'ashington had 
been appointed" by the Continental Congress^ 
commander-in-chief of the forces of the United 
Colonies, and immediately afterwards he as- 
sumed command of the armv at Cambridgfe and 
disposed his thin lines to encircle the British 
forces in the town of Boston. 

In less than a week after the memorable battle 
in Charlestown, the startling news had been re- 
ceived in Philadelphia, and ^^•as known in eveiy 
township of New Jersey. In tills alarming 
state of aifairs the general Committee of Corre- 
spondence of the province, exercising the powers 
intrusted to them, called a second session of the 
Provincial Congress, which body accordingly 
convened at Trenton on the 5th of August 
followino;. Eiirhtv-three members were in at- 
tendance. Those of Monmouth County were Ed- 
ward Taylor, Robert Montgomery. John Holmes, 
John Covenhoven and Daniel Hendrickson. 

The Congress at this session adopted a num- 
ber of measures fur promoting the public safety, 
the principal of which were a resolution to pro- 
vide for the collection of the ten thousand 
pounds tax ordered at the IMay and June ses- 
sion, and a resolution "for further regulating 
the ]Militia, etc.," the first-named being the first 
business that was attended to after the opening 
of the session. It appears that many obstacles 
had been encountered in the collection of the 
tax, and that in a great number of instances 
payment had been avoided or refused. 

'•'.June 15, 1775. 

' The Continentiil Congress haJ convened in Philadelphia 
on the 10th of May. 1775. 



128 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



In adopting "the plan for further regulating 
the Militia, etc.," the Congress 

" Sesolved, 1. That the several County or (where 
there is no County) the Township Committees do 
transmit the names of all the Militia Officers chosen 
within their respective Districts to the Provincial 
Congress, or to the Committee of Safety, to be by 
them commissioned, agreeable to the directions of the 
Continental Congress. 

'' Resolved, 2. That all officers above the rank of a 
Captain, not already chosen or appointed, pursuant 
to an ordinance of this Congress made at their last 
session, be appointed by the Congress or, during 
their recess, by the Committee of Safety. 

"Resolved, 3. That where the inhabitants of differ- 
ent Townships have been embodied into one Company, 
Battalion or Regiment, before the 20th day of June 
last, it is not the intention of this Congress that they 
should be dissolved, provided they govern themselves 
according to the rules and directions of the same." 

Ten resolution.s .succeeding tho.se above (quoted 
directed the organization of the militia of the 
province into regiments and battalions, and the 
uinnber of each of these organizations to be 
appointed to tiie several counties ; established 
the order of their precedence ; prescribed the 
manner in which they were to be raised, armed 
and governed ; provided for the collection of 
fines from " all eflective men between the ages 
of sixteen and fifty who shall refuse to enroll 
themselves and bear arms," or who, being en- 
rolled, should absent themselves from the mus- 
ter, and directed how such fines should be 
applied. The troops directed to be raised and 
organized M'ere to be equal to about twenty-six 
regiments, apportioned to the different counties 
as follows: The militia of Bergen County to 
compose one regiment ; of Essex, two regiments 
or four battalions ; of Middlesex, two regi- 
ments ; of Monmouth, three regiments ; of 
Morris and Sussex, each two regiments and one 
battalion ; of Burlington, two regiments and a 
company of rangers ; of Gloucester, three bat- 
talions ; of Salem, one regiment ; of Cumber- 
land, two battalions ; of Cap)e May, one battal- 
ion ; of Somerset, two regiment.s ; and of 
Hunterdon, four regiments. And it wa.s pro- 
vided " that the precedency of rank in the 
militia shall take place in the following order : 
1. Essex; 2. Salem; 3. Gloucester; 4. Morris; 
5. Sussex; 6. Cape May; 7. Monmouth; 8. 



Somerset; 9. Bergen; 10. Cumberland; 11. 
Middlesex; 12. Hunterdon; 13. Burlington ; 
and that, when there may be more than one 
regiment or battalion in a county, the prece- 
dency shall be determined by the county commit- 
tee, according to their former seniority." 

Besides providing for the organization and 
arming of the militia, as above mentioned, the 
Congress resolved : 

"That for th^ purpose of effectually carrying into 
execution the recommendation of the Continental 
Congress respecting the appointment of minute-men, 
four thousand able-bodied efl'ective men be enlisted 
and enrolled in the several counties in this Province, 
under officers to be appointed and commissioned by V 
this Congress or Committee of Safety, who shall hold ■ 
themselves in constant readiness, on the shortest 
notice, to march to any place where their assistance 
may be required for the defence of this or any neigh- 
boring colony." 

These " minute-men " were to be enlisted for 
a term of four months, at the end of ^\•hich 
time they were to be " relieved, unle.ss upon ac- 
tual service." They were given precedence of 
rank over the common militia of the province, 
and whenever called into actual service were "to 
receive the like pay as the Continental Army, 
and be furnished with camp equipage and pro- 
visions ; and also be provided for, if wounded 
or disabled in the .service of their country." 
Their officei's were to be nominated by the sev- 
eral county committees, or (in counties having 
no general committee) by the township commit- 
tees jointly, " with assurance that as soon as 
their companies are completed, they shall re- 
ceive commissions from the Provincial Congress 
or the Committee of Safety." The organiza- 
tion of the "minute- men" was directed to be 
made in companies of sixty-four men each, in- 
cluding officers, these companies to be formed 
into ten battalions for the whole province, and 
the apportionment to the several counties to be 
as given below, — ^viz. : Bergen County to fur- 
nish one battalion of four companies ; Essex 
County, one battalion of six companies ; Mid- 
dlesex County, one battalion of six companies ; 
Monmouth County, one battalion of si.x com- 
panies ; Somerset County, one battalion of five 
companies; Morris County, one battalion of six 
companies ; Susse.x County, one battalion of five 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



129 



coiiii)anies; Huntcrdou County, one battalion 
of eiglit oompauies ; Burlington County, one 
battalion of five companies ; Gloucester and 
Salem Counties, one battalion of seven compa- 
nies, — four to be furnished by Gloucester and 
one by Salem ; Cumberland County to furnish 
three companies, and Cape May County one 
company, all to act as " independent companies 
of light infantry and ranjicrs." 

Whatever arms and accoutrements were ob- 
tained by the county and township committees 
were directed to be issued to the minute-men in 
preference to the militia until the former were 
armed and equipped, the remainder to be used 
for arming the militia. It was 

"Resolved, Tliat this Congress do recommend to the 
several County Committees in this Colony that they 
immediately employ gunsmiths to make such a num- 
ber of arms as they shall judge to be necessary and 
wanting in their respective counties; and that in the 
manufacture of said arms particular attention be paid 
to the directions of the Continental Congress. 

It was also by the Congress 

Ordered, That the several County Committees do 
appoint one Surgeon to each Regiment and Battalion 
belonging to their respective Counties; and certify 
the name of such Surgeon to the next Congress, or to 
the Committee of Safety, in order to his being proji- 
erly commissioned." 

The above mentioned, with the aj^pointment 
of Philemon Dickinson as brigadier-general, were 
all the impoi-tant military measures adopted at 
this .session. 

The Congress adjonrned on Thur.-^day, August 
17th, after a session of seventeen days, its last 
act prior to adjournment having been the ap- 
pointment of Hendrick Fisher, Samuel Tucker, 
Isaac Pearson, John Hart, Jonathan D. Ser- 
geant, Azariah Dunham, Peter Schenck, Enos 
Kelsey, Joseph Borden, Frederick Frelinghuy- 
sen and John Schureman as a Committee of 
Safety to control public aflairs during the re- 
cess. 

This was the first Committee of Safety of 
the province of New Jersey, — a body which 
came to be greatly feared by those inimical to 
the cause of America. During the times when 
the Congress was not in session this committee 
wielded extraordinarv and almost unlimited 



power.' It does not appear, however, that it 
became necessary fur the committee to exercise 
this power in any very important public busi- 
ness in the less than seven weeks which inter- 
vened between its formation and the reassem- 
bling of the Provincial Congress. During that 
interval the sessions of the cojumittee were held 
at I'rinceton. 

At its August session, the Provincial Con- 
gress of Xew Jersey had provided for a new 
election of deputies fi-om the counties of the 
province, and under this provision, Monmouth 
county elected Edward Taylor, John Covenhovi'u 
and Joseph Holmes, who, with forty-foiu- other 
delegates from the several comities, formed the 
Second Provincial Congress, which convened in 
its first session, at Trenton, on the .3d of Octo- 
ber, 1775. 



^ Mr. Charles D. Deshler, in his e.\cellent paper read be- 
fore the New Brunswick Historical Club at its fifth anniver- 
sary, said of this Committee of Safety : " In effect it consti- 
tuted a practical dictatorship, residing not in one man in- 
deed, but in a majority rote of eleven or more persons, ivlio 
were appointed by the Provincial Congress from time to 
time. Its members were invariably chosen by the deputies 
to the Provincial Congress from among their own number, 
and were men upon whom they could rely for cour.age, pru- 
dence, firmness, activity and .sagacity. They exercised, as 
a committee, all the powers intrusted to or assumed by the 
Provincial Congress, save that of legislation. They con- 
ducted all the correspondence and conferences with llie 
Continental Congress and Provincial Congresses of otlier 
colonies ; they gave orders for the arrest of suspicions or 
disatfected persons ; Ihey tried and acquitted or condemned 
to imprisonment or detention men who w'ere charged with 
disaffection or acting in concert with, or giving information 
to, the enemy ; they kept expresses in constant readiness to 
forward intelligence with all speed ; they appropriated 
public moneys, commissioned officers in the militia or in 
the corps of minute-men, held prisoners of war, settled con- 
troversies between officers, civil and military, acted as a 
Court of Admiralty, confiscated the property of those who 
aided and abetted the public enemy, took order for the 
general security of the Province and for its defense, and in 
fine, they were the executive branch of the government, as 
the representatives of the power and authority of the Pro- 
vincial Congress during its recess. All which they exer- 
cised (with an ability and integrity that has never been im- 
peached) till they were superseded, in October. 1770, by 
the first Legislature under the new State Constitution 
(adopted .Inly 2, 1786), which invested the Governor and a 
Council of twenty members with certain powers fora limited 
time under the title of 'The Governor .and Coinicil of 
.Safety.' " 



130 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The Congress composed of these members so 
recently elected and fresh from among the peo- 
ple was tlie first thoroughly representative body 
whicli had convened in New Jersey under the 
Jievolutionary order of things. Among the 
business transacted by this Congress was the 
jiassage, on the 2-ttli of October, of "■ An Or- 
ilinance for compelling the payment of the ten 
thousand pound tax from such persons as have 
refused to pay their ([uotas." The resolution 
levying tiiis tax had l)een passed at the May 
session, and the subject had received further 
attention at the session held in August ; not- 
Avithstanding which, a large amount still re- 
mained uncollected, — payment being refused, — 
for which reason this ordinance was passed, 
authorizing more stringent measures against de- 
linquents and directing the chairman or deputy 
chau-man of any county committee to order the 
properly authorized persons " to make distress 
<:in the goods and chattels " of such deliuciuents, 
and to " make sale thereof at public vendue, 
oivino- five davs' notice thereof bv advertise- 
iuent in such town or county." 

But the most important of the measures taken 
iit this session were those wliich related to the 
nuistering and equipping of the military forces, 
and to raising the funds necessary for-4hat pur- 
pose. One of these [passed October 2Sth] A\as 
" An Ordinance for regulating the Militia of Xew 
Jersey," which, after reciting in its preamble 
that " Whereas, The ordinances of the late Pro- 
vincial Congress for regulating the ^lilitia of 
this Colony have been found insufficient to 
answer tlie good purposes intended, and it ap- 
pearing to be essentially necessary that some 
further rciiulations l)e adopted at this time of 
imminent danger," proceeded to adopt and 
direct such " further regulations " as were 
deemed necessary to accomplish the object for 
which the previous ordinances had been found 
insufficient, — viz., the enrollment in the militia 
of all able-bodied male inhal)itants of tlie prov- 
ince between the ages of sixteen and fifty 
vears (except those whose religious principles 
jporbade them to bear arms), their muster, equip- 
ment and instruction in military tactics under 
command of proper officei-s. It was not ma- 
teriallv different from the earlier ordinances 



passed for the same purpose, except that its re- 
quirements were more clearly defined, thorough 
and peremptory, and tliat evasion or non-com- 
pliance was punished by severer penalties and 
forfeitures, and these to be rigidly and relent- 
lessly enforced. One of the provisions of the 
ordinance was to the effect that every man en- 
rolled in the militia " sliall, with all convenient 
^pced, furnish himself with a good musket or 
firelock and bayonet, sword or tomahawk, a steel 
ramrod, priming-wire and brush fitted thereto, 
a cartouch-box to contain twenty-three rounds 
of cartridges, twelve flints and a knapsack, 
a"-reeable to the direction of the Continental 
Congress, under the forfeitm-e of two shillings 
for the want of a musket or a firelock, and of 
one shilling for the want of the other above 
enumerated ai-ticles ; " also " that every person 
directed to be enrolled as above shall, at his 
place of abode, be provided with one pound of 
powder and three pounds of bullets of proj" r 
size to his musket or firelock." 

The follo-n-ing extracts from the minutes uf 
the Congress are given here as having reference 
to military matters at tliat time in ^Monmouth 
county, viz : 

"October 12, 1775. — A petition from the 
officers of tlii' united regiment of Freehold and 
^Nliddletown, praying that the officers therein 
named may Ije commissioned, was read ; Or- 
dered, That commissions do issue accordingly. 
"October 20, 1775. — The Congress met pur- 
suant to adjournment. The certificate of the 
election of officers of the several companies of 
Militia in the Township of Freehold was read ; 
Ordered, That commissions do issue to the sev- 
eral officers therein named. 

"The certificate of the election of field offi- 
cers for the battalion of minute-men for the 
County of IMonmouth was read ; Ordered, Tliat 
commissions do issue to the officers therein 
named. 

" October 25, 1775. — Ordered, Tliat commis- 
sions do issue to Samuel Forman, Esq., Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, Elislia Lawi-ence, Esq., Fii-st 
:Major, and James ^lott, Esq., Second ]Major of 
the Second Regiment of Militia in the County 
of iMonmouth." 

The purchase of arms, ammunition, camp 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



131 



c(^uiiiai;v, artillery and othei- militarv necessities 
for tile province, and the fnrnishing of funds 
for such purchase by the issuance of bills of 
credit, were jn'ovided for by an ordinance passed 
October 2Sth,' of which the preamble and most 
imiiortant sections were as follows : 

" Whi-rem, It appears essentially necessary at this 
time of increasing danger that the inhabitants of this 
Colony should be furnished with ammunition and 
other military stores, and that this Colony should be 
put into some proper posture of defence: 

'• It is therefore Resolved and Directed, That Messre. 
Samuel Tucker, Abraham Hunt, Joseph Ellis and 
Alexander Chambers be, and they are hereby, ap- 
pointed Commissioners for the Western Division ; 
and that Hendrick Fisher, Azariah Dunham, Abra- 
ham Clark and Samuel Potter be, and they are hereby, 
appointed Commissioners for the Eastern Division of 
this Colony ; which said Commissioners, or the major 
part of them, are hereby authorized and directed to 
receive of the Treasurers of this Colony, for the time 
being, appointed by this Congress, or either of them, 
all such sura or sums of money as they shall from 
time to time find necessary to expend for the use of 
this Colony, pursuant to the resolutions hereinafter 
mentioned. 

" And it is further Jtesolved and Directed, That the 
said commissioners be, and they are hereby, author- 
ized and directed to contract with artificers for, or 
otherwise purchase, three thousand stand of arms at 
any price not exceeding Three Pounds Seven Shil- 
lings each stand ; and also to purchase ten tons of 
gunpowder, twenty tons of lead, one thousand car- 
touch-boxes, at any price not exceeding nine Shil- 
lings each ; a quantity of flints, brushes, priming 
wire and cartridge paper, not exceeding one hundred 
Pounds in value ; two chests of medicine, not exceed- 
ing tliree hundred Pounds in value; four hundred 
tents, with camp equipage, etc., not exceeding one 
thousand eight hundred and seventy Pounds in value; 
two thousand blankets, not exceeding fifteen hundred 
Pouufls in value ; a number of axes, spades, and 
other intrenching tools, not exceeding three hundred 
Pounds in value ; and a train of artillery not exceed- 
ing five hundred Pounds in value.- 

' Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of 
Safety, 1775-76, p. 246. 

- It was found that the articles named could not be pur- 
chased for the sums to which the commissioners were 
limited; and thereupon, on the 10th of February. 1776, 
the Congress gave them unlimited authority to purchase, 
by the following action; " Whereas, By an ordinance of 
this Congress, passed at Trenton the '28th day of October 
last, the Commissioners therein named and appointed to 
purchase firearms and military stores were particularly 
restricted in the price to be paid for said firearms, whereby 



"And whereas, It is absolutely necessary to provide 
a fund for defraying the above expense, it is therelbre 
Eesotred and Directed, That bills of credit to the 
amount of thirty thousand ^ Pounds Proclamation 
money* be immediately jtrejiared, printed and made 
as follows, to wit : Five thousand seven hundred bills, 
each of the value of three Pounds; six thousand 
bills, each of the value of one Pound ten Shillings; 
four thousand bills, each of the value of tifteen Shil- 
lings; and three thousand bills, each of the value of 
six Shillings; which bills shall be in the f<u"m follow- 
ing, to wit : 

" ' This bill, by an Ordinance of the Provincial 
Congress, shall pass current in all payments within 
the Colony of New Jersey for Proclamation Mimey ; 
Dated the day of 1775,' and shall be im- 

pressed with such devices as the inspect<jrs of the 
press hereinafter appointed shall direct ; and when 
printed shall be delivered to Hendrick Fisher and 
Azariah Dunham, Esquires, of the Eastern Division, 
and to John Hart and John Carey, of the Western 
Division, four of the signers thereof, in equal moieties ; 
one moiety to be signed by the Treasurer and signers 
of the Eastern Division, and the other moiety l)y the 
Treasurer and signers of the Western Division. . . ." 

The succeeding parts of the ordinance j^ro- 
videtl for the numbering, signing, countersign- 
ing, counting and inspection of the bilLs, with 
various other details, all which were laid out 
and directed with great minuteness as a .safe- 
guard against the po.?sibility of irregularity or 
fraud. And it was further provided by the 
ordiimnce that " for the I)etter credit and effec- 
tual sinking of the said bills of credit there 
shall lie assessed, levied and raised on the sev- 
eral inhabitants of this colony, their goods and 
chattels, lauds and tenements, the sum of ten 
thousand pounds annually in every of the years 
one thousand seven hundred :iud eighty-four, 
one thousand .seven hundred and eighty-five, 
oiie thousand seven hundred and eighty-six ;" 
. . . and the apportionment of this annual tax 

the manufactory thereof hatli been greatly impeded ; for 
the remedy whereof it is resolved unanimously that the 
said Commissioners have full power immediately to proceed 
in contracting for firearms upon the best terms in their 
power, without any limitation or restriction ; and that 
this Congress will in convenient time pass an ordinance for 
that purpose.*' — Minittea Provincial Contfress and Council of 
Safet!/, 1775-76, /J/). 358, 350. 

' The amount was raised to fifty thousand pounds by an 
ordinance passed February 28, 1776. 

♦ Proclamation money was reckoned at seven shillings six- 
pence to the dollar. 



132 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



wa.s made identical in the amounts assigned to 
each of the counties with that of the ten thou- 
sand pound tax, before mentioned, levied at the 
session of the preceding May. 

The question of the enlistment and organiza- 
tion of two battalions of soldiers in New Jer- 
sey for the Continental service was among the 
business brought before the Congress at this 
session. It originated in the receipt, on the 
13th of October, of a letter from the President 
of the Continental Congress to the Provincial 
Congress of New Jersey, it being as follows : 

" Philadelphia, Oct. 12, 1775. 
"Gentlemen, — Some late intelligence,' laid be- 
fore Congress, seems to render it absolutely necessary, 
for the protection of our liberties and the safety of 
our lives, to raise several new battalions, and there- 
fore the Congress have come into the inclosed resolu- 
tions, wbich I am ordered to transmit to you. The | 
Congress have the firmest confidence that from your 
experienced zeal in this great cause you will exert 
your utmost endeavors to carry the said resolutions 
into execution with all possible expedition. 

"The Congress have agreed to furnish the men 
with a hunting-shirt, not exceeding the value of one 
dollar and one-third of a dollar, and a blanket, pro- 
vided these can be procured, but these are not to be 
made part of the terms of enlistment. 
" I am, gentlemen, 

" Your most obedient humble servant, 
" JoHX Hancock. 

" President." 

" By order of Congress, I forward you forty-eight 
commissions for the captains and subaltern officers in 
New Jersey Battalions. 

"To THE Members of the Convention of New .Ieksey. 

The resolutions of the Continental Congress 
referred to in ^Ir. Hancock's letter were passed 
bv that body on the 9th and 12th of October, 
recommending to the Congress of New Jersey 
that it should " immediately raise, at the ex- 
pense of the continent, two battalions, consist- 
ing of eight companies," of men for the service, 
and specifying the manner in which they were 
to be enlisted and officered and the ]iay and 
allowances they would receive. 

A reply was at once sent (October 13th) to 
the Continental Congress, expressing the desire 

^ Unfavorable intelliireiice tVoin the Canadian expedition 
under General.? Schuyler ami Montgomery. 



of the Congress of New Jer.sey to promote the 
common interests of the colonies as far as lay in 
their j)t)wer and to raise the troops as desired, 
but objecting to the manner in which the 
field-officers for the proposetl battalions were to 
be appointed. This disagreement resulted in 
some further correspondence, and the matter 
was afterwards satisfactorily arranged. 

On the 28th of October the Provincial ( i in- 
gress passed a resolution recommending to the 
Continental Congress the appointment and com- 
missioning of the following-uamed field-officers 
for the two battalions to be raised in New Jer- 
sey, — viz. : For the Eastern Battalion, the Earl 
of Stirling colonel, William Winds lieutenant- 
colonel, and William De Hart major ; for the 
Western Battalion,. William Maxwell colonel, 
Israel IShrieve lieutenant-colonel, and David 
Ray major. These appointments were soon 
after made, and commissions issued by direction 
of the Continental Congr'ess. 

The Provincial Congress adjourned on rhe 
28th of October, " to meet at New Brunswick 
on the first Tiie.sdayin April next, unless sooner 
convened by the President, Vice-President or 
the Committee of Safety." The gentlemen ap- 
pointed to form this committee, to act for the 
public welfare in the recess of this CN)ngrcss, 
were Samuel Tucker, Hendrick Fisher, John 
Hart, Abraham Clark, I^ewis Ogden, Jose))h 
Holmes, John Mehelm, Isaac Pearson, John 
Pope, Azariah Dunham, John Dennis, Augus- 
tine Stephenson, RnloflF Van Dyke. 

The committee held a five days' .session at 
Princeton, from the 9th to the 13th of January, 
1776, at which a number of Tories and disaf- 
fected persons were severely dealt with, and 
provision was made for the erection of beacons 
and the keeping of express-riders in constant 
readiness to convey intelligence in case of alarm 
from invasion or other causes. They .saw fit, 
however, to call an extra session of the Provin- 
cial Congress, as apjiears by the following ex- 
tract from their minutes, dated January 12th, 
— viz. : 

" This Committee received several resolutions and 
determinations of the Continental Congress respect- 
ing raising one new battalion in this Province, erect- 
ing and establishing a Court of Admiralty, advising 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



133 



the formiug some useful regulations respecting the 
Continental forces raised in this Colony; which 
reiiuisitions, together with many other imi^ortant con- 
cerns, reader the speedy meeting of a Congress of this 
province absolutely necessary. This Committee have 
therefore appointed the meeting of said Congress to 
be at New Brunswick on Wednesday, the thirty-first 
day of this instant, January." 

The Congress a«'ordiiigly met at the time 
and place designated, and eommenced business 
on the 1st of February. 

The recruitment of the two battalions which 
Congress at its previous session had ordered to 
be raised had proceeded successfully and with 
rapidity. Lord Stirling, having been coniniis- 
sioned colonel of tlie First or p]astern Battalion, 
had taken with him to it several of the officers 
and a cousideralile nnnilier of the men of the 
regiment of militia whicii he had previously com- 
manded, and he found very little difficulty in fill- 
ing the ranks of his new command. Colonel Max- 
well's (Western) battalion was recruited with 
nearly erpial facility. In the last week of No- 
vember (1775) Stirling established his head- 
quarters at Elizabethtown to fill his battalion 
to the maximum, six comi)anics of it haviuir 
previously been ordered to garrison the fort in 
the Higldands on the Hudson River. Lieu- 
tenant-Cdlonel ^^'inds was soon after stationed, 
with a part of the battalion, at Perth Amboy. 
Colonel Maxwell's battalion was ordered to the 
vicinity of the Hudson River, and both the 
Eastern and Western Battalions, having been 
filled, or nearly so, were mustered into the Con- 
tinental service in December. 

The fii-st Monmouth County com|)any that 
took the field was that of Captain Longstreet, 
who, in November, 1775, marched his com- 
njand to Perth Amboy, where they took posses- 
sion of the barracks, which had been vacated 
by the Forty-Seventh Royal Regiment of Foot 
in the fall of 1774, when they moved to join 
the forces of General Grage in Boston. 

On the •2d of February, 1776, Congress 
ordered to be sent "to the commanding officers 
and chairmen of the several county committees in 
the province" a circular-letter in these words : 

" Gentlemen,— The late repulse at Quebec' re- 



'The unsuccessful assault on the defenses of tint town. 



quires every exertion of the friends of American free- 
dom, in consequence whereof Colonel Maxwell's bat- 
talion is ordered to march forthwith, and the Continen- 
tal Congress have applied to our body urging the great- 
est dispatch in procuring arms and necessaries for this 
expedition. Therefore, in pursuance of the aforesaid 
application, we request you, gentlemen, to use the 
utmost diligence and activity in collecting all the 
public arms belonging to your county, being your 
proportion of the Provincial arms unsold. Dispatch 
in this case is quite necessary, as, no doubt, the arms 
are distributed in the hands of the associators, it will 
be necessary that every officer do his part. The value 
of the arms will be paid in money, or the number be 
replaced, and the expenses of collecting and forward- 
ing them punctually discharged. We put you to this 
trouble with regret; but the necessity of the measure 
must apologise. You will have the arras collected in 
your county valued by good men, and sent to Bur- 
lington or Trenton, under the care of such officer of 
Colonel Maxwell's battalion as may be the bearer 
thereof." 

That a great scarcity of ammunition as well 
as of arms existed among the men of the two 
battalions appears by the following extract from 
the minutes of the Congress, dated February 
1st,— viz. : 

■' Lieutenant-Colonel Winds informed this Congress 
that he was stationed at Perth Amboy with a part of 
the Eastern battalion of the Continental forces raised 
in this Colony, and that he was destitute of ammuni- 
tion, and thought it not improbable he might soon 
have occasion for a supply. And this Congress being 
in formed that the county of Somerset ha<l a quantity of 
powder in store, and the county of Middlesex a quan- 
tity of lead, — in consideration whereof : Ordered, That 
Mr. President request the Chairman of the Committee 
of Somerset to furnish Colonel Winds with four quar- 
ter casks of powder ; and that he also re(jucst the 
Cliairman of the Committee of the County of Middle- 
sex to furnish Colonel Winds with 150 pounds of 
lead ; and that the said powder and lead shall be 
replaced in some convenient time." 

The committees prom])tly acceded to this 
retjuest, as appears from the minutes, dated 
February 10th, — viz. : 

"On a requisition from Lord Stirling, the Commit- 
tee of Elizabethtown have furnished him with six 
thousand cartridges, Somerset County four quarter 
casks of powder, Woodbridge a considerable quantity 

in the morning of December 31, 177-5, by the American 

forces under Montgomery and Arnold, in which the first- 
named gallant officer lost his life and the latter was severely 
wounded. 



13-t 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and Brunswick one hundred and fifty weight of lead. 
Our militia are very illy supplied with ammunition ; 
those who have granted the above supplies are there- 
fore very desirous that they be immediately re- 
placed." 

This^ extract is from a ('(Uiiniunicatioii sent by 
tlic Provincial Congress on tiie date named to 
the Continental Congress asking for " ten tons 
of gunpowder and twenty tons of lead, or as mnch 
as may be .spared," out of a large quantity re- 
ported to have then recently arrived at Philadel- 
phia. The request was granted to the extent of 
half a ton of powder, and out of this, the quan- 
tity borrowed of Somerset County, Brunswick, 
Woodbridge and Elizabeth wa.s replaced. 

In consequence of the unfavoraljle result of 
the military ojierations in Canada, and the strong 
probability (indicated in letters from General 
Washington to Congress) that General Howe in- 
tended to evacuate iiis uncomfortable position at 
Boston and move iiis foires thence by sea to Xew 
York, as also tlie knowledge that Sir Henry Clin- 
ton had embarked from England on a secret expe- 
dition, whose probable destination was Xew York, 
a greater degree of activity was infused into mili- 
tary measures in general, and especially to those 
having reference to the defense of the middle 
colonies. The Continental Congress having re- 
solved, in January, 1776, that it was necessary to 
raise a number of additional battalions, assigned 
the raising of one of these to the province of 
Xew Jersev, and recommendetl to the Provincial 
Congress that it should take iunuediate steps to 
that end. Accordingly, on the 5th of February, 
the last-named Congress passed a resolution to 
raise a battalion, in addition to the two previ- 
ously raised, to be enlisted, organized and offi- 
cered in the same manner (except that each of 
the eight companies should be composed of sev- 
enty-eight instead of sixty-eight privates), and, 
like the others, to be emjiloyed in the Continental 
service. Company officers for the battalion were 
appointed by the Congress of New Jersey, but 
the field-officers were to be appointed and com- 
missioned by the Continental Congress. 

The rapid progress made in raising the Third 
Battalion is indicated by the following extract 
from a letter written by President Tucker to the 
Continental Conu'ress on the '24tli of Februarv, 



only nineteen days after the passage of the reso- 
lution ordering tiie battalion to be raised, — viz.: 
" I am likewise to re(iuest that connuissions may 
be sent for the officers of the Third Battalion, as 
some of the comi)anies are already full and others 
in a fair way." 

On the 13th of Eeljruary, Congress resolved 
"that a train of aitillery, consisting of twelve 
pieces, be immediately purchased for the use of 
this Colony," and on the 2d of March an ordi- 
nance was pa.ssed directing that two conqjlete 
artillery companies be immediately raised for the 
defense of the colony, " one to be stationed in the 
Eastern and one in the Western Division there- 
of, . . . to be disposed of in this Colony as the 
Congress, C<;)nnnittee of Safety, Brigadier- 
General of the Division to which they re- 
spectively belong shall direct ; each company 
to be conunanded by a Captain, Captain- 
Lieutenant, First and Second Lieutenants ; and 
to consist of a Fire-worker, four Sergeants, four 
Corporals, one Bombardier and fifty nuitrosscs, 
all of whom are to be able-bodietl freemen, and 
to be enlisted for one year, unless sooner 
discharged." The commissioned officers aii- 
pointed for these companies were Frederick 
Frelinghuysen captain,^ Daniel Xeil captain- 
lieutenant, Thomas Clark first lieutenant, 
and John Heard second lieutenant of the P^ast- 
ern Conqjuny, and Sauuiel Hngg captain, 
Thomas Xewark captain-lieutenant, John West- 
cott first lieutenant, and Joseph Dayton second 
lieutenant of the Western Conqiany. A com- 
panv of rifiemen was also ordered to be rai>t'd, 
to be joined to Colonel ^laxwell's (Second 
Continental) battalion. 

Inviewof the probability, as before mentioned, 
that General Howe was about to move his army to 
occupy Xew York, and the expected arrival, liy 
sea, of a force under Sir Henry Clinton, a <-on- 
siderable luuuber of Continental and Provincial 



1 Captain Frelinghuysen soon after resigned his com mis- 
sion and thereupon his artillery company was dishanded, as 
is shown by an ordinance passed August 21, 1776, order- 
ing the payment of certain demands, among them heing : 
"To Frederick Frelinghuysen £01 13«. 2rf., being the bal- 
ance due to him and men by him enlisted for the eastern 
company of artillery, who were discharged upon liis resig- 
nation." — Mm. I'rur. Cnmj.. 1770./'. u7'J. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IX THP^ REVOLUTION. 



13S 



troops had been ordered to that city, and among 
these the battalion of Lord Stirling, who received 
orders to that effet't abont the 1st of February, 
and moved his counnand from Elizabethtown to 
New York on the 5th and 6th of tiiat month.' 
On tlie 15th of February tlie Congress of New 
Jersey received a communication from the Presi- 
dent of tlie Continental Congress, dated Febru- 
ary 12th, asking tiiis province to send a force of 
minute-men to New YorJv ; upon the receipt of 
wliicii tile Provincial Conoress resolved unani- 

o 

niously, 

"That the above requisition be complied with, and 
that detachments of minute-men, projjerly accoutred, 
equal to a battalion in the Continental service, be im- 
mediately made, and marched to New York under 
the command of Charles Stewart, Esq., colonel; Mark 
Thompson, Esq., lieutenant-colonel ; Frederick Fre- 
liiighuysen and Thomas Henderson,'' Esqrs., majors." 

But again tlic scarcity of arms presented a 
serious difficulty, and this time it proved an in- 
sujierable obstacle to the desired movement of 
the troops, as is explained by the following ex- 
ti-act from the minutes of the Continental Con- 
gress, dated February 22d, — viz.: 

" A delegate from New Jersey having informed 
Congress that the regiment of militia ordered by the 
Convention of that Colony to march to the defense of 
New York, in consequence of the resolve of Congress 
of the 12th of this month, were not sufficiently armed, 
and that they could not tie furnished with arms unless 
the Congress supplied them, and as this Congress 
have not arms to spare, — those they have being neces- 
sary for arming the battalions in the Continental 
service ; Therefore, Resolved, that the march of said 
battalion of militia be countermanded." 

One week alter tlie marching orders to tiie 
New Jersey minute-men M-ere thus countermanded 
the several organizations of niinute-mcn in the 
colony were disbanded by action of tlie Provin- 

Mn a U-ttev addressed by Lord Stirling to tlie President 
of Congress, dated New York, February 11), 1776, he 
says, — 

'' Sir,— On the 14ih instant I informed you of liaving re- 
ceived General Lee's orders to march with my regiment to 
this place. I accordingly marched the next morning with 
four companies from Elizabethtown, and arrived here the 
next day, as soon as the ice permitted us to cross Hudson's 
River. The other four companies followed tlie next day." — 
Colledions of the New Jersey l/istorieal Sncieti/, vol. ii.p. 129. 

-Dr. Thomas Henderson, of Freeliold. 



cial Congress, which, on the 29th of February, 
pa.ssed an ordinance in \vhicli it was directed 

" That all the minute-men heretofore embodied in 
the several parts of this Colony be immediately dis- 
solved, and incorporated with the militia, in the 
several companies in the district in which they re- 
spectively reside, as though such minute-men had 
never beeu raised. . . ." 

Tiic ])rincipal reasons for this action, as eiui- 
merated in the preamble to the ordinance, were 
tiiat large mimber.s of the members of niinnte- 
men organizations had enlisted in the Continental 
service, thereby greatly reducing the companies 
and battalions, and so placing them in a condi- 
tion in which they could not " answer the design 
of their institution," and tliat " our defen.se, under 
God, chiefly depends upon a well-rcgnlatetl 
militia," Thus tlic " minute-iuen " oi'ganiza- 
tions of New Jer.sey ceased to exist, never having 
had ail opportunity to pcrfiu-m any of tlic pecu- 
liar services for wliicli they were formed. 

The Congress of New Jersey adjourned on 
the 2d of March, 1776, iiaving previously ' jiassed 
an ordinance, in whit'ii it wa.s " Resolved and di- 
rected, Thtit there be a new choice of Depniies 
to serve in Provincial Congress, fiir every 
County of this Colony, on the fourtli Monday: 
in May yearly, and every year," thus cstaldish- 
ing regular annual elections of deputies instead 
of the sjjecial elections called, as they had jire- 
viously been, at the pleasure of Congre.-^s. 

The elections were held at the time specified, 
and resulted in the choice of Edward Taylor, 
John Covcnhoven, Josciiii Holmes, James Mott 
and Jo.siah Holmes for Monmouth County. 
These, with sixty deputies from the other coun- 
tie.s, a.ssembled in Provincial Congress at Bur- 
ling-ton, and organized on the 11th of June by 
electing Samuel Tiicktn- })resident and William 
Patterson secretary. 

At this session a great amount of business was 
transacted, a large proportion of which was ii - 
eluded in the raeasui-es taken for raising, orgtu:- 
izing and flirwarding trndjis. These measure.'S 
will not l)e noticed in detail lierc, l)ut flic most 
imjiortaiit of them will be mentioned incidenta 11 v 
in succeeding pages, in connection with the events 
of which the year 1776 was so fruitful. A num- 

3 Februarv 28th. 



136 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ber of matters liaving special reference to Mon- 
mouth County are given here (some of them in 
a disconnected form) as found in tlie minutes of 
the " Convention of New Jersey " — as tlie Pro- 
vincial Congress tlien began to be called, viz. : 

"June 12, 1776. — A letter from Colonel 
David Brearley, of the County of Monmouth, 
complaining of sundry disaflfected persons iu his 
regiment ; read, and ordered a second reading. 

"A petition fi-oin sundrv inliabitants of the 
County of Monmouth, praying that none of the 
militia may be taken out of that County, as it 
lies so exposed to liostilc invasion ; read, and 
oi'dered a second reading. 

" June 17. — On reading a second time, the 
memorial of Colonel David Brearley, respecting 
certiiin disaffected jiersons in Monmouth County ; 
and the letter from the President of the Pro- 
vincial Congress in New York, stating the cir- 
cumstances of a defection in Bergen County, 
<te. Ch'dered, That the same be referred to 
Colonel Dick, Mr. Sergeant, Mr. Symmes, Col- 
onel Covenhoven aiid ]\[r. Brown. 

" June 18th. — Pursuant to a certificate of 
election, Orderad, Tliat the following per- 
sons be commisssioned as officers in a com- 
j)auy of light infantry, in the Township of Mid- 
dletown, County of Monmouth, to \\\t : John 
Burrowes, Jun., Captain ; Jonathan Fornian, 
First Lieutenant; James Whitlock, Second Lieu- 
tenant ; Samuel Carhart, Third Lieutenant. 

"James Mott, Second Major of the second 
battalion of foot militia in Monmouth County, 
having resigned his commission, Ordered, That 
his resignation be accepted. 

"June 19. — A petition from sundry inliabit- 
ants of the Townsliip of Shrewsbury, in Mon- 
mouth County, praying tliat no ne\\' mode of 
government may be established ; that the pres- 
ent may continue, as being sufficient for tlie ex- 
igency of our affairs ; and that no measures may 
be adopted that tend to sej)arate this Colony fj-om 
Grciit Britain ; was read, and ordered a second 
reading. 

"June 21. — Ordered, unanimously, That 
Doctor Melancthon Freeman be appointed Sur- 
geon, and Air. Benjamin Stockton, Surgeon's 
Mate, to the battalion directed to be raised in 
the Counties of Middlesex and IMonmonth. 



" Four petitions from the Township of Mid- 
dletown and Shrewsbury, iu the County of INIon- 
mouth, praying that the government of the 
Province of New Jersey may not be changed, 
&c., read. 

" Two petitions from the Township of Free- 
hold, in the County of Monmouth, praying that 
this Congress will immediately establish sucli 
mode of government as shall he etpial to the 
present exigencies of this Colony, and fully co- 
incide with the resolve of the Honourable Con- 
tinental Congress of the 15th of May last ; were 
read. 

" Monday, June 24. — Two petitions from the 
Townships of Middletown and Freehold, in the 
County of Monmouth, praying that this Con- 
gress would immediately establish such mode of 
government as shall be equal to the exigencies 
of this Colony, and fully coincide with the 7'e- 
solve of the Hono\u'al)lc Continental Congress of 
the fifteenth of INIay last ; read, and oi-dereil a 
second reading. 

"A letter from the County Committee of 
Monmouth, enclosing an association signed liy 
certain disaffected persons ; I'cad, and ordered a 
second reading. 

" A representation of the County Committee 
of Monmouth, giving a detail of Colonel For- 
nian and the minute-men seizing sevei'al disaf- 
fectetl persons in that county without the express 
command of the Committee, though approved 
by them afterwards ; accompanied with an 
account of the expense attending the seizure 
of said persons ; read, and ordered a second 
reuling. 

" Wednesday, June 2(3. — Whereas, it ap- 
pears, from undoubted intelligence, that there 
are several insurgents in the County of Mon- 
mouth who take every measure in their power 
to contravene the regulations of Congre.ss, and 
to oppose the cause of American freedom ; 
and, as it is highly necessary that an imme- 
diate check be given to so daring a spirit 
of disaffection ; It is therefore resolved, unani- 
mously, That Colonel Charles Read take to his 
aid two companies of militia of the County of 
Burlington, properly officered and armed, and 
proceed without delay to the County of Mon- 
mouth, in order to ajiprehend such insurgents 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



137 



and disaifected pei-sons iu said County as this 
Congress sliall irive in direction to Colonel 
Read. 

" Resolved, unanimously, That Colonel Kead 
take, if necessaiy, to his assistance the militia 
of ^lonniouth. 

" Resoived, uiianimoiisli/, That such officers 
and militia as engaiied in this service shall re- 
ceive the like jiav as the Continental troops. 

" Resofnd, unanimously, That the said mili- 
ti;i furnish themselves with provisions, and that 
this Congress will order payment therefor. 

" Resolved, That the following directions, 
signed by the President, be given to Colonel 
Read. 

''''Colonel Charles Read: You are hereby 
ordered to apprehend Richard Robins and Moses 
Ivins, and to deliver them unto the keeper 
of the common gaol of the County of Glou- 
cester, who is hereby commanded to keep said 
persons in clo.se and safe confinement until this 
Congress, or Committee of Safety, shall take 
further order therein : And you are also to 
apprehend Anthony Woodward, junior, Joseph 
Gi-over, Guisebert Guisebert.son, and Thomas 
Lewis Woodward, and bring them before this 
Ci)Ugress, or, during their recess, the Committee 
of Safety. . . . 

" Ordered, That the Company under the com- 
mand of Captain Stillwell, which was directed 
by the late Committee of Safety to guard the 
coa.st of this Colony near Sandy Hook, be con- 
tinued until the further order of this Convention 
or Committee of Safety. If it be inconvenient 
for any of the Company to continue in the said 
employment, Ca]itaiu Stillwell is herebv empow- 
ered to supply such deficiency by enlistment. 
Ordered, That Colonel George Taylor be Com- 
mi.ssary for the said Company. 

" Friday, June 28. — Two petitions from 
sundry inhabitants of the Township of Upper 
Freehold, ii\ the County of Monmouth, praying 
that this Congress would immediately establish 
such mode of government as .«hall be equal to 
the exigencies of this Colony, and fully coin- 
cide with the resolve of the Honourable Conti- 
nental Congress of the loth of May last ; read, 
and ordered a second reading. 

" Saturday, June 29. — A petition from the 



County Committee of Monmouth, setting forth 
that in pursuance of a resolution of the late 
Congress, said Committee furnished Colonel 
Maxwell's battalion with fifty stand of arms 
and that it was in their option to have them re- 
placed or receive their value in money, and pray- 
ing that this Congress would order the value of 
said arms to be paid in money ; read a second 
time, and ordered that the treasurer pay the 
amount of said arms according to the apprais- 
ment. 

" Two memorials, the one from the County 
Committee of Monmouth, the other from the 
Committee of Safet)- of that County, respecting 
certain disaffected persons iu said County, and 
requesting that this Congress would take some 
decisive order therein, were read, and ordered 
a second reading. 

" Congress received a letter from Colonel 
Taylor of Monmouth, dated teu o'clock in the 
forenoon of this dav, informino- that nineteen 
sail of the euenw's fleet lies at the Hook, and 
forty-five in sight; read and filed. Ordered, 
That the President write to the Continental 
Congress, enclosing a copy of the above letter, 
and recjuesting a supply of powder. 

'* Tuesday, July 2. — Resolved, That in the 
opinion of this Congress, the militia of Mon- 
mouth County ought, for the present, to remain 
in their own County, excepting such part thereof 
a.^ by the late ordinance of this Congress were 
required to form their jjroportion of the New 
Jersey brigade of three thousand three hundred 
men. 

" Henry Waddell, Esq., captain of a grenadier 
company in the militia of Monmouth, having, 
by petition, prayed that this Congress would ac- 
cept a resignation of his commission, assigning 
for reason that he was so frequently afflicted 
with the gout that he was rendered incapable of 
doing the duty of an officer ; Ordered, that his 
resignation be accepteil. 

" July 4th. — ^Whereas, this Congress has 
been given to understand that divers persons iu 
the County of Monmouth, have embodied them- 
selves in opposition to the measures of Con- 
gress ; and are informed that numbers have ex- 
pressed their willingness to return to their duty 
upon assurances of pardon, alledging that they 



138 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



have been seduced and misled by the false and 
malicious reports of others ; It is therefore de- 
clared, That all such persons as shall without 
delay return peaceably to their homes, and eon- 
form to the orders of Congress, shall be treated 
with lenity and indulgence ; and upon their good 
behaviour, shall be restored to the flivour of 



mediate effect, particularly in the County of 
Monmouth, which is at present most exposed to 
depredations, /< is therefore imaniinously resolved 
and directed, Tliat the County Conmiittee of 
^lonnumth proceed, without delay, ti> remove 
all the stock on their coast which may be in 
danu-er of fallinir into the hands of the encniv 



their country; provided that none such as shall j back into the country, to a place or places of salt-tv. 
appear to have been the leaders and principals " Convention being informed that Colonel 
in those disorders, who to their other guilt have I Hendrickson, of Monmouth, was at the door and 



added that of seducing the weak and unwary 
shall yet be treated according to their demerits. 

" Trenton, Friday, July 5, lllQ.— Ordered, 
that Colonel Joseph Borden do provide w'agons, 
and every other necessary, to accommodate the 
rifle battalion of Pennsylvania, consisting of 
five hundred men under the command of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Broadhead, in their march 
to Monmouth County, tlie place of their desti- 
nation. 

"July 'i.— Ordered, That the President do 
take the parole of honour of Mr. John Law- 
rence, of Monmouth County, not to depart the 
house of Mr. Ren.ssellier Williams ; and, if ^Ir. 
Lawrence should refuse to give the same, that 
the President order him to be confined under 
such guard as he may deem necessary. 

" Tue.-<day, July 9. — Colonel Breese having 
resisrued his commission of Colonel of the third 



desired admittance. Ordered that he attend. 

"Colonel Hendrickson informed Conventiim 
that the ^lonmouth coast was exposed extremely 
to the incursions and depredations of the eneniv, 
and requested that a guard might be stationed 
along the same, and maintained at the pnlilick 
expence. He further informed Convention that 
some of his negro slaves had run off, antl were 
on 1 Ilia rd the enemy's fleet ; that he had rea.«on 
to believe he could recover the said slaves if 
he were permitted to send a flag, and re(piesting 
that, thro' the interference of this Hou.se, he 
might have such permi.^sion. 

" Ordered, That Oake ^^'ikott', Esq., be Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel, Denice Denice, E.sq., First Ma- 
jor, and Hendrick Van Brunt, Esq., to be 
Second ^lajor of the third battalion of the tin it 
militia in the County of Monmouth. 

"Saturday, July 27. — Ordered, TliaX Captain 



battalion of militia in the County of Mon- John Cook, of Monmouth, be directed to take 



mouth, assigning for reason the great backward- 
ness of the people ; himself so indifferently at- 
tended on field days, and so few ready to turn 
out, hiding themselves and deserting their hou.ses, 
when calle<l upon to defend the shore ; Or- 
dered, That his resignation be accepted. Or- 
dered, That Daniel Hendrickson, Esq., be 
Colonel of the third battalion of foot militia in 
the County of ^lonmouth. 

" Tuesday, July 23. — Whereas, the Honour- 
able Continental Congress have resolved, ' That 
it be earnestly recommended to the Convention 
of New Jersey to cause all the stock on the 
sea coa.st, which they shall apprehend to be in 
danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, 
to be immediately removed and driven back 
into the country to a ]>lace of .-Jatiity.' And 
whereas, this Con\-cnti(in dvnn it necessary that 
the above resolutidu siuiuld be carried into im- 



Mc 
ins 



to his assistance as many of the militia a 
.'ihall find necessary, and apprehend any pen 
whom he has reasiin to suspect of enlisting or 
being enli.sted for the British army, and to take 
them before the County Committee of Mon- 
mouth, who are required to connnit or di.^chargc 
such accused persons, as they shall find necessary. 

" Monday, July 29.— Jacob A\'ardell, Joscjih 
A^^ardell and Peter Wardell, persons apjii-e- 
hended by a detachment of the Monmouth 
militia, on account of furnishing the enemy 
with provisions, were brought before the House, 
and witnesses examined in support of the 
charge ; Ordered, That the determination there- 
of be deferred till to-iimrrow. 

"Tuesday, July 30. — Convention resumed the 
consideration of the charge against Jacob War- 
dell, Jo.seph Wardell, and Peter Wardell ; and, 
after .-jonie time spent therein, 



MOXMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



13» 



" Ordered, That Jacob Wardell be committod 
to the eustody of the SheriiF of Moiimouth, to 
be by hiui safely kept until discharged by tiiis 
Convention, or ilelivered by due course of law. , 

" Ordered, That Joseph Wardell and Peter j 
AYardell be discharged on giving bond, each ,' 
with .security in the .sum of live hundred 
pounds for their future good behaviour, and for I 
their appearance when called upon by the Con- | 
vention or future Legislature of this State. The 

Countv Committee of Monmouth are directed 

* 

to take the said liond, and to judge of the .se- | 
curity. 

" Ordered, That Jacob Wardell pay twenty- 
eight Pounds seven Shillings and eleven Pence, I 
Proclamation money, being the expense of i\\)- 
prehending and bringing him before thi.s Con- , 
vention, and conducting him to the Sheriff of i 
Monmouth. 

"August 1. — Resolved, That it be recom- 
mended to the County Committee of ]Mon- 
mouth, and to the several Township Committees 
and Colonels of the battalions in the said 
County, that they a.ssist Captain Wikoff liy fur- 
nishing him with arms for his levies in General 
Heard's brigade, as flir as they may be able, to 
expedite the ecpiipmont of the .said levies. It 
is fiirther recommende<l to the .said Committees 
and Colonels that Captain "Wikoff be furnished 
with such of the arms and accoutrements taken 
from non-a.«soeiators, etc., within their bounds, 
as may be fit for service, he giving sufficient 
voucliers on receiving the said arms. 

" August 2. — Guisebert Guiscbertson, Captain 
of a company in the second battalion of toot 
militia in the County of Monmouth, having re- 
signed his commission for reasons mentioned 
in his letter ; Ordered, That his resignation be 
accepted. 

"The petition of sundry jx'rsons in the .sec- 
ond battalion of jNIonmouth ; read the sec-ond 
time, and referred to the same Connnittee. 

" The memorial of Captain Hankinson, of ; 
Monmouth, setting forth that he had raised a ! 
company of minute-men to continue in service 
for the space of two months, agreeable to the 
directions of the late Committee of Safety ; that 
the .said com])any had been calM to the Hunk on 
the arrival of Griici-al Howe; and praying that 



the said company may be paid for such service ; 
an account of which accompanied the aforesaid 
memorial; read, and referred to the Connnittee 
of Accounts." 

On the ITth of July the Congress ratified the 
Declaration of Independence by the adoption of 
this resolution^ — viz. : 

" Whereas, The Honorable Continental Congress 
have declared the United Colonies Free and Inde- 
pendent States: We, the Deputies of New Jersey in 
Provincial Congress assembled, do resolve and declare 
that we will support the freedom and independence 
of the said States with our lives and fortunes, and 
with the whole force of New Jersey." 

And on the following day it was by the same 
body 

" Besolved, That this House from henceforth, instead 
of the style and title of the Provincial Congress of 
New Jersey, do adopt and assume the style and title 
of the Convention of the State of New .Jersey." 

On the same day (July 18th) an ordinance 
was passed defining the crime of treason against 
the State of New Jersey, and making it ]iuni-i!- 
able " in like manner as by the ancient laws of 
this State," — that is, by the infliction of the per.- 
alty of death. 

The old colonial Legislature of Xew Jersey 
had held its sessions and (nominally) exercised 
its functions in 1775 until the 6th of December 
in that year, when Governor Fraidvlin pro- 
rogued the House, and this proved to be its dis- 
solution. The Governor, who was notoricaisly 
inimical to the American cause, issued his proc- 
lamation in the following ilay, calling a .session 
on June ■20th, but this was met by prompt ac- 
tion on the part of the Provincial Congress, 
which, on the 14th of June, 

" Resolved, That in the opinion of this Congress the 
Proclamation of William Franklin, late Governor of 
New Jersey, bearing date on the thirtieth day of Slay 
last, in the name of the King of Great Britain, ap- 
pointing a meeting of the General Assembly to be 
held on the twentieth day of this instant June, ought 
not to be obeyed."' 

This action had the desired effect ; the colonial 
Legislature never reassembled. On the 16th of 
June the Congress 

" Resohed, That in the opinion of this Congress the 
said William Franklin, Esquire, by such proclama- 



141) 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSF.Y. 



tion, has acted in direct contempt and violation of the 
resolve of the Continental Congress of the fifteenth of 
May last. That in the opinion of this Congress the 
said William Franklin, Esquire, has discovered him- 
self to be an enemy to the liberties of this country; 
and that measures ought to be immediately taken for 
securing the person of the said William Franklin, 
Esipiire." 

Ou the same day, orders were issued to Colo- 
nel Nathaniel Heard, of the First Battalion of 
Middlesex militia, to wait ou the Governor, to 
offer him a parole, by which he was to agree to 
reiiiaiu quietly at Princeton, Bordentowu or ou 
his farm at Raucocas (whichever he might elect), 
and, in case of his refusal to sign this parole, to 
arrest him. Ou the 17th, Colouel Heard and 
Major Deare proceeded to Amboy, waited on 
the Governor, offered him the ])aro]e, and, upon 
his refusal to sign it, surrounded his liouse with 
a guard of sixty men to hold him prisoner until 
further orders were received from Congress. 
The orders came to remove the Governor to 
Burlington, and he was accordingly taken there. 
Upon examination he was adjudged a violent 
enemy to his country and a dangerous pi'rsou, 
and he was theu placed in custody of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Bowes Read to await orders from the 
Continental Congress. On the 25th of June 
orders were received to send him, under guard, 
to Governor Trumbull, of Conuecticut, who was 
requested, in case of Franklin's refusal to sign a 
parole, to treat liim as a jirisoncr, agreeably to 
the resolutions of Congress applying to such 
cases. He was accordingly sent to Connecticut, 
placed in custody of Governor Trumbull, and 
never returned to this State. This was the end 
of the civil authority of King George in New 
Jersey. 

The constitution adopted on the 2d of July, 
1776, vested the government of the State in a 
Governor,' Legislative Council and General 
Assembly, the members of the Council and As- 
sembly to be chosen for the first time on the 
second Tuesday in tiie following August, and 
afterwards, annually, on the second Tuesday in 
October. The members elected in 1776, in con- 



' The constitution provided that the Governor should be 
elected annually by the Council and .Assembly in joint 

ballot. 



formity to these provisions, met in October of 
that year, and organized as the first Legislature 
of New Jersey under the State constitution, suc- 
ceeding to the powers and functions of the Pro- 
vincial Congress and the Convention of the State 
of New Jersey, and continuing to exercise those 
powers as a permaueut body. 

Although New Jersey had been actively en- 
gaged in military preparations from the time 
when the warlike news from Lexington sped 
across her hills and streams, it was not until 
the winter and spring of 1776 — the time when 
Washington sent his warning that the British 
commander in Boston was probably contemplat- 
ing the movement of his forcas to New York — 
that the people of this province began to realize 
the immediate danger of actual invasion, and 
that the lapse of a few weeks might whiten their 
valleys and highlands with the tents of a hostile 
army. 

It has already been mentioned that Avhen the 
designs of General Howe became apparent, the 
battalion of New Jersey Continental troops un- 
der Lord Stirling was moved from Elizabeth- 
town to New York, and that a regiment of min- 
ute-men under Colonel Charles Stewart was or- 
dered to march "with all possible expedition" 
to the same place, but was prevented from doing 
so by lack of the necessary arms. On the 1st 
of March, 1776, the Continental Congress com- 
missioned Lord Stirling a brigadier-general, and 
immediately afterwards he assumed command of 
all the troops at New York, General Lee hav- 
ing been ordered to other duty. On the 20th 
of March the force under Stirling's command ^ 
comprised his own New Jersey battalion (about 
five hundred men, sick and well), five hundred 
mimite-meu from Dutchess and ^ye5tchester 
Counties, N. Y., about two hinidred New Jersey 
militia,'' and two Connecticut regiments, under 
Colonels AVard and Waterbury, numbering in 
the aggregate about one thousand men, whose 

- In the evening of the 20th the command was assumed 
by Lord Stirling's senior, Brigadier-General Thompson, 
who had then just arrived from Philadelphia. A few days 
later, however, he was ordered to Canada, and the com- 
mand again devolved on Lord Stirling. 

^Collections of the New .Jersey Historical Society, vol ii. 
pp. 151. 152. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



141 



torra of service was then within a few day.s of its 
expiration. All of this force, except the neces- 
sary guards, was at that time employed in the 
erection of defensive works in and around New 
York and on Long Island, " assisted by about 
one thousand inhabitants of the city, who turned 
out on this occasion with great alacrity, the in- 
habitants and negroes taking their tour of duty 
regularly." The force was immediately after- 
wards augmented bv two other resriments from 
Connecticut, under Colonels Dyar and Wil- 
liams. 

For eight months following the time when 
General ^^'ashingtou assumed command ' of the 
American forces his army lay in fortified camps 
encircling the British post in Boston, which 
place he was fully determined to occupy, though 
he preferred to do so by forcing the enemy to 
evacuate rather than to risk the chances of l>at- 
tle. At first the British commander felt secure 
and confident of liLs ability to continue his occu- 
pation of the city, but in the winter of 1775-76 
Washington discovered strong indications of an 
intention on the part of the enemy to withdraw, 
and he so notified the Continental Conoress. 
He relaxed none of his vigilance, however, but 
pushed his military preparations with energy. 
The final movement which compelled the evac- 
uation was the occupation and fortifvino; of Dor- 
chester Heights during the night of the 4th and 
5th of ilarch. The morning of the oth revealed 
to the astonished eyes of General Howe a for- 
midable line of earthworks upon the crest, with 
cannon mounted on the ramparts commanding 
his position ; and from that moment he resolved 
on an immediate evacuation of the city. On 
the 7th, Howe called a council of war, at which 
it was decided to evacuate the place without 
delay. He had threatened to burn the town if 
his army was molested in its departure, and the 
terrified inhabitants (largely composed of loyal- 
ists) waited upon him, imploring him to spare 
it. The result was a promise on the j^artofthe 
British commander to leave the town unmolested 
if Washing-ton would allow him to depart in 
quiet. The American general, not unw'illing to 

'At Cambridge, .July 12, 1775. 



avoid bloodshed and the destruction of the place, 
tacitly consented ; and so, on the morning of 
Sunday, March J 7th, the British troops marched 
to the wharves and, embarking, took their final 
dei)arture. The fleet dropped down the bay to 
Nautasket Roads, where it lay at anchor for ten 
days, and then put to sea. 

Although it was announced that the British 
fleet, with Howe's army on board, was bound 
for Halifax, there to await reinforcements from 
England, General Washington suspected that its 
real destination was New York, and, leaving a 
suflicient force to occupy Boston, he put his 
army in motion for the former city, and arrived 
there in person on the 14th of April. He at 
once commenced active preparations for re])el- 
ling the expected enemy by strengthening the 
defensive works already erected by Lee and 
Lord Stirling, by constructing additional forti- 
fications at several points, by a thorough re<3r- 
gauization of his forces and by laying before 
Congress the urgent necessity of providing re- 
inforcement,*. 

On the 3d of June the Continental Congress 
resolved " That a flying camp be immediately 
established in the middle colonies, and that it 
consist of ten thousand men, ..." to be made 
up of militia furnished by Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land and Delaware ; and on the same day " He- 
solved, That thirteen thousand eight hundred 
militia be employed to reinforce the army at 
Xew York," of which number the quota assigned 
to New Jersey was three thousand three hun- 
dred men. On the 14tli of June the Congress 
of New Jersey passed an ordinance directing 
that this number of men, in forty companies, to 
com2)o.se five battalions, all to form one brigade, 
to be " immediately got in readiness and niarche<l 
to New York under the command of a brigadier- 
general," the battalions to be raised by volun- 
taiy enlistment, to contimie in service till the 1st 
of December following, unless sooner discharged. 
The quotas assigned to each of the counties, and 
the field-oflicers appointed to the command of 
the several battalions, wei'e as follows : 

One battalion to be made up of three com- 
jianies from each of the counties of Bergen and 
Essex, and two companies from Burlington. 
Oflicei"s : Philip Van Cortland, Colonel ; David 



142 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Brearly, Lientenant-C'olouel ; Richard Dey, 
Major. 

One hattaliou of tour eoiiipaiiies from each of 
the counties of Middlesex aud Moumouth, Of- 
ficers : Nathaniel Heard, Colonel ; David For- 
man, Lieutenant-C'olonel ; Thomas Henderson, 
M ajor. 

One battalion of four (■(impanies each from 
Morris and Sussex. Officers : Ephraim ]\Iar- 
tii), Colonel ; John Munsou, Lieutenaiit-Colo- 
uel ; Cornelius Ludlow, Major. 

One battalion composed of two companies 
from each of the couuties of Burlington, Cum- 
berland, Gloucester and Salem. Officers: Silas 
Newcoml), Colonel ; Bowes Reeil, Lieutenant- 
Colonel ; , Major. 

(3ne battalion composed of three companies 
from Somerset and five companies from Hun- 
terdon County. Officers : Stephen Hunt, Col- 
onel ; Philip Johnston, Lieutenant-Colonel j 
Joseph Phillips, Major. Dr. Cornelius Bald- 
win was appointed surgeon of this battalion. 

Joseph Reed was appointed brigadier-general 
and assigned to the brigade formed of these 
five battalions, but for some cause which does 
not appear, he did not assume the command, and 
on the 21st of Jnue the Congress "Ordered, 
That the President write to Genei-al Livingston 
and inform him that it is the desii-e of Congress 
that he would take the command of the militia 
destined for New York." He declined to ac- 
cept it, however, and on the 25th of the same 
month Colonel Nathaniel Heard, of Middlesex, 
was appointed brigadier-general and placed in 
command of the brigade, which, under him, was 
soon after marched to reinforce the army at New 
York. But on the 24th of July a letter ad- 
dressed by General AVashington to the Conven- 
tion of New Jersey ' was read before that body, 
informing them " that the brigade inider Gen- 
eral Heard was far from being complete, and 
u'.-oing the necessity of raisiua: and forwarding; 
the new levies destined to reinforce the army at 
New York ; " whereupon it was by the Con- 
vention " Ordered, That a letter be written to 
General Washina;ton informing: that several 



' Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of 
Safety, ITVS-'ie, page 618. 



companies were on their way to join the bri- 
gade ; and that this Convention will use its ut- 
most efforts to furuish its quota, and to give 
His Excellency such other aid as the weal of 
the United States may require and the condition 
of this State will admit." 

A\'hen the British commander, General Howe, 
evacuated Boston, in March, 177(3, he sailed 
M'itli his forces to Halifax, as had been an- 
nounced, with the intention of awaiting there 
the arrival of reinforcements from England. 
But, as these did not arrive at or near the time 
when they were expected, he became wearied by 
the delay, and on the 10th of June set sail 
from that port with the troops of his command, 
bound for Sandy Hook, where a part of the 
force arrived on the 25th of the same month, 
and were soon followed by others, including the 
commanding; general, who disembarked his 
array on Staten Island to await the arrival of 
the squadron from England, under command 
of his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, who en- 
tered the bay with part of his fleet on the 12th 
(if July; but it was not until the middle of 
August that the last of the reinf ircemeuts ar- 
rived. 

The appearance of Howe's forces on Staten 
Island caused great consternation through(nit 
New Jersey,^ particularly in the eastern jjortiou 

- In the '' Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Coun- 
cil of Safety," under date June, 1776, is found the follow- 
ing : " Congress received a letter from Colonel Taylor, of 
Monmouth, dated 10 o'clock in the forenoon of this day, 
informing that nineteen sail of the enemy's fleet [meaning 
the ships of General Howe fi'om Halifax, and not the men-of- 
war under Admiral Howe] lies at the Hook, and forty-live 
in sight ; read and refiled. Ordered, That the President 
write to the Continental Congress inclosing a copy of the 
above letter, and requesting a supply of powder." And 
in the proceedings of the same day is the following: "Cer- 
tain advice being received of the arrival of General Howe 
at Sandy Hook : Ordered, That all oflicers who have enlisted 
men properly armed, under the late ordinance for raising 
three thousand three hundred men within this Colony, 
proceed immediately with such numbers as they have col- 
lected, or can collect, witliout delay to New York, assign- 
ing a due proportion of officers to the men, that they may 
be ready, and leaving other officers, as occasion may re- 
quire, to collect tlie remainder. All officers, pnyniasters, 
and others are required to be diligent in their respective 
stations ; and all the friends of Liberty throughout the 
Colony are most earnestly entreated now to exert them- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



143 



of tlie State, aud this alarm was greatly in- 
creased and inteositied when the hay and all the 
adjacent waters heranie hlai'k with the almost ^ 
innumerable ships of the British fleet. The 
Tiirv element, too, which was hv no means in- 

7 7 

consideralile in numbers, became at once ram- 
j)ant,and was especially aggressive in the county 
of Monmouth, as has already been noticed. 
"With reference to the Tory bands in the county, 
the Provincial Congress, on the 26th of June, 
oi-dered that Colonel Charles Reed, with two com- 
panies of Burlington militia, proceed to capture 
them, taking also for the purpose all the 
militia nf Monmouth County, if fiuud neces- 
sary. 

The troops of the " Flying Camp," com- 
posed of men from Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Dehnvare, and under command of General 
Hugh Mercer, were stationed at Perth Aniboy,' 
and at points north of that place, opposite the 
we.st .shore of Staten Island. The nominal 
strength of this corps ^^■as ten thousand men, 
but it had never actually reached that figure, 
and now it had lieen materially reduced by de- 
tachments, amounting to two thousand men, 
sent t(i (Tcneral Washington, at Xew York ; so 
that at this critical time, when this portion of 
the New Jersey frontier was peculiarly liable to 
invasion by the army of Howe, the guarding 
force became wholly insufficient. In view of 
this imminent danger, the Continental Congress 

selves for the preservatiou of their country, their lives, 
liberties and property." It was under this order that 
■Gen. Heard moved his command in haste to New York, as 
before noticed. 

' On the 4th of .July, IVTC), General Washington wrote to 
the President of Congress with reference to the Flying 
•Camp, as follows : 

"The Camp will be in the neighborhood of Amboy . . . 
The disaifection of the people of that place and others not 
far distant is exceedingly great, and unless it be checked 
and overawed, it may become more general and very 
alarming. The arrival of the enemy will encourage it. 
They, or at least a part of them, are already landed on 
Staten Island, which is quite contiguous ; and about four 
thousand were marching about it yesterday as I have been 
advised, and are leaving no arts unassayed to giiin the in- 
habitants to their side, who seem but too favourably dis- 
posed. It is not unlikely that in a little time they may at- 
tempt to cross to the Jersey side, and induce many to join 
them, either from motives of interest or fe.ar, unless there 
. is a force to oppose them." 



passed a resolution requesting a levy of two 
thou.^and of the militia of New Jersey, to sup- 
])ly the places of an equal number of men .sent 
from the Flying Camp to General ^Yashingtou. 
This resolution was read on the 17th of July in 
the Provincial Congress, and on the following 
day an ordinance was passed by the Conven- 
tion ■ to the effect that " whereas the situation 
of New York, the vicinity of New Jersey to 
the enemy, and, above all, the arrival of Lord 
Howe, who, it is probable, will .speedily make 
some decisive movement, render it absolutely 
nece.s.sary that the most immediate and effectual 
steps be takeit to guard against the incursions ol" 
the British troops, and to .strengthen the tirmy 
of the United States : Semlved, therefore, 
unanimously, that two thousand of the militia 
of this State be immediately detached to supply 
the place of the like immber taken from the 
flying camp in New Jer.sey and ordered to New 
York." The force was to be composed of four 
battalions, an aggregate of thirty companies of 
sixty-four men each, besides officers, the whole 
to compose a brigade, under command of a 
brigadier-general, and to be in the Continental 
service. The quota of Monmouth was em- 
braced in the following : "One battalion to con- 
sist of three companies from the county of 
^Middlesex, three companies from the county of 
Monmouth (whereof Captain Stillwell's com- 
pany is to be one) and two companies from the 
county of Salem," George Taylor, of ^Ion- 
mouth, to be colonel of this battalion. 

Aaain, on the 22d of Julv, the Continental 
Congress, in view of the imminent danger of 
invasion, resolved to further increase the Flying 
Camp, and for this purpo.se desired the State of 
New Jersey " to augment its quota with three 
battalions of militia, in addition to those for- 
merly desired by Congress, and send them with 
all possible dispatch to join the flying camp." 
Upon being notified of this action, the ( 'onven- 
tion of New Jersey informed Congress that two 
thousand men had already been ordered de- 
tached from the militia of the State for the 

^ The name of that body having been changed on that 
day from "The Provincial Congress of Xew Jersey" to 
"The Convention of the State of New Jersey," as before 
mentioned. 



144 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



purpose mentioned; but beyond this it ti"ik no 
further action at that time. 

The feeling of ahirm, iiowever, rapidly in- 
creased, and on the 7tli of August the Conven- 
tion received notice of a resolve of Congress 
" recorainending to the State of Xew Jersey to 
order their militia immediately to mai'ch and 
join General fiercer." This had the effect to 
cause the Convention to pass (August 11th) an 
ordinance reciting that "the Convention, view- 
ing with serious concern the present alarming 
situation of this and their sister-States, that on 
a prudent use of the present moment depend 
their lives, their liberty and happiness, think it 
their indispensable duty to put the militia on 
such a footintr that their whole force mav be 
most advantageously exerted; and to call out 
the one-half into immediate service, to be re- 
lieved by the other monthly," and ordering 
that all able-bodied men in the State between 
the ages of sixteen and fifty, without exception, 
be immediately enrolled in companies and 
formed into two divisions, and " that the first 
division be immediately equipped with arms 
and every necessary accoutrement that can be 
obtained, and four days' jjrovisiou, and march 
with all disf)atch to join the flying camp in this 
State." This division consisted of thirteen bat- 
talions, made up of men drawn from the militia 
organizations of the several counties of the 
State; that containing Monmouth County men 
to be made up " from the battalions wliereof 
George Taylor, David Brearly and Daniel Hen- 
driekson. Esquires, are colonels." The best 
arms in the possession of all the militia of the 
State were taken to arm this First Divi.siou, 
and they were to be turned over to the Second 
Division when it should relieve the First, at 
the end of one month from the time when the 
latter was reported for duty with the Flying 
Camp. 

The ordinance closed by a rat)st stirring ap- 
peal to the people of New Jersey l)y the niem- 
liers of the Convention. They said, — 

" In this interesting situation, — viewing, on llie 
one hand, an active, inveterate and implacable 
enemy, increasing fast in strength, daily receiving 
large reinforcements, and industriously preparing to 
strike some decisive blow ; on the other, a consider- 



able part of the inhabitants supinely slumbering on 
the brink of ruin, — and moved with affecting appre- 
hensions, the Convention think it incumbent upon 
them to warn their constituents of the impending 
danger. On you, our friends and brethren, it de- 
pends, this day, to determine whether you, your 
wives, your children and millions of your descend- 
ants yet unborn, shall wear the galling, the ignomin- 
ious yoke of slavery, or nobly inherit the generous, 
the inestimable blessings of freedom. The alterna- 
tive is before you ! Can you hesitate in your choice ? 
Can you doubt which to prefer? . . . Happily, we know 
we can anticipate your virtuous choice. With con- 
fideut satisfaction we are assured that not a moment 
will delay your important decision ; that you cannot 
feel hesitation, whether you will tamely and degener- 
ately bend your necks to the irretrievable wretched- 
ness of slavery, or by your instant and animated ex- 
ertions enjoy the fair inheritance of heaven-born 
freedom, and transmit it, unimpaired, to your 
posterity." 

This language indicates clearly the intensitv 
of the alarm which then pervaded the public 
mind ; and the .facts above noticed show what 
preparations had been made by the people of 
New Jersey to meet the impending danger at 
the time when the neighboring hillsides of 
Staten Island were dotted with the camps of 
Howe's army, and its shores encircled bv tiie 
black hulls and menacing batteries of the Brit- 
ish fleet. 

It proved to be the de.sign of the British 
commander not to invade the territory of New 
Jersey, but to seize and occupy the western end 
of Long Island ; and he made no delay, after 
the arrival of the last of his reinforcements, in 
putting this design into execution. His army, 
consisting of British regulars and German 
mercenaries, amounted to about twentv-five 
thousand men, and with about ten thousand of 
them he crossed from Staten Island on the 22d 
of August and effected a landing between the 
settlements of New Utrecht and Gravesend. 
The American forces in and about New York 
numbered, nominally, about twenty-seven thou- 
sand men,' and, though they had offered no 
opposition to the landing of the enemy's col- 
umns, it was clear that a conflict between the 



' Nearly one-tliird of this number, however, were unfit 
for duty, by reason of sickness and other causes. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KK\ (M.UTION. 



145 



two armies; was iiicvitahk' and could not louir 
be delayed. 

Five days were spent in prei)aration on both 
sides. On the 25tli of ,Vuoust, general Put- 
nam succeeded General Sullivan in the com- 
mand of the American forces at Brooklyn, 
which had been reinforced by six regiments. 
Un the same day the German general De 
Heister landed two brigades of Hessians ou the 
island, and ou the 26th took possession at Flat- 
bush, which Lord Coruwallis had occupied 
with his division three days before. Thus tin 
American and British forces stood on the even- 
ing of the 26th, confronting e:ich other, and 
within striking distance. 

Before dawn, in the morning of the 27tli of 
August, the British columns, under Clinton, 
Percy and Grant, were put in motion in the 
direction of the American lines, and it was not 
long after daylight when their advance became 
warmly engaged with the troops under General 
Sullivan ; and then followed the general en- 
gagement known in history as the battle of 
Long Island, which raged until past noon of 
the day and resulted in the defeat of General 
Washingtun's army and the capture of Lord 
Stirling with his entire command, who were 
surrounded and made prisoners. Generals Sul- 
livan and WoodhuU were also among those 
taken by the enemy. The loss of the Ameri- 
cans was heavy, being admitted by General 
Wa.shingtou to exceed one thousand, and esti- 
mated by General Howe to be more than three 
times that number, including about eleven hun- 
dred prisoners. 

After this disastrous eugasemeut the Amcri- 
can forces remained in a fortified position con- 
fronting the enemy until the night of the 28th, 
when they were withdrawn and transported in 
safety across the East River to Xew York, tak- 
ing with them nearly all their military stores, 
and all their artillery except a few of the 
heavier pieces. The public stores were removed 
to Dobbs' Feny, on the Hudson, while the 
main part of the army, some ten or twelve 
thousand men, was marched to King's Bridge 
and there encamped. A force of between four 
and five thousand men was left in the city to 

keej) u]) a show (if defense, but not witli tlie 
1(1 



j intention of hokling it against any determined 
attack of the enemy in force. On the 12th of 

j September, General Washington, by the advice 
of a council of war, decided on the abaudon- 
ment of the city, and General Mercer, com- 
manding the Flying Camp, on the Xew Jersey 
side, was oi-dered to move up the i-i\'er to a 

' point opposite Fort M'ashington. 

On the loth of September, while the city 
was still partially occu[)ied by the American 
troops. General Howe conujieuce<l crossing the 
East Biver with his army under cover of a 
heavy fire from the men-of-war. Some of 
Washington's troops who occupied a fortified 
position near the place of landing fled in terror 
before the advance of the British and the can- 
nonade of their ships, and in their panic threw 
into confusion two brigades which were march- 
ing to their support. The result was a disor- 
derly and disgraceful retreat to the main bodv. 
No resistance was made, except a temporarv 
stand and sliuht skirmish at Bloominsdale, and 
all the heavy artillery, with a large part of the 
military stores and provisions, fell into the 
hands of the enemy. General Howe occupied 
the city Avith a comparatively small force, and. 
moved the main part of his army northward 
and established his lines, stretching from 
Bloomingdale across the island to the East 
River. 

After the defeat on Loug Island and the re- 
treat to King's Bridge the American army was 
reduced to a state of most discouraging demor- 
alization. In reference to its condition. General 
^\'ashiugton, in a letter addressed to Congress 
in September, 177(), used this language: 

" Our situation is truly ilistressiiig. The check to 
our detachment on the 27th ultimo has dispirited too 
great a proportion of our troops and filled their minds 
with apprehension and despair. The militia, instead 
of calling forth their utmost ett'orts to a briive and 
manly opposition, in order to repair our losses, are 
dismayed, intractable and impatient to return. 
Great numbers of them have gone ofl', — in some in- 
stances almost by whole regiments, in many by half 
ones and by companies, at a time. This circumstance 
of itself, independent of others, when fronted by a 
well-appointed enemy, superior in number to our 
whole collected force, would be sufficiently disagree- 
able, but when it is added that their example has in- 
fected another part of the army, tliat tlioir want of 



146 



IIISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNXy, NEW JliRSEY. 



discipline and ivl'iisal oi almost every kind uf restraint 
and government have rendered a like conduct but too 
common in the whole, aud have produced an entire 
disregard of that order aud subordination necessary 
lor the well-doing of an army, and which had been 
before inculcated as well as the nature of our military 
establishment would admit, our condition is still 
more alarming ; and with the deepest concern I am 
obliged to confess my want of contidence in the gen- 
erality of the troops." 

Aud he added iu eilect that all these facts 
l)ut confini.ed his previous opiuiou that uo de- 
pendence cuidd be placed iu militia, or in any 
troops other than those eulisted for a long term, 
and that in his belief the American cause was 
in great danger of being lost if its defense was 
intrusted to any but a permanent army. Upon 
this representation Congress adopted measures 
for the immediate raising and organization of 
such a permanent army, to consist of eighty- j 
eight battalions of seven hundred and fifty men 
each, to be furnished by the several States. 
Four of these battalions were assigned to New 
Jerspy as her quota. 

From the time when General Howe moved 
his forces across the East River from Long 
Island to New York, the two opposing armies 
remained on the east side of the Hudson for 
about two months, during which time there 
occurreil a great amount of skirmishing (fre- 
quently resulting favorably for the Americans) 
and a series of minor engagements, sometimes 
called the battle of White Plains,^ resulting 
from an attempt on the part of the British 
commander to flank the American position. 
This attcm])t finally jtroved successful, and the 
Americau army was thus placed in great peril, 
having its line of retreat cut oif; so that, iu the 
event of a general engagement, it must proba- 
bly have beeu destroyed. In this state of 
affairs, a council, of war was held (November 
6th), at which it was decided that the army 
should be moved across the Hudson into New 
.Ier.sey, those of the forces which were raised on 
the west side of that river to cross first, and 
afterwards the others, with more or less rapidity, 
as nece.ssity might require. A small force. 



however, was to be left at Fort Washington to 
hold that work, which, in conjunction with 
Fort Lee, on the opposite side of the river, was 
expected to be able to prevent the free passage 
of the British ships up aud down the river. 
This view of the case was urged upon the 
council by General Greene, but was disapproved 
of and warmly opposed by General Lee, who 
had then just returned to this army from a suc- 
ce.ssfu] campaign iu the South. But, unfortu- 
nately, his advice was overrtded in the council, 
and a force was left to hold the fort. 

The crossing of the Hudson River by the 
greater part of the armv was effected on the 
12th anil 13th of November, Washington him- 
self crossing on the latter day. General Lee 
was left on the east side with about three thou- 
.saud men,- with orders to join Washington iu 
New Jersey if the enemy should show indica- 
tions of moving in that direction. 

Fort Washington had been reiuforced by de- 
tachments from General Mercer's Flying Camp, 
augmenting its defending force from twelve 
hundred to about three thousand men. It was 
almost completely surrounded by the enemy, 
who had determined on its captiu-e. 

On the 15th of November, Howe sent a 
summons to Colonel ]Magaw, the commander at 
the fort, to surrender, threatening to give no 
quarter if refused. The summons, however, 
^vas disregarded, aud on the 16th heavy masses 
of British and Hessian troojis moved to the as- 
sault of the work, which, after several hours of 
fio-htini', was surrendered, with two thousand 
six hundred^ men as prisoners of war. 

Washington, on cro.ssing the river into Jersey, 
had established his headquarters at Hackensack, 
five miles in the rear of Fort Lee, and at the 
same place were the headquarters of General 
Greene, who was in command of the troops 



I October 20-29, 1776. 



2 The term of service of a large part of Lee's men was 
then about ex|iiring, aud, as they could not be induced to 
re-eulist,this force was soon afterwards greatly reduced by 
their return to their liomes. 

3 This number, given by Howe in his report, included 
about two thousand regular troops and five or six hundred 
militia and stragglers. Washington stated the number cap- 
tured to be two thousand, in which he probably only in- 
cluded the Continent.ll troops. 



MONMOUTH COUNTi: IxV THE 11E\'0LL'TI0N. 



147 



wliieli liad crosst'd in that vicinity. On the 
18th of November, two davs after the fall of 
Fort Wa^^hington, the first actual invasion of 
the State of New Jersey by British troops was i 
oonimeneed bv Lord Cornwallis, whose division, 
six thousand strong, crossed the river to Closter 
Lauding, and, marching thence down the river, 
proceeded to the attack of Fort Ijee, the gai-ri- I 
son of which evacuated the work in haste' and I 
retreated to the main body of the American 1 
army, at Hackensack, leaving their baggage and j 
the military stores at tlie fort in the hands of 
the enemy. 

The army which (icneral Washington then 
iiad with him in Xew Jersey amounted to no 
more than three thousand etfective men, exclu- 
.sive of the Flying Camp, which was .stationed 
in the neighborhood of Bergen, and still under 
command of General fiercer. The troops of 
this last-mentioned corps had only been enlisted 
for a term to close on the 1st of December, 
which was then but a few days distant ; and 
not only was there very little probability that 
any considerable number would remain after 
that time, but a great many of them had al- 
ready left and returned to their homes. Nearly 
the .same was true of the forces with which 
Washington had crossed the Hudson, which 
Mas daily growing less as the general feeling of 
despondency increased. The commaudei-in- 
chief sent orders to General Lee, who was still 
east of the Hudson, to cross that river into 
New Jersey and hold his command in readiness 
to give as.si.stance in case the enemy should — as 
it was now nearly certain he would — advance 
to the interior of the State. Orders were also 
sent to (ieneral Schuyler to move his troops — 
among whom were those under command of 
General ISIaxwell," including a numljer of men 
from ilonmouth County — from Lake Cham- 

' Genei-al Washington had decided, inimediately upon 
the fall of Fort Washington, to evacuate Fort Lee and re- 
move its stores to the interior of Sew Jersey, but the 
promptness of Cornwallis' movements prevented the exe- 
cution of the plan ; consequently, the stores and material 
were lost. .\s the evacuation had already been decided 
on, of course no defense was intended, and none was 
made. 

' Colonel JIaxwell h.ad been appointed brigadier-general 
in the Continental army in the preceding October. 



plain to New Jersey to the aid of A\'ashington ; 
but these succors were distant, and it must be 
long before they could arrive at the j)oint of 
danger. General Wa.shington wrote to Gover- 
nor Livingston, of Now Jersey, setting forth 
his pressing need of reinforceraeuts, and asking 
that every endeavor might be used to send men 
to him in the least ])ossii)le time; but there was 
very little probability that any new troops 
could then be raised. 

The American army was advantageously 
])osted on the right bank of the Hackensack 
Kiver, but, as its effective strength was scarcely 
more than mic-half that of Cornwallis' corps 
alone (to sav nothing of the other divisions of 
the British army), any attempt to hold the line 
of the Hackensack was evidently usele.ss ; and 
so, when Cornwallis moved up from Fort I^ee to 
confront him. General Washington immediately 
retired and set his coluiTins in motion for New- 
ark, which he reached on the 22d of November, 
and remained there until the 28th of the .same 
month, when, on the approach of Cornwallis' 
advance-guard, the patriot forces left the town 
and continued their retreat to New Brunswick, 
where Wa,shingtou had hoped to make a stand. 
In this he was .sorely disappointed, for with an 
active and energetic enemy pressing on his rear, 
it would require all his forces, to the last man, 
to enable him to dispute their advance with 
anything like a hope of success, and even then 
the odds against him would be discouraging. 
But he could not retain even the meagre force 
which he had brought with him thus far, for the 
terms of service of several of the commands 
(among them the brigades from Maryland and 
New Jer.sey^) had expired, and neither arguments 
I nor threats could prevent the men composing 
1 them from disbanding themselves and returning 
1 to their homes. Without them it was imprac- 
ticable to oppose the enemy's advance ; and so, 

^ The Pennsylviinia militia of the Flying Camp, whose 
term also expired on the 1st of December, had engaged to 
remain in service till the 1st of January ; notwithstanding 
which, they deserted in such numbers that it was found 
necessary to send guards to patrol the shores ofthe Delaware 
to intercept the fugitives on their way to their homes and 
bring them back to the army. Many of them, however, 
evaded the guards and made their way successfully into 
Pennsylvania. 



14S 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



oil Sunday, the 1st of December, — the day ou 
which tlicir enlistments expired, — the remnant 
of the army left Now Brunswick, and, crossing 
the Millstone River at Rocky Hill, made its 
way to Princeton, the advance arriving there 
the same evening. A stop of several days was 
made at this place. 

At New Brunswick, Cornwallis had halted 
his columns in obedience to an order from Gen- 
eral Howe to proceed no farther than that point 
until he should be reinforced by other com- 
mands of the British army. Washington, aware 
of this, left behind him in Princeton, when he 
moved thence to Trenton, a force consisting of 
the remnants of two brigades, — in all, twelve 
lumdred men, — in order to make a show of de- 
fense, hoping thereby to delay the advance of 
the British general, and to give renewed confi- 
dence to the people of the surrounding countiw. 
This detachetl force was under command of 
Lord Stirling, who, taken prisoner by the en- 
emy at Long Island, as before mentioned, had 
been exchanged and returned to his com- 
mand in the American army a short time 
before it crossed the Hudson River into New 
Jersey. 

Immediately after entering this State, General 
Washington, in view of the rapid diminution of 
his army, had dispatched General Mifflin to Penn- 
sylvania to urge the hurrying forward of troops, 
and he had been so far successful that fifteen 
hundred men had been sent from Philadelphia, 
besides a German battalion ordered thence by 
Congress. These troops joined General AVashing- 
ton on his arrival at Trenton, and, upon being 
thus strengthened, the commander-in-chief or- 
dered a large part of his force to march back on 
the road to Princeton, to further deceive the 
British by the appearance of a general advaiu'c 
to meet them. Before the column reached 
Princeton, however, he received word that 
Lord Cornwallis, having been strongly rein- 
forced from Howe's army, was already on the 
move from New Brunswick, and marching his 
troops rapidly by several roads with the evident 
intention of gaining the rear of the American 
army, and thus securing its destruction. This 
intelligence caused Washington to decide at 
once on a retreat to and across the Delaware 



River, and accordingly he turned the faces of 
his men once more towards that stream. 

The main body of Cornwallis' troops marched 
rapidly and confidently from New Brunswi<^k 
to Princeton, and on their approach Lord Stir- 
ling, knowing that an attempt at defense with 
his weak force would be useless, evacuated the 
town and marched rapidly towards Trenton, 
with the pursuing column of British and Hes- 
sians close in his rear, — so near, says Lossing, 
in his " Field-Book of the Revolution," that 
" often the music of the pursued and the pur- 
suers would be heard by each other ;" but this 
is doubtless drawn from the imagination, as 
there is little probability that the tattered, shoe- 
less and dispirited army of Washington, in its 
flight, moved to the sound of any music other 
than that of the howling of the winds of De- 
cember. On the 8th of that month the Amer- 
ican army was moved across the Delaware, the 
last man of Lord Stirling's rear-guard reaching 
the Pennsylvania shore in safety at about mid- 
night, just as the head of the Hessian column 
entered Trenton. The main body of the Brit- 
ish force halted a few miles before reaching tiie 
town. 

The American army which crossed the Dela- 
ware into Pennsylvania numbered about two 
thousand two hundred men, but two or three 
days later this force was further reduced by the 
departure of about five hundred whose terms 
of service had then expired. But even then 
Washington did not despair. General Gates at 
the North and General Heath at Peekskill had 
been ordered to join him with their troops with 
all possible dispatch, and expresses were sent 
out through Pennsylvania, Delaware and Mary- 
land urging the militia to mardi to him without 
delay ; and it was believed that by these means 
a sufficient force might be collected to enable 
him to resume offensive operations at no distant 
day. Probably he had already conceived th<- 
2)lan ^vhich he afterwards executed so success- 
fidly at Trenton. 

The position of Wa.shington on the Pennsyl- 
vania side of the Delawai'e was one of safety for 
his troops, — at least for a time. He made his 
dispositions at once by posting Generals I^ord 
Stirling, De Fermoy, Stephens and ^Mercer. 



.^[OXMOUTH C'OT'NTV IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



149 



witli their brigades, at ditterent jxiiiits along the 
river from Yardley's to Coryell's Ferry (Lam- 
hertville), witii the remainiug troops of the Fly- 
ing Camp, under General Irvine, to guard (as well 
as their feel)le strength would permit) the west 
bank of the river from Yardley's to the point 
opposite Bordentown. The Pennsylvania mi- | 
litia, under Colonel Cad wal lader, was posted along j 
the Xeshaminy, and the Third Philadelphia Bat- \ 
talinn, under Colonel Xix(»n,oeeupiedaposition at 
Durck's Ferrv. General Putnam was sentto as- 
sume command at Philadelphia, and to take im- 
mediate measures for fortifying the approaehes 
to the city. Defensive works were rapidly ' 
thrown up at the most exposed points on the 
river from Coryell's to ^McConkey's Ferry. 
Special orders were given to the several brigade 
commanders holding this section of the shore to J 
exercise sleepless vigilance in guarding every 
prat^ticable crossing-place, and to be prepared 
to support one another promptly in case of: 
einergencv ; and finally, in case the worst ' 
sliDuld come and tiie army be forced back from 
the Delaware, the several commands were or- 
deri'd to retreat to a general rendezvous at Ger- 
mantown. 

The British army in New Jersey was posted 
in detachments alontr a very extended line. I 
Tiie largest force was at Xew Brunswick, which j 
was their principal depot of military stores. A 
stroug detachment was stationed at Princeton ; , 
another, consisting of one thousand five hundred | 
Hessians and a troop of cavalry, at Trenton ; a I 
body of troops of about equal strength was at 
Bordentown, under Count Donop; and smaller 
detachments occupied Black Horse, jNIount 
Holly and several other posts, extending below j 
Burlington. The chief command in Xew Jer- 
sey was held by Lord Cornwallis, General Howe j 
remaining at his headquarters in Xew York. 

Having been reintbrced by the forces of 
Generals Sullivan and Gates and by a consider- 
al)le number of troops from other quarters, 
Washington immediately prepared to execute 
the plan which he had for some time had in 
contemplation, — viz., to reoross the Delaware ! 
by night and march rapidly to Trenton, in the 
hope of surprising, and possibly of ca]ituring, 



the force of about fifteen liumlred Hessians 
which then occupied that post in winter-quarters. 
His plan also contemplated simultaneous at- 
tacks by other detat^hmente of his army on 
the several British posts along the Delaware 
below Trenton ; but that part which had refer- 
ence to the surprise of Trenton was regarded as 
of the most importance, and this was to be un- 
der tiie personal supervision of the commander- 
in-chief. The time fixed on for its execution 
was on the ni":ht of the 25th and mornino- 
of tiie 26th of December, because, knowing 
the convivial habits of the German soldiers and 
tiie universal custom among them of celebrat- 
ing Christmas with bacclianaliaii revelry, he 
believed that in the unheralded visit which he 
jiroposed to make in the early morning of the 
26th he would find the guards less vigilant than 
usual, and both officers and soldiers in poor 
fighting condition, as a result of the previous 
night's debauch. Tlic plan was an excellent one, 
and the secrecy with wliicli it was carried out 
seems remarkable, particularly when it is re- 
membered that the Jersey shore of the Del- 
aware at that time was infested by a great 
number of Tories, all closely watching the 
movements of the patriots on the otlier side, 
and eager to carry in all haste any information 
they might obtain to the nearest British post. 

The means for transporting the troops across 
the Delaware were furnished b}' the boats 
^vhich had previously been collected on that 
river and the Lehigh. Among those collected 
for the purpose were sixteen Durham ' boats 
and fi)ur scows, sent down by General Ewing 
to McConkey's Ferry,- which was to be tlie 
])iace of crossing. There, on the evening of 
tlie 25th of December, as soon as the early night- 
fall of winter had settled down upon hill and 
river, the troops destined for the expedition 
were mustered in silence and insjiected by 



' So called because this particular kind of boat was first 
constructed to transport iron on the Delaware from the 
Durham furnaces to Philadelphia. They were very large. 
Hat-bottomed, and rounded at bow and stern, instead of 
being square at the ends like scows. 

^Now known as "Washington's Crossing" on the New 
.leisey side and Taylorsville on the Pennsylvania side of 
the river. 



150 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Waffliinirtoii and his greiierali?. The commautler- 
in-eliiet' had expected to land liis army on the 
Jersi'v side with but little delay and to reaeh 
Trenton by midnight ; but the river was filled 
with masses of floating ice, and the ^\eather 
Avas so th.iek, by reason of a storm of snow and 
gleet whieh had just eommenced, that it hardly 
seemed practicable to cross at all , and when it 
was decided to move forward regardless of these 
obstacles, tlie transportation was found to be so 
slow and dilBcult that it was not until nearly 
four o'clock in the morning that the last of the 
troops and cannon were landed in safety on the 
eastern shore. 

The exjieditionary corps, consisting of two 
thousand four hundreil men, with ten pieces of 
artillery, was marched in a body, by way of the 
"Bear Tavern," to Birmingham (between four 
and five miles from Trenton), where it was 
halted, and the men took some refreshment.' 
The force was then divided into two columns, — 
one, under General Sullivan, taking the river 
road, and the other, under General Green, with 
Generals fiercer, Stevens and Loi'd Stirling, 
and accompanied by the commander-in-chief, 
moving to and down the Scotch road to its 
junction with the Pennington road, and thence 
down the latter to Trenton. 

The march of the two columns -was so well 
planned and ordered that Ijoth reached the 
enemy's outposts at Trenton at almost exactly 
the same time, Sullivan coming in from the 
west and Wa.shington and Greene from the 
north. At a few minutes before eight o'clock^ 
the Hessian encampments came into view, and, 
at the sight, Washington, riding to the head of 
the troops and pointing with his sword towards 



Trenton, shouted, "There, soldiers, you see the 
enemies of your country, and now all I have to 
ask is that you rememlier what you are abont to 
fight for. March!" They moved forward 
with great impetuosity, drove in the outposts, 
and in a few minutes had possession of all the 
British artillery. The brave Colonel Rahl, the 
Hessian commander, surprised, and not vet re- 
covei'ed from the effects of his Christmas pota- 
tions, rushed frantically out of his quarters and 
mounted his horse to form his men for defense, 
but he almost immediately received a mortal 
I wound ;^ and, as further resistance then appeared 
hopeless, the place, with its troops (except such 
as had escaped and fled towards Princeton and 
Bordentowu)and military .stores, surrendered to 
the American commander. The captures made 
by the Americans at Trenton comprised six 
brass field-pieces, one thousand stand of arms, 
four colors and nine hundred and nine pris- 
oners, of whi(^h latter twenty-three were com- 
missioned officers. In reference to the losses in 
action of the British and American forces re- 
spectively. General Washington said, in his re- 
port, — " I do not know exactly how many they 
had killed, but I fancy not above twenty or thirty, 
as they never made any regular stand. Our loss 
is very trifling indeed — only two officer? and 
one or two privates wounded. ' 

The plan of Washington in recro.ssing the 
Delaware had contemplated the probabilitv, that, 
in the event of success at Trenton, he might be 
able to maintain his jmsition in New Jersey ; 
but, on account of the inability of Ewing and 
Cadwallader to cross the river, as was expected, 
there Avere still left at Bordentown, Mount Holly 



' "General Washington with his army halted at the house 
of Benjamin Moore at Birmingham and ate a piece of mince- 
pie and drank a glass of cider, his men also partook of 
some refreshments before marching into Trenton." — 
Jianm. 

- \Vashinglon, in his official report of the Trenton fight, 
said, '* The upper division arrived .at the enemy's advanced 
post exactly at eight o'clock ; and in three minutes after I 
found from I he fire on the lower road that the division had 
got up. The out-guards made but a small opposition, though, 
for their numbers, they behaved very well, keeping up a 
constant retreating fire from behind houses. We presently 
saw their main body formed, but from their motions they 
seemed undetermined how to act.'' 



'■■ Colonel Kahl, the Hessian commander, whose iiead- 
quarters were at the City Tavern, corner of Warren and 
Bank Streets, opposite Still's Alley, was mortally wounded 
during the early part of the engagement, being shot from 
his horse while endeavoring to form his dismayed and 
disordered troops. When, supported by a file of sergeants, 
he presented his sword to General Washington (whose 
countenance beamed with complacency at the success of the 
day), he was pale and bleeding, and in broken accents 
seemed to implore those attentions which the victor was 
well disposed to bestow upon him. He was taken to his 
headquarters, where he died.'' — Riium^s '' Ilidorij of Tren- 
ton." 

The shot that killed Rahl was said to have been fired by- 
Colonel Frederick Frelinghuysen. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



151 



and other points lielow TiTnton and within 
^;t^i icing distance several British detachments 
which were collectively far stronger than the 
American force which conld be mustered to 
liold tiieni at hay. Under these circum.stancos, 
Washington thought it his only prudent course to 
return with his army to the west side of the 
river ; and this he did without delay, remaining 
in Trenton only a few hours to allow his men 
sufficient time for rest and refreshment. In the 
afternoon of the 26th the columns were again 
put in motion and marched back by the route 
over wiiich they had come in the morning, and, 
recrossing at McConkey's Feriy \vith their 
prisoners and captured material, were all safely 
quartered before midnight in the camp which 
thev had left in the evening of the jirecediug 
day. 

But though he had found it expedient to re- 
tire to his strong position on the Pennsylvania 
shore after the victory at Trenton, ^^'ashington 
had by no means abandoned his plan of repcs- 
sessino- West Jeisev, and he at once commencetl 
preparations for a second expedition to that 
end. On the 29th of December — only three 
days after the Trenton exploit — he wrt)te from 
his headquarters at Xevrtown, Pa., to Con- 



" I iiui just setting out to attempt a second pa.-:sage 
over the Delaware with the troops that were with me 
on the morniug of the 26th. General Cadwallader 
crossed over on the 27th, and is at Bordentown with 
about one thousand eight hundred men. General 
Mifflin will be to-day at Bordentown with about one 
thousand six hundred more. . . . In view of the meas- 
ures proposed to be pursued, I think a fair opportunity 
is offered of driving the enemy entirely from Jersey, 
or at least to the extremity of the province. 

In anticipatinii of the projected resinnption 
of operations in New Jersey, orders had been 
sent to General Heath, who was still at Peeks- 
kill-on-the-Hudson, to leave only a snrall de- 
tachment of his troops at that place, and to 
move at once with his main body, cross into 
New Jersey, and march towards the British 
cantonment, to divert their attention, but with- 
out intending an attack. General William 
Maxwell, who in the retreat through this State 
had been left at Morristown with a considerable 



force (in which was included a considerable 
number of Monmouth County soldi(!rs), was 
ordered to advance his troo]3s towards New 
Briuiswick, as if threatening an attack, and 
harass all the contiguous jjosts of the encujv 
as much as possil)le ; and finally. Generals Cad- 
wallader and Mifflin, at Bordentown and Cross- 
wicks, were directed to hold their forces (then 
amounting to more than three thousand five 
lumdred men) in constant readiness to reinforce 
the main body imder Washington when it 
should make its appearance at Trenton. These 
dispositions having been made, and all prepani- 
tions completed, Washington moved his army 
across the Delaware into New Jersey on the 
;10th of Deci'mber, and marched to Trenton. 
At this point he was under serious embarrass- 
ment, for the terms of service of a large part of 
the Eastern militia expired on the 1st of Janu- 
ary, and it was very doubtful whether they 
could be persuaded to remain. The arguments 
of the commander-in-chief, however, were suc- 
cessful in prevailing on tliem to continue for an 
additional term fif six weeks, in view of the 
brightening j)rospects of the American cause 
and the promise of a bounty of ten dollars per 
man. There was no money in the military 
chest to pay these promised bounties, but Wa-li- 

ino-ton at once sent a messenger to Robert 
I ... 

Morris, at Philadelphia, asking him to supply 

the means, if possible; and that patriotic finan- 
cier prom]itly responded by sending fifty thou- 
sand dollars in cash, liorrowed from a rich 
(Quaker, on Morris' individual note, and the 
pledge of his honor to repay it. 

At the time of the Hessian disa.ster at 
Trenton tlu: British forces in New Jersey were 

' under conmiaud of General Grant, whose head- 
quarters were at New Brunswick. I^ord Corn- 
wallis was at New York, making preparations 
to sail for England, in the belief that the rebel- 
lion was virtually crushed and the war nearly 
over. I'pon receipt of the amazing news frfun 
Trenton, he at once relin<|uished his voyage, 
returned to New Jersey, and put his troops in 
motion towards Trenton. The British post at 
Bordentown, ])reviously held by a strong force 
under Count Donop, had been abandoned on 

! the 27th of December, and the troops which 



152 



HLSTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



had been statioiKicl there retreated to Pruiceton, 
where they joined the force of General Leslie, 
jind threw up defensive earthworks. When 
( .'ornwallis advanced from New Brunswick, the 
force at Princeton, exceptini;' three rcainieiits 
under Colonel Mawhood, joined the main col- 
umn, which moved towards Trenton, and 
arrived tiicre about four o'clock in the after- 
noon of Thursday, the 2d of January, 1777. 

The two hcstile armies which then and there 
<-oufronted each other were each about five 
thousand strong, but one-half the force of 
A\^ashingt(iu ' wa.s made up of undisciplined 
militia, while that of his adversary included 
many of the finest troops of the British army. 
Before the advance of C<irnwallis, Washington's 
forces retired across the bridge to the south side 
of Assanjiink Creek, where it was soon after- 
wards joined by (rcneral Greene's division, 
which had been sent out to roeonnoitrc and 
skirmish with the enemy, hoping to so delay 
his movements that no engagement would be 
brought on until morning. But the British 
regulars promptly drove Greene's detachment 
into Trentt)n and across the Assanpink, and 
then with very little delay moved in two col- 
umns, one down Green Street towards the 
bridge, and the other down Main Street to- 
wards the point where the lower bridge now 
stands, intending to force a passage over the 
bi-idge and across the ford; but they v.'cre 
n^pulsed by the vigorous fire of Washington's 
artillery, which, being posted on .the high south- 
ern bank of the stream, was so effective that 
the assailants failed to cross, and were com- 
pelled to retire, but with what loss is not 
known.^ After the failm-e of this attempt of 



' Cadwallader and MifHin, with their forces from Borden- 
town, had joined Washington on tiie niglit of the 1st of 
January. 

-The "battle of Assanpink" has freiiuently been de- 
scribed as a fearfnl conflict, in which the stream was filled 
with the bodies of slain IJritish soldiers. That this is a gross 
L'saggeration, and that there was really no battle at all (but 
merely a brisk cannonade from the American artillery on 
the south bank, preventing the enemy from crossing the 
stream), is pretty clearly shown by an authority as high as 
General Washington himself, in the report which he made to 
Congress, dated Pluckaniin, January o, 1777, in which, re- 
ferring to this affair, he says, " On the2d, according to my 
expectations, the enemy began to advance upon us : and 



the British to cross, the Americans kept up 
tlieir artillery fire till dark, and the British 
withdrew to the hiaher ground in the outskirts 
of tlie to^\■u, along the Princeton road, where 
Cornwallis established his headquarters, and 
directed dispositions to be made for a renewal 
of the battle in the itiorning, when, he said, he 
would "catch tiiat old fox," Washington, whom 
he imagined he had now so securely entrapped 
beyond the Assanpink. But his boast ftiiled 
most signally of its execution. 

The situation of Washington was now peril- 
ous in the extreme, for nothing could be more 
certain tlian that Cornwallis would renew the 
battle in the morning, and it was almo.st equally 
certain that in such an event, the victory would 
be with the disciplined soldiers of Britain. If 
such should be the result, the American army 
could hai'dly escape the alternative of surrender 
or annihilation, for a retreat across the Delaware 
in presence of such tin enemy would be impos- 
sible. Immediately tifter dark a council of war 
was called, at which were assembled the com- 
mander-in-chief and Generals Greene, Sullivan, 
Knox, Mercer, St. Clair, Dickinson, Stevens, 
Cadwallader, ilifflin, Stark, Wilkinson and 
others. Some of the more impetuous officers 
advised a stand for battle in their present posi- 
tion; others favored a retreat down the left 
bank of the Delaware, and a crossincr of the 
river at Philadelphia under protection of the 
guns of General Putnam ; but the plan which 
was adopted was that of a ra]iid night- move- 
ment around the enemy's fiank to his rear, and 
a sudden attack on the British force at Prince- 
ton, which consisted of only three regiments of 
cavalry and three squadrons of dragoons. The 
execution of this plan was singularly favoretl 
bv Providence, for, even while the council of 



after some skirmislnng the heail of their column reached 
Trenton about four o'clock, whilst their rear was as far 
back as Maidenhead. They attempted to pass Sanpink 
Treek, which runs through Trenton, but finding the fords 
guarded, hailed and kindled their fires. We were drawn 
up on the other side of the creek. In this situation we re- 
mained until dark, commanding the enemy and receiving 
the fire of their field-pieces, which did us but little 
damage.'' This is all the mention made by the commander- 
in-chief, in his official report, of the so-called ••battle of 
.\ssanpink." 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IX Till; llE\'OI,l TION. 



153 



war was engaged in its deliberations, the 
Weather, wliicli had been \\arni during the day, 
turned suddenly cold; so that in a few hours 
the muddy niads were frozen sufEcienth^ hard 
to bear up the artillery, and greatly to facilitate 
the marching of the ti'oops. 

The movement to Princeton beine- decided 
on, its immediate execution was ordered. The 
("iTup-tircs of the American army along the shore 
of the Assanpiuk were kept brightly burning, 
and were re|)lenisiicd with fresh fuel about mid- 
night ; and soon afterwards, leaving the sentinels 
on their ])osts, to delude tlie cneniv, the forces 
were all put in motion, and marched rapidlvl)ut 
silently a\\ay in the darkness. The baggage- 
train of the army was sent away quietly on the 
road to Burlington. The route taken led, bv 
way of .Sandt(iwn, across Miry Run, and, farther 
u]), acros.s the .\ssanpink, around the left flank 
of the British army ; then, veering to the left, 
along the "Quaker road" to and across Stonv 
lirook, where the main column left the highway 
and took a by-road pa.ssing through lowlands 
directly to Princeton ; Ayliile General Mercer, 
with about three hundred and fifty men and two 
])ieces of artillery under Captain Neal, continued 
along the Quaker road, with orders to proceed 
to Worth's Mill and take possession of the bridge 
by which tlu' old road from Princeton to Trenton 
(Tossed Stony Brook. 

The march of the American fjrces had lieen 
slow dui'ing the two or three hours immediately 
following their departure from their camp on 
the Assanpiuk, because on that part of their route 
they had been compelled (in order to avoid the 
outposts of the enemy's left flank) to traverse a 
new road, from which the logs and stumps had 
not been cleared. But the last part of their 
march hail been made very rapidly over the 
hard-frozen highway ; so that when the sun rose 
they were already Hearing Princeton. And 
never was a sunrise more aaspicious than that 
which sent its rosy rays through the frosty air on 
the morning of the 3d of January, 1777. To 
Cornwallis at Trenton' it revealed the mortify- 



ing fact that the " fo.\ " had escaped from his 
trap, and the unpleasant truth was soon after 
emphasized by the dull sound of distant artillery 
coming from the northward. 'i\j the eyes of 
Washington and his officers that simrise was 
wflcome, for it showed them the jxisition of the 
foes they had come to seek ; and it lighted them 
on their way to one of the most important vic- 
tories achieved in the war for independence. 

The British troo])s in Princeton were a bodv 
of cavalry and the (Seycnteenth, Fortieth and 
Fifty-flfth Infantry Regiments of the line, all 
under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Maw- 
hood. He had during the night received orders 
to march at daylight with the greater part of his 
command for Trenton, to give his a,«sistance in 
the battle which Cornwallis intended to open 
along the shores of the .Vssaupink on the morn- 
ing of the ;>fl, and in obedience to that order he 
had put the Seveutei'ntli and Fiftv-fifth Regi- 
ments, with a part of the cavalry, in motion, and, 
accompanying them in jierson, moved out on 
the old Trenton road. The commanding officer, 
\\ith the Seventeenth licgiment and nearly all 
his cavalry, was fiilly a mile in advance of the 
rear division of the column, and had already 
crossed the Stony Brook bridge at "Worth's Mill 
when he discovered Mercer's force moving rap- 
idly along the opposite bank of the stream to- 
wards the null. Upon this he proni]itly coun- 
termarched his men, moved them on the double- 
(juick back to the liridgc, recrossed it, and hast- 
ened on to secure a commanding position on high 
ground to the right of the road. General Mer- 
cer, as his detachment emergetl from a piece of 
woods near the Quakci- meeting-house, di.scov- 
ered the British, and, divining their object, 
flouble-qnickcd his troops towards the .same 
eminence, detei-mined to occupy it in advance of 
the enemy, if jjossible. Having reached the 
house and orchard of William Clarke, he ])er- 



' 'Great was his [Cornwallis'] a.=itonishnient and alarm 
at dawn to find the patriot camp-fires still burning, but not 
a man, nor hoof, nor tent, nor cannon there, .\11 was 
silent and dreary on the south side of the Assanpiuk. and 



Mo man of the British army knew whither the .\mericans 
h:id lied until the din of battle in the direction of Prince- 
ton came faintly upon the keen morning air at sunrise. 
Cornwallis heard the booming of cannon, and, although 
mid-winter, he thought it was the rumbling of distant 
ihunder. The quick ear of Krskine decided otherwise, and 
he exclaimed, ' To arms, general '. General Washington 
has oulyeiieralfirf us'. Let us Hy to Princeton''" — Lousing, 
vol. ii, p. 12.34. 



154 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JP^RSEY. 



ceived the enemy's lines advaiicinj:- iij) the oi^po- 
site slope. The Americans puslied on to the 
^liffht cover c>f' a rail-fence which was between 
the opposing forces, and there they delivered 
their volley with precision and deadly effect, 
firing afterwards at will. The British promptly 
returned the fire and charged with the bayonet. 
Mercer's riflemen had no bayonets on their 
pieces, and, being unable to withstand the 
furious onset of the British, fled in ])rccipitation 
and disorder, abandoning tlieir two field-pieces 
and closely pursued by Mawhood's grenadiers ; 
but when they rcaclicd the east brow of the 
slope near Clarke's house, they were met by the 
Continentals and militia under Washington, 
who had lef\: tlu^ by-road on wliich he was 
marching, at a point near the Oklen farm, and 
hurried up to the su])])( )rt of ^Mercer. The fugitive 
Americanshere rallied and reformed on a new Hue, 
and a section of one of Washington's batteries, 
commanded by Cajjtain William Moulder, poured 
a storm of canister into the faces of the pursuers. 
At this point, Mawhood, discovering for the 
first time the presence of WashingtuTi and his 
force, ceased the i)ursuit, brought uj) his artillery 
pieces, and opened on Moulder's section, wliicli 
lie inmiediately afterwards charged, in a desperate 
but unsuccessful attemjit to capture the guns. 
The .scene of the conflict at this moment, when 
the lines of the ojjposing forces confronted each 
other and the men of each awaited theconnnand 
to fire, is thus described by Bancroft : 

" General Washington, Ironi liis desire to animate 
liis troops by example, rode into the very front of 
danger, and when within less than thirty yards of the 
British he reined his horse with its head towards tliem 
as both parties were about to fire, seeming to tell his 
faltering forces that they mnst stand tirm or leave him 
confront the enemy alone. The two sides gave a vol- 
ley at the same moment, when, as the smoke cleared 
away, it was thought a miracle that Washington 
was untouched. By this time Hitchcock, for whom 
a raging hectic made this day nearly his last, came 
up with his brigade, and Hand's riflemen began to 
turn the left of the English. These, after repeated 
exertions of the greatest courage and discipline, re- 
treated before they were wh6lly surrounded, and fled 
over the fields and fences up Stony Brook. The ac- 
tion, from the first conflict with Mercer, did not last 
more than twenty minutes. Washington, on the 
battle-ground, took Hitchcock by the hand, and be- 
fore his armv thanked him for his services." 



Colonel Mawhiiod, witli the Seventeenth Brit- 
ish Kegiment and his cavalry, fled from the l)at- 
tle-field to the same road over which they had 
marched in the morning, and, crossing the Stony 
Brook bridge at ^A'orth's Mill, moved rai)idly 
on towards Maidenhead, where they knew Gen- 
eral Leslie had passed the night with his di\'i- 
sion, the rear guard of Corn wallis' army. Leslie, 
however, hearing the cannonade in the direction 
of Princeton, was already on the march towards 
Stonv Brook, and in his advtuice met tiie routed 
I troops of Mawhood, whicii latter had been pur- 
j sued onlv a short distance by the Americans, 
because Washington knew of the proximity of 
General Leslie in the direction in which they re- 
treated. Mawhood's artillery pieces were left on 
the field, and fell into the hands of the Ameri- 
cans ; but, as they could not take them away fiir 
want of horses, they afterwards returned to the 
[ possession of the enemy. 

I At the close of the action near ( 'larke'shon-e 
! General Washingtiin sent a detachment, under 
Major Kelley, of the Pennsylvania militia, to 
i destrov the bridge over Stony Brook, for the 
purpose of delaving the ad\ance of General I^es- 
lic with the reserve division of Cornwallis ; \n\X 
before they had acconqilisjied the work the 
euemv came in sight on ^lillett's Hill and opeiu'd 
a fire on the working-party from their artillei-y, 
which finallv drove tlicni from the bridge, thougli 
not imtil it had been rendered inipassalile for tlie 
British artillery and trains. The commanding 
officer of the detachment. Major Kelley, wa.s 
; knocked off the bridge into the stream, but, suc- 
ceeding in crawling out, was making his way 
towards Princeton, wlien he fell into the liands 
! of the enemy. The Ihitish connnandcr, Corn- 
wallis, on coming up to the bridge, found it ini- 
pa.ssable for liis cohunn ; but so great was his 
anxiety for the safety of his magazines of snpjiiy 
at New Briniswiek (which lie fully believed to 
be Washington's destination) that, bitterly cold 
as it was, lie ordered his troops to ford the 
stream, which they did, and then, with their 
clothitig frozen stiff, inished on as fast as they 
were able in ]>ursuit of the AnuM-icans. 

In the battle with Mawliood, the left wing <if 

1 his force, the Fifty-fifth Regiment, was cut off 

from tiie rioht, an<l was driven into the town. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE HFAOLUTION. 



15& 



whtre it tuok a jH)^iiti()ii in a raviuo iit-ar tlif ((jl- 
Icgo. Theiv it was attacked by the New Enjj:- 
laiul i\'<iiment.s of" Stark, Poor, Patterson and 
Heed, and after a desperate resistance was utterly 
routed and sent flying in disorder along the road 
towards Kingston. A part of the Fortieth Regi- 
ment (which had been left in Princeton when 
MawliDod marched out in the morning, and which 
consequently participated very little in the day's 
fighting) joined in the retreat and swelled the 
throng of" fugitives. A detachment ofthe Ameri- 
can force pursued them, but they soon left the 
main road, and, striking off to the left, fled in a 
northerly direction along the by-ways and through 
the fields and woods, whei'e most of them es- 



caped.' 



In the coUesje buildiniis at Princeton there re- 
mained a part of the Fortieth Regiment, which 
had tict'upied it as barracks. Wasliington, sup- 
posing that these men would stand and defend 
their ]>osition, ordered uj) a section of artillery, 
wliich opened on the buiklings. The first slmt 
fired passed into the Prayer-Hall and through 
the head of a ]iortrait of His ^lajesty (ieorge II. 
which iunig on the wall. I>ut little show of re- 
sistance was made l)y the Jiritish within the 
l>uildings, and finally James Moore, of Prince- 
ton, a captain of militia, with the assistance of a 
few others as bold as himself, burst open a door 
of Nassau Hall and demanded a surrender of 
the forces within. The demand was at once 
complied with, and the entire body, including a 
number of sick, gave themselves up as prisoners 
of war. This was the last of the P>ritish forces 
in Princeton, and Washington, having now en- 
tirely cleared the town of his enemies, immedi- 
ately evacuated the place, and with his army 
moved raj)i(lly away towards Kingston. 

The advance division of Cornwallis, which 
had hurried uj) from Maidenhead towards the 
scene of action and dashed through the icy waters 
of Stony Brook, as before mentioned, moved for- 
ward in the greatest ha.ste from that ))oint to 
Princeton. Guarding the southwestern appn tach 



'Wasliington had no cavalry with him, and of course 
the pursuit of a terrified crowd of fugitives by infixntry was 
fruitless. Many of them, however, were captured, and the 
pursuing parties kept up the chase so long that they had 
nut all rejoined the main bodv two days later. 



to the town w;is a bastioncd earth-work which 
had l)eeu thrown up a week or two earlier i)V 
their own forces, and upon il> ram])art a thirtv- 
two-pounder gun had been momited by Count 
Douop. Now, as tludiead of Leslie's division caine 
on ata(]uick-step, it was greeted by a thundering 
report from the great gun, which had been fi red i )y 
two or three American soldiers who still lin<rcrcd 
near it. The rush of the jKinderous shot above 
the heads of tlie IJritisJi caused the advancing 
column to litdt, and the connuander, who now 
believed that Washington had determined to 
defend the place, sent out ptu'ties of cavalrv to 
recoimoitre, the infinitrv in the mean time ad- 
vancing slowly anil with great caution prejiara- 
tory to an assaidt ofthe work. P)y tiiese move- 
ments Cornwallis lost one precious hour, and 
when his men at last moved up to the fortifita- 
tiou tiiey found it entirely deserted, and soon 
after the cavalry-parties reported that tliere was 
not a rebel soldier in Princeton. Upon thistiie 
British general, chagrined at the delay resulting 
from his useless caution, ordered his colunnis to 
move on with all speed on the New Brnnsw < k 
road. .Vrri\ing at Kingston, three miles fi( in 
Princeton, he found that the .Vmericans had 
broken down the bridge at that place ; but tliis 
was soon repaired, ;ind the tirmy, having crossed 
the stream, was again hurried on in the hojie of 
overtaking the Americans in time to prevent the 
destruction ofthe military stores at New Brinis- 
wick. Cornwallis arrived at that ])lace diUMUg 
the succeeding night, and was njoiced to find his 
stores untouched ; but he f()und no American 
army, for "the fox " had again eluded him, and 
was at tlitit time safe among the hills of ilie 
upper Raritaii. 

Wiishiugton, on leaving PiMucetun, moved 
his force with the greatest possible s]ieed to 
Kingston, crossing tin' ^lillstoue IJiver ;ind 
destroying the bridge hchiud him. Having 
proceeded thus far, he was not a little ]>vv- 
plexed in deciding on his subseipient move- 
ments. The heavy cohunii of Cornwallis was 
following s(j closely in his rear that il was only 
at great peril that he c((uld pursue his original 
plan^ of marching to New Briniswick. The 

- '' My origirial plan,' said Wasliington in liis letter to 
Contrress dnted I'luckaniin. .Iimunrv -'ith. " was to have 



156 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



destruction of tliu British magazines and stores 
at that place wouhl liave been a most glorious 
ending of the winter (-impaign, and Avould, be- 
yond doubt, have driven the last vestige of 
British military power out of New Jerse}'; but, 
on the other hand, a collision with the superior 
■forces of Cornwallis, — which it seemed hardly 
possible to avoid if the march to New Bruns- 
wick was continued, — could hardly result other- 
Mase than in defeat, and not improbably in the 
rout and destruction of the American army. At 
this juncture the commander-in-ciiief adopted 
his usual course, — called a council of ^\•ar, \\-hich 
was held by iiiniself and his generals in the 
saddle, and, althougli "some gentlemen advised 
that he should tile off to the southward," tlie 
council resulted in the decision to almndon the 
original plan, strike oif from the New Bruns- 
wick road, and march the army by way of the 
Millstone valley, and thence across the Raritan, 
to the hilly country in the northwest. 

The jjlan adopted by the council of war was 
at once put into execution. The army filed off 
from the main highway, and, turning sharply 
to tiie left, marcJied over a narrow and unfre- 
quented road to Rocky Hill, where it recrossed 
the Millstone River and moved on, as rapidly 
as was practicable in tlie exhausted condition of 
tile men, to jNIilistone, where it bivouacked that 
nigiit, and on the evening of the 4th reached 
Pluckamin. 

General Hugh Mercer, the eommauding officer 
of the American detachment which first joined 
battle with the British troops under Mawhood 
on the morning of the 3d of January, near 
Princeton, was mortally wounded in that first 
short, but disastrous conflict. In the volley 

jiusheJ on to Briinswic ; but the harassed state of ouv 
troops (many of tlieni having had no rest for two nights 
and a day), and the danger of losing the advantage we had 
gained, by aiming at too much, induced me, by the advice 
of my officers, to relinquish the attempt; but, in my judg- 
ment, six or eight hundred fresh troops, on a forced marjh, 
would have destroyed all their stores and magazines, taken 
(as we have since learned) their military chest containing 
seventy thousand pounds, and put an end to the war. The 
enemy, from the best intelligence I have been able to get, 
were so much alarmed at the apprehension of tliis that they 
marched immediately to Brunswic without hailing, except 
at the bridges (for I also took up those on ^lillstone on the 
different routes to lirunswic). and got there before day." 



which the British Seventeenth Regiment poured 
into the American line wiien it held the posi- 
tion along the rail-fence on the lieight west of 
Clarke's house on that mcmoralile morning, a 
ball, striking Mercer's horse in the foreleg, dis- 
abled him and compelled the general to dis- 
mount ; and in the hurried retreat which im- 
mediately followed through the orchard, while 
he was in the very mid.st of the fight, trying to 
rally his flying troops, he \\as felled to the 
earth by a l)low from a British musket. "The 
British soldiers were not at first aware of the 
general's rank. So soon as they discovered lie 
was a general ofiicer, they shouted that tiiey 
had ffot the rebel y-eneral, and cried: 'Call for 

quarter, you d d leliel ! ' Mercer, to the 

most undaunted courage, united a quick and 
ardent temperament ; he reiilied Mith indignation 
to his enemies, while tiieir liayonets were at his 
bosom, that he deserved not the name of rebel, 
and, determining to die, as he had lived, a ti-ue 
and honored soldier of liberty, lunged with his 
sword at the nearest man. They then bayoneted 
him and left him for dead." ' It was after- 
wards ascertained that he liad received sixteen 
bayonet wounds,^ and he was also terribly beaten 
on the liead with the butt of a musket by a 
British soklier while he lay wounded and help- 
less on the ground. He was taken to Clarke's 
house, and there most tenderly cared for and 
nursed by tlie ladies of the household; lint after 
lingering in agony for nine days, he ex]iired on 
the 12th of January. 

The American army arrived at I'luelcamin 
on the evening of the 4th of January in a con- 
dition of extreme weariness and destitution. 
Not only were the men worn out by loss of 

' Recollections of the Life and Character of Washington, 
by G. W. P. Custis. 

2 "The late Dr. Moses Scott, of New Brunswick, with 
other surgeons, was with General Mercer under the tree 
after the battle, and said that he had received sixteen 
wounds by the bayonet, though these were not thought by 
the general himself (who was a phy.sician) to be necessarily 
mortal, but that while lying on the ground a British sol- 
dier had struck him on the head with his musket ; ' and 
tliat,' said he, 'was a dishonorable act, and if will prove 
my death.' " — Rcnim's " Hixlm-i/ t>J Trfninn." 

Mercer and Washington liad been comrades and warTU 
personal friends in the campaigns against the French in 
1735. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



157 



sleep aud the excessive fatigue of the rapid 
night-march from Trenton to Princeton, tlie 
battle of tliat place, and the subsequent march- 
ing to Kingston, down the valley of the Mill- 
stone, aud from the Raritan to the mountains, 
but they were very poorly supplied ^ith food, 
many of them shoeless, and suffering from cold 
through lack of blanlcets aud sufficient clothing. 
The officers as well as the private soldiers suf- 
fered from the same cause. Colonel Rodney 
said, iu reference to his condition during the halt 
at Pluckamin, " I had nothing to cover me here 
but my great-coat, but luckily got into a house 
near tlie mountains, where I fared very comfort- 
ably while we staj'ed liere." But there wci-o 
few, even among the officers, who fared as well 
as he in this respect. 

Duriug the day of January otii, tlie main 
l)ody of tlie army hiy ipiictly at Pluckamin, 
resting and waiting for detached bodies to join 
it.' When the commands had all reported, and 
tlie men had in some degree recovered from the 
(■fleets tif the excessive fatigue and exposure which 
they had been compelled to endure iu the marches 
and battles from the Assanpink to Plucka- 
min, tlie army moved out from its temporary 
camps at the latter place and marched leisurelv 
to Morristown, where it went into winter-(juar- 
ters in log huts. It is said that while there the 
only conunand in which the men were in com- 
plete uniform was Cohincl Rodney's battalion 
of Delaware tnidjjs, which on that aeeount was 
detailed for duty as a body-guard to the com- 
mander-in-chief. 

The glorious result of the campaign whicJi 
commenced on the south shore of the Delawai-e. 
at McConkey's Ferry at nightfall im the evening 
of Citristmas Day, 1776, and ended when the 
weary and shivering soldiers of Washington \ 
entered their comparatively comfortable wintcr- 
([uarters at Morristown, wrought a wonderful 
"•hange in the aspect of affairs in Xew Jersey. 
A few weeks before, when the slender and con- 
stantly-decreasing colnnuis of the .k^merican 
army were crossing the State towards the Dela- 



ware, in fligiit befi.re the pin-suiug and victo- 
rious legions of Cornwallis, a large pro])ortioii 
— probably a majority — of the people of the 
State had become discouraged, and, desjtairinu- 
of a successful issue to the struggle for libertv, 
large numbers of them promptly availed tiiem- 
selves of the terms offered by the proclamation 
of the British commander, guaranteeing pardon 
and protection to such rebels and disaffected 
persons as would come forward to aljandoii the 
patriot cause and renew their allegiance to the 
King.- It is stated that for a considerable time 
the daily average of persons within the State 
who thus signified their adhesion to the royal 
cause was more than two hundred. Scarcelv 
an inliabitant of tlie State joined tiie army of 
Washington as he was retreating towards the 
Delaware, but, on the contrary, great numbers 
of those who -were already in tlie service from 
this State deserted and returned to their homes. 
"The two Jersey regiments which had been for- 
warded by General Gates, under General St. 
Clair, w^ent off to a man tiie moment they entered 
their own State. A few officers, without a sin- 
gle private, were all of these regiments which 
St. Clair brought to the commander-in-chief " •'' 
The most earnest exertions of Governor Living- 
ston to induce the militia to oppose the invading 
ai-my were fruitless. Those who visited the 
army brought back an unfavoralile report. 



' In Washington's dispatches to Congress dated at Pluck- 
rimiu on that day he says, " Our whole loss cannot be ascer- 
tained, as many who are in pursuit of the enemy (wlio were 
chased three or four miles) are not yet come in." 



2 "The British comissioners [General William Howe and 
his brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe] issued a procla- 
mation, commanding all persons assembled in arms against 
His Majesty's government to disband and return to their 
homes, and all civil officers to desist from their treasonable 
practices and (o relinquish (heir usurped authority. A full 
pardon was offered to all who within si.xty days would 
appear before an officer of the Crown, claim the benefit of 
the proclamation, and subscribe a declaration of his sub- 
mission to the royal authority. Seduceil by this proclama- 
tion, not only the ordinary people shrunk from the apparent 
fate of the country in this, its murkiest hour, but the 
vaporing patriots who sought office and distinction at the 
hands of their countrymen when danger in their service 
was distant now crawled into the British lines, humbly 
craving the mercy of their conquerors, and whined out. as 
justification, that though they had united with others in 
seeking a constitutional redress of grievances, they 
approved not the measures lately adopted, aud were nt all 
times opposed to independence. — Gordon .t •• History o/,V<«' 
Jersey," p. 22. 

" Ibid. 



158 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



They secretlv <>r upmly adviscil otliers to do 
iiotluii";; that would involve tlieiu in disloyalty, 
and thus jeopardize their possession*. The Leg- 
islature, itself defenseless, liad moved from 
Princeton to Burlington,' and there, on the 2d 
of December, they adjourned, eacli man going 
home to look after his ovni aftairs. Until the 
battle of Trenton, on the 2Gth of tliat month, 
Xew Jersey might liave been considered a con- 
quered pro\-ince. Even Samuel Tucker, cliair- 
man of the Committee of Safety, treasurer, and 
judge of the Supreme Court, took a protection 
of the British, and thus renounced allegiance to 
this State, and vacated his offices. Open insur- 
rection ao-ainst the American cause had broken 
out in several counties, among which was that 
of Monmouth, where a desperate state of affairs 
existed, to suppress which it was deemed neces- 
sary to detach a .strong militar}- force under 
Colonel Forman. Panic, disaffection and cow- 
ardly submission were found everywhere ; despair 
had seized on all but the .sturdiest patriots ; and 
the conflict for liberty seemed well-nigh ho])e- 
less. 

But a marvelous change was wrought by the 
fav(jrable result of the campaign of Trenton and 
Princeton. The Christmas victory at Trenton 
rekindled a bright sjiark of hope in the breasts 
of despairing patriots, and the glorious event at 
Princeton fanned that spark into a strong and 
steady flame. An immediate result was a revival 
of liope and courage among the Jersey militia, 
causing large numbers of them to join the 
American army, adding materially to its effec- 
tive strength. "The militia are taking spirits, 
and, I am told, are coming in fast from this 
State," said General Washington in his dis- 
])atches to Congress, written at Pluckamin on 
the 5th of January, only two days after the 
victory of Princeton ; and the accessions from 
this source were much more numerous after 
that time. " The militia of Xew Jereey, who 
had hitherto behaved shamefullv,^ from this 



• The removals of the Legislature, enforced hy the ad- 
vance of the British army, were : First, from Princeton to 
Trenton ; then from Trenton to Burlingto'n ; from Burling- 
ton to Pittstown ; ami tinally, from that place to Haddon- 
field, where it was dissolved on the 'id of December, 1770. 

' See Gordon's " History of New Jersey," p. 233. 



time forward generally acquired high reputation, 
and throughout a long aud tedious war con- 
ducted themselves with spirit and discipline 
scarce surpassed l)y the regular troops. In 
small parties they now scoured the country in 
every direction, seized on stragglers, in several 
light skirmishes behaved exceptionally well, and 
collected in such numbers as to threaten the 
weaker British posts with the fate which those 
at Trenton aud Princeton had already experi- 
enced. In a few days, indeed, the Americans 
had overrim the Jerseys." Among the inhab- 
itants, those who had maintained their unswerv- 
ing devotion to the patriotic cause once more 
took heart; and even of those who, from 
motives of fear and self-interest, had availed 
themselves of the " protection " of the British,' 
the greater number were rejoiced at the successes 
of 'Washington. General Howe's "protections" 
had proved to them a delusion. Din-ing the 
time in which the British held undisputed con- 
' trol the country in all directions had been 
ravaged by their foraging-parties, composed 
])rincipally of Hessians. These mercenaries 
were unable to read the English language; and 
so, when the "loval" inhabitants who had 
secured protection papers exhibited them to the 
German marauders, the latter regarded them 
no more than if they had been Washington's 
]iasses, but treated their holders with contempt, 
and showed them no more consideration than 
was accorded to their AMiig neighbors, — which 
was simply none at all. 

In the depredations and atrocities committed 
during this period by the Hessian and British 
soldiery, " neither the proclamation of the com- 
missioners [General aud Admiral Howe] nor 
protections, saved the jjeople from plunder or 
insult. Their property was taken and destroyed 
without distinction of persons. They exhibited 
their protections, but the Hessians could not 
read and would not understand them, and the 
British soldiers deemed it foul disgrace that the 
Hessians should be the only plunderers. Dis- 
contents and murmurs increased every hour 

' The whole number of those who, in the State of New 
.Jersey, took advantage of the proclamation of the brothers 
Howe is said to have been two thousand seven hundred 
and three. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IM THE REVOLUTION. 



159 



willi the ravages of both, wliich were almost 
.sanctioned by iicneral orders, and which spared 
neitlier friend nor foe. Neither age uor sex 
was protecteil from outrage. Infants, children, 
old men and women were left naked and e.v- 
jiosed, without a blanket to cover them from 
the inclemency of winter. Furniture which 
could uot be carried away was wantonly de- 
.stroyed, dwellings and out-houses burned or 
rendered uninhabitable, churches and other 
public buildings consumed, and the rape of 
women, and even very young girls, filled the 
measure of woe. Such miseries are the usual 
fate of the conquered, nor were they inflicted 
with less reserve that the patients were rebel- 
lious subjects. But even the worm will turn 
npim the oppressor. . . . What the earnest 
commendations of Congress, the zealous exer- 
tions of Governor Livingston and the State 
authorities and the ardent supplications of 
\\ ashiugton could not effect was produced 
by the rapine and devastations of the royal 
forces. The whole country became instantly 
hostile to the invaders. Suiferei-s of all parties 
rose as one man to revenge their personal in 
juries. Those who, from age and infirmities, 
were incapable of military .service kept a .strict 
watch upon the movements of the roval army, 
and from time to time communicated informa- 
tion to their countiymcn in arms. Those who 
lately declined all opposition, though called on 
by the sacred tie of honor ]>ledged to each other 
in the Declaration of Independence, cheerfully 
eml)odied -when they Ibund submission to be 
unavailing for the security of their estates. ... 
Men who could not apprehend the consequences 
of British taxation nor of American independ- 
ence could feel the injuries inflicted by insolent, 
cruel and brutal soldiers." ' 

General Washington was not slow to avail 
himself of the advantages to the American 
cause offered by this situation of affairs, and on 
the 25th of January he issued, from his head- 
<iuarters iu Morristown, a j^roclamation requir- 
ing all persons who had accepted protection 
from the British commi.ssionei-s to repair to the i 
army headquarters, or the nearest headquarters | 
i 

' Gordon, pp. 232, 233. 



of any general officer in the Continental service, 
and there to surrender their protection papers and 
swear allegiance to the United States of America ; 
upon which terms they were to receive full 
pardon for past oti'enses, provided this was done 
w itliin thirty days from the date of the procla- 
mation. But such as should fail to conform to 
these requirements within the specified time 
were commanded to forthwith withdraw them- 
selves and families within the enemy's lines, 
and upon their refusal or neglect to do so, they 
were to be regarded and treated as adherents to 
the King of Great Britain and enemies of the 
United States. The €>ffect of this proclamation 
was excellent. Hundreds of timid Inhabitants 
who had taken protection now flocked to the 
ditterent headquarters to surrender them and 
take the required oath of allegiance. The most 
inveterate and dangerous Tories were driven 
within the enemy's lines, or entirely out of the 
State, and the army was largely increased by 
volunteers and by the return of many who had 
previously served in its ranks, but had deserted 
and returned to their homes during the dark 
days of November and December, 1776. 

The main body of the American army lay in 
quiet at Morristown- for nearly five mouths. On 
the opening of spring, the commander-in- 
chief watched closely and anxiously the move- 
ments of General Howe's forces at New Bruns- 
wick, for he had no doubt that the British 
general was intending to make an important 
movement, though iu what direction he could 

'A detached force of several hundred men, under com- 
mand of Generiil Israel Putnam, was stationed at Princeton 
in the latter part of January to act as a corps of observation 
merely, being too weak in numbers to otfer serious opposi- 
tion if the enemy should appear in force. In Hageraan's 
" History of Princeton" there is related an incident illus- 
trative of Geucr-il Putnam's strategy, as follows: "A 
British officer, Major- General McPherson, who lay mortally 
wounded at Princeton, desired the presence of a military 
comrade in his last moments. The kind-hearted General 
Putnam could not refuse the request, but resorted to strat- 
egy to hide his weakness from the enemy. He sent a flag 
to New Brunswick in quest of the friend, who entered 
Princeton after dark. The general had arranged it so that 
every unoccupied house was carefully lighted, lights gleamed 
in all tlie college windows, and lie marched and counter- 
marched his scanty forces to such effect that the British 
soldier on his return to the camp reported it at least five 
thousand strong, while tie had only a few hundreds." 



IGO 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JKKSEY. 



not learn, tlu)Uii;h he believed that Ilowe'^^ ob- 
jective point would be the city of Philadelphia 
Early in May it wa.s ascertained l)y Washing- 
ton that the British i'orees at New Brunswick 
had been laruelv auo-mented, and that thev were 
engaged iu building " a portable bridge, so con- 
structed that it might be laid on flat-boats," — in 
other words, a pontoon-bridge. Eegardiug this as 
an almost certain indication that Howe was pre- 
]iaring to move forward and cross the Delaware, 
Washino;ton at once decided ti> move his forces 
to a point nearer New Brunswick, to be within 
striking distance of the enemy in case he should 
attempt toexecutehis sus])ected design. Thejxiint 
selected was the range of hills to the northward 
of the village of Bound Brook, — generally 
mentioned as the " Heights of ^liddlebrook," 
— -and to this [)lace the army was moved from 
Morristown about the 28th of May, on which 
day the headquarters of the commander-in-chief 
were established at the new position. 

The army of AVashington, at the time when 
it moved from ^lorristo^n to Middlebrook, was 
about eight thousand four hundred strong, in- 
cluding cavalry and artillery. But of these 
more than two thousand were sick, and this, 
with other causes, reduced his effective strength 
to five thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight 
men, rank and file. This number, however, 
was soon afterwards very considerably increased 
l>y accessions from beyond the Delaware, for 
orders had been issued for all troops in the field, 
as fixr south as the Carolinas, to rendezvous in 
New Jcrsev. When the movement to jNIiddle- 
brook was made, (leneral Sullivan, who had 
succeeded General Putnam in command at 
Princeton, had about fifteen hundred troops 
under him at the place, and his forces were con- 
siderably augmented by the arrival <if troops 
from the South, movins: northward under the 
order before mentioned. General Benedict 
Arnold, commanding at Philadelphia, wa.s or- 
dered to station a force on the New Jersey side 
of the Delaware, to do what might be done to 
prevent the British from crossing that river, in 
case they should succeed in escaping from Wash- 
ington and Sullivan. 

The British army in and about New Bruns- 
wick had been reinforced initil it numbered 



about seventeen thousand effective men, a force 
far outnumbering that of Washington, includ- 
ing the corps of observation under Sullivan. 
Moreover, the British force was largely made n]:i 
of veterans and was finely equipped, while a 
I large portion of the ^Vmerican army was com- 
j posed of raw militia not well provided with 
equipments and clothing. The position occu- 
j pied by Washington, however, was very strong 
i bv nature and fortified to some exteni, and liis 
location was such that he could at once take 
advantage of a movement of the enemy, whether 
he should advance towards the Delaware or re- 
tire towards the Hudson ; for he was still in 
doubt as to the intention of the British com- 
mander, — whether it was to move directly on 
\ Philadelphia by land, or return his troops to 
Ambov, there to embark and proceed bv sea 
and the Delaware Bay to reach the same ob- 
: jective point, or to move up the Hudson River 
to co-operate with General Burgoyne, who was 
then reported to be moving southward from 
Canada by way of Lake Champlain. 

On the 14th of June two British divisions, 

under Generals Cornwallis and De HeLster, made 

their appearance at Somerset Court-House, 

i where they intreuchal and remained for five 

\ days, vainly defying Washington to comedown 

I from the heights and fight them, but finding it 

'• impossible to entice him from his stronghold 

j they moved back on the I9th to New Bruns- 

: wick, which place was evacuated on the 22d liy 

i the whole British army, which then commenced 

retreating towards Amboy. Washington sent 

three brigades under General Greene to harass J 

their rear, with orders to General ]Maxwell to 

fall on their flank, and to Sullivan to muve 

down to the support of Greene, but Sullivan 

received his orders too late, and ^[axwell never 

received his at all, on account of the caf)ture or 

desertion of the messenger. The rear of the 

British was attacked by Wayne and Morgan a.s 

it was leaving New Brunswick, but little harm 

was done them and they continued their retreat 

to Amboy. Washington then moved down 

from his strong position at Middlcbrook and 

took another and weaker one at Quibbletown 

(now Newmarket). 

The intcllisrence that A\'ashini;t(in had left 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



161 



liis fdi-tified camp in the hills wa* brought to | 
General Howe after his troops had arrived at 
Am boy and jxirt of them had crossed to Staten 
Island. And then he conceived the idea of 
makirisf a sudden retrograde movement back to- 
wards Quil)bletowu, hoping to surprise Wash- 
ington in his new and weaker position, to bring 
on the weneral eno-ag-emeut for which he had 
been manoeuvring since the J 4th, and, by turn- 
ing the American left, to gain the hills of Mid- 
dleiirook in their rear. Tiiese facts are made 
clear liy the following extract from his report, 
— viz. : 

" The necessary preparations being finished for 
crossing the troops to Staten Island, intelligence was 
received that the enemy had moved down from the 
mountain and taken post at Quibbletown, intending, 
as it was given out, to attack the rear of the army re- 
moving from Amboy ; that two corps had also ad- 
vanced to their left, — one of three thousand men aud 
eight pieces of cannon, under the command of Lord 
Stirling, Generals Maxwell and Conway, the last said 
to be a captain in the French service; the other corps 
consisted of about seven hundred men, with only one 
piece of cannon. In this situation of the enemy it 
was judged advisable to make a movement that 
might lead to an attack, which was done on the 26th, 
in the morning, In two columns. The right, under 
command of Lord Cornwallis and Major-General 
Grant, Brigadiers Matthew and Leslie, and Colonel 
Donop, took the route by Woodbridge towards Scotch 
Plains ; the left column, where I was, with Major- 
Generals Sterne, Yaughan and Grey, and Brigadiers 
Cleveland and Agnew, marched by Metuchen Meet- 
ing-house to join the rear of the right column in the 
road from thence to Scotch Plains, intending to have 
taken separate routes, about two miles after the junc- 
tion, in order to have attacked the enemy's left at 
Quibbletown. Four battalions were detached in the 
morning, with six pieces of cannon, to take post at 
Bonhamtown. The right column, having fallen in 
with the aforementioned corps of seven hundred men 
soon after passing Woodbridge, gave the alarm, by 
the firing that ensued, to their main army at Quibble- 
town, which retired to the mountain with the utmost 
precipitation. The small corps was closely pushed 
by the light troops, and with difficulty got oft' their 
piece of cannon." 

The aliove statement by Howe exjilains his 
retrograde movement and its objects pretty 
clearly. Having become aware of Washing- 
ton's advance, he caused that part of the forces 
which had already crossed to Staten Island to 
be moved back during the night of the 25th, 
11 



and early in tlic morning of Thursday, the 2(ith, 
marched his columns back towards Xew Market 
in the manner stated. " But the resistance they 
encountered at every stage of their advance was 
disheartening in the extreme. Nearly every 
cross-road had its squad of pugnacious militia, 
which poured its deadly volleys into the splen- 
did columns of the well-efpiipped troops." At 
Woodbridge Cornwallis fell in with Morgan's 
I\angers (the American '' corps of seven hiui- 
dred men, with one piece of cannon," mentioned 
by Howe), and a severe skirmish ensued, in 
which, of course, the Rangers were compelled 
to give way before the heavy masses of the 
enemy. But the sound of their fusillades was 
borne to the ears of Washington, Avho instantly 
understood its meaning, and without delav 
moved his main force back from Quiljbletown 
to its former secure j^osition on the heights of 
Middlebrook. 

Tlie British right, under Cornwallis, was 
soon after engaged with the troops of Lord 
Stirling, which tight was tluis reported by Howe : 

"Lord Cornwallis, soon after he was upon the road 
leading to Scotch Plains from ^Metuchen Meeting- 
house, came up with the corps commanded by Lord 
Stirling, whom he found advantageously posted in a 
country covered with wood, and his artillery well dis- 
posed. The King's troops, vieing with each other 
upon this occasion, pressed forward to such close ac- 
tion that the enemy, though inclined to resist, could 
not long maintain their ground against so great im- 
petuosity, Ijut were dispersed on all sides, leaving 
three pieces of brass ordnance, three captains and 
sixty men killed, and upwards of two hundred officers 
and men wounded and taken." 

The latter part of this statement is without 
doubt an exaggeration, as Lord Stirling, al- 
though he admitted the loss of the three guns, 
mentioned only a comparatively light loss in 
killed, wounded and prisoners. He was, how- 
ever, compelled to retreat before the iieavy 
British force,' which pursued him over the hills 

' The forces encountered by Lord Stirling on this occasion 
were composed of tlivee regiments of Hessian grenadiers, 
one regiment of British grenadiers, one British regiment of 
light infantry, the Hessian chasseurs and the Queen's 
Rangers. Stirling also knew that the heavier column, under 
Howe, was close in the rear and would soon reinforce Corn- 
wallis : in which event his (Stirling's) command must have 
been cut to pieces had he attempted to hold his ground. 



162 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



as far as Westfiekl.' The soldiers of both armies 
were in a state of almost complete exhaustion 
from the intense heat of the day, but when tiie 
British columns arrived at Westfieid they found 
that their t)utward march was ended, for Wash- 
ington had escaped and his army was once more 
posted in security beyond tlieir reach. "It was 
three o'clock on Friday afternoon [June 27th] 
that the Englisii generals, seeing Wasliington's 
impregnable position, took up their line of 
march from AYestfield to Amboy, assaulted 
flank and rear by Scott's Light-Horse and 
Morgan's Rangers. They encamped that night 
at Si)anktowu [Rah way]. The next day, 
harassed as before, they resumed their retreat 
and arrived at Amboy, from which, on the last 
day of June, they departed, leaving New Jer- 
sey in possession of the American army. Dur- 
ing the remainder of the war the latter held 
Amboy, and tlie State was never again so com- 
pletely overrun with marauders and British 
troops, although many parties entered it for 
pillage from hostile camps in adjoining States." ^ 
When the last of the British trooi)s had left 
Amboy and crossed to Staten Island, with the 
evident intention of embarking on the shij^s i)f 
tlie fleet. General Washington was in great 
doubt, and felt no little anxiety as to their des- 
tination, — whether it was Howe's intention to 
take the route by sea and the Delaware Bay to 
Philadelphia, or to proceed up the Hudson to 
co-operate with Burgoync in ids southward 
advance down the upper valley of that river. 
As the latter seemed rather the more probable, 
the American army soon after evacuated its 
position at Middlebrook and moved north- 
ward t(j Pompton Plains, where, and at otiier 
points between there and the Hudson, it was 

' " The enemy," said Howe in his report, "was pursued 
as far as Westfieid with little effect, the day proving so in- 
tensely hot that the soldiers could with difficulty continue 
tlieir mai-ch thitlier. In the mean time it gave opportunity 
for those flying to escape by sliulking in the thiclc woods 
until night favored tlieir retreat to the mountain. The 
army lay that night at Westtield, returned the next day to 
Railway, ami the day following to Amboy. On the 3f)th, 
at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the troops began to cross 
over to Staten Island, and the rear-guard, under the com- 
mand of Lord Cornwallis, passed at two in the afternoon 
without the least appearance of an enemy." 

'Daily's "Woodbridge and Vicinity." 



stationed until it was ascertained, about two 
weeks later, tiiat the British fleet, with the army * 
on board, had actually gone to sea with tlie ap- 
parent intention of making a movement against 
Philtidelphia. Thereupon, tlie American army 
was again put in motion, and proceeded by easy 
marches * across the State to the Delaware River. 
The main body of the army struck the river 
at Coryell's and Howell's Ferries, the division 
of Lord Stirling forming the colinnn wiiich 
crossed at Trenton. Anticipating this mnve- 
ment, Washington re(|uested President Wharton 
to have accurate drafts made of the river and its 
approaches. This had been done, and boats for 
the passage of the army across the stream had 
been collected at New Hope and points above. 
Ha vine: crossed the river to the Pennsvlvania 
shore on the 29th and 30th at Coryell's and 
Howell's, the main body of the army was put 
in match down the York road in the morning 
ofthe.jlst of July, General W'ashiugton starting 
at tlie same time for Philadelpiiia, where he ar- 
rived on the 2d of August. Two or three days 
later he rode out from the city to Germantowu, 
where he found the main body of the army. 
At about tiiat time information was received 
whioli led to the belief tliat Howe had returned 
to Sandy Hook, and upon this the army was 
put in motion to retrace its steps towards Cory- 
ell's, but only reached Hartsville, Bucks County, 
Pa., when it was iialted by reason of an express 
having arrived witii dispatches from Congress, 
contradicting the report of Howe's return to 
New York. The forces then remained en- 
camped along the Neshaminy Hills for thirteen 



'The British fleet left New York Bay, " having on board 
Gener,al Howe and thirty-six British and Hessian battalions,, 
including light infanty and grenadiers, with a powerful ar- 
tillery, a New York corps called the Queen's Bangers and 
a regiment of light-horse. The residue of the army was. 
divided between New York and Rhode Island." — Gordon, p. 
245. 

* Washington did not move towards the Delaware by forced 
marches, for he still had a suspicion that Howe's going to. 
sea was merely a feint, -and that his real intention was to 
return and proceed up the Hudson, in which case the 
American army would be compelled to march back again,, 
and, in any event, Washington knew that he had more than 
sufficient time to reach Philailelphia in advance of Howe, 
when it should become certain that the latter was really 
moving against that city. 



iMO^■MOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



163 



day.«, when, on the mornlug of the 23d, on re- 
ceipt of positive intelligence that the British 
fleet had appeared ;it the head of the Ciiesapeake, 
and that the forces had lauded, or M'ere about 
landing, at the head of navigation on the Elk 
Kiver, the army was again put in motion, and, 
passing through Philadelphia and across the 
Schuylkill on the 24th, moved southward. The 
movement resulted, on the 11th of September, 
in the disastrous battle of the Brandywinc, in 
which conflict the commands of Lord Stirling 
and General Maxwell (containing a large num- 
ber of Monmouth County men) took a promi- 
nent part, as did also the ^Monmouth County 
militia under General David Forman.' 

The battle of Brandvwine was followed by 
the adjournment of Congress to Lancaster, Pa., 
the British occupation of Philadelphia (Septem- 
ber 26th), and by the battle of Germantown 
(October 4th), whicii resulted in disaster to tiie 
American army, and in which, as at Brandy- 
wine, the New' Jersey troops under Stirling and 
Maxwell fought gallantly. After that unfor- 
tunate battle Washington took up a ])osition at 
Whitemarsh, t'rom which 2)oint it was his origi- 
nal intention to advance on Philadelphia ; but 
this enterprise was abandoned, and he soon after 
moved his forces to Valley Forge, where they 
went into winter-quarters. 

Meanwhile, during the part of the N-ear whicli 

'General Forman and his command, having taken part 
in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, soon after- 
wards returned to their homes under permission given by 
General Washington, as follows ; 

" HEAnQUARTEBS, PHILADELPHIA CoUNTY, 

" October 6, 1777. 
"Sir, — You having informed me that the time of many 
of your present brigade of militia is near expiring, and 
that many others, who came out for no certain time, are 
anxious to return home, you have my permission to march 
them towards Delaware under pretence that you are going to 
guard the stores at Trenton, and when they have crossed 
the river you may discharge them. But I must beg that 
yon will use your utmost endeavours to collect a number 
equal to what you were to have brought in your last bri- 
gade, .and return with them as soon as possible, to join the 
army under my command. I shall be glad if you will let 
me know, upon your arrival in .Jei-sey, when I m.ay ea- 
pect you again, and what force. 

" 1 am, Sir, your most obt. servt , 

" Go- Washington. 
" General Forman." 



succeeded the departiu-e of the armies of Wttsii- 
ingtou and Howe fi-om New Jersey, the State, 
though freed from thc^ presence of large bodies 
of troop.s, was still the theatre of some minor 
military operations. When Howe embarked 
his ai-my for Philadelphia he left on Stateu 
Island betw-een two and tiiree thou.sand men, 
of whom abt)ut sixteen hundred were Europetin 
troops and nearly out; tiioiistuid were loyal pro- 
vincials. This provincial force made frequent 
niids into New Jer.se\-, doiuii' nuich damage, but 
always making a short stay, and retreating 
rapidly back to tiic island, where they were 
luider the protection of the Eiu'opean troops. 
On one of these occasions they had penetrated 
to Woodbridge, and taken captive twelve per- 
sons strongly attached to the patriot cause. On 
account of these incursions. General Sullivan 
projected an expedition to Staten Island tor the 
purjiose of capturing this provincial force, who.se 
ctunping-places were at different jwints along 
the ishuid shore, opposite the Jersey coa.st, and 
so far di.stant from the camp of their European 
allies that it was believed that they might be 
taken without alarnn'ng the foreign troops. The 
force detailed by Sullivan and accompanied by 
him in person, was composed of the select troops 
of his division, with a body of militia, the latter 
under command of Colonel Frederick Freling- 
huysen. The expedition, however, met with 
quite as much of disaster as of success ; for, 
having effected a crossing before daylight, un- 
perceived Ijy the enemy, it was afterwards misled 
by the guides, which caused such an interference 
with the preconcerted jilan of attack that one 
entire battalion of the enemy made its escape, 
and, although a muuber of officers and men of 
the other connuands were taken, the alarm was 
given to the British regulars, a part of whom, 
under General Campbell, advanced to attack 
Sullivan, wdio thereupon retreated to his boats, 
but was compelled to leave his rear guard as 
prisoners of war in the hands of the British. 

About three weeks after the affair at Staten 
Island the disaster on the Brandywine made it 
necessary that tlie Jersey militia, as w'ell as th(; 
militia of other States, should be sent to rein- 
force General Washington's army. The re- 
quest of Congress to this effect was transmitted 



164 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEAY JEKSEY. 



by its President, Joiin Hancock, on the 12t]i of 
September, to Governor Livingston, who im- 
mediately ordered the militia forward under 
the command of General Armstrong. The 
number asked for by Congress was four thou- 
sand from Xew Jersey, and, although the entire 
<|Uota was not filled, all the militia companies 
M'hich were available at the time (loss than a 
thousand men) crossed tiie Delaware and joined 
Washington in Pennsylvania. At the same 
time a column of American troops, which had 
been stationed at Peekskill-on-the-Hudson, 
moving from that point, entered and crossed 
the State of Xew Jersey, and i-eported to ^^'asll- 
ington about the 1st of October. 

Soon after the battle of Germantown the 
New Jersey militia were sent back to their own 
State, where their presence was thought to be 
necessary on account of the threatening atti- 
tude of Sir Henry Clinton, the British com- 
mander in Xew York, who early in September 
had invaded the State with three thousand men 
in two columns, one moving by way of Eliza- 
bethtown Point and the other by Fort Lee, and 
uniting at Xew Bridge, above Hackensack. He 
remained in that State but a few days, but his 
presence and his threatening attitude after his 
withdrawal created a general alarm, which 
continued through the fall and succeeding 
winter. 

About the 18th of October the welcome in- 
telligence was received in Xew Jersey of the 
surrender of Burgoyne and his entire army to 
General Gates at Saratoga. When the news 
of this surrender reached Paris, on the 4th of 
December, 1777, and was at once transmitted 
to Versailles, the King informed the American 
commissioners, through ]\[. Gerard, one of his 
Secretaries of State, that the independence of 
the United States would be acknowledged by 
France, and that the treaty of alliance and com- 
merce between the two countries would be 
concluded. In accoi-dance with the assur- 
ance given by the monarch, that treaty was 
iinally ratifietl on the 6tb of Febi-uarj', 1778, 
but it was not until the 1st of the following- 
May that the glad intelligence reached General 
Washington in his sc^ualid winter-quarters at 
Valley Forge. On the 7th of that mouth it 



was officially aunounced in general orders by 
the commander-in-chief to the army amid great 
rejoicings, which were followed by religious 
observances in the several commands. " Wash- 
ington, with his lady aud suite, Lord Stirling 
and his lady, with other general officers and 
ladies, attended the religious services of the 
Jersey brigade [Maxwell's], when the Eev. INIr. 
Hunter delivered a disciiurse. Afterwards all 
the officers of the army assembled and partook 
of a collation provided by the commander-in- 
chief." This event marked thecomino' of almost 
the first ray of iKipi' whicii pierced the gloom 
of Valley Forge, and it was not long after- 
wards that the campaign commenced, which 
ended in glory and victory on the field of 
Monmouth. 

On the 11th of May, Sir Henry Clinton took 
command of the British army in Philadelphia 
as successor of General Ho^ve. His instruc- 
tions from England were to evacuate Philadel- 
phia, and this he determined on doing on the 
2-3d of ^lay, it being his intention to proceed 
with the troops by water to Xew York. But, 
as he considered the probability that the fleet 
might be delayed by head-winds, thus enabling 
^A'ashiugton to i-each Xew York before him, 
he changed his plan, and decided to move his 
army to that city by land acmss the State of 
Xew Jersey. 

The abandonmeut of Philadelphia by the 
British army had become a military necessity, 
because too remote from the sea-coast, unless 
the Army of Occupation could be so reinforced 
as to be independent of support from Xew 
York. The detail of troops required by Gen- 
eral Howe had not been made. The rec- 
ommendation of General Amherst, military 
adviser to the King, " that fui-ty thousand men 
be sent to America immediately" had been dis- 
approved. It was of vital importance, under 
such circumstances, that Sir Henry Clinton 
should reach the city of Xew York with the 
least delay, and the least possible embarra.ss- 
ment from fighting on the march. 

The moral etfect of the proposed evacuation 
was in Washington's favor. The purpose of 
the English Cabinet to transfer all active oper- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



165 



ations to the Southern States had not been made 
public, and when the British army took its de- 
parture witli twelve miles of baggage-train, 
carrying all army supplies that could be loaded 
on wagons, it made a deep impression on the 
people. It indicated that the withdrawal of" 
of the army was no temporary diversion in 
order to entice Washinsrton from his strouo;- 
hold to a combat in the field ; but it was a 
surrender of the field itself to his control. It 
announced that the royalists would be left to 
their own resources and that the British armv 
had not the strength to meet the contino-encies 
of active opei'ations, either in Pennsylvania or 
New Jersey. The embarkation of nearly three 
thousand citizens, with their merchandise and 
personal effects, to accompany the naval squad- 
ron, was equally suggestive. 

The knowledge of the co-ojjeration of France 
in the resistance of the colonies to British au- 
thority and the impending arrival of a French 
fleet hastened the movement. As a matter of 
fact, that fleet appeared at the entrance of Del- 
aware Bay almost immediately after Admiral 
Howe turned Cape ^lay for New York. 

The evacuation of Philadelphia by the Brit- 
ish began at three o'clock in the morning of June 
18th and by ten o'clock in the forenoon his en- 
tire army had crossed the Delaware and landed at 
Gloucester Point. In the evening of the same 
day his forces encamped at and near Haddon- 
field, on the south side of Cooper's Creek, five 
miles southea.st of Camden. From that place 
they moved on the following morning, march- 
ing up the Delaware, and nearly j)arallel with it. 
They marched in three divisions, — one by way 
of Mount Hollv, one through Columbus, and 
one by Bordentown. This last division, when 
near the mouth of Crosswicks Creek, was at- 
tacked by three regiments of Xew Jersey mili- 
tia, under Colonel Frederick Frolinghuysen, 
Colonel Van Dyke and Colonel \\'ebster. It 
was but a skirmish, resulting in a loss to the 
British of four killed and a greater number 
wounded. They then moved to Crosswicks, 
where they were again attacked by the militia 
while they were attempting to repair the bridge 
over the stream. This they finally succeeded 
in doing, and movetl on towards AUeutown. 



Maxwell's Jersey brigade had been detached 
from the main IkxIv of the American army, and 
was now co-operating with the fun es of General 
Philemon Dickinson to obstruct and hara.ss th<! 
British columns as much as possible, I)ut thev 
were too weak to interfere with their march oth- 
erwise than by destroying bridges and obstruct- 
ing roads before them. Cliuton did not attempt 
to move rapidly, but seemed rather to invite au 
attack. On the 24th of June his column — the 
divisiou of General Knyphausen, with the pro 
vision train and heavy artillery — encamped at 
Imlaystown, while that of Cornwallis occupied 
Allentown, thus covering the other division 
from surprise. " The column of General Knyji- 
hausen " said Sir Heniy Clinton,' "consisted of 
the Seventeenth Light Dragoons, Second Bat- 
talion of Light Infantry, Hessian Yagers, First 
and Second British Brigades, Stirn's and Loos' 
brigades of Hessians, Pennsylvania Loyalists, 
West Jersey Volunteei-s and JMaryland Loyal- 
ists. The Second Division consisted of the Six- 
teenth Light Dragoons, First and Second Bat- 
talions of British Grenadiers, the Guards and 
Third, Fourth and Fifth British Brigades." 

Clinton had received infoniiation that the 
American army was already on the east side of 
the Delaware, in pursuit, and that Washington 
was expecting to be reinforced by General Gates' 
northern army. Thereupon, the Britisii com- 
mander, fearing to hazard the attempt to reach 
New York by the direct way through Xew 
Brunswick, decided to take the Monmouth route 
to Sandy Hook Bay ; and, placing all his trains 
in the advance, under escort of Knypiiausen's 
column, with the Second Division in light march- 
ing order (and accompanied by himself in per- 
son) as a I'ear-guard, reached their campsat Al- 
lentown and Imlavstown on the "24111, as befoie 
mentioned. From Imlaystown Knj-jjhausen's 
division moved forward, on the 2oth, to a point 
within four miles of ilonmouth Court-House, 
and in the morning of Friday, the 26th, marched 
to the villag-e now Freehold." The rear divi- 



'In his report, dated New York, July 5, 1778. 

2 The fact is shown by the following extracts from tlie 
diary of Andrew Bell, then private secretary of Sir Henry 
(I'linton : 

" Friday, .lune '26th. — General Knyphausen moved to 



166 



HISTOKY OF MOiSMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



siou came up in the forenoon of the same day, 
and Sir Henry Clinton established his head- 
quarters in a house (still standing and known in 
later years as the " IVIurphy house ") about a 
mile southwest of the court-house, near the 
Mount Holly road. The house was at that time 
the home of the family of William C'onover. 
Here, with its immense trains, with plea-^ure 
carriages, women with their saddle-horses and 
baggage and a variety of other impedimenta 
brought from Philadelphia, the entire army re- 
mained from the forenoon of Friday, tiie ^Gth, 
until the morning of Sunday, the 28th of June, 
its lines extending from the village, a mile or 
two down the Middletown road, and a greater 
distance out on the road to Tmlaystown. Dur- 
ing; the two davs and nights that the liritish 
army remained in the vicinity of Monmouth 
Court-Honse its horses -were j>nt out to pasture, 
the officers made merry over the wines and 
liquors (of which they had a ])lentiful supply), 
the tents were pitched and the men took a long 
and welcome rest after the toil and terrible heat 
of the march from Philadelphia. 

AVashington had suspected the design of the 
British commander to move his forces by land 
from Philadelphia to New York, but it was not 
until Clinton's army was safely across the Dela- 
ware that he became certain that such would be 
the movement. As soon as positive intelligence 
of the evacuation reached him he sent Arnold 
witli a small force to occupy Philadelphia, and 
in the afternoon of the 18th (the same day on 
A\liicli the British crossed into New Jersey) six 
In'igadcs, comprising the divisions of Greene 
and Wavne, forming a corps which was under 
command of General Lee,^ moved to\\ards the 

Freehold Town (four miles), where the remainder of the 
army arrived at 10 a.m., nineteen miles from Rising Sun. 
A very warm day ; very tired. 

" June 27th, Saturday. — The whole army halted here 
this day. A deserter from Washington's army informs that 
the rebels are extended along our left flank, and are very 
numerous. . . .'' 

'General Charles Lee, who was captured at Basking 
Ridge, in December, ITTtJ, by the British under Colonel 
Harcourt, was exchanged in May, 1778, for General Pres- 
cott. He joined the army at Valley Forge, and was rein- 
stated in his old position as second in command under 
Washington. 



Delaware in pursuit. Passing through Doyles- 
town, Lee reacheil the river at Coryell's Ferry, 
and crossed into New Jer.sey at that point in the 
night of the 20th. On the same night Wash- 
ington, who followed with the remainder of the 
forces, encamped at Doylestown, and, resimiing 
the march on the following day, crossed at Cor- 
yell's on the 22d.- From Coryell's the army 
moved over the highlands to Hoj)ewell, ^A•here 
Wa.shington remained during the 23d. At that 
jKtint he detached six hundred riflemen, under 
Colonel Dttniel ^lorgan, to annoy the right 
flank of tiie enemy, while ]Maxwell and Dick- 
inson Mere engaged in the .*ame duty on his left, 
Lee's t'olumu had moved by a more southern 
route, by way of Pennington, and thence to 
Princeton. Wa.shington's column, moving from 
Hopewell, also pa.ssed Princeton, and thence, 
about five miles, to a camp in Hopewell town- 
sliip, where he remained until the morning of 
the 25th of June, having, on the previous 
day, sent a second dettichment of fifteen hun- 
dred chosen troops, under Brigadier-General 
Scott to reinforce those already in the vicinity 
of the enemy, the more effectually to annoy 
and retard their march. 

On tlie 26th, the Aiuerican army moved 
to Kingston ; and having intelligence that 
the enemy had been seen moving towards 
Monmouth Court House, Washington dis- 
patched a third detachment of one thousand 
men imder General Wayne, together with the 
Marquis de Lafayette, who was assigned to the 
command of the entire advanced corps, includ- 
ing; Maxwell's briMde and Morgan's riflemen. 

Lafayette's orders were to " take the first fair 
opportunity to attack the rear of the enemy." 
In a dispatch to A\'!ishington, dated " Robins' 



^ Washington wrote to the .\nicrican Congress as follows : 

" HEADQrABTERS, NEAR CoRYELS, 

'■June 22. 1778. 
" Sib, — I have the honour to inform you that I am now 
in .lersey, and that the ti-oops are passing the river at Cor- 
yels, and are mostly over. ... As soon as we have cleaned 
the arms and can get matters in ti-ain, we propose moving 
towards Princeton, in order to avail ourselves of any fav- 
orable occasions that may present themselves of attacking 
or annoying the enemy. 

'• I have tlie lionour to be, etc., 

'G. W." 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REA^OLUTION. 



1G7 



Tavern, li:ilf-past four, June 26th," lie (Lafay- 
■ette) said: "I liave consultetl the general officers 
of the detachment, and the general djiinion 
seeiu-; to be that I should march in the night 
near them, so as to attack the rear-giiard on the 
march. Your excellency knows that hy tlic 
direct roail you are only three miles tarther 
from Monmouth than we are in this place. 
Some prisoners have heen made, and deserters 
come in amazing fast. ... 1 helieve a happy 
blow would liave the happiest effect. " At five 
oV-lock in the same day he dispatched : " Gen- 
eral Forman is firmly of the opinion that we 
may overtake the enemy. It is highly pleas- 
ant to be followed and countenanced by the 
army: that if wc stop the enemy, and meet with 
some advantage, they may push it with vigor. 
I have no doubt but if we overtake them, we 
possess a very ha])py chance." Again, he dis- 
patched from "Ice Town,' 2(3th June, 1778, at 
a (juarter after seven," and, having made refer- 
ence to a previously-expressed purpose to go to 
that place for provisions, he said : " When I got 
there, I was sorry to hear that Mr. Hamilton, 
who had been riding all the night, had not been 
able to find anybody who coidd give him cer- 
tain intelligence; but, by a party who came 
back, I hear the enemy are in motion, and their 
rear al)ont one mile off the place thev had occu- 
])ied last night, which is seven or eight miles 
from here. I immediately put Generals Max- 
well's and ^^'ayne's brigades in motion, and I 
^y\\\ fidl lower down with General Scott's and 
Jackson's regiment, and some militia. I should 
be very happy if «e could attack them before 
they halt. ... If I cannot overtake them, Me 
could lay at some distance, and attack them to- 
morrow morning. ... If we are at a eomenient 
distance from you, I have nothing to fear in 
striking a blow, if opportunity is offered." 
" If you believe it, or if it is brlkird nn-essary 
or useful to the good of the serriee enid the honor 
of General Lee to send him doirn with a couple 
of thousand men, or any greater force, I will 
cheerfully obey and serve him, not only out of 
■duty, but out of what I owe that gentlemaii's 



' The place which Lafayette calls Ice Town was prob- 
ably Hightstown, he mistaking the sound of the name. 



character."'- AVhen it was found by General 
Lee that the army was retilly and vigorously 
pressing the British, he had made an ap])eal to 
r^afayette, in which he said: "It is my fortune 
;ind my honor that I ])lace in your hands; you 
are too generous to cause the loss of either."' 
And the result prcjved tlitit he had not miscal- 
culated the generosity of the gallant French- 
mau. 

On the evening of June 26th the main body 
of the American army advanced from Kingston, 
leaving their bagoage behind, to enable them to 
supjiort the advanced corjts with j>romptness. 
Early in the morning of the 27th they reached 
Cranbin-y, Mherc they were delayed several 
hours by a heavy rain and the oppressive heat 
which succeeded. Later in the dav thev ad- 
vanced to a point within three miles of English- 
town, and five miles from the British army; 
and there Washington made his head(|iiarters 
for the night. 

During the day (the 27th) the advance coi-ps 
had been strengthened by two additional brig- 
ades (as suggested by Lafltyette), and General 
Lee assumed command, — his whole force then 
niunlicring aliout five thousand men. The of- 
ficial reports of Generttl Washington show that 
Lee positively declined the command of this 
advance corps, until its large increase made it 
certain that it was to hold the position of honor, 
and to be jiushed on the enemy. Lafayette was 
first assigned to the commjuid after a heated 
discussion, in council of war, as to the jiroprietv 
of attacking Clinton's army at all ; and General 
Lee, when that assignment was made with his 
concurrence, .said that he was "well i)lea.sed to 
be freed from all responsibility for a plan which 
he was sure woidd fail," — a statement which 
later events made important. 

The British left was now threatened bv General 
Dickinson's f()rce of nearly eight luuidred men, 
while Moi-gan, with his light infantry, was on 
the right flank. During the battle which . en- 

- This was not italicized in the oiijiinal dispatch. 

^ Lafayette says in his memoirs: "This tone succeeded 
better," — referring to Lee's change of opinion and e/aim to 
the command of the advanced corps. The letter of June 
2titli, above quoted from, shows how Lafayette responded 
tn tlie appeal. 



168 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sued, Morgan lay with his corps of riflemen 
three miles south of Monmouth Court-House, 
at Riehmond's INIills/ awaiting orders, only 
kept from participation in the engagement by 
faihire to receive the instructions which he 
pronqitly sent for as soon as he heard the roar 
of the opening conflict. 

The division commanded by Major-General 
Charles Lee in tlie battle of the 2.sth of June 
was composed (according to the statement of 
General AVayne) of the following-named troops, 
besides the flanking detachments of Dickinson 
and Morgan : " In front, Colonel Butler with 
two hundred men ; Colonel Jackson, with an 
equal number ; Scott's own brigade, with a part 
of Woodford's, six hundred, with two pieces of 
artillery ; General Varnum appeared about 
the same number, with two pieces of artillery ; 
my own detachment was about one thousand, 
witli two pieces of artillery ; General Scott's 
detachment, fourteen hundred, with two pieces 
of artillery ; (General Maxwell's was one thou- 
sand and two pieces of artillery ; in all, five 
thousand, with twelve pieces of artillery, exclu- 
sive of the militia." General Lee claimed tiiat 
this was a loose statement, and that his force 
did not exceed four thousand one hundred 
men ; but the force which Grayson took to 
the front was nearly eight hundred men, and 
although temporarily detached from Scott's and 
Yarnum's brigades, it should enter the aggre- 
gate, and be counted as if not detached. The 
entire force which Lee had at his disposal on 
the evening of the 27th and morning of the 
28tli considerably exceeded five thousand men, 
including the corps of Dickinson and Morgan, 
thougii he took no steps to conuuunicate witii 
these two leaders until after aroused to action 
by Washington's stern censure. General Lafay- 
ette accompanied Lee with his consent as a vol- 
unteer. 

The total numerical strength of the American 
army was more than e((ual to that of the Brit- 
ish, and although fresh from the ,s(pialid can- 
tonments of Valley Forge, it was not wanting in 



1 Now called Shuniar's Mills, the pond or reservoir of 
which has been imnied Morgan Lake, in honor of the bold 
leader who unwillingly kej t bis station there during the 
battle uf M(iiiniiputli. 



nerve and energy. The supply of provisions 
was scanty, but the army was eager in the pur- 
suit. It felt the onward spur when the force 
which had so long kept it on the defensive 
crossed the Delaware in full retreat from the 
theatre of the conflicts of the fall of 1777. 
Washington neither underrated nor despised his 
enerav, l^ut giving credit for courage and wisdom 
equal to his own, measured the forces that were 
to meet in conflict, and, as usual, struck or 
struck Ijack as best he could. 

The military issue between Clinton and Wash- 
ington was in some respects unequal. Clinton 
must get to New York. He had nothing to 
hope from a battle, more than to gain a clear 
path to Sandy Hook. His heavy baggage-lrain 
restricted his operations to the repulse of an at- 
tack, and rendered any protracted pursuit, even 
of broken columns, a fruitless strain upon his 
command. But for Washington to have shrunk 
back from that retreating army, which he had 
been prompt to meet on reasonable terms, would 
have accredited the British forces with that in- 
vincibilitv which Ia'c affirmed of it, would 
have sacrificed the impetus which the offensive 
position imparted to his command, and woidd 
have made every subsequent issue of the war 
more hopeless or luicertain. It would have 
canceled the memory of Trenton and Princeton. 
It would have stultified the movement which 
made Germautown a pledge that the American 
commander-in-chief was ready at all times to 
seize opportunity and to do real fighting. 

The situation of the Britisli army — occupying 
the village and vicinity of Monmouth ' Court- 
House during the two days and nights preceding 
the memorable Sabbath when the opposing hosts 
joined in liattle — has already been noticed. It 
held a strong position, with its "right extending 
about a mile and a half beyond the Monnioath 
Court-House, in the parting of the roads leading 
to Shrewsbury and !Middlctown, and its left 
alono- the road from Allentown to Monmoutii, 
about three miles west of the court-house." 
This position, well protected on the right and 
left, and partially in front, by low grounds and 
woods, was regarded by Washington as "too 
strong to be assailed witli any prospect of mic- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



16» 



ceiss." The general direetiou of the British line 
while thus encamped, and when its march began 
on the following morning, was northeasterly, 
exposing its left and centre to an attack from 
the American troops, whose offensive advance 
was from a nortiiwesterly direction. It there- 
fore became important for General Clinton to 
change his position and gain the Middlotown 
road to the sea as rpiickly as possible, especially 
as a march of oidy ten or twelve miles would 
place him upon strong defensive ground, beyond 
danger of successful pursuit. Lieu tenant-Gen- 
eral Knyphausen was under orders to move at 
dayliy-ht on the following morning. The single 
road which was available for the proposed march 
passed almost immediately into a series of bluffs, 
where a baggage-train would be greatly exposed 
to attack from skirmishing parties, and Genei'al 
Clinton undertook the protection of its rear by 
his own division of selected troops. 

The main body of the American army was 
about three miles beyond Englishtown and less 
than seven miles from the camps of the British 
centre. The advance division, under command 
of General Lee, was about two and a half nailes 
west-northwest from Monmouth Court-House, 
the headquarters of that general being on a hill 
near Wemrock Creek. The detachments under 
Morgan and Dickinson respectively were already 
on the alert, ready to attack the British flanks 
when that army should break camp and move 
out on the road towards Middletown. 

No general engagement in the Revolutionai-y 
War has been so vaguely and unintelligiblv 
described, as to localities and the movements of 
the opposing forces, as the battle of INIonmouth.' 
The country had not been reconnoitred, anil 
very blind statements were made, even by officers 

^This, as well as much that precedes and follows rela- 
tive to the situation and movements preliminary to the 
Monmouth battle, — including the events of the forenoon of 
June 28th, and down to the time when Lee's retreatin'^ 
forces joined the main army, near the old Tennent parson- 
age,— is largely from Carrington's " Battles of the Amer- 
ican Revolution." The narrative of the general engage- 
ment which followed in the afternoon of that bloody day, 
is taken from Marshall, Custis, Lossing, Thatcher ami 
other standard accouuts, and also to a great extent from 
the reports of Washington and his subordinate officers, and 
from other official documents having reference to the battle. | 



who were present, and who afterwards testiiied 
before the court-martial which was convened 
for the trial of General Lee. The official re- 
ports of Wa.shington, Clinton and other general 
officers who took part in the engagement are so 
ambiguous and imperfect as to localities that 
some explanation is necessary for a cletir under- 
standing of the narrativt^ The distinctions of 
"right" and "left" are greatly confused through 
the changing positions of tiie tn)ops, especially 
as the right and left of Clinton's line were re- 
versed when he assumed the offensive, and the 
statement of American officers that "Morgan 
was on the left" did not become true until tliey 
commenced their retreat. Thus, though Diel:- 
insou threatened the British left on the mcirning 
of the battle, his demonstration was upon their 
right when, Liter in the forenoon, thev changed 
front to asstnne the offinisive. 

The terms " ravine" and " morass" are 
extremely confusing and almost unintelli- 
gible in the narrative, and need an explana- 
tion, which is here given, having especial refer- 
ence to the account of the battle, which follows 
farther on. Three ravines or morasses, as tluy 
were indiscriminately termed, were mentioned 
by American officers in their accounts of the 
battle. Only two of these are mentioned by 
Sir Henry Clinton in his report as intervening 
between his advance from the Middletown road 
and the main army of the Americans. The 
ravine or morass behind whiih Wa.shingtou 
formed the divisions of Greene and Stirling, to 
cover the retreat of Lee's brigades, is about a 
half mile southeasterly from the old Tennent 
Meeting-house and about two and a half miles 
from Englishtowii. The skirmish which oc- 
curred early in the morning, and which' led 
General Dickinson to believe that the British 
army had not left Jlonmouth, but ^yas advanc- 
ing in force towards the hill, took place on the 
high ground just east of this "west ravine" or 
morass. It ^yas simply a demoiistiatioii liy the 
enemy's light troops to beat l)ack the militia 
and conceal the withdrawal of the main army 
of Clinton. On tliis same high ground were 
located the hedge fence, the orchard and the 
parsonage, near which the principal engagement 
was fought. 



170 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



A second ravine or morass, called the middle 
ravine, crossed the road nearly a mile farther 
east, and on the high ground on the east side of 
tills ravine the British troops remained a few 
hours after the battle. This high ground 
extended still farther eastward, blending with 
the so-called "heights of Monmoutii " (just 
west and soutiiwest of the village of Freehold), 
and then dipping towards the low plain, about 
a mile wide and three miles loug, just east of 
the Amboy road, running from tiie court- 
house nearly north. This plain or valley, 
■where Clinton first formed his line of attack, 
was also marsliv, near a little pond and along a 
small rivulet,' the latter extending from near 
the court-house, northeasterly, past Briar Hill, 
the low ground bordering it being the eastern 
ravine or moi-ass, which was crossed and re- 
crossed by Wayne, Varnum, Jackson, Scott, 
Grayson, and Oswald's artillery, and behind 
which they retired when the British line ad- 
vanced in force. Just M'est of the Amboy road, 
and nearly parallel with it, "so as to cover botJi 
roads," is the high, wooded ground where Lee 
proposed to re-form his line, and from which, 
intact, the divisions had advanced into the plain 
without definite orders or due regard to their 
nuitual dependence and relations. 

At the head of the Manasquan, near Mon- 
mouth Court-House, there was formerly marshy 
ground, where the small tributaries of the 
stream gathered their waters, and on the north 
side of Monmouth village Geblard's Branch 
was bordered by marshy ground. The small 
stream, or drainage, west of Briar Hill, and 
sometimes called Briar Creek, had across it and 
the marshy ground bordering it, at the time of 
the i)attle, a bridge and causL'way. A small 
fork of the Manalapan Brook flowed north- 
easterly from the Allentown road, and along its 
sides was the swampy ground which protected 
the British camp on the night preceding the 
battle. 

The low plain below the slope from the court- 
house and the Amboy road was ijuite open for 
at least a quarter of a mile, with woods well 



'The same whicli crosses the road a few rods north- 
■wardly from the gas-works of the village of Freehold. 



distributed beyond this narrow belt as far north 
as Briar Hill, to the Middletown road, on the 
edge of which Colonel Grayson halted his 
command, nearly jiarallel with the road on 
which the British column was marciiing. The 
summit between the Amboy road and the mid- 
dle ravine was mostly in woods, with open 
ground near and just northwest of the court- 
house, where Butler drove back the Queen's 
Rangers. To the left of the British line, after 
it faced west to return the offensive, was an- 
other piece of woods out of which the dragoons 
advanced, ;ind from which a strong column 
emerged for an ailvance towards the court- 
house to turn the American right and cut off 
Grayson, Scott, Jackson, Maxwell and Oswald, 
when thev retired liehind the eastern ravine 
and reached the sunmiit. Lentil within six or 
seven year.s — if not until the present time — the 
middle ravine remained covered with tangled 
under-brush and briars, as was mentioned by 
officei-s \vho passed through it during the bat- 
tle. The present road to Englisiitown runs 
considerably north of the ancient road, and 
there are now no traces of two old paths, 
which were partic-ularly mentioned by witnesses 
on the Lee trial. The fiict that all the com- 
manders made reference to the "west ravine," or 
or morass, indicates clearly that the bridge over it 
wasacommon crossing; and although onedivision 
marched to the left from the old meeting-house, 
while other troops took the sharp turn to the 
right at the forks, the two divisions took two 
routes for the double purpose of extending their 
front to prevent flank attacks iu a general ad- 
vance, and also to gain room for the movement. 
There was difficulty in obtaining guides,^ 
and re])eated halts ensued on that account. 
General Maxwell said he advanced along a 
morass from the meeting-house, but crossed the 
hill finally occupied by General Stirling. The 
small creek emptying into a pond fills the con- 
ditions of his statement. He was informed 
that there was a second road to the north, lead- 
ing to Englisiitown by Craig's ^lill, and fears 
were expressed that the British would .seek to 

' David Forman (father of Dr. Samuel Forman, of Free- 
hold) and Peter Wikoff acted as guides to the com- 
nmnder-i'i-chief in his operations in Monmouth County. 



I 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



171 



gain tlie American rear by means of that road, 
but they did not attempt it, and the entire re- 
treat was finally made over tlie causeways at 
the middle and we.'t morasses. 

The great conflict of the 28th of June, 1778, 
was jjrecedcd, or, more properly, opened, in the 
morning of that day, by a series of skirmislies 
which took place at several points at the west, 
northwest and northeast of the village of 
Freehold ; one of them at least being in full 
view of the old court-house of INIonmouth, and 
not more than four hundred yards from it, — the 
location, as nearly as can now be determined, 
being on and immediately around the spot, which 
has, on that account, been selected as the site of 
the monument commemorating the battle. 

General Di<-kinson, with his force of about 
eight hundred men, held a position on the right 
and two and a half miles in advance of English- 
town. He was posted there to watch the Brit- 
ish closely and instantlv report the forward 
movement of their force. Discoverino- indicii- 
tions that they were about to move forward, he 
sent a mes.senger to communicate the intelligence 
to Washington and Lee. This was done at a 
little before five o'clock in the morning. About 
two and a half hours later, Dickinson encoun- 
tered a small flanking-party of the enemy, and 
became engaged in a sharjj skirmish with them, 
erroneously su2)posing tiiat the British had 
turned liack after setting out on the march, and 
that the force with which he was skirmishing- 
was their advance-guard. This was the first 
skirmish of the day. It took place on a rise 
of ground a little east of the west ravine, or 
morass, liehind which, in the afternoon of that 
memorable day, AVashiugton formed the two 
divisions of Greene and Stirling to check the 
British advance. 

At about three o'clock in the morning. Colo- 
nel Grayson had received orders "to put Scott's 
and Varnum's l>rigades in readiness to march, 
and ti> give notice whon they are ready." He 
moved with his conunand to Eno-lishtown, and 
there, having reporteil to General Lee, "was 
ordered to advance and halt three miles from 
the enemy, and send repeated intelligence of 
their movements." He marched as directed. 



and, " at a distance of two and a half miles from 
Englishtown, was ordered to march slow; 
shortly afterwards, to advance." Under these 
oi-ders he moved rapidly to the causeway over 
the west ravine. As he approached he saw fir- 
ing, and a party of militia retreating from the 
enemy. The militia referred to were the 
forces of General Dickinson, who was retir- 
ing before what he supi)osed to be the ad\-ance- 
guard of the British main body. Colonel (irav- 
son crossed the causeway ami bridge with one of 
his regiments and one piece of Oswald's artil- 
lery, and on a,scending the hill beyond, the Brit- 
ish skirmishing party at once retreated. Gen- 
eral Lee arrived on the ground soon after, and 
was told by Dickinson that the British were 
returning from the court-house. Concernina: 
this, there was much difterence of opinion 
among the officers present, as no reconnoissance 
in force had been made to ascertain the truth, 
i)ut General Lee remained firm in his opinion 
(which proved to be correct) that the British 
army was on its way towards Middletown, and 
that it was merely a light covering party that 
had skirmished with Dickinson and caused him 
to fall back. 

To tills point, tlie high ground east of the 
west ravine, where the first skirmish of the 
day had been opened by General Dickinson, 
the other troops of Lee's command came up 
successively and were halted. Soon afterwards 
Lee sent Colonels Butler and Jackson foi'ward, 
each with two hundred men, and then followed 
in person, to reconnoitre the British position. 
As soon as General Lafayette arrived at the 
west ravine the troops crossed, and soon after 
nine o'clock the Mhole division advanced 
towards the court-house, it having then been 
definitely ascertained that the British left wing 
had left the Allentown road and was on the 
march towards iliddletown, and so the oppor- 
tunity for striking it on the left flank while it 
was so greatly extended had been lost. 

The second fight of the day (amounting only 
to a slight skirmish) was made by Colonel But- 
ler against a detachment of the Queen's Ran- 
gers, who were found a short distance northwest 
of the court-house, on the ground which now 
forms the jMonuraeut Park. Butler, under or- 



172 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tiers from General Anthony Wayne, attacked 
them and drove them past the court-house 
through the little village that then clustered 
about it. General Lafayette also, with some of 
the light horsemen of JNIaxwell's brigade, passeil 
beyond the court-house to the east to reconnoi 
tre, and found tliat the rear-guard of the Brit- 
ish army was then " a mile in advance." As 
soon as the Queen's Rangers had been driven 
through the village, AVayne sent Colonel But- 
ler across the east ravine, or morass (northerly 
from the present gas-works of Freehold), where 
he phiccd liis detachment, witli two artillery 
pieces, on a small eminence in the plain, the 
other brigades of Lee's command coming uj>, 
following the g-eneral lead of those in advance, 
until they formed an irregular line, I'xtcnding 
to Briar Hill. 

The movement of the troops of General 
Lee's command up to this time, including the 
skirmish at the courthouse, were thus detailed 
by General Wayne: Early in the moruiug he 
" received orders to prepare and inarch [from 
Englishtown]. Having marched about a mile 
witl< a detachment there was a halt made in 
front. Half an liour after received a message 
by one of General Lee's aids to leave my de- 
tachment and come to the front and take com- 
mand of the troops in front ; tiiat it was a post 
of lionor. >Vhen I arrived there I found 
about six luuidred rank and file, with two 
pieces of artillery, from Scott's and Woodford's 
brigades, and General Varnum's brigade drawn 
up, Scott's advanced up a morass, the other in 
the rear of it. 

" LTpon notice that the enemy were advanc- 
ing from the court-liouse,' General Lee directed 
that the troops be formed so as to cover two 
roads that were in the woods, wliere the troops 
had advanced and formed. Colonel Butler, 
witii his detachment, and Colonel Jackson, with 
his detachment, w-ere ordered to the front. 
Colonel Butler formed the advance-guard and 
marclied on. The troops took up again the 
line of marcli and followed liim. When we 



'The notice sent by Dickinson when he encountei-cil 
the British fianking-party between seven anJ eight 
o'clock, and supposed them to be the advance of the British 
army. 



arrived near the edge of some open ground in 
view of the coiu't-house we observed a body of 
the enemy's horse drawn up on the nortliwest 
side, between us and the court-hf»use. General 
Lee ordered the troops to halt, and by wheeling 
them to the right tiiey were reduced to a proper 
front to the enemy's iiorse, though then under 
cover of the woods. General Lee and myself 
were advancing to recounoitre the enemy. In 
advancing a piece forward, General Lee re- 
ceived some message which stopped iiim. I 
went on to a place wiiere I liad a fair [irospect, 
from my glass, of the eneiuy. Their iiorse 
seemed so much advanced from the foot that I 
could hardly perceive tiie movement of the foot, 
which induced me to send for Colonel Butler's 
detacJiment and Colonel Jackson's detachment, 
in order to drive their iior.'^e back. I tiien de 
tached part of Butler's people, who drove the 
horse into the village." This affair was the 
second skirmish of the day (as before men- 
tioned), in which Butler attacked tiie Queen's 
Rauffers and drove them bevoiid the ciiurt- 
house to the east, Lafayette following imme- 
diately after with some of Maxwell's light 
hoise. 

" I could perceive," continued Wayne, " that 
tiie enemy were moving from us in very great 
disorder and confusion. In about ten or fifteen 
minutes the enemy made a halt and appeared to 
be forming in some order. Tiiis intelligence I ■ 
sent by one of my N-olunteer aids to General 
Lee, and requested that the troops might l)e 
pushed on. It was (Jeneral Lee's orders that I 
should advance witli Colonel Butler's detach- {j 
ment and Colonel Jackson's detachment. Upon 
advancing, the enemy took up their line of 
march aud began to move on. I crossed the 
morass about three-quarters of a mile east 
[nortlieast] of the court-house, near to the edge 
of a road leading to Middletown, near the road 
wliere the enemy were marching upon. The 
whole of the enemy then in view lialted. I 
advanced a piece [meaning a short di.stauce] in 
front of the troops, upon a little eminence, to 
have a view of their position and of their 
movements. Oiu- troops were advancing and 
had arrived at the edge of a morass, rather ea-t 
of the court-house." The morass here m<ii- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



173 



tioned is the low ground along the little stream 
tli;it runs northeastwardly from near the gas- 
works. AVayne's account thus far includes 
most of the movements of the morning to the 
time when, as before mentioned, the troops of 
Lee's command had ranged them.?elves in an 
irregular line reaching beyond tlie eastern mo- 
rass to the vicinity of Briar Hill, where Col- 
onel Butler, holding an advanced position, was 
suddenly and briskly attacked by the British 
light iiorse, whom he successfully repulsed. 
" The enemy," said Wayne, " then advanced 
their horse, — about three hundred, — and al)out 
two hundred foot to cover them. The horse 
then made a full charge on Colonel Butler's de- 
tachment, and seemed determined upon gaining 
their right flank, in order to throw themselves 
, in between us and our main body, which had 
halted at the morass. He broke their horse by 
a well-directed fire, M'hich ran the horse among 
their foot, broke them and carried them ott' 
likewise." This, the third skirmish of the day, 
occurred at about half-past ten o'clock in the 
forenoon (as stated by Captain Stewart, of the ' 
artillery, in the subsequent trial of Lee), and 
while the troops were moving from the woods 
near the ^\.mboy road to the plain l^eyond the 
east ravine, under the general direction of 
General ^Vayne. 

At the time when Butler repulsed the charge 
•of the British horsemen near the Middletown 
road, a mile northeast of the court-house, as 
above described. Colonel Grayson was in ad- 
vance, with an orchard at his left; Jackson 
about a hundred yards in his rear ; then Scott, 
somewhat detached from the other commands; 
and Maxwell's force on the edue of the eastern 
morass. The last-named officer gave the follow- 
ing account of tlie movements of his brigade 
during the morning, fi'om the time when he 
marched from his camp of the previous night, 
at Englishtown, until he reached the position 
above named, which was near the northeast end 
cf the present town of Freehold. 

" Received orders after five o'clock (a.m.) 
to put my brigade in readiness to march imme- 
diately. Ordered the brigade to be ready to 
march ; went and waited on General Lee. He 
seemed surprised I was not marched, and [said ?] 



that I must stay until the last, and fall in the 
rear. I ordered my brigade to the ground I 
understood I was to march by, and found my- 
self to be before General "Wayne and General 
Scott, and halted my brigade to fall in the rear. 
. . . Came back to my former position ; waited 
a considerable time before General Wayne and 
General Scott got past me ; then I marched in 
the rear. There M-ere three jiretty large halts 
before I got up within a mile of the Court- 
House. The JNIarquis de Lafayette informed 
me that it was General Lee's wish that we 
siiould keep to the woods as mucli as possible ; 
that as I had a small party of militia horse, he 
desired I should keeji these horse ' pretty well 
out upon my right. It was thereabout that I 
heard some firing of cannon and small-ai'ms." 
This firing was that of the British horsemen's 
charge on Butler and a few shots from the 
enemy's artillery. " We had not advanced 
above two hundred yards," said General Wayne, 
— referring to the movement of his troops just 
at that time when Butler repelled the charge, — 
" Iiefore they liegan to open three or four pieces 
of artillery upon us. They inclined first to 
our right, in order to gain a piece of high 
ground to the right of where I lay, nearly in 
front of the court-house.' I sent off Major 
Biles to desire our troops that were in view, 
and in front of the morass, to advance. Our 
artillery [Oswald's] began to answer theirs from 
about a half a mile in the rear of Butler's de- 
tachment. . . ." Wayne's messenger carried 
orders from the general to Colonel Grayson, to 
hold his ground, as the enemy was retiring — 
which Wayne at that time fully believed to be 
the case. On receipt of that order, Grayson 
" hallooed to Jackson to come and form upon 
the hill [Briar Hill] upon his left," but Jackson 
disregarded the request, because he had no 
artilleiy. Scott was then a little to the rear 
and right of Jackson. Maxwell, who was then 



' This party of horsemen marched under Lafayette 
through tlie viHuge of Monmouth Court-House and to the 
open lands east of it, as before mentioned. 

'From this description by "Mad Anthony" it appears 
most likely that he was at that time occupying the ground 
where the Freehold and New Vork Railroad station and 
freight houses now stand. 



174 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



fartluT to the i-ear, expected Scott to move to 
the right, join on Wayne's troops, and let him 
[Maxwell] into the line. Wayne meanwhile 
held the regiments of Wesson, Stewart and Liv- 
ing.ston to the left of Varnnm, to cover Jkitler, 
with whom he advanced still further into the 
open ground, and also to cover Oswald's artil 
lery, which iiad drawn two additional guns 
fi'om Varnum's brigade, and was exchanging 
shots with the enemy's artillery. 

Until this time Sir Henry Clinton had ex- 
pected to be able to take off his trains in safety, 
and [)ursue his retreat to Middletown Heights 
without being compelled to risk a general en- 
gagement. But now that Lee's entire force 
was crowding close upon his rear and flank, 
at a time when Knyphausen's colunui was en- 
tering upon partof tiio route which was exceed- 
ingly perilous for the safety of the miles of 
wagon-trains which that column was guarding, 
and which he (Clinton) believed the movement 
of the American force to be especially directed 
against, he promptly resolved to turn and give 
battle; and the course thus quickly adopted 
was as promptly acted upon. His artillery 
pieces were placed in position and opened tire 
on the Americans, and by half-past eleven 
o'clock his rear ilivision — the <'litc of the British 
army — had lieen halted in its retreat to Middle- 
town, and formed with an obli([ue front to the 
rear, in a line facing towards the west, and ex- 
tending from Briar Hill, on its right, nearly to 
a little ravine— then much deeper and more 
clearly defined than now — which crossed the 
main street of the village below the site of the 
old Academy building. This line was strength- 
ened and supported by the rest of Clinton's own 
division and by as many of Knyphausen's 
troops as could be spared from guarding the 
trains. The troops ordered back from Knyp- 
hausen's own division were the Seventeenth 
Light Dragoons. 

Although General Lee, when afterwards 
placed on trial by court-martial, said that he in- 
tended to fight Clinton, and that the retreat be- 
fore the advant'ing British was commenced 
without his orders, it was well known that he 
believed the British veterans to be invincible, 
— "the finest troops in the world," — and that 



his division could not successfully resist their 
advance, even had he wished to do so, which 
has been rendered improbable (to say the least) 
by tostimouy obtained many years afterwards. 
Whatever may have been his feelings and in- 
tentions, it is sure that when the British com- 
mander-in-chief wheeled his rear division and 
prejjared to advance on the American line, the 
brigades of Lee's command began to retreat, 
all the subordinate commanders believing that 
they were doing so under Lee's orders, as it 
still seems probable that they were. 

VV^ayne's first knowledge that a retreat was in- 
tended was received from his aid-de-canip, 
Major Biles, whom he had sent out ^\'ith orders 
for the troops that were in view, and in fnmt 
of the morass, to advance. " ^Nlajor Biles re- 
turned and informed me [\\'Myne] that the 
troops were ordered to repass the morass, aud 
they were then retiring over it. I galloped up 
to the Marquis de Lafayette, who was in the 
rear of Livingston's or Stewart's regiment, who 
said he was ordered to recross the morass,' and 
form near the court-house, from that to the 
woods. I again sent to General Lee, asking 
that troops might be brought up. ^Nlajor Biles 
or ]\Iajor Fishbourne returned and informed 
me that the troo])s had been ordered to retire 
from the court-house, and that they were then 
retiring. About the same time one of General 
Lee's aids told me that it was not General Lee's 
intention to attack them in front, but that lie 
intended to take them, and was prepai'ing a 
detachment to throw upon their left. I then 
crossed the ravine mvself, and went with CJeii- 
eral Scott to the court-house. . . . After 
viewing the ground about the court-house, sent 
off one off my aids to General Lee to request 
him that the troops might again be returned to 
the place they had left. At this time the enemy 
did not appear to be above two thousand, about 
a mile distant in front, moving on to gain the 
hill before mentioned. A fire was kept up by 
cannon between us and the enemy at this time. 
Major Fishbourne returned and informed me 
that the troops were still retreating, and that 



' At or near where now stands the farm-house belonging 
to the Schanck estate, ami occupieil by Mr. Edward Hance. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



175 



General Lee would see me himself. After- 
wards I perceived the enemy begin to uii)\e 
rapidly in colunni towards the court-house. I 
again sent Major Lenox and Major Fishbourne 
to General Lee, requesting him at least to halt 
the troops to cover General Scott, and that the 
enemy were advancing ; and also sent an order 
to Colonel Butler to fall back, as he was in 
dansrer ui being surrounded and taken." 

With reference to the position and retirement 
of General Scott's command. General Maxwell 
saiil : " I did expect that General Scott would 
have moved to tlie right, as there was a vacancy 
between him and the other troops ; but while I 
was riding up to him I saw his troops turn 
about and form in column, and General Scott 
coming to meet me. He told me our troops 
were retreating on the right, and we must get out 
of that place ; that he desired his cannon to go 
along with me, as there was only one place to 
get over that morass [the one northeast of the 
Schanck farm-house], and he would get out of 
that if he could. I ordered mv brigade to march 
back." 

Colonel Jackson, in describing how he retired 
from his advanced position near Briar Hill, 
said : " I asked Lieutenant-Colonel Smith if 
he did not think it best for me t(j cross the 
moi'ass, and post myself on the height that 
crowned it. He asked if I had any orders ! I 
answered no. He nuule reply, ' For God's 
sake don't move without you liave orders ! ' I 
desired him, or he offered, to go and see if there 
was any person to give me orders ; he returned 
in a few minutes, and told me there was no 
per.-;on there. I told him I'll risk it, and cross 
the morass." 

General David Forman said, " I rode forward 
to discover the number and situation of the en- 
emy shortly after the enemy's horse had charged 
Colonel Butler's detachment; then rode in 
quest of General Lee and offered to take a de- 
tachment, and by taking a road upon our left, to 
double their right flank. General Lee's an- 
swer was, ' I know my business.' A few 
minutes afterwards I saw the jMarquis de La- 
fayette direct Colonel Ijivingston's and Colonel 
Stewart's regiments to march towards the 
enemy's left, and T was informed by the Mav- 



quis that he was directed by General Lee to 
gain tiie enemy's left flank. In this time there 
was a cannonading from both parties, but princi- 
pally on the part of the enemy. The Marquis 
did not gain the euemy's left flank ; as I sup- 
posed, it was occasioned by a retreat that had 
been ordered to the; village, I presume by Gen- 
eral Lee, as he was present, and did not contra- 
dict it." 

The first disposition of the troops of Lee's 
command on the ground between the eastern 
morass and Briar Hill had been made without 
any general order from Lee, each subordinate 
commander taking his position and deploying 
his men according to his own ideas. Colonel 
Oswald maintained his artillery in position un- 
til his annnunition was exhau.sted, and then 
retired behind the morass, to the high grounds 
now included in the Schanck farm. There he 
met General Lee, who ordered iiim, upon ob- 
taining ammunition, to continue firing, and this 
was done over the heads of Butler's advanced 
detachment, and with great danger of doing 
injury to them. At this time General Lee sent 
orders to General Wayne to move toward the 
right, nearer to the court-hou.se, where the 
enemy was threatening a movement. The reg- 
iments of Livingston and Stewart, in Wayne's 
brigade, were the first to move under these or- 
ders from Lee. Grayson and Scott, seeing the 
movement of these regiments, considered it as 
a general retreat, and that opinion was confirmed 
by the evident pressure of the British towards 
the court-house, while their centre and right 
emerged from the woods into tlie open ground, 
thus threatening to sever the American line, 
already- weakened in the centre, and to cut off 
the regiments which were on the left toward 
Briar Hill. Grayson, Scott, Jackson and Var- 
num recrcssed the morass, as has already been 
shown, and, with Maxwell, entered the woods 
upon the hill west of the Amboy road. There 
they received orders from General Lee to re- 
form the line in the woods on the high ground, 
with the right resting on the village. General 
Lee stated that he had supposed that the houses 
around the court-house were of stone, but 
when he found that they were of wood, and 
that the village was open (that is, that the 



176 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



houses were scattering), he decided to fall liack 
before the British advance, wliieli wa.s then ap- 
pearing in the edge of the woods less than a 
mile distant, and was variously estimated by 
the American officers at from fifteen hundred to 
twenty-five hundred men. 

The foi'ce of Lee at that time disposable for 
attack or resistance, if properly in hand, was 
not less than three thousand men, besides Gray- 
son's detachment. Wayne, during the hour and 
a half that elapsed while lie was in the 
plain, had sent three times to urge General Lee 
to advance with the troops, and, as he stated, 
refrained from pressing the attack, under in- 
struction.?, constantly expecting that Lee would 
carrv the left wing around the right of the 
British column, to cut it off from the main 
bodv of the army. Lee himself afterwards 
stated that such was his purpose, and also that 
when he notified General Washington, who had 
sent an aid to learn the situation of aflFairs,' 



' Lieuten.int-Colnnel Brooks, acting adjutant-general of 
Washino-ton's staff, who was with General Lee, said : 
'■Within view of Monmouth court-house there was a halt 
for an hour, in which interval General Lee reconnoitred 
the enemy, who put on the appearance of retiring from the 
court-house somewhat pvecipitately and in disorder. 
When they had retreated about a mile, on the Middletown 
road, they halted, and formed on high ground. General 
Lee observed that if the body now in view were all or near 
all that were left to cover the retreat of the main body, 
instead of pushing th'eir rear, he would have them all 
prisoners. He marched his main body to gain the enemy's 
rear, leaving General Wayne witli two or three pieces of 
artillery to amuse the enemy in front, but not to push them, 
lest his project should be frustrated. After coming into the 
plain, about a mile below the court-house, I observed the 
head of General Lee's column filing to the right toward the 
court-house. A cannonading had now talten place between 
us and the enemy. When I came in the rear of Scott's 
detachment I perceived a very great interval between that 
and the front of Maxwell's brigade. Upon General Max- 
well seeing me, lie aslied if I had any orders from General 
Lee. I told him I had not. . . . General Scott came up about 
this time and oViserved that our troops were going oft' the 
field toward the court-house. He asked me whether it 
was the case. I told him I knew nothing of it if it was so. 
During this time all the columns except Maxwell's were 
moving to the right. After having seen several battalions 
pass [repass] the ravine, I returned to the point where 
General Maxwell was, and found General Scoit and IMax- 
well standing together. General Maxwell again asked me 
if I had any orders, I told him I had not. ... I rode to- 
ward the [east] ravine to find General Lee, but finding the 



that he was confident of success, he suppo.sed 
the British rear-guard did not exceed fifteen 
hundred men. His estimate \\as probably 
nearly correct, and the plan a good one at that 
time, for his whole division was then pressing 
to the front, eager to engage the enemy; but at 
noon the case was different, for Clinton had 
fully realized the weakness of the pursuit, and 
had gained time to turn it into failure. Lee's 
entire division was then in retreat, quickened at 
this time by his orders ;' and the left wing only 
saved its connection with the main body of tlie 
division by a march through the woods, leaving 
their artillery to the charge of Colonel Oswald, 
who, with his few men, brought off ten pieces, 
though he took onlv two into action at first. 

It was at this time, or perhaps a little earlier, 
that a messenger from Colonel Morgan, "having 
sought in vain for General Lee," came to 
General Wayne for instructions. Morgan was 
posted, as before mentioned, at Richmond's 
Mills, nearly three miles in a southerly direc- 
tion from ^Monmouth Court-House, and having 
heard the sound of the firing in front, was 
anxious for orders to march his riflemen to the 
scene of conflict; but Wayne simply told his 
messenger that he (the messenger) could see the 
condition of things for himself and report the 
facts to General Morgan. " 'J'he enemy," said 
he, "are advancing, and Colonel Morgan should 
govern himself accordingly." General Lee 
(through Major Mercer of his staff) had pre- 
viousl}' expressed displeasure at ^\'ayne's having 
ordered Colonel Scott to a position on the left, 
and this probably was the reason why Wayne 
now declined to give the desired orders to 
Morgan, who, in consequence, was deprived of 
the opportunity of advancing to take a place in 

enemy were pushing that way, thought best to return and 
come round the ravine, and found General Lee about a 
quarter of a mile this [west] side of the court-house. He 
said 'you see our situation, but I am determined to make 
the best of a bad bargain.' . . . Upon asking several officers, 
who appeared to command the buttalions, why they left 
the ground, they said it was by General Lee's and the 
Marquis de Lafayette's orders." 

' At about the time the retreat began Colonel Stewart, of 
Wayne's brigade, asked General Lee where he should take 
his men. General Lee replied, "Take litem to any place 
to save their lives," — pointing to an orchard in front. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



177 



the line, and so remained at his jjost through 
the long hours of that blazing afternoon, hear- 
ing the dull roar of the distant battle, but taking 
no part in it.' 

The British forces, having completed their 
formation in the woods to the northeast of the 
court-house, emerged from their cover and 
advanced steadily, in good order and with 
solid ranks, towards the village. Wayne, under 
direction of Lafayette, had placed two regiments 
— Stewart's and Livingston's — to resist their 
advance, but it was useless for this small force 
to attempt to impede their advance, and the 
regiments joined the retreat, the details of which, 
with reference to the several l)rigadcs and regi- 
ments, it is unnecessary here to narrate. "The 
troops," said Lieutenant-Colonel Brooks, of 
Washington's staff, "in a very easy, moderate 
way, continued their marcli until they had passed 
the ravine in front of Carr's house." This has 
reference to what has before been mentioned as 
the "middle ravine," or morass. It has gener- 
ally been supposed that the retreat of Lee's 
division to the main body under Wasliington 
was a disorderly one, — almost a panic, — but this 
is a very erroneous idea. There was certainly 
some confusion, occasioned by a lack of proper 
direction of their movements, but there was 
nothing in the nature of a panic. No com- 
mander knew why he was retreating, only that 
such was understood to be the orders, and be- 
cause he saw others retreating; but no troops 
Cduld have rallied more promptly than they did 
when they felt the presence of Washington. 
Credit was due to General Lee for his self- 
possession and for his evident purpose to bring 

lA night or two before the Monmouth battle, Morgan, 
contrary to the express orders of Washington (personally 
given) "not to fire a single shot, or bring on any skirmish- 
ing with the enemy," disobeyed both. For this he was 
placed in arrest. The next day after this disregard of 
orders and subsequent fright, occasioned by a reprimand 
from the chief, he was released and restored to favor. No 
doubt this occurrence was the cause of his remaining at his 
post, fearing to move up withoui positive orders, much as 
he desired to take part in the engagement. 

Late in the afternoon orders reached him to move up at 
once, and these orders he promptly obeyed ; but being obliged 
to take a circuitous route, he did not arrive on the field till 
night, after the battle was over. 
12 



the men away in safety, whatever may be said 
of his failure to fight, as Washington had ex- 
pected him to do. The troops who had marched 
and countermarched umler blind guidance and 
conflicting orders — or no orders at all — during 
seven or eight hours of extreme heat were fall- 
ing by the roadside, worn out with fatigue and 
fainting with thirst, with no stimulus of hope 
to bear them up, and it cannot be denied that 
the retretit from Briar Hill to the old meeting- 
house was a victory of courage, manhood and 
endurance over every possible discouragement 
that could befall a brave and steadfast army in 
earnest pursuit of a retiring adversary. Regi- 
ment after regiment, brigade after brigade, has- 
tened to cross the western moi-ass, and to the 
credit of Lee it is to be recorded that he was 
among the last to pass the causeway. At this 
point the broken detachments met the main 
army. Some went to its rear to rest and rally 
for a fresh advance, while some turned their 
faces again to the enemy and fought until their 
pursuers retired from the field. Colonel Ogden 
said that he asked General Maxwell to halt his 
command and face the enemy, and that he did 
so promptly, rallying his men without difficulty. 
It seems clear that the division of General Lee 
was saved by the self-po.ssession of its officers 
and the \\onderful endurance of the rank and 
file, produced in a great degree by their hard- 
ships during the preceding winter at Valley 
Forge. 

The noise of the desultory conflict in the 
vicinity of the court-house during the fore- 
noon had been heard by Washington, and it had 
aroused him to his full fighting energy. The 
return of his aid-de-camp with the assurance 
that General Lee had overtaken the British 
array, and expected to cutoff the division form- 
ing their rear-guard, was received as a vindi- 
cation of his previous judgment and a presage 
of success. He hurried forward the advance 
of the main body under his immediate com- 
mand, and the trooj)s dro])ped every incum- 
brance to the celerity of their march to the 
front. At the old Tennent Meetinar-house 
Gi'eene took the right and Lord Stirling led 
the left directly towards the high ground, 
where he subsequently took his strong position. 



178 



HISTOKV OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The vaiiji;u;inl, under the immediate command 
of Washington, approached the causeway at tlic 
western morass, when repeated interruptions of 
liis progress began to warn iiim that disaster 
was impending, and that the troops of tiic Con- 
tinental army needed the ])rescnce of their com- 
mander-in-chief. Fii-st a mounted fiirmer, 
tlien a friglitened fugitive titer, told his story. 
" After a few paces, two or three more persons 
said that the Continentals were ret)eating." 
Like lightning the whole career of General 
Charles Lee fl;ished through the mind of Wash- 
ington, awakening vague and painful suspi- 
<'ions and more painful apprehensions, ai'ousing 
the chief to a sense of the danger which threat- 
ened the army. At this crisis his action was 
prompt. Colonels Harrison and Fitzgerald 
were dispatched to ascertain tJic exact situation 
of affairs. They met Major Ogden, who told 
them with strong expletives that Lee and his 
troops were " flying from a shadow." Officer 
after officer, detachment after detachment, 
came over the causeway and bridge, all alike 
ambiguous in their replies or ignorant of the 
cause of their retreat. Generals and colonels 
came in with their broken commands, all know- 
ing that they were retreating, but no one able to 
say more than that such were the orders, and that 
just behind them was "the whole British army." 
Washington hastened towards the liridge and 
met Wayne, Varnum, Oswald, Stewart, Rani- 
sey and Livingston. Upon them he imposed 
the duty of meeting the British columns, and, 
leading the way in person, placed them in posi- 
tion on the high ground bordering the west 
morass. On the left, in the edge of the woods, 
he posted Ramsey and Stewart, with two 2)ieces 
of artillery, and with the solemn charge that 
he depended on them to stop the pursuit. On 
the right, in the rear of an orchard, and cov- 
ered by a thick hedge-row, he posted Wayne, 
Varnum and Livingston; and four of Oswald's 
guns were placed there under the directions of 
General Knox, chief of artillery. Maxwell 
and other commanders, as they arrived, were 
ordered to the rear to re-form their colunuis, 
and Lafayette was intrusted with the formation 
of a second line until he could give the halted 
troops a position which they might hold while 



he should bring up the main army to their 
support. It was an occasion such as tests the 
abilities of a great leader and proves the stead- 
fastness of soldiers. 

Already, with the last retreating column. 
General Lee had appeared, and finding the 
troops in line, proceeded to make such change 
in their position and arrangement as he thought 
best under the circumstances. He afterwards 
stated that it had been his purpose, after he 
passed Carr's house and after consultation with 
Wikoff (one of the guides), who knew the 
country, to place a battery on Combs' Hill, 
which attracted his attention. Wikoff showed 
him that he could take fence rails and make a 
crossing of the morass, and that the British army 
could not attack him without making a circuit 
of three or four miles to the south ; but he said 
there was no time for that, and continued his 
retreat. While demanding the reason for the 
disposition which he found of the troops on the 
hill near the west morass, he was informed that 
Washington had himself made that disposition. 
Regaiding this as virtually superseding him in 
command, he thereuj)on rode forward to find 
Washington and report to him foi- further 
orders. He soon met the chief, who, aroused 
to a fury of wrath by the conviction that the 
cause of his country and the safety of his army 
had been willfully imperiled by the disobe- 
dience — if not treachery — of his lieutenant, 
sternlv demanded of Lee an explanation of iiis 
conduct ; and the manner, tone and words of 
Washington at this meetiuo- were such that Lee 
(as he afterwards stated before a court-martial) 
was " disconcerted, astonished and confounded," 
so that he was " unable to make any coherent 
answer." It was a well-established fact that on 
this occasion the Father of his Country did 
(perhaps for the first and last time in his life) 
use some profane expressions, which have been 
variously reported by different witnesses and 
writers, as will be more fully noticed in succeed- 
ing pages. 

This colloquy between the two generals was 
closed by Washington asking Lee if he would 
take command at the front while he (Washing- 
ton) was forming the main body. "When Gen- 
eral Washington asked me," said Lee after- 



1 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



179 



wards, " wlietlier I would remain in front and 
retain the command, or \\hetlier he .slionld take 
it, I answered that I undoubtedly w^ould, and 
that he should see tliat I myself should be one 
of the last to leave the field. Colonel Hamil- 
ton, flourishing his sword, immediately exclaimed 
' That's right, my dear (ieneral,and I will stay, 
and we will all die here on the spot.' ... I 
answered, ' I am responsible to the (leneral and 
to the Continent for the troops I have been en- 
trusted with. \\^hen I have taken proper 
measures to get the main body in a good posi- 
tion, I will die with you on the spot if you 
])lease.' " He spoke in terms of ridicule of 
Hamilton's " flustrated manner and frenzy of 
valor," and gave it as his opinion that " the 
position was not one to risk anything further 
than the troops which were then halted on it." 
The commands of Ramsey and Stewart had 
been (as already noticed) placed in a command- 
ing position on the high ground, supporting 
the two pieces of Oswald's artillery, with the 
solemn cliaro;e from Washinoton to hold their 
ground, stop the British pursuit, and so give 
him time to bring up the main body and save 
the day. They performed well the duty as- 
signed them. The fire from Oswald's guns was 
well directed, and told with such effect on the 
tr(»])s of Cornwallis that for the first time since 
they had been fiiced to the rear at Briar Hill 
their advance was checked, and they found 
their way barred by the firm front and deter- 
mined courao-e of their antaoonists. The fus;i- 
tive troops of Lee's division had been insj)ired 
with confidence by the presence of the com- 
mander-in-chief, and within ten minutes 
after he appeared before them the retreat 
was suspended, the troops rallied and order 
soon came out ot the midst of the utmost 
confusion. Stewart and Ramsey had formed 
in the cover of the wood and co-operated 
with Oswald in keeping tlie enemy at Ijay. 
While the British grenadiers were pourino- their 
destructive fire upon the ranks of the Americans 
the voice <>{ Washington seemed omnipotent 
with the inspiration of courage ; it was the 
voice of faith to the despairing soldiers. Fear- 
lessly he rode in the face of the iron storm and 
gave his orders. The whole patriot armv. 



which half an hour before had seemed to he on 
the verge of destruction, panic-stricken and 
without order, was now drawn up in battle ar- 
ray and jireparcd to meet the enemy with a 
bold and well-arranged front. 

Washington rode back in haste to the main 
army, and with wonderful expedition formed 
their confused ranks into battle order on the 
eminences on the western side of the morass. 
Lord Stirling was placed iu command of the 
left wing, while General Greene, on receiving 
intelligence of Lee's retreat, had marched back, 
and now took an advantageous j»osition on the 
right of Stirling. 

In the conflict that followed the retreat from 
the court-house, General Lee displayed all iiis 
skill and courage in obedience to Washington's 
order to "check the enemy." When the com- 
mander-in chief recrossed the morass to form 
and bring \.\p the main army, Oswald's guns on 
the right of Stewart and Ramsey had opened a 
vigorous cannonade on the enemy, whose artil- 
lery replied with equal energy, while the Brit- 
ish light-horse charged furiously up(5u the 
right of Lee's division, and finally the Ameri- 
cans gave way before the fierce onset and over- 
whelming numbers of the attacking enemy. As 
they emerged from the woods the combatants 
seemed completely intermingled. 

The next assault of the British was on Var- 
nuni's lirigade and Livingston's regiment, who 
lay behind the hedge-row that stretched across 
the open field in front of the causeway over the 
morass. Several artillery pieces, posted on a 
rise of ground iu the rear of the fence, delivered 
an eft'ective fire on the enemy's line and for a 
time the conflict raged furiously, until a heavy 
body of British infantry and horse made a 
charge with l^ayonet and sabre, broke the 
American ranks, and the troops of Varnum and 
Livingston, with the two sections of Oswald's 
battery, retreated across the morass by orders of 
General Lee, their crossing being covered by 
Colonel Ogden's troops, who were partially 
sheltered in a wood near the causeway. Lee 
was the last to leave the position, bringing oif 
Ogden's regiment, as a rear-guard to the retreat- 
ing forces of Varnum, Livingston and Oswald, 
in excellent order, and instantly forming them 



180 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



on a slope on the west side of the morass. He 
then reported to Washington, " Sir, here are my 
troops ; how is it yonr Excellency's pleasure 
that I should dispose of them." The men, who 
had been on the march and in the battle since 
the early morning, were worn out with hunger, 
thir.st and fatigue, and therefore Washington 
ordered them to be withdrawn and posted in 
the rear of Englishtown, while he prepared to 
engage the enemy himself with the fresh divi- 
sions of the main army, whicii were formed in 
line of battle on the wooded eminence on the 
west side of the morass, Washington command- 
ing the centre in person, while the right and left 
wings were, respectively, as before mentioned, 
under command of Greene and Stirling. 

General Wayne, with an advanced corps, was 
posted in an orchard on the high ground a 
little south of tlie parsonage, and a five-gun 
battery was, by order of General Greene, posted 
on Combs' Hill, to pour an enfilading fire on 
the British columns in their advance against the 
American lines. This battery, wiiich was 
under the immediate eye of General Knox, did 
most excellent service during the ensuing en- 
gagement, for which it received the special 
commendation of Washington. 

The British, finding themselves warmly op- 
posed in front, made a desperate attempt to 
turn the American left flank, but were repulsed. 
Then they moved against the right in heavy 
force, but were driven back with severe loss, 
being enfiladed bv Knox's guns on Combs' 
Hill. In the mean time Wayne's position in 
the orchard was repeatedly attacked by the 
enemy, but each time he drove them back in 
disorder, and poured a destructive fire into 
their central position. Finally, the British — 
apparently resolved to carry Wayne's position 
at whatever cost — prepared for a still more 
determined assault, and one which proved to be 
the most desperate and bloody of the day. It 
was made by Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, 
with his battalion of Royal Grenadiers, — a vet- 
eran corps, and the finest one in Clinton's army. 
Preparatory to the charge they were harangued 
by their brave commander in a clear, ringing 
voice, plainly heard above the uproar of the 
battle by the troops of Wayne's command. 



Then came the order "Forward!" and the 
grenadiers advanced in solid array, rapidly, but 
steadily, as if on parade, and with such preci- 
sion of movement that (it was said) a shot from 
one of Knox's guns on Combs' Hill, "enfilad- 
ing a platoon, disarmed every man." 

Awaiting the as.sault, "Ma<l Anthony" or- 
dered the men of his brigade to stand firm, and 
under no circumstances to pull a trigger until 
the signal was given. When the grenadiers 
had reached the proper point, the word was 
given, a terrific volley blazed out from Wayne's 
whole line, and three-fourths of the officers of 
the British battalion fell, among them its brave 
commander, the gallant Monckton.' The spot 
where he fell is said to be about eight rods 
northeast of the site of the old parsonage. 

' Lieutenant-Colonel the Honorable Henry Monckton 
was one of the bravest and most honorable officers in the 
British service, — accomplished, gallant, of irreproachable 
moral character and splendid personal appearance. He 
was in the battle of Long Island in August, 1776, and was 
there .shot through the body, from which wound he lay 
many weeks apparently at the point of death. On his re- 
covery he was, for his gallantry on that occasion, pro- 
moted from the Fifth Company, Second Grenadiers, to be 
lieutenant-colonel, and was in command of the battalion 
at the battle of Monmouth, in which the First Grenadiers 
also took a conspicuous part. The charge of his battalion 
and the death of the brave Monckton are thus mentioned 
by Lossing : ''At the liead of his grenadiers on the field of 
Monmouth he kept them silent until they were within a 
few rods of the Americans, when, waving his sword, he 
shouted, — ' Forward to the charge ! ' Our General W.aync 
was on his front. At the same moment 'Mad Anthony' 
gave the signal to fire. A terrible volley poured destruc- 
tion on Monckton's grenadiers, and almost every British 
officer fell. Amongst them was their brave leader. Over 
his body the combatants fought desperately, until the 
Americans secured it and bore it to the rear." 

The tiag of the Second Grenadiers, which went down in 
the charge in which their brave leader fell, was taken by a 
Pennsylvanian, — William Wilson, who was afterwards 
judge of the Northumberland (Pa.) court. The tlag fell 
into possession of his grandson. Captain William Wilson 
Potter, of Bellefonte, Centre County, Pa., and is still (or 
was recently) to be seen at his house. It is of heavy, 
corded silk, lemon-colored, with the usual blue union, 
bearing the combined crosses of St. George and St. An- 
drew. Its size is five feet four inches by four feet eiglit 
inches. " The flag has the appearance of having been 
wi-enched from its staff, and has a few blood-stains on the 
device; otherwise it looks as bright and new as if it had 
just come from the gentle fingers that made it, though a 
century h.as rolled away since its golden folds drooped in 
the sultry air of that June day's battle." 



II 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



181 



He was buried in the yard of the old Tennent 
Church, a few feet from the west end of the 
ancient edifice, where his grave is marked by a 
wooden tablet, erected many years later, by a 
scliool-teacher of ^lonniouth County, — William 
A\'ilson, — whose remains also lie in the same 
inclosure. 

The rout of the grenadiers by Wayne, vir- 
tually closed the battle of Monmouth. For a 
short time afterwards the conflict was continued 
at ditferent points along the opposing lines, and 
the artillery fire was continued on both sides, 
but the British made no more attempts to ad- 
vance against the strong positions of the 
Americans, and they soon withdrew to the 
heights above Carr's house, — the same ground 
which Lee had occupied in the morning. Here 
thev took a strong position, where both flanks 
were secured by thick \voods and morasses, and 
there was only a nari-ow way of a2:)proac]i in 
front. 

The sun was now near the horizon ; the lonjj 
summer day, then drawing to its close, had been 
one of the hottest ever known, and the troops 
were worn down with fatigue; yet Washington 
immediately resolved to pursue the advantage 
he had gained, and attack the forces of Clinton 
in their new and strong position. Accordingly, 
he ordered General Poor, with his own and the 
Carolina brigade, to gain their right flank, while 
Woodford with his brigade was directed to do 
the same on their left ; and the artillery was 
ordered to take post and open fire on their front. 
Tiiese orders were obeyed pronaptly and with 
enthusiasm ; but the obstacles on the British flanks 
wei-e so many, on account of the woods and 
roughness of the ground, that before these could 
be overcome, so that the troops could approach 
near enough to attack, darkness began to come 
on and rendered further operations impractica- 
ble. Very unwillingly, Wasliington then re- 
linquished his plan of renewing the engagement 
that night, but l)eiug resolved to do so at day- 
light on the following morning, he ordered that 
the brigades of Poor and Woodford should keep 
their places on the British flanks during the 
night, to be ready for the assault at dawn, and 
that the other troops should lie on their arms on 
the field in readiness to support them. 



The commander-in-chief, who had been in 
the saddle during nearly the whole day, regard- 
less of fatigue or danger, lay down on the field 
wrapped in his cloak, and passed the night in 
the midst of his soldiers. The conflict of the 
day, disastrous enough at first, had ended with 
a decided advantage to the American arms, and 
he felt confident of a decisive victory on the 
morrow. But the returning daylight dispelled all 
his hopes, for the bivouac-ground of the royal 
troops was vacant, and not a scarlet uniform 
(save those of the dead and wounded) could be 
seen on the heights and plains of Freehold. 

"The fires were bright in Clinton's camp, 

But long ere morning's dawn 
His beaten host was on the tramp 

And all the foes were gone. 
Never again may cannon sweep 

Where waves the golden grain, 
And ne'er again an army sleep 

Upon old Monmouth plain." 

The troops of Sir Henry Clinton had stolen 
away from the field in the early part of the 
night,' and so silently and secretly had the move- 

' .Most of the accounts of the battle of Monmouth say that 
Clinton left the field at about twelve o'clock. Loshing says : 
•' At midnight, under cover of darkness, Sir Henry Clinton 
put his weary host in motion. With silent steps column 
after column left the camp, and hurried toward Sandy 
Hook." But Clinton himself said : " Having reposed the 
troops till ten at night, to avoid the excessive heat of the 
day, I took advantage of the moonlit/ht to rejoin Lieutenant- 
General Knyphausen." (The italics are not so indicated 
inSir Henry's report.) On the night of Jure 28, 1778, 
i the moon (which had made its change to the new on the 
24th, at 10 A.M.) was only four days old, and the time of 
its setting was 10.5.5 p.m. So, if Sir Henry moved his 
troops from the tield at ten o'clock, as he stated, he thus 
secured about an hour of moonlight to facilitate the march 
through the woods, over the morasses, hills and unfamiliar 
ground that intervened between the battle-field and the 
Middletown road. That hour of moonlight was invaluable 
to him for that purpose, and there is no reason to doubt 
that he marched from the field at about ten, as he stated. 
The different accounts which place the time of his departure 
at midnight are based on Washington's statement, nearly 
to that effect. But it is to be borne in mind that Washing- 
ton could only guess at the time the British left, for he did 
not even know that they had left at all until the daylight 
of the following morning reveided the fact. On learning 
that such was the case he sent out scouts to ascertain their 
position ; and when these returned with the intelligence 
that the enemy was already more than half-way from the 
court-house to Middletown, he knew that they must have 
been several hourson the march, and it was natural enough 



182 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



meiit liet'ii executed that tlie ofRcers and men of 
General Poor's brigade, which lay near the right 
of the British position, knew nothing of their 
departure. Washington was greatly surprised 
and somewhat chagrined to find that tlie British 
had eluded him, but he knew that it was useless 
to attempt any further movement against them, 
for it was 2>erfectly certain that they would reacli 
the "heights of jNIiddletown " before they could 
be overtaken, and in that almost impregnable 
position they could not be attacked with any 
hope of success. No idea of pursuit was there- 
fore entertained, though orders were given to 
Morgan to press forward and annoy the fjritish 
rear, if opportunity should oifer, and the Jersey 
brigade was detailed for the same duty ; but 
neither of these corps were able to act-omplish 
anything of importance. A scou ting-party, 
wliich had been sent out on the 29th to obsci-ve 
Clinton's movements, returned to Englishtown 
in the evening of the 30th, reporting that " the 
enemy have continued their march very pre- 
cipitately. The roads are strewn with knap- 
sacks, firelocks and other imjilements of war. 
. . . To-day they are at Sandy Hook, from 
whence it is expected they will remove to New 
York." Clinton's forces, on reaching Sandy 
Hook Bay, found there the fleet of Admiral 
Howe, who, having sailed from Delaware Bay 
for the purp<«e, took the wearied and defeated 
troops of the British army on board his ships 
and transported them to New York.' 

to suppose that they had left about midnight, for it would 
be hard to believe that the Americans were all so soundly 
asleep at the early hour of ten as to make it possible for 
the British to escape undiscovered, as they did. Doubtless 
Sir Henry hurried his departure for the very reason that 
there was but an hour of moonlight left, which was barely 
sufficient to light his troops over the rough and difficult 
ground which they had to pass to reach the Middletown 
road. Having reached that point, the most difficult and 
dangerous part of the movement was accomplished, for they 
then had before them a tolerably good road and an unoh- 
structed way to rejoin Kuyphansen's corps. 

^ Following is a British account (from the ArininiJ Hrijis- 
ter^ Loudon, 1778) of Clinton's arrival and embarkation 
at Sandy Hook Bay : 

"In the meantime the British army arrived at the High- 
lauds of Navesink, in the neighbourhood of Sandy Hook, on 
the last day of June, at which latter place the fleet from the 
Delaware under Lord Howe, after Being detained in that 
river by calms, had most fortunately arrived on the pre- 



In tile account of the battle of Monmouth 
given by Sir Henry Clinton, in his official re- 
port, he states that General Knyphausen, with 
the corps having charge of the trains, moved 
out on the road to Middletown at daybreak ; 
that the rear division of Cornwallis, accompa- 
nied by Sir Henry in jjerson, having remained 
some hours loncrer on the hioh grounds in the 
vicinity of the court-house, also marched away 
on the Middletown road, and he then proceeds: 

" The rear-gu;ird having descended from the 
heights above Freehold into a plain, about three 
miles in length and aijout one mile in breadth, 
several columns of the enemy tippeared like- 
wise, descending into the plain, and about ten 
o'clock they began cannonading our rear. In- 
telligence was at this instant brought to me 
that tlie enemy were discovered, marching in 
force on both our flanks. I was convinced that 
our baggage was their object ; but it being at 
this juncture engaged in defiles which continued 
for some miles, no means occurred of parrying 
tile blow but attacking the corps which har- 
assed our rear, and pressing it so hard as to 
oblige the detachments to return from our 
flanks to its assistance. I had good informa- 
tion that Washington was up with his whole 
army, estimated at about twenty thousand ; but 
as I knew there were two defiles between him 

ceding day. It had happened in the preceding winter 

that the peninsula of Sandy Hook had been cut off from the 
continent, and converted into an absolute island, by a 
violent breach of the sea, — a circumstance then of little 
moment, but which now might have been attended with the 
most fatal consequences. By the happy arrival of the 
fleet at the instant when its assistance was so critically 
necessary, the ability of the noble commander and the 
extraordinary efforts of the seamen, this impediment was 
speedilj' removed, a bridge of boats being completed with 
such expedition that the whole array was passed over tliis 
new channel on the 5th of .luly. and were afterwards con- 
veyed with ease to New York, neither army nor navy yet 
knowing the circumstances or danger and ruin in wliich 
they had so nearly been involved," the last remark hav- 
ing reference to the fact that the French fleet under 
DTstainghad arrived on the American coast (as Howe 
learned on the day after his arrival at New York), and if it 
had appeared at Sandy Hook before the embarkation, it 
would probably have been extremely disastrous to the B-it- 
ish army. The French fleet, consisting of twelve heavy 
ships, and having on V>oard a land force of eleven thousand 
men, did appear at the Hook on the Ilth of July, but (heir 
opportunity was gone, and the British safe in Now York. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THK REVOLUTION. 



183 



aud the corps at which I lueaut to strike. T 
judged that he could not have passed tliera with 
a greater force than wliat Lord Coruwallis' 
division was well able to ensaffe. The enemy's 
cavalry, commanded, it is said, by M. La Fay- 
ette, having approached within our reach, they 
were charged with great spirit by the Queen's 
light dragoons. They did not wait the shock, 
but fell back in confusion upon tiieir own in- 
fantry. Thinking it possible that the event 
might draw to a general action, I sent for a 
brigade of British and the Seventeenth Light 
Dragoons, from Lieutenant-Geueral Knyphaus- 
eu's division, and having directed them on the 
march to take a position effectually covering 
our right flank, of which I was most jealous, I 
made a disposition of attack upon the plain ; 
but before I could advance, the enemy fell back 
and took a strong ])osition on the heights above 
Freehold Court-Hou.se. . . . The British gren- 
adicrs, with their left to the village of Free- 
hold, began the attack with so much spirit that 
the enemy gave way immediately. The second 
line of the enemy, on the hill east of the west 
ravine, stood the attack with great olistinacy, 
but were likewise comjjletely routed. Thev 
then took a third position, with a marshy hol- 
low in fi-ont, over which it would have been 
scarcely ))ossible to have attacked them. How- 
ever, part of the second line made a movement 
to the front, (jccupied some ground on the en- 
emy's left flank, and the light infantry and 
Queen's Rangers turned their left. By this 
time our men were so overpowered by fatigue 
that I could press the affair no farther, especially 
as I was confident tliat the end was gained for 
which the attack had been made. I ordered 
the light infantry to join me; l)ut a strong de- 
tachment of the enemy [Wayne] having pos- 
sessed themselves of a jjost wliich would have 
annoyed them in their retreat, the Thirty-third 
Regiment made a movement toward tiic enemy, 
which, with a similar one made by the First 
Grenadiers, immediately dispersed them. I 
took the position from whence the enemy had 
l>een first driven after they had (pjitted the 
plain; and having reposed till ten at night, to 
avoid the excessive heat of the day, I took ad- 
vantage of the moonlight to rejoin Lieutenant- 



(xeneral Knyphausen, who had advanced to 
Nut Swamp, near Middletown." 

The American lo.ss in the battle of June 28tli 
was, (according to the original report of Gen- 
eral ^\'ashington) eight oftieers and sixty-one 
non-commissioned officers and privates killed, 
eighteen officers and one hundred and forty-two 
non-commissioned officers and privates wounded, 
— total, two hundred and twenty-nine killed and 

; wounded. The missinu- were five sergeants 
and one hundred and twenty-six privates, — total 
killed, wtiundedand missing, three hundred and 
sixty ; but many of the missing, having dropped 
out on account of the excessive fatigue and 
heat of the day, afterwards reported for dutx. 
The British had taken about fifteen prisoners 
(among them being Colonel Ramsey), l>ut had 
left them all behind on parole. 

Sir Henry Clinton reported four officers and 

, one hundred and eighty-four enlisted men of 

I his conunand killed and missing, and sixteen 
officers and one hundred and fifty-four privates 
wounded, — total, three hundred and fifty-eight. 
But Marshall remarks that this account, so far 
as respects the British killed, cannot be correct,' 
as four officers and two hundred and forty-five 
pri\-ates were buried on the field Ijy the Ameri- 
cans. This is the report of the burial-partic- 
to the commander-in-chief ; and some few wei'c 
afterwards found and buried. The British also 
buried some of their own dead, and they took 
many of their wounded with them, though 
nearly fifty of the latter were left by them at 
the court-house in the night affer the battle. 
"Fifty-nine of their soldiers perished by the 
heat, without receiving a wound ; they lav 
under the trees and by rivulets, whither they 
had crawled for shade and water." Early in 
the morning after the battle, General Poor's 
brigade of the American army advanced to 
Monmouth Court-House, in which they found 

' five wounded British officers and more than forty 



i"llis evident ihat !i great error was made in tlie re- 
port of Sir Henry Clinton to the Governmeni, from wliicli 
this statement is copied, as four officers and two hundred 
and forty-five privates were buried by the Americans, be- 
sides those who had been buried by the enemy." — General 
Washington to the Prendi'.itt uf Congress^ July l5(, and 
Joseph Clarke\y tliarg. June 23M. 



184 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



M-oiuuled private soldiers of Clinton's army, 
who had been left there in the retreat of the 
previous night, because of a lack of transjjorta- 
tion to take them aloni;' with the column/ 
ISIauy of the American wouuded were placed 
in the old building, and the Episcopal Church, 
in the village, and the old Teuuent Church, near 
the l)attle-grouud, were also filled with them, 
and they remained after the dejjarture of the 
army, while such of the sick and slightly 
%vounded as could bear removal were sent to 
the hospitals at Princeton. It lias often been 
said that Washington had his headquarters in 
the court-house after the battle ; but this is 
evidently a mistake, as the building was filled 
to its full capacity by the wounded. It is not 
shown that the commander-in-chief came to 
the court-house at all, and it is very unlikely 
that he did so, as the army moved to English- 
town in the afternoon of the 29th. The fact 
that his orders of the 29th were dated '' Free- 
hold" has by some been regarded as proof that 
he was located at the village, when, in fact, its 
signification is just the reverse. All his orders 
and dispatches from the battle-field Mere simi- 
larly dated ; while, had he occupied the village, 
they doubtless would have been dated " Mon- 
mouth Court-House," by which name the little 
cluster of a dozen houses was then known. 
The name " Freehold," as used by Washington, 
applied to the towmhip, just as " Hopewell," at 
the head of other orders and dispatches of his, 
applied to the township of that name. General 
Knox, who, as chief of artillery, was a member 
of Washington's staif, wrote his wife on the 
29th, dating the letter " near Monmouth Court- 
House," wdiich (even if thei-e were no other 
evidence to that eftect) goes to show that the 
village was then generally known by that name. 
Colonel John Laurens wrote a letter to his 
father, dated " Headquarters, Englishtown, 30th 
June, 1778," in which he said : " My Dear 



1 The following entry is found in the before-mentioned 
diary of Andrew Bell, Sir Henry Clinton's private secre- 
tary : 

" Sunday, June 28th. — . . . About fifty of our wounded 
were obliged to be left at Freehold for want of wagons, 
and all the Rebels wounded giving their paroles as 
prisoners.'' 



Father, I was exceedingly chagrined that pub- 
lick business prevented my writing to you from 
the field of battle lohen the General sent his dis- 
patches to Congress." This is a strong indica- 
tion that Washington's dispatches of the 30th 
of June were written on, aud sent from, the 
field. There was no reason why Washington 
should, but every reason why he should not, 
consume any part of the few hours that elapsed 
before the time of the army's marching for 
Englishtown, in moving his headquarters in 
exactly the opposite direction. Every hour of 
the forenoon of the 29th must have been neces- 
sary for him to perfect his plans and issue his 
orders for the marching of the army in the 
afternoon ; and it seems very unlikely that, 
under those circumstances, he would move his 
head(juarters from the field to the court-house, 
and then move back over the same ground in 
the afternoon, — thus making five miles of extra 
travel in the excessive heat of that time. 
There is no reason to believe otherwise thtm 
that his headquarters of the 29th were at a 
point on or very near the battle-field, — -whence 
he issued the following general order of the 
day: 

" Headquarters, Freehold, 

"Monmouth County, 

" June 29th, 1778. 

" Parole — Moucktoii ; CSigns — Bonner, Dickinson. 

"The commander-in-chief congratulates the Army 
on the victory obtained over the arms of His Brit- 
annic Majesty, and thanks most sincerely t'ue gallant 
officers aud men who distinguished themselves upon 
this occasion, and such others as, by their good order 
and coolness, gave the happiest presage of what 
might have been expected had they come to action. 

" General Dickinson aud the militia of this State 
are also thanked for their nobleness in opposing the 
enemy on their march from Philadelpliia, and for the 
aid which they have given in embarrassing and im- 
peding their motions so as to allow the Continental 
troops to come up with them. 

" A Party, consisting of two hundred men, to parade 
immediately to bury the slain of both armies: General 
AVoodford's brigade is to cover this Party. The officers 
of the American Army are to be buried with military 
honours, due to men who have nobly fought and died 
in the cause of Liberty and their country. 

"Doctor Cochran will direct what is to be done 
with the wounded and sick. He is to apply to the 
Quartermaster and Adjutant-General for necessary 
assistance. The several detachments (except tho.se 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



185 



under Colonel Morgan) are to join their respective 
Brigades immediately, and the lines are to be formed 
agreeable to the order of the 22d instant. The army 
is to march from the left ; the second line in front, 
the cavalry in the rear ; the march to begin at five 
o'clock this afternoon. 

'■ A Sergeant, Corporal and twelve men from 
General Maxwell's brigade to parade immediately to 
guard the sick to Princetown Hospitals. Doctor Conik 
will give directions to the guards. Colonel Martin is 
appointed to superintend collecting the sick and 
wounded on the army route between Coryell's and Mon- 
mouth, and send them to Princetown Hospitals. He 
will call immediately at the Order office for further 
orders. 

"It is with peculiar pleasure, in addition to the 
above, that the commander-in-chief can inform 
Oeneral Knox and the officers of the Artillery that 
the Enemy have dime them the justice to acknowl- 
edge that no Artillery could have been better served 
than ours." 

On the night of the 29th, and through the 
<lay of the 30tli, the heachiuarters were at 
Englishtown, where, at .seven o'clock p.m., 
thanksgiving services were hekl for tiie vic- 
tory of Monmontli, on whicli occasion it was 
ordered : " The men to wash themselves this 
afternoon (30th), and appear as clean and decent 
as possible." At this place also it was ordered 
that at evening parade the .soldiers' packs shoidd 
be searched for articles which (according to 
complaints made at headquarters) had been 
stolen fl-om places where the owners had con- 
cealed them to save them from the British 
army. If any such articles were found in the 
packs, the oifenders were to be " brought to 
condign punishment." ' It was also ordered 
that the whole army, except Maxwell's brigade, 
should move on the following morning at two 
o'clock, — everything to be made ready the night 
before ; General iMaxwell to apply at head- 
quarters for special orders for tlie movement of 
his brigade. 

July 1st, from the general headcpiarters at 
Spottswood, the order was i.ssued for the army 
to march at one o'clock next mornine. — the 
" general " to beat at half-past twelve. Also at 
same time the order was issued for a treneral 
court-martial to sit at New Brunswick on the 



1 And the soldiers were notified in the order tliat "the 
detestatile crime of marauding will henceforward be pun- 
ished with instant death." 



following day, for the trial of Major-General 
Charles Lee. 

The battle of INIonmouth was one of the 
most severely contbsted of the conflicts of the 
I Revolution, and its result has always been re- 
garded as a victory for the American arms. 
That it was so considered by Washington is 
shown by the general order in which he " con- 
gratulates the army on their victory obtained 
over His Britannic Majesty." This view is 
sustained l)y the fltct that the British stole away 
in the darkness, leaving Washington master of 
the field. Lossing remarks " that the result 
might have been a complete j-out of the British, 
and not improbably a suri-ender of their M'hole 
force, if Washington had brought into the battle 
the corps of riflemen under the redoubtable 
Morgan. " For hours the latter was at Rich- 
mond's [Shumar's] mills, three miles below 
Monmouth Court-House, awaiting orders, in an 
agony of desire to engage in the battle, f(jr he 
was within sound of its fearful tumult. To 
and fro he strode, uncertain what course to pur- 
sue, and, like a hound in the leash, panting to be 
away to action. Why he was not allowed to 
participate in the conflict we have no means of 
determining. It appears probable that had he 
fallen upon the British rear with his fresh 
troops, at the close of the day. Sir Henry Clin- 
ton and his army might have .shared the fate of 
the British at Saratoga." 

The American army imder Washington at 
INIoumouth consisted of sixteen weak brigades 
of infantry, which, together with the artillery 
and cavalry forces at his disposal, amounted to 
about thirteen thousand men, — a numerical 
strength somewhat greater than that of the 
British army, which was further weakened by 
desertions in its passage through New Jersey. 
" It is stated," says De Peyster, " that Clinton 
lost from one thousand to two thousand men by 
desertion between Philadelphia and Sandy 
Hook. Of these, six hundred returned to wives, 
sweethearts and other connections with whom 
alliances had been formed during the winter of 
1778-79 in the City of Brotherly — and in this 
case. Sisterly — Love." And many of the de- 

' Field Book of the Revolution, vol. ii. p. 364. 



186 



HISTORY 0¥ MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



serters ren:ained in New Jersey, where some of 
their descendants are still living. 

As among the most prdmineut and well- 
known names of Monmouth County officers 
(including also some of private soldiers) who 
served in the army of Washington at the battle 
of Monmouth, the following were mentioned in 
a discourse by the Rev. Mr. Cobb, pastor of the 
Tennent Church : Anderson, Applegate, Baird, 
Bennett, Bowue, Buckalew, Carr, Covenhoven, 
Cowart, Craig, Denise, Dey, Disbrow, Emley, 
English, Fisher, David, Jonathan, Samuel and 
William Forman, Garrison, Gordon, Hankinson, 
Herbert, Haviland, Hendrickson, Imlay, Jobes, 
Johnstone, Walter and William Kerr, Joseph 
Knox, Robert and William Laird, Lloyd, Long- 
street, Magee, Morris, Mount, Newell, Ogborn, 
Farker, Perrine, Folhemus, Quackenbush, Ray, 
Reed, Rhea, Rue, Schenck, Scudder, Smock, 
Stillwell, Story, Sutphin, Taylor, Thompson, 
Throckmorton, Underwood, Vancleaf, Van 
Mater, A^an Felt, Voorhes, \¥ilsou, ^Vood, 
Woolley, ^^^3^ckoff. These names, he said, are 
still remembered in the county with filial pride. 
There were also a considerable number of In- 
dians serving (principally with Morgan's rifle 
corps) with the forces of AVashington, and 
" more than seven hundred black Americans 
fought side by side with the white." 

The story of the battle of Monmouth could 
never be regarded as anything like complete if 
omitting a mention of the brav^e woman to 
whom the Continental soldiers gave the sobri- 
quet of " Molly Fitcher," from the name of the 
vessel in which .she carried water from spring 
or rivulet to ijuench the thirst of her husband 
(an artilleryman) and his comrades on the field. 
For more than a century the nauie of " Molly 
Fitcher, the Heroine of Monmouth/' has been 
almost as familiar as the name of the battle-field 
on which she did the deeds that have been told 
and retold in history, and the memory of which 
has now been perpetuated on the bronzes of the 
l)attle monument at Freehold. 

" She M'as," says Lossing, " a sturdy young 
c^imp-foUower, only twenty-two years of age, 
and in devotion to her husband, who was a ean- 
uonier, she illustrated the character of her coun- 
trvwomen of the Emerahl Isle. In the action, 



while her husband was managing one of the 
field-pieces, she constantly brought him water 
from a spring near by. A shot from the enemy 
killed him at his post, and the officer in com- 
mand, having no one competent to fill his place, 
ordered the piece to be withdrawn. Molly saw 
her husband fall as she came from the spring, 
and also heard the order. She dropped her 
bucket, seized the rammer, and \iiwed that she 
would fill the place of her husband at the gun, 
and avenge his death. She performed the duty 
with a skill and courage which attracted the at- 
tention of all who saw her. On the following 
morning, covered with dirt and blood, General 
Greene presented her to General Washington, 
who, admiring her bravery, conferred upon her 
the ))osition of sergeant. By his recommenda- 
tion, her name was placed upon the list of half- 
pay otticei'S for life. She left the army soon 
after the battle of Monmouth, and died near 
Fort Montgomery, among the Hudson High- 
lauds. She usually went by the name of ' Cap- 
tain Molly.' The venerable widow of General 
Hamilton, who died in 1854, told me she had 
often seen Captain iloUy. She described her as 
a stout, red-haired, freckled-faced young Irish 
woman, with a handsome, piercing eye. The 
French officers, charmed by the story of her 
braver}-, made her many presents. She would 
sometimes pass along the French lines with iier 
cocked hat, and get it almost filled \\ith 
crowns." 

The same writer visited the region in the 
Highlands where he says the heroine ended 
her days, and there found some old residents 
who " remembered the famous Irish woman 
called Captain Molly, the wife of a cannonier 
who worked a field-piece at the battle of Mon- 
mouth, on the death of her husband. She 
generally dressed in the petticoat> of her sex, 
with an artilleryman's coat over. She was in 
Fort Clinton with her husband when it was 
attiicked in 1777. When the Americans re- 
treated from the fort, as the enemy scaled the 
rampai-ts, her husband dropped his match and 
fled. Molly caught it up, toudied off" the piece 
and then scampered off". It was the last gun 
the Americans fired in the fort. Mrs. Rose 
remembered her as 'Dirty Kate.' livinir be- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



187 



tween Fort Montgomery and Buttermilk Falls 
at the close of the war, where she died a hor- 
rible death from syphilitic dise;ise. Washiugton 
had honored her with a lieutenant's commission 
for her bravery on the field of Monmouth, 
nearly nine mouths after the battle, when 
reviewing its events." 

Jiut another account of Molh^ Pitcher — re- 
cently written at Carlisle, Pa. — differs very ma- 
terially from that given by Lossing, in reference 
to the later years and death of Captain Mollv. 
It is as follows : 

" Few localities in the country more abound 
in memories of great historic events than tiie 
picturesque little town of Carlisle. It was here 
that the famous Molly Pitcher made her 
home during the last years of her life, and here 
her granddaughter, Mrs. Polly McLeister, 
a widow aliout seventy-five years of age, now 
lives. Id the Carlisle cemetery there is a grave, 
at the head of which stands a heavy slab of 
marble, pure white, solid and substantial, like 
the character of her whose-resting place it marks, 
and it bears the following inscription : 

" ' MOLLIE McCAULEY, 

RENOWNED IX HISTORY 

AS 

THE HEROINE OF MONMOUTH, 

DIED JANUARY, 1833, 

AGED 79 YEARS, 

ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF CTMBERLASD COIXTY. 

.lULY 4, 1876.' " 

The Cai'lisle account further .states that Moll}' 
was a daughter of John Hanna, of Allentown, 
and wife of John Mahan, the canuonier who was 
killed at Monmouth. The inference is that the 
name McCauley came to her by a second mar- 
riage. It is not proposed to attempt to decide 
here which of the foregoing accounts is the cor- 
rect one of the last years and death of Molly 
Pitcher, the female cannonier of Monmouth. 

The court-martial ordered by General Wash- 
ington f((r the trial of (xeneral Charles Lee con- 
vened at New Brunswick on the 4th of July. 
It consisted of Major-General Lord Stirling 
(who was the president), four brigadiers and 
eight colonels. The immediate cause of the or- 
dering of this court-martial was that Lee, 



smarting under the recollection of the severe 
language used towards him by Washington on 
the day of the battle, had written to the coni- 
mauder-in-chief two very disrespectful letters 
(dated June 29th and 30th), for which offense, 
as also on two other charges, — viz., " DisoI)edi- 
ence of orders in not attacking theenemvon the 
28th of June, agrceabh' to repeated instruc- 
tions," and " Misbehavior before the enemy on 
the same day, liy making an unnecessary, disor- 
derlv and shameful retreat," — he was tried bv 
the court-martial, wiiieh, after a long and ex- 
haustive investigation, rendered its decision on 
j the 8th of August, finding him guilty on all 
j charges (but softening the finding on the second 
I charge bv substitutino- for the words " an un- 
' necessary, disorderly and shameful retreat" the 
words " an unnecessary and, in some instances, 
a disorderly retreat "), and sentencing him to 
suspension from any and all command in any of 
the armies of the United States for the term of 
twelve months. The finding was approved by 
Congress, and thereupon Lee left the army and 
removed to Philadelphia, where he died four 
years afterwards, having never again been called 
into the service. 

The conduct of Major-General Charles Lee — 
who had been second in connnand under Wash- 
ington down to the time of the battle of Mon- 
mouth — had for a long timelieen regarded with 
suspicion not only bv the commander-in-chief, 
but bv ncarh' all the hio-hcr officers of the Con- 
tinental forces, who believed (and, without doubt, 
justly) that the oliject constantly pursued by 
Lee was to briny; aliout a situation of militarv 
affairs which would enable him to supersede 
Washington in the position to which he (Lee) 
thought himself entitled^ — tiiat of commander- 
in-chief of the American army. He had shown 
a contempt for (or, at least, a disregard of) the 
orders of his superior on several occasiou.s, one 
of which was the nianliing of liis command 
through New Jersey in the fall of 1776. At 
that time, when Washington crossed the Hudson 
River into New Jersey, soon after the battle of 
. White I'lains, Lee was left at the latter place 
with his division of about three thousand men. 
When Washington reached Hackensack he wrcite 
Lee at AVhite Plains, requesting him to move 



188 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



his command to the west side of the Hudson 
and join tlie main body without dehiy. Lee 
having taken no notice of this request, an order 
to the same eifect was transmitted to him from 
headquarters; and when it was found that he 
still delayed, the order was rejjeated in the most 
peremptory terms. In obedience to this second 
order, but with apparent reluctance, he moved 
his division, and crossed into Jersey; ])ut his 
march was so dilatory that three weeks were 
consumed bv him in briiioiuo; his force to 
ilorristown. "It is evident," says Lossing, 
" from Lee's conduct, and the tenor of his 
letters at that time, that it was not so much a 
spirit of determined disobedience which gov- 
erned his actions as a strong desire to act inde- 
pendent of the commander-in-chief, and perform 
some signal service which would redound to his 
personal glory. He was ambitious as he was 
impetuous and brave. He had endeavored, but 
in vain, to induce General Heath, who was left 
in command at Peekskill, to let him have a de- 
tachment of one or two thousand men with 
wliich to 0])erate. Heath refused to vary from 
his instruetion.s, and it was well that he did." 
Washington continued to urge Lee to form a 
junction with him; yet as late as the 11th of 
December, two days after Washington had 
crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania, he re- 
ceived a letter from Lee hinting at various con- 
templated movements, not one of which referred 
to a junction of forces. This was the last com- 
munication Washington 2'eceived from Lee dur- 
ing tliat campaign. Twodays later, while pursu- 
ing his dilatory march, Lee was taken i:)risoner 
at Basking Ridge, Somerset County, by Colonel 
Ilarcourt, of the British Light-Horse, and was 
taken to Xew York, where he remained until 
May, 1778, — only about a month before the bat- 
tle of ^Monmouth, — ^when he was exelianged for 
the British general Prescott, and rejoined ^^'ash- 
ington at Valley Forge. 

By some it was believed that Lee's capture 
was premeditated and prepared for by himself, 
and the belief was held by a few that he intended 
to have his entire command also taken, but there 
is no proof that such was the case. The opinion 
expressed by Lossing (as above quoted) was gen- 
eral, and doubtless well founded ; but Ijeyond 



this, it does not appear that any well-defined be- 
lief that Lee was absolutely a traitor to the 
American cause was widely entertained until 
three-fourths of a century after his death, when 
evidence going far towards the establishment 
of the latter theory as a fact was furnished by 
the discovery of a document written by Lee's 
own hand while he was a prisoner with the 
]>ritishin New York, in February, 1777. The 
document referred to was first brought to light 
in this country, in 1858, by Mr. George H. 
Moore, librarian of the New York Historical 
Society. It had been surreptitiously obtained 
from a connection of the Lee family in England, 
who had possession of his papers, and it had 
been brought to this country and offered for 
sale. Mr. Moore, after writing to England and 
satisfymg himself of its authenticity, purchased 
it, and was afterwards permitted to retain it by 
the gentleman from whom it had been unlaw- 
fully obtained. The document, which was sub- 
mitted by Lee to Admiral Lord Howe and his 
brother, General Howe, for their inspection and 
apjn-oval, and which bears the indorsement, 
" Jlr. Lee's Plan — 29^/t March, 1777," is as 
follows : 

"As on the one hand, it appears to me that by the 
continuance of tlie War, America has no chance of 
obtaining the end She proposes to herself; that altho' 
by struggling She may put the IMother-Country to very 
serious expense, both in blood and Money, yet She 
must in the end, after great desolation, havock and 
slaughter, be reduc'd to submit to terms much harder 
than might probably be granted at present; and as 
on the other hand. Great Britain, tho' ultimately vic- 
torious, must suffer very heavily even in the process 
of the victories, every life lost and every guinea spent 
being, in fact, worse than thrown away, it is only 
wasting her own property, shedding her own blood 
and destroying her own strength; and as I am not 
only persuaded, from the high opinion I have of the 
humanity and good sense of Lord and General Howe, 
that the terms of accommodation will be as moderate 
as their power will admit, but that their powers are 
more ample than their Successors (should any accident 
happen) wou'd be vested with, I think myself not only 
justifiable, but bound in conscience to furnish all the 
lights I can, to enable 'em to bring matters to a con- 
clusion in the most compendious manner, and conse- 
quently the least expensive to both Parties. I do this 
with the more readiness, as I know the most generous 
use will be made of it in all respects; their humanity 
will incline 'em to have considerations for Individuals 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



189 



who have acted from principle, and their good sense 
will tell 'em that the more moderate are the general 
conditions the more solid and permanent will be the 
union, for if the conditions were extremely repugnant 
to the general way of thinking, it wou'd be only the 
mere patchwork of a day, which the firet breath ol' 
wind will discompose, and the first symptoms of a 
rupture betwixt the Bourbon Powers and Great 
Britain absolutely overturn ; but I have really no 
apprehensious of this kind whilst Lord and General 
Howe have the direction of afiairs, and I flatter myself 
that under their auspices an accommodation may be 
built on so solid a foundation as not to be shaken 
by any such incident; in this persuasion and on these 
principles I shall most sincerely and zealously con- 
tribute all in my power to so desirable an end ; and 
if no untoward accidents fall out, which no human 
foresight can guard against, I will answer with my life 
for the success. 

" From my present situation and ignorance of cer- 
tain facts, I am sensible that I hazard proposing 
things which cannot without difficulties be comply'd 
with ; I can only act from surmise, therefore hope 
allowances will be made for my circumstances. I will 
suppose that (exclusive of the Troops requisite for 
the security of Rhode Island and X. York) General 
Howe's Army (comprehending every species, British, 
Hessians and Provincials) amounts to twenty thou- 
sand men, capable to take the field and act offensively ; 
by which I mean, to move to any part of the Continent 
where occasion requires ; I will suppose that the 
General's design with this force is to clear the Jerseys 
and take possession of Philadelphia ; but in my 
opinion the taking possession of Philadelphia will not 
have any decisive consequences; the Congress and 
People adhering to the Congress have already made 
up their minds for the event ; already They have 
turned their eyes to other places where They can fix 
their seat of residence, carry on in some measure their 
Government ; in sh9rt, expecting this event, They 
have devis'd measures for protracting the AVar, in 
hopes of some favorable turn of affairs in Europe ; 
the taking possession therefore of Philadelphia, or any 
one or two Towns more, which the General may have 
in view, will not be decisive ; to bring matters to a 
conclusion, it is necessary to unhinge or dissolve, if I 
may so express myself, the whole system or machine 
of resistance, or, in other terms. Congress Government ; 
this system or machine, as affairs now stand, depends 
entirely on the circumstances and disposition of the 
People of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania; if 
the Province of Maryland, or the greater part of it, is 
reduced or submits, and the People of Virginia are 
prevented or intimidated from marching aid to the 
Pennsylvania Army, the whole machine is dissolv'd 
and a period put to the War, to accomplish which is 
the object of the scheme which I now take the lil)erty 
of offering to the consideration of his Lordship and 
the General ; and if it is adopted in full, I am so con- 



fident of the success that I wou'd stake my life on the 
issue. I have at the same time the comfort to reflect 
that in pointing out measures which I know to be the 
most effectual, I point out those which will be attended 
with no bloodshed or desolation to the Colonies. As 
the difficulty of passing and of re-passing the North 
River, and the apprehensions fi-om General Carleton's 
Army will, I am confident, keep the New Englanders 
at home, or at least confine 'em to the east side of the 
River; and as their Provinces are at present neither 
the seat of Government, strength nor Politicks, I 
cannot see that any oftensive operations against these 
Provinces wou'd answer any sort of Purpose; to se- 
cure N. Y'ork and Rhode Island against their attacks 
will be sufficient. 

"On the supposition, then, that General Howe's 
army (including every species of Troops) amounts to 
twenty, or even eighteen thousand men, at liberty to 
move to any part of the continent ; as fourteen thou- 
sand will be more than sufficient to clear the Jerseys 
and take possession of Philadelphia, I wou'd propose 
that four thousand men be immediately embarked in 
transports, one-half of which shou'd proceed up the 
Potomac and take post at Alexandria, the other half 
up Chesapeake Bay and possess themselves of Annap- 
olis. They will most j^robably meet with no opijosi- 
tion in taking possession of these Posts, and, when 
possessed, they are so very strong by nature that a 
few hours' work and som^ trifling artillery will se- 
cure them against the attacks of a much greater force 
than can possibly be brought down against them ; 
their communication with the shipping will be con- 
stant and sure, for at Alexandria Vessels of a very con- 
siderable burthen (of five or .six hundred Tons, for in- 
stance) can lie in close to the shore, and at Annapolis, 
within musket-shot ; all the necessaries and refresh- 
ments for an Army are near at hand and in the greatest 
abundance; Kent Island will supply that of Annap- 
lis, and every part on both banks of the Potomac 
that of Alexandria. These Posts may, with ease, 
support each other, and it is but two easy days' 
march from one to the other, and if occasion re- 
quires, by a single day's march They may join* and 
conjointly carry on their operations wherever it may 
be thought eligible to direct 'em, whether to take 
possession of Baltimore, or post themselves on some 
spot on the Westward bank of the Susquehanna, 
which is a point of the utmost importance. But here 
I must beg leave to observe that there is a measure 
which, if the General assents to and adopts, will be 
attended w^ith momentous and the most happy conse- 
quences. I mean that from these Posts proclama- 

» " On the Road from Annapolis to Queen Ann there is one 
considerable Eiver to be pass'd ; but as the ship's boats can 
easily be brought round from the Bay to the usual place of 
passage or Ferry, this is no impediment if the Two Corps 
chuse to unite. They may, by a single day's march, either 
at Queen Ann or Marlborough." 



190 



HISTORY OF MOiMMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tions ol' paixlou shou'd be issued to all those who 
come in at a given day ; and I will answer for it with 
my life that all the Inhabitants of that great tract 
southward of the Patapsico, and lying between the 
Patomac and Chesepeak Bay, and those on the East- 
ern shore of Maryland, will immediately lay down 
their arms. But this is not all. I am much mis- 
taken if those potent and populous German districts 
— Frederic County, in Maryland, and York, in Penn- 
sylvania — do not follow their example. These Ger- 
mans are extremely numerous, and, to a Man, have 
hitherto been the most staunch Assertors of the 
American cause; but, at the same time, are so remark- 
ably tenacious of their property, and apprehensive 
of the least injury being done to their fine farms, that 
I have no doubt when They see a jirobability of their 
Country becoming the Seat of War, They will give 
up all opposition; but if, contrary to my expectations, 
a force should be assembled at Alexandria sufficient 
to prevent the corps detached thither from taking 
possession immediately of the place, it will make no 
disadvantageous alteration, but rather the reverse. A 
variety of spots near Alexandria, on either bank of 
the Patomac, may be chosen for Posts, equally well 
calculated for all the great purposes I have men- 
tioned — viz., for the reduction or compulsion to sub- 
mission of the whole Province of Maryland ; for the 
preventing or intimidating of Virginia from sending 
aids to Pennsylvania; for, in fact, if any force is as- 
sembled at Alexandria sutficient to oppose the Troops 
sent against it getting possession of it, it must be at 
the expence of the more Northern Army, as they 
must be compos'd of those Troops which were other- 
wise destined for Pennsylvania, — to say all in a 
word, it will unhinge and dissolve the whole system 
of defence. J am so confident of the event that I will 
venture to assert, with the penalty of my life, if the 
plan is fully adopted, and no accidents (such as a 
rupture between the Powers of Europe) intervenes, 
that in less than two months from the date of the 
jiroclamation not a spark of this desolating war re- 
mains unextinguished in any part of the Continent." 

Tlii.s (Icx'umuiit goes a long way towards clear- 
ing up the my.sterv which for eighty year.s en- 
veloped the conduct of Charle.s Lee at tlie battle 
of Monmouth, leading inevitably to the con- 
cliLsion that he was in .sympathy with the British, 
and that it was not so much his intention to sup- 
plant as to betray the great commander, before 
whose sublime wrath and fierce invective he 
afterwards cowered and shrank- away like a 
criminal. 

Concerning the precise language ii.sed by 
General Wa.shington to Lee when he met the 
latter in retreat on the dav of tlie battle, verv 



much has been 'WTitten and many accounts of tlie 
occurrence given. These accounts differ widely 
as to the exact words used by the chief 
but all agree that his language and manner to- 
ward his lieutenant on that occasion were terri- 
bly .severe. It is related by Irving that wlien 
tiie intelligence came that Lee with his division 
\vas retiring towards the rear with an apparently 
victorious army in pursuit, Washington galloped 
forwaril to .stop the retreat, his indignation kind- 
ling as he rode. Tiie commander-in-chief .soon en- 
countered I.,ee approaching witJi the l>ody of his 
command in full retreat. By this time he 
(Washington) was thoroughly exasperated. 
"What is the meaning of this, .sir?" demanded 
lie, in the sternest and even fiercest tone, as Lee 
rode up to liim. Lee, .stung by the manner more 
than by tlie words of the demand, made an angry 
reply and provolced still sharpL-r expressions, 
which are variously reported ; by whicji " vari- 
ously reported " expressions is meant the pro- 
fanity which, acccording to general admi.ssion 
and belief, was used by Washington on that 
occasion. He very rarely (if ever, except at that 
time) used profane language, but he was a man 
of fierce temper when aroused, and it burst forth 
in tingovernable fury when he saw the shameful 
conduct of Lee, reviving, as it did, a suspicion of 
treachery which had before that time forced itself 
into the mind of the chief. 

The Marquis de Lafayette, when revisiting 
the United States in 1824, mentioned the circum- 
stance to Daniel D. Tomjikins, of New York, 
and said, "This was the onl}- time I ever heard 
General Wa.shingtou swear. He called Lee a 
damned p'^lfroon, and was in a towering rage."' 
Another witness said that Washington shouted 
to Lee, " In the devil's name, sir, go back to the 
front, or go to hell." 

Weeras, in his " Life of Washington," .says : "As 
Wa.shington was advancing, to his infinite as- 
tonishment he saw Lee retreating and the enemy 
pursuing. ' For God's sake, General Lee,' 
.said he in great warmth, ' what is the cause of 
this ill-timed prudence?' 'No man, sir,' re- 
plied Lee, ' can boast a larger portion of that 

' This statement of Lafayette w.as maile by him on the 
piazza of the resiJence of Vice-President Tcmpkius, on the 
morning of Sunday, August 15, 1824., 



f 



I 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



191 



rascally virtue than your excellency! ' Darting 
ailing like a madman, Washington rode up to 
his troops, whd, at sight of him, rent the air 
with '(lod save a;reat Washing-ton!' ' Mv 
In-ave fellows, can you fight ? ' said he. They 
answered with cheers. 'Then face about, my 
heroes, and charge ! ' This order was executed 
with intiuite spirit." This account by AVeems, \ 
however, seems much less like a correct state- 
ment of au actual occurrence on a battle-field 
than like an imaginative creation of the author. 

The Rev. C. W. Upham, in his " Life of Wash- 
ington," says: "When General Washington met 
Lee retreating at the battle of Monmouth he 
was so exasperated as to lose control of his 
feelings for a moment, and in his anger and in- 
dignation he l)urst forth in violent expressions 
of language and manner. Very hai-sh words 
were exchanged between him and Lee, aud a 
sharp correspondence ensued, which resulted in 
Washington putting Lee under arrest. He was 
tried by court-martial. . . ." 

No witness on the court-martial of Lee made 
any mention of pi-ofaue words used by Wash- 
ington ou the occasion referred to; but this 
omission can have no weight, for indeed it would 
have been strange if any allusion had Ijeen 
made to it, as it was not the commander in-chief 
aud his language, but Lee and his actions, that 
were then under investigation. 

General Lee, in his defense before the court- 
martial, said : " I coufess I was disconcerted, 
astonished and confounded by the words and 
manner in which his Excellency accosted me. 
It was so novel and unexpected, from a man 
whose discretion, humanity and decorum I had, 
from the first of our acquaintance, stood in ad- 
miration of, that I was for .some time unal)le to 
make any coherent answer to (juestions so abrupt i 
aud, in a great measure, nnintelligiljle." 

Xeither Sparks, Bancroft nor Mai-shall, in 
their excellent works, make more definite men- 
tion of the language used by the commander- 
in-chief on Monmouth field than to say, in 
eflPect, that Washington spoke in terms of 
warmth, implying disapi)robation of Lee's 
conduct. 

Dr. Samuel Forman, of Freehold, gave the 
following account, as he had heard it from his 



father, who, with Peter Wikoff, had ai^ted as 
guide to General Washington on the day of the 
Ijattle : " Washington met Lee in the field 
immediately north of the parsonage of the 
Tennent Church, and, riding uj) to him, asked 
in astonishment, ' >\'hat is the meaning of 
this?' Lee, being confused and not distinctly 
understanding the question, said, 'Sir, sir?' 
Wa.shington again asked, ' What is all that 
confusion and retreat for?' Lee answered that 
he saw no confusion except what arose from his 
orders not being properly obeyed. Washington 
said he had certain information that the enemy 
before him was only a strong covering party. 
Lee said it might be so, but they were stronger 
than he (Lee) was, aud that he had not thought 
it prudent to risk so much. ' You should 
not have undertaken it,' said Washington, and 
rode on. Soon afterwards AYashington again 
met Lee, and asked him if he would take com- 
mand there ; if not, then he (Wa.shington) would ; 
but if Lee woidd take the command, he would 
return to the main army and make the ])roper 
dispositions for battle. Lee answered that his 
Excellency had already given him command 
there. LTpon which Washington told him he 
should expect him to take the proper measures 
to check the enemy's advance. Lee replied 
that his orders should be obeyed, and that he 
(Lee) would not be the first to leave the field. 
Washington then rode away." No harsh lan- 
guage is mentioned in this account, but it is to 
be remembered that persons acting in the capa- 
city of guides, though at certain times held near 
the person of the commander, would hardly 1)6 
in a positi(jn, at such a time as the one i-eferred 
to, to know all that passed Ijetween the tw( 
highest generals of the army. 

One of the Virginian officers in the battle 
(General Charles Scott), who was himself one 
of the worst of s\vearers, and seemed to take 
delight in hearing profanity from the lips oi 
others, was once, in later years, asked if it was 
possible that the great Washington ever used 
profane language. His reply (evidently an 
exaggeration of the facts) was : " He did, sir, 
once. It was at Monmouth, and on a day that 
would have made any man swear. He swore, 
sir, till the leaves shook in the trees. I never, 



192 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JERSEY. 



sir, enjoyed such swearing before or since. On 
that memorable day, sir, he swore liivc an angel 
from heaven." It was either Scott or another 
of the Virginian oiBcers present in the battle 
who said that "Washington, enraged by Lee's 
excuse that he had thought it safest to retire 
before the enemy, who greatly outnumbered 
him, wrathfully burst out: "D — n your multi- 
plving eyes. General Lee! Go to the front, or 
£■0 to hell, I care little which ! " 

Xo person now living knows, or even can 
know, what were the precise words which 
Washington used on that blazing, blistering 
dav, when he was driven to a frenzy of rage by 
the base conduct of his lieutenant ; but we may 
accept and agree to the conclusion arrived at by 
a certain college professor of divinity, who, 
having held up the Father of his Country as a 
model in all things, from cherry-tree to Farewell 
Address, and being thereupon inquired of by 
one of his pupils whether he would have them 
include all the events of the 28th of June, 1778, 
stammered out, after a moment of hesitation 
and perplexity : " Ahem ! ah, w-e-1-1, I sup- 
pose if anybody ever did have au excuse for 
swearing, it was General Washington at the 
battle of Monmouth." 

The British army committed many depreda- 
tions and outrages on the people of Xew Jersey 
(particularly on those of Monmouth County) 
during its march through the State from the 
Delaware to the Xavesink Highlands. With 
reference to those outrages, there appeared in 
Collins' New Jersey Gazette, soon after the 
Monmouth battle, the following article, attrib- 
uted to Dr. (Colouel) Thomas Henderson, who 
had himself suifered severely in property from 
their barbarous vandalism: 

" The devastation they have made in some 
parts of Freehold exceeds, perhaps, any they 
have made for the distance in their route 
through this State, having, in the neighbour- 
hood above the court-house, burnt and destroyed 
eight dwelling-houses, all on farms adjoining 
each other, besides barns and out-houses. The 
fir.st they burnt was my own, then Benjamin 
Covenhoven's, George Walker's, Hannah Solo- 
mon's, Benjamin Van Cleve's, David Coven- 



hoven's and Garret Vanderveer's ; John Ben- 
ham's house and barn they wantonly tore and 
broke down, so as to render them useless. It 
may not be improper to observe that the two 
first houses mentioned as burnt adjoined the 
farm, and were in full view of the place where 
General Clinton was quartered. In the neigh- 
borhood below the court-house they burnt the 
houses of ^Matthias Lane, Cornelius Covenho- 
ven, John Antonidas and one Emmons ; these 
were burnt the morning before their defeat. 
Some have the effrontery to say that the British 
officers by no means countenance or allow of 
burning. Did not the wanton bui-ning of 
Charleston,' and Kingston, in Esopus, besides 
many other instances, sufficiently evince to the 
contrary, I think their conduct in Freehold 
may. The officers have been seen to exult at 
the sight of the flames, and heard to declare 
they could never conquer America until they 
burnt every rebel's house and murdered man, 
woman and child. Besides, this consideration 
has great weio-ht with me towards confirmino' 
the above, that, after their defeat, through a 
retreat of twenty-five miles, in which they 
passed the houses of the well affected to their 
country, they never attempted to destroy one. 
Thus much for their burning;. To enter into a 
minute detail of the many insults and abuses 
those inhabitants met with who remained in 

I their houses would take up too much time in 
your paper ; I shall, therefore, content myself 
with giving you an account of General Clinton's 

; conduct to oue of my neighbours, a woman of 

I seventy years of age and nnblemishe<l reputa- 
tion, with whom he made his quarters.' After 
he had been for some time in her house, and 

! taking notice that most of the goods were re- 
moved, he observed that she need not have sent 
off her effects for safety ; tliat he would have 
secured her, and asked if the goods could not 

1 The writer of the above was wholly mistaken about the- 

" wanton'' burning of Charlestown at the battle of Bunker 
Hill. Chavlestown was accidentally set on fire at that time 
by shells from tlie frigate "Glasgow" and other British 
vessels enfilading the " Neck." 

' Said to have referred to Mrs. William Conover, who 
then lived in the house since known as the Murphy house, 
where Clinton made his quarters on the nights of the 26th 
and 27th of June, 1778. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



193 



be brought back again. The old lady objected, 
but upon repeated assurances of General Clin- 
ton in person that they should be secured for 
her, she consented, and sent a j)erson he had 
ordered, along with a wagon, to show where 
they were secreted. When the goods were 
brought to the door, in the latter part of the 
day, the old lady applied to General Clinton in 
person for permission to have them brought in 
and taken care of, but he refused, and ordered 
a ouard set over the <j;ood&. The morning fol- 
lowing, the old lady, finding most of her goods 
plundered and stolen, applied again to him for 
leave to take care of the remainder. He then 
allowed her to take care of some trifling- arti- 
cles, which were all she saved, not having 
(when I saw her and had the above information 
from her) a change of dress for herself or hus- 
band, or scarcely for any of her family. In 
regard to personal treatment, she w;is turned out 
of her bed-ronm and obliged to lie with her 
wenches, either on the floor, without bed or 
bedding, in an entry exposed to the passing and 
repassing of all, etc., or to sit in a chair in a 
milk-room, too bad for any of the officers to 
lie in, else it is probable she would have been 
deprived of that also. If the first officers of 
the British army are so divested of honour and 
humanity, what may we not expect from the 
soldiery ? " 

The depredations by Clinton's armv were, of 
course, much greater in the vicinitv of Free- 
hold than elsewhere, because his entire force 
lay within about three miles of the court-house 
through the two days and nights preceding the 
battle. After the army had left the vicinity of 
the village, and taken the road leading to Mid- 
dletown, many of the people Mho had suffered 
from their outrages pursued and wreaked their 
vengeance by firing on the soldiers from the 
cover of the woods and thickets. Several iso- 
lated graves along the road to Middletown were 
to be seen seventy years afterwards, supposed 
to be the last resting-places of some of Clinton's 
men killed in this way. 

The departure of Clinton's army from Sandy 
Hook Bay left New Jersey free from the pres- 
ence of armed enemies upon her soil, and the 
13 



militiamen of the State were then allowed to 
return to their homes, to remain until some 
other exigency should require them to be again 
called to the field. Washington moved his 
army (as has already been noticed) from ilon- 
mouth field to Englishtown, to Spottswood, and 
thence to New Brunswick, from which place, 
after a brief stay, it was moved to and across 
the Hudson River, to a position in Westchester 
Count}-, X. Y. Washington made his head- 
quarters at ^^'hite Plains, and there narrowly 
watched the movements of Clinton, suspecting 
it to be the design of the latter to move into 
the New England States. "Sir Henry gave 
currency to the reports that such were his inten- 
tions, until Washington moved his headquarters 
to Fredericksburg, near the Connecticut line, 
and turned his attention decidedly to the pro- 
tection of the eastern coast, Clinton then si'ut 
foraging parties into New Jersey, and ravaged 
the whdle country from the Hudson to the 
Raritau and beyond." ' 

Finally, being convinced that the enemy had 
no designs on New England, Washington re- 
solved to place his army in winter-quarters at 
different points, and in the most advantageous 
positions. This was done in December, 1778. 
Five brigades were cantoned on the east side of 
the Hudson, (ine brigade at West Point, one 
at Smith's Cove, near Haverstraw, one at 
Elizabethtown, and seven brigades at and in 
the vicinit_y of iliddlebrook, Somerset County. 
^Maxwell's brigade (in which Mere a consider- 
able number of soldiers of ]\Ionmouth County) 
was stationed during the winter at Elizabeth- 
town, to watch the British and Tory troops on 
Stateu Island, and prevent, as much as possible, 
their depredations in the contiguous part of 
New Jei-sey. In ilay, 1779, this brigade was 
ordered to join the army of General Sullivan, 
which marched from Easton, Pa., to the Seneca 
country, in New York, for the purpose of pun- 
ishing the Indians of that region for their par- 
ticipation in the massacres of the preceding 
year at Wyoming and Cherry Valley, — a pur- 
pose which was most suceessfidly and com- 
pletely ac'-omplished. 

' Lossing. 



194 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



About the 1st of June, 1779, the American 
anny left its winter-quarters, and moved to the 
Hudson River. General ^Vayne moved from 
his eneam])ment south of tlie Earitan to tlie 
Hudson, ■where, on the loth of July, he stormed 
and captured the British fortifications at 
Stony Point. In the latter part of October a 
detachment of the Queen's Rangers,^ under 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, — the 
same officer who commanded that battalion on 
the 28th of June, 1778, when it fought Butler 
on the ground now the Monument Park, at 
Freehold, — made a daring foray up the valley 
of the Raritau, for the purjxise of destroying 
some boats on that river, wliich object they 
accomplished, and also did much other damage, 
but lost their commander, who was taken pris- 
oner by a party of Americans under command 
of Captain Guest. After Simcoe's capture the 
Rangers became scattered, and reached South 
River bridge in a very demoralized condition. 
The American army went into winter-quarters 
about Decemlier 20, 1779, — the Northern Divi- 
sion, under General Heath, locating on the east 
side of the Hudson, below West Point, and the 
main body with the commander-in-chief, at 
Morristown. In January, 1780, Lord Stirling 
commanded a partially successful expedition to 
Staten Island. On the 6th of June following, 
a British force of about five thousand men, 
under Knyphausen, crossed from Staten Island 
to Elizabethtown Point, and advanced towards 
the interior, but was driven back to the Point. 
Again, on the 23d of the same month, a large 
force, under Sir Henry Clinton, advanced 
from the same place to Springfield, and burned 
the town ; but being resolutely met by the Con- 
tinental troops and the Jersey militia, thought 
it prudent to retire, which he did the same day, 
and crossed back to Staten Island. 

In the same month (June, 1780) a large force 
of French troops arrived, under General Count 
Rochambeau, to take the field as auxiliaries of 

'The celebrated corps known as the " Queeu's Rangers" 
was mostly made up of Americans, Tories, enlisted into the 
corps in Westchester County, S. Y., and in neighboring por- 
tions ofConnecticut. Colonel Simcoe had assumed com- 
mand of this body in 1777, and afterwards brought it up to 
a condition of excellent discipline and great eiBciency. 



the Americans, and to operate under the orders 
of Washington, who thereupon projected a 
joint attack on the British in New York, but 
afterwards abandoned the project. On the 
Hudson the most notable events of the year 
were the culmination of Arnold's treason and 
the capture of the unfortunate Major Andr6. 
Early in December the American army went 
into winter-quarters. 

In the summer of 1781 the American army 
and its French allies concentrated on the Hud- 
sou River, for the purpose, as it was understood, 
of making a combined attack on the British in 
the city of New York. They remained in the 
\'icinity of Dobbs' Ferry for about six weeks, 
during: which time AVashiugtou abandoned the 
project (if he e\-er entertained it seriously) of 
attacking the city, and resolved instead to move 
the armies to Virginia to operate against Corn- 
wallis. He, however, concealed his new plan, 
and wrote letters containing details of his pre- 
tended object to move against the city, intending 
tliat these should fall into the hands of Sir 
Henry Clinton. The result was as he had 
intended it to be. The letters were intercepted 
and taken to Clinton, who was completely de- 
ceived by them, and, continuing to watch the 
American force on the Hutlson, failed to reiu- 
force Cornwallis, as the latter had requested 
him to do. ]\Ieanwhile, Washington completed 
his jjreparations, and in the latter part of 
August crossed the Hudson at Verjjlanck's 
Point with the American and French armies, 
and marched rapidh^ across New Jersey to 
Trenton, some of the troops passing tJirough 
the Ramapo Valley and ^lorristown, and others 
jjassing the Riugwood Iron-Works. The 
French forces took the route by the Hacken- 
sack Valley to Newark and Perth Amboy, at 
which place they built ovens, constructed boats, 
collected forage and made other movements 
indicating an intention to move on New York ; 
but these were suddenly abandoned, and the 
march was resumed to Trenton, where all the 
forces arri\-ed before Clinton was aware of the 
significance of the movement. 

Criissing the Delaware at Trenton and the 
neighboring ferries in the morning of Septem- 
ber 1st, the armies marched on towards Phila- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



195 



delphia, which city they passed through ou the 
2d, aud ou the 14th of September reached 
Williamsburg, Va., from which point Wash- 
ingtou and Roehambeau went oii board the 
French tlag-sliip, the "Ville de Paris," in the 
York River, and there, with the French 
admiral, Count de Grasse, concerted the plan 
of the campaign which ended in the surrender 
i>f Lord Cornwallis with his army at Yorktown, 
on tlie 19th of October. 



CHAPTER X. 

MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE RE^'OLUTION. 
(Continuec/.) 

Through all the years of the Revohttionary 
conflict, Monmouth suffered far more severely 
than any other couuty of New Jersey from the 
forays and depredations of bands of men who 
wei-e partisans of the royal cause, though in 
general they did not belong to the regular or- 
ganization of the British army. These men, 
who were known by the name of Tory Refugees, 
■were inveterate enemies of the patriots and of 
the cause of American liberty, who had fled to 
the enemy's lines, and made a principal rendez- 
vous on Stateu Island, under protection of the 
encircling war-vessels of the British. They had 
also a camji on Sandy Hook, called Refugees' 
Town, fortified to some extent and also pro- 
tected by the guns of the royal fleet. The 
Staten Island base of operations was for them 
a peculiarly convenient one from which to 
sally out ou the marauding expeditions, by 
which they continually harassed the people 
inhabiting the neighboring territory of the 
county of Monmouth. 

Besides being thus unfortunately situated for 
the peace and .security of its patriot inhabitants of 
that time, Monmouth (then the richest of the 
counties of New Jersey) offered also the advau- 
ttige of extensive woods and almost impenetrable 
swamps for hiding-places, which, together with 
the facilities of the rivers and inlets of the ocean 
coast and tlie bavs of Raritau and Sandv Hook 



for the sending of plunder to New York, brought 
hither some of the worst villains aud desper- 
adoes of the whole country, who became notori- 
ous as the " Pine Woods Robljers of Mon- 
mouth, " who not only never hesitated at the 
shedding of blood to secure booty, but often 
committed cold-blooded murders for the mere 
gratification of malice or revenge. They always 
professed to be stanch Royalists, and they were 
always Intter and inveterate enemies of the 
patriots ; but their principal object was rol)- 
bery, and they plundered Tories as well as 
Wliigs whenever an opportunity offered to do 
so in safety. They were, however, much more 
careful and secret in their outrages against the 
former, because they depended on the British 
and Tories in New York as purchasers of the 
plunder, and therefore they must uot sacrifice 
the friendshij) of their patrons by open depre- 
dations on their friends and allies, the Tories 
of ^lonmouth. These robbers infested the whole 
county, but particularly the region known as 
" The Pines,"' aud hence the general term "Pine 
Robbers" which was applied to them. They 
had their hiding-places and headquarters in 
caves burrowed in the sand ; along the bordei-s 
of swamps, and in other spots so secluded and 
masked by nature as to be comparatively safe 
from detection ; and from these places they went 
forth, usually by night, in bands and individ- 
ually, to rob, l)urn and murder ; so that, for de- 
fense against these worse than Indian prowlers, 
the people of the county were obliged to keep their 
firearms constantly by them at their work in the 
fields, at their meetings for worship, aud by their 
bedsides at nisjht. 

Among the worst of the ferocious ganu: of 
desperadoes wdio had their lair in "The Pines " 
of Monmouth, whence they sallied out on their 
forays of robbery and murder through the county 
during the Revolution, were Jacob Fagau, Lewis 
Fenton, Ezekiel Williams, Richard Bird, John 

Gibei-son, John Wood, John Farnham, 

DeBow, Davenport, Jonathan and Stephen 

West, John Bacon and two brothers named 
Thomas and Stephen Burke, the last-meu- 
tioned of whom also sometimes assumed the 
alias of Emmons, and generally accompanied 
Fagan or Fenton, or both of them, in their ne- 



190 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



farioiis expeditious. Fagau was a resident of 
the soutlieast part of the present county, living 
on or near the Manasquan River before he en- 
teretl on the career of crime wliich he .continued 
in safety for two or three years, but which v>as 
finally closed by the avenging bullets of a detach- 
ment of Monmouth militia under command of 
Captain Benjamin Dennis, whose daughter, A me- 
lia,tlu'n a girl of fifteen years, was an eye-witness 
of, and an actor in, the beginning of the affair 
which resulted in the death of the outlaw. The 
eircumstaiices were narrated by her, years after- 
wards, as follows : She said that on a certain 
Monday in September, 1778, Fagan, Burke and 
a man named Smith came to the house of Cap- 
tain Dennis (on the south side of Manasquan 
River, four miles below the Howell Mills) to 
rob it of some goods captured from a British 
vessel. Mrs. Dennis and her daughter, Amelia, 
■were in the house at the time of their arrival, 
and they knew Fagan, who had formerly been a 
near neighbor. Smith, although then in com- 
pany with two of the most notorious villains in 
the country, was in reality an honest man, who 
had joined the robbers for the purpose of be- 
traving them. On reaching the vicinitv of the 
house, Fagan and Burke remained concealed, 
and sent Smith forward to reconnoitre, and see 
if the way was clear. Entering the house, he at 
once warned Mrs. Dennis of the danger, where- 
upon the girl Amelia, hiding a pocket-book con- 
taining eighty dollars in a bed-tick, slipped out 
of the back-door, and with her little brother 
made good her escape to a swamp near by. 
Scarcely had she gone when the two robbers en- 
tered, searched the house (including the bed) for 
booty, and failing to find any, endeavored, by , 
threatening the life of ]\Irs. Dennis, to frighten 
her into disclosing the place where the valuables 
were concealed, and, failing also in this, they 
2:)roceeded to put their threat in execution, 
though the narrative states that Burke \vas op- 
posed to murdering her. Fagan's determina- 
tion, however, prevailed, and she was hung by 
the neck M'ith a bed-cord to a young cedar-tree ; 
but the work Avas so carelessly done that in her 
struggles she freed herself and escaped, just as 
the attention of the robbers was attracted by the 
approach of John Holmes in a wagon belonging 



to Captain Dennis. The girl, Amelia, also saw 
him from her hiding-place and ran towards him, 
upon which the robbers fired at her, but without 
effect. Holmes, alarmed by the firing, al)an- 
doned the wagon and fled to the swamp, and the 
baffled bandits, after plundering the wagon, left 
the place. 

In the evening of the same day the man 
Smith stole away from the other two, and mak- 
ing his way to where Captain Dennis was on 
duty with a detachment of militia, informed 
him of the afl'air, and that it was the intention 
of the robbers to make another descent on his 
house. Upon this, the captain, seeing that his 
family could no longer remain there in safety, 
removed them the next da}' to Shrewsbury, un- 
der guai'd of some of the militiamen, and at 
the same time concerted a plan with Smith for 
the capture or killing of the villains Fagan and 
Burke. In pursuance of this plan, Smith ar- 
ranged with his supposed confederates to make 
a second visit to Dennis' house, on the Wednesday 
evening next following the first attempt. Cap- 
tain Dennis, fully apprised of their plan, lay in 
concealment with a i)arty of his men, at a place 
agreed on by himself and Smith, on the way 
which the robbers would pass on their Avay to 
the house. They came at the time appointed ; 
Smith first, in a wagon intended for carrying 
away the plunder, then Fagan and Burke on 
foot, as a rear-guard. As they passed the 
ambuscade, at a preconcerted signal from Smith 
(a chirrup to the horse he was driving), the 
militiamen fired on the two robbers, who in an 
instant leaped into the brushwood and disap- 
peared, Burke being little, if any, hurt, but Fa- 
gan (as was afterwards ascertained), carrying a 
mortal wound. On the following Saturday 
some hunters (who had proljaljly discovered his 
dead body in the woods) were drinking at a 
tavern in the vicinity, and made a bet with 
some of the jieople there that Fagan had been 
killed. This resulted in a so-called search, in 
which his body was found, recognized and 
buried. The welcome news spread rapidly 
thri)U!rh the rey;ion from Colt's Neck to Free- 
hold, and on the following day "the people as- 
sembled, disinterred the body, and after heaping 
indignities upon it, enveloped it in a tarred 



MOiNMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



197 



cloth, and susperKled it in chains, with iron 
Ijauds around it, from a large chestnut-tree 
about a mile from the court-house, on the road 
to Colt's Neck.' There hung the corpse in mid- 
air, rocked to aud fro by the winds, a horrible 
warning to his comrades and a terror to travel- 
ers, until the birds of prey picked the Hesh from 
the bones, aud the sJceleton fell piecemeal to the 
ground. Tradition affirms that the skull was 
afterwards placed against the tree with a pipe in 
its mouth in derision." - 

The killing of Fagan was mentioned in Col- 
lins' Xew Jersey Gazette of (October 1, 1778, as 
follows : 

"About ten days ago Jacob Fagan, who 
having previously headed a number of villains 
in Jlonmouth County that have cctmmitted 
divers robberies, and were the terror of travel- 
ers, was shot, since which his body has been 
gibbetted on the publick highway in that countv 
to deter others from perpetrating the like de- 
testable crimes." 

The robber Stephen Burke, M'ho so narrowlv 
escaped at the time when his confederate, Fa- 
gan, was killed by the militiamen, was himself 
killed (with his fellow-rol)bei-s. West and Wil- 
liams) by Captain Dennis' detachment in Jan- 
uary, 1 779. An account of the affair (embraced 
in a letter from ]\Ionmouth County, written, as 
is supposed, by Dr. Thomas Henderson) was 
given in Collins' Gazette, of the 29th of that 
month, viz.: 

"The Tory Pine-Robbers, who have their 
haunts and caves in tlie pines, and have been 
for .some time past a terrour to the inhabitants 
of this county, have, during tiie course of the 
present week, met with a very eminent disaster. 
On Tuesday evening last Ca])tain Benjamin 
Dennis, who lately killed the infamous robber 
Fagan, with a party of his Militia, went in pur- 
suit of three of the most noted of the pine-rob- 
bers, and was so fortunate as to flill in with 
them, and kill them on the spot. Their names 



' It was related by Dr. .Samuel Forman, of Freehold, that 
in the time of the Revolution he (then a youth) assisted in 
theerection, near the court-house, of a gallows, on which no 
less than thirteen Pine Robbers, murderers and Refugees 
were hung at different times during the war. 

- Hist. Coll. of New Jersey. 



are Stephen Burke, aUas Emmons, Stephen 
West and Ezekiel A\'illiauis. Yesterday they 
were brought up to this place, and two of them, 
it is said, will be hanged in chains. This .signal 
piece of service was effected through the instru- 
mentality of one John Van Kirk, who was 
prevailed upon to associate with them on pur- 
pose to discover their practices and lead them 
into our iiands. He conducted him.self with so 
mucli address that the robbers, and especially 
tile three tibove named, who were the leadino- 
villains, looked upon him as one of tlieir body, 
kept him constantly with them and entrusted 
him with all their desig-ns. 

"Van Kirk, at proper seasons, gave intel- 
ligence of their movements to Captain Dennis, 
who conducted himself accordingly. They were 
on the eve of setting off for New York to make 
sale of their plunder, when Van Kirlc informed 
Captain Dennis of the time of their intended 
departure (which was to have been on Tue-sday 
night last), and of c(jurse they ■\\oukl take to 
their boats. In consequence of which, and 
agreeable to the directions of Van Kirk, the 
captain and a small party of his militia planted 
themselves at Rock Pond, near the sea-shore, 
and shot Burke, West and Williams in the 
manner above related. A\'c were at first in 
hopes of keeping Van Kirk under the rose; 
but the secret is out, and of course he nuist fly 
the country, for the Tories are so highlv exas- 
perated again.st him that death will certainly be 
his fate if he does not leave Monmouth CVamty. 
The Whigs are soliciting contributions in his 
fiivour; and from what I have seen, I have no 
doul)t that they will present him with a very 
Jiandsome sum. I question whether the de- 
struction of the British fleet could diffuse more 
universal joy among the inhabitants of Mon- 
mouth than has the death of the above three 
most egregious villains." 

The killing of Burke, West and Williams 
was narrated by William Courlies, of Shrews- 
bury, who joined the British in the fall of 1778, 
and who testified before a British court-martial 
as follows : "The dejxinent was carried prisoner 
to ^lonmouth in- January, 1779, on the night 
of tile 24th of that month. He saw Captain 
Dennis, of the rebel service, bring to Freehoiil 



198 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Court-House three dead bodies; that Captain 
Dennis being a neighbor of his (the deponent's), 
he asked where tliose men were killed. He 
replied they were' killed on the shore, where 
thev were coming to join their regiments. Two 
of them, he said, belonged to Colonel Morris' 
corps, in General Skinner's brigade; the other 
had been enlisted in their service bv those two 
belonging to Colonel Morris' corps. He said 
also that he (Captain Dennis) had employed a 
man to assist them in making their escape at a 
place where he (Dennis) was to meet vdth them 
on the shore; at which place he did meet them ; 
that, on coming to the spot, he (Dennis) sur- 
rounded them with his party ; that the men at- 
tempted to fire, and not being able to discharge 
their pieces, begged for quarters, and claimed 
the benefit of being prisonere of war. He or- 
dered them to be fired on, and one of them by 
the name of Williams fell ; that they were all 
bayoneted by the party, and brought to Mon- 
mouth ; and that he (Dennis) receivwl a sum of 
money fvv that action, either from the Gover- 
nom* or General Washington, — A\hieh of the two 
he does not recollect." 

The outlaw Fenton, who was a comrade of 
Fagan and Burke in their crimes, was a black- | 
smith by trade, to which he had been appren- i 
ticed in Freehold. His depredations were as ' 
numerous and as long continued as those of the \ 
others, and his record was foul and bloody with 
many murders. One of the most diabolical of 
these was the killing of Thomas Farr and his 
wife, an aged couple, who lived in Upper Free- 
hold township, near Imlaystown. The murder 
was committed in July, 1779, by Fenton, 
Thomas Burke and several other villains of the 
gang, who came to Farr's house in the dead of 
the night for purposes of robliery. The inmates 
were Mr. and ^Irs. Farr and their daughter, 
who, as it appears, were on the alert and had 
the dooi's barricaded with logs. The assailants 
attempted to beat open the front door by using 
a rail as a battering-ram; but failing in this, 
they fired in on the defenders, wounding the 
daughter and breaking one of Mr. Farr's legs. 
They then went to the back door, and being 
successful in gaining entrance, they immediately 
shot Mrs. Farr and beat her husband to death 



as he lay on the floor helpless from his broken 
leg. The daughter, notwithstanding her wounds, 
slipped out and made her escape to the woods, 
and the ruffians, fearing that she would give 
the alarm and so bring a party of militia ujion 
them, did not wait long to plunder the house, 
but beat a hasty retreat towards their hiding- 
place in the Pines. • 

An account of this murder was given in the 
Gazette, as follows: "July 31, 1779.— Thomas 
Farr aud wife, in the night, near Crosswicks 
Baptist meeting-house, and daughter were badly 
wounded by a gang supposed to be under lead 
of Lewis Fenton. About the same time Fenton 
broke into and robbed the house of one Andrews, 
in Monmouth County. Governor Livingston 
offered £500 reward for Fenton and £300 and 
£2o0 for persons assisting him." Two mouths 
later Fenton met the fate he deserved, the fol- 
lowing account of his death being given in a 
communication printed in Collins' Gazette, of 
September, 1779: "On Thursday la.st (Septem- 
ber 23'', 1779) a Mr. Van Plater was knocked 
off his horse, on the road near Longstreet's 
Mills, in ^lonmouth County, by Lewis Fenton 
and one l^e Bow, by whom he was stabbed in 
the arm and otherwise much abused, l)esides 
being robbed of his saddle. In the mean time 
another person coming up drew the attention of 
the robbers and gave Van Mater an "jtportunity 
to escape. He went directly and informed a 
Serjeant's guard of ^lajor Lee's Light Dragoons, 
who were in the neighborhood, of what had 
happened. The serjeant immediately impressed 
a wagon and horses and ordered three of his 
men to secrete themselves in it imder some hay. 
Having changed his clothes and procured a 
guide, he made haste, thus equipped, to the place 
where Fenton lay. On the aj)proach of the 
wagon Fenton (his companion being gone) rushed 
out to plunder it. Upon demanding what they 
had in it, he was answered a little wine and 
spirit. These articles he said he wanted, and 
while advancing toward the wagon to take pos- 
session of them one of the soldiers, lieing pre- 
viously informed who he was, shot him through 
the head, which killed him instantly on the 
spot. Thus did this villain end his days, w hich, 
it is to be hoped, will at least be a warning to 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE KEVOLUTION. 



199 



otliers, if not to induce them to throw themselves 
on the merev of their injured country." About 
two weeks before Fenton's death tour (if his 
gang were captured and placed in ^Monmouth 
jail, from which some of them, if not all, were 
soon after taken to the gallows. 

The outlaws of the Pines were very bitter in 
tlieir hatred of Capfaiin Benjamin Dennis, who 
otien led the militia to punish them for their 
depredations, and the feeling of enmity towards 
him was particularly intense ou the part of the 
villain Fenton, on account of tiie killiug of 
Fagan and Steplien Burke. Determined to 
liave his revenge for this, he, a short time before 
liis death, waylaid and murdered the captain 
while he was on his way from Coryel's Ferry 
(Lambei'tvillc, Hunterdon County) to Shrews- 
bury, in July, 1779. His daughter Amelia, 
who escaped from Fagan and Burke when they 
attempted to rob her father's house, afterwards 
beciune ^Irs. Coryel. iNIrs. Dennis, who on 
that occasion escajjecl so narrowly ^\ith her life, 
had' previously been the victim of a murderous 
assault by a party of Hessians, who x;ame to her 
liouse and beat her witli their muskets until 
they supposed she was dead. This was in 
June, 177S, when the British armv under Sir 
Henry Clinton was on its march through Mon- 
mouth County. After the murder of her hus- 
band she became the wife of John I..ambert, 
who was afterwards for a time Acting Governor 
of New Jersey. She lived fifty-six years after 
the murder of her first husband by the ISIon- 
niouth County outlaws. 

Many muixlers and robberies, other than those 
wiiich have been noticed in the preceding ac- 
counts, were committed by tlie banditti who 
infested the Pines of Monmouth (then em- 
bracing what is now Ocean County), and who 
at length became so numerous and audacioiLs 
tliat "the State government offered large re- 
wards fir their destruction : and they were 
hunted and shot like wild beasts until the close 
of the war, when they were almost totally 
extirpated." 

Tiie Refugees (or Loyalists, as they called 
themselves) were renegade Americans, organized 
as allies of the British, with officers 'commis- 



sioned by the " Board of Associated Loyalists," 
which was constituted at New York, having for 
its object the examination of American prisoners 
of war and saspected persons, and the planning 
of measures for procuring intelligence and 
otherwise giving aid to the royal cause. Of 
this body, the fii-st president was Daniel Coxe, 
a Jerseymau, who (a.s was said by a Refugee 
officer) received the appointment to deprive him 
of the opportunity of speaking before the board, 
as he had in a great degree " the gift of saying 
little with many words." He was succeeded as 
jn-csident of the board by ^^'illiam Franklin, 
a natural son of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and 
the last Royal Governor of New Jersey. 

Most of the Tories of ^lonmouth County 
who entered the service of the British were 
found in theFii-st Battalion of the brigade known 
as the " New Jersey Hoyal Volunteers," other- 
wise often called " Skinner's Greens," from the 
name of their brigade commander and the color 
of their uniforms. Following are given the 
names of officers of this corps, as far as they 
have been ascertained, viz. : 

Brigadier-General Cortland Skinner, brigade com- 
mander. 

First BaftaHoii. 

Elisha Lawrence (previously sheritF of JEonmouth 
County), colonel. 
B. G. Skinuer, colonel in 1781. 
Stephen Delancey, lieutenant-colonel. 
Thomas Millidge, major. 
AVilliam Hutchinson, captain. 
Joseph Crowell, captain. 
James Moody, lieutenant. 
John Woodward, lieutenant. 
James Brittau, lieutenant. 
Osias Ausley, ensign. 
Joseph Brittan, ensign. 

Second Battalion. 
John Morris, colonel. 
Isaac Allen, lieutenant-colonel. 
Charles Harrison, captain. 
Thomas Hunlock, captain. 
John Combs, lieutenant. 

Third Battnlion. 
Abraham Van Buskirk, lientenant-C(jlonel. 
Robert Timpany, major. 
Philip Cortland (N. Y.), major. 
Jacob Van Buskirk, captain, 
.lames Servanier, lieutenant. 
Philip Cortland, Jr., ensign. 
.John Van Orden ensisn. 



200 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The folloM'ing-named were also officers in the 
brigade, but the battalions to which, respectively, 
they belonged cannot be designated : 

Elisha Skinner, lieutenant-colonel. 
John Barnes, major. 
R. V. Stockton, major. 
Thomas Lawrence, major. 
John Lee, captain. 
Peter Campbell, captain. 
John Barbara, captain. 
Richard Cayford, captain. 
William Chander, captain. 
Daniel Cozzens, captain. 

Keating, captain. 

Troup, lieutenant. 

Fitz Randolph, lieutenant. 

Peter Meyer, ensign. 

Dr. Absalom Baiubridge, surgeon. 

Though the terms Loyalist and Royalist would 
properly include all who favored the cause of the 
crown, yet they were generally limited in their 
application to those who joined the Koyal Vol- 
unteer organization, to distinguish them from 
the viler and more detestable bauds of maraud- 
ing and jilundering Refugees, of whom Gover- 
nor Livingston, in a message to the Legislature 
of New Jer.sey in 1777, said : 

" They have plundered friends as well as 
foes; effects capable of division they have 
divided ; such as were not, they liave destroyed. 
They have warred on decrepit old age and upon 
defenseless youth ; they have committed hostili- 
ties against the ministers of religion, against 
public I'ecords and private monuments, books of 
improvements and papers of curiosity, and 
against the arts and sciences. They have 
l)utchered the Mounded \\hen asking for quar- 
ter, mangled the dead while weltering in their 
blood, and refused to them the rite of 
sepulture ; suffered prisoners to perish for want 
of sustenance, violated the chastity of \\omen, 
disfigured jJrivate residences of taste and ele- 
gance, and, in thejr rage of impiety and barbar- 
ism, profaned edifices dedicated to the worship 
of Almighty God." 

But the Tories were not all as hardened vil- 
lains as those described by Governor Living- 
ston. The best class of them ^^■ere too hoin>ra- 
ble to engage in midnight expeditions to rob 
and murder their former friends and neio-hbors. 



Men of this class (which, however, formed a 
small part of the whole Tory league) rarely com- 
mitted acts dishonorable as soldiers ; yet the fact 
that they had previously stood ^vell, and that 
some of them had held influential positions in 
the community, exerted a mo.st injurious influence 
on tile patriot cause among their former friends 
and acquaintances. ^Fhe example of such men 
served to entice many to the ranks of the enemy 
and to cause others secretly to ^isli them well, 
or, at least, to strive to remain neutral at a time 
when their country most needed their .services, 
and in a county which was suffering most 
severely from the devastation of a bloody parti- 
san warfare. 

During the first year or two of the war the 
patriot cause was seriously endangered by Tory 
sympathizers, many of whom had S()ns, brothers 
or other relatives in the British army, but ^^ ho, 
themselves, remained at home because age or 
other disability unfitted them for service in the 
field. These men endeavored for a time to 
injure the American cause by their insidious 
wiles and secret scheming wherever and when- 
ever opportunity offered ; but when their con- 
duct became known, they received peremjitory 
orders to leave, and did so, seeking safety within 
the enemy's lines, while those who remained 
quietly and strictly neutral at home (as a tew 
of them did) ^vere seldom molested, though a 
strict and continual watch was kept over their 
conduct. Another fact to be remembered is 
that manv men of Q-ood standing and influence, 
who stood with the patriots at the outbreak of the 
WAV and remained true to their coiuitry for a 
year or tw o afterwards, became alarmed at tne 
disasters sustained by the Americans in the 
campaigns of 1776, and, abandoning their friends 
and country, sought safety and advancement by 
joining the enemy. Some of these ai-e noticed 
in the follo^\■ing brief mention of a few of the 
more prominent of the better class of ilonmouth 
County liOyalists : 

John Brown Lawrence was a lawyer and a 
member of the Provincial Council of New Jer- 
sey. On acponnt of his official relations to the 
royal government he was arrested by the com- 
mittee and imprisoned in Burlington County jail, 
charged with holdiii"; treasonable intercourse 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



201 



with tlie eiiemv. On that charge he was brouglit 
to trial and acquitted. After the war he re- 
ceived from tlie British government a large tract 
of land in Canada, and settled ujjon it. His son 
was that celebrated Captain James Lawrence 
who commanded the -American frigate "Chesa- 
peake" in her encounter with the British frigate 
"Shannon," whose last woi'ds were "Don't gi\e 
up the ship," and whose monument, with that o{ 
his Itrave lieutenant, Ludlow, may be seen on 
left of the main entrance to Trinity Church-yard, 
in the city of Xew York. 

Clayton Tilton, of Shrewsbury, was a Tory 
who joined the corps of Loyalists and received a 
commission as captain. He was taken prisoner 
by the Americans in the spring of 1782, at or 
about the time when Philip Mliite was captui-ed. 
He was coutined in the jail at Freehold, but was 
soon exchanged for Daniel Randolph, Esq., who 
was made prisoner with Captain Huddy at the 
Dover lilock-house. It is sujiposed that he 
went with the British wiien they evacuated New 
York, as mention is made of a person of the 
same name, a New Jersey Loyalist, having mar- 
ried the widow of Thomas Green, at Musquash, 
Xew Brunswick, soon after the close of the war. 

John AVardell, of Shrewsbury, an associate 
judge of Monmouth County, sided ^^•ith the 
Tories and took refuge in the British lines. His 
name is among those whose property was sold 
under confiscation in 177i». He had been a 
neighbor, in Shrewsbury, of the notorious Cap- 
tain Kichard Lippincott, and was on the most 
intimate terms of friendship with him. 

Elisha Lawrence, son of John, the surveyor, 
and brother of Dr. John Lawrence, was born in 
1740. At the outbreak of the Revolution he 
was sheriff of Monmouth County. Early in the 
war he joined the enemy andraised(chieflybyhis 
own efforts) about five hundred men, over Mhom 
he was placed in command, and was commis- 
sioned by the British, colonel of the First Bat- 
talion, Xew Jersey Royal Volunteers. In 1777 
lie ^\•as taken prisoner on Staten Island by Col- 
onel Ogden, acting under orders of General Sul- 
livan. In the list of persons of Ujjpej- Free- 
hold whose property was confiscated and ad- 
vertised for sale in 1779 are the names of 
" Elisha Ijawrence and John Lawrence, sons of 



John, late of Upper Freehold." At the close 
of the war be left Xew York with the British, 
retaining his rank of colonel, and was retired on 
half-pay. The English government granted 
him a large tract of land in X'ova Scotia, to 
which he removed, but finalh- went to Eng- 
land, and thence to Cardigan, ^\'ales, where he 
died. 

Thomas Leonard, a i)rominent citizen of 
Freehold township, was denounced by the 
Committee of Safety for his Tory proclivities, 
and every friend of freedom was advised to 
se\er all connection with him for that reason. 
He joined the British in Xew York, and at the 
close of the war went to St. John's, New 
Brunswick. 

Joseph Holmes, by adhering to the Royalists, 
lost £900. At the close of the Revolution he 
went to X'ova Scotia, and settled at Shelburne. 

John Lawrence, of Upper Freehold, Mon- 
mouth County, was born in 1709. He was a 
justice of the court and a surveyor, and in his 
last-named capacity he ran the division line 
between East and West Jereey in 1743. It 
was known as " Lawrence's Line," in contra- 
distinction to "Keith's Line " of l(iS7. Being 
advanced in years at the beginning of the 
Revolution, ^h: Lawrence did not l>ear arms, 
but he accepted from the British the important 
service of issuing Royalist protections to such 
Americans as he was alile to induce to abjure 
the cause of their country and swear allegiance 
to Great Britain, for which he was arrested by 
the committee, and confined for m'ne months 
in Burlington jail. He died in 1794, at the 
age of eighty-five years. 

John Lawrence, Jr., ]M. I)., son of John 
Lawrence, was born in 1747, graduated at 
Princeton, studied medicine in Philadeljihia, 
and became a somewhat prominent pln'sician of 
Monmouth County. In 1776 he was arrested 
by order of (ieneral AA ashington, and was or- 
dered by the Provincial Congress of X'^ew 
Jersey to remain at Trenton on parole, but he 
was afterwards permitted to remove to Morris- 
town. As his father and brother were holding 
positions under the British, he was narrowly 
watched as a suspected Tory and a dangerous 
person. Soon afterwards he joined the British 



202 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



in Xew York, where he practiced medicine, and 
was also captain of a company of volunteers for 
the defense of the city. After the close of the 
war (in 178.3) he returned to Monmouth 
County, where he lived unmolested. He died 
at Trenton, April 29, 1830. 

Rev. Samuel Cooke, D.D., Episcopal clergy- 
man at Shrewsbury, was educated at Cambridge, 
England, and came to America as a missionarj- 
of the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
pel in Foreign Parts, in September, 1751, locat- 
ing- in Shrewsbury as the successor of the Rev. 
Thomas Thompson, in charge of the churches 
at Freehold, Middletown and Shrewsbur}'. The 
Revolution divided and dispersed his congrega- 
tions. As a minister of the Church of England 
he thought it his duty to continue his alle- 
giance to the crown, and joined the British in 
New York. At the court-martial convened in 
June, 1782, for the trial of Captain Richard 
Lippincott for the murder of Captain Joshua 
Huddy, he was a witness, and was styled " the 
Reverend Samuel Cooke, clerk, deputy chap- 
lain to the brigade of guards." His property 
in Monmouth County was advertised to be sold, 
under confiscation, at Tinton Falls, March 29, 
1779. In 1785 he settled at Fredericktown, 
New Brunswick, as rector of a church there. 
In 1791 he was commissary to the bishop of 
Nova Sct)tia. He was drowned in crossing the 
St. John's River in a birch-bark canoe in 1795, 
and his son, who attempted to save his life, per- 
ished with him. 

Thomas Crowell, of Middletown, joined the 
Lovalists and was comniissii>ned captain in that 
corps. His property was confiscated and or- 
dered to be Sold at the house of Cornelius Swart, 
in ;\Iiddlet'>wn, March 22, 1779. During the 
war, Governor Franklin, president of the Board 
of Ivovalists, ordered hini to execute, without 
trial, a Monmouth County officer (one of the 
Smocks ?), but the Refugees who captured him 
made such earnest protest that the order was 
not enforced. 

Lawrence Hartshorue, nf Shrewsbury, made 
himself so obnoxioas as a Royalist that he was 
compelled to leave the county and go to the 
British at New York. He was a merchant and 
gave the enemy mneli valua!)le information. 



Colonel George Taylor, of the New Jersey 
Loyalists, was a resident in Middletown, and 
quite prominent on the patriot side in the be- 
ginning of the war, but soon afterwards went 
over to the British, and was rewarded by a col- 
onel's commission. He was a son of Edward 
Taylor, who was a member of the Colonial 
Assembly in 1775, and a leading member of 
the Provincial Congress of New Jersey in 1775 
and 1776; but when his son. Colonel George 
Tayliir, deserted to the enemy, the father's pa- 
triotism gave way, and he became in sympathy, 
if not in secret acts and services, an adherent 
and supporter of the Royalist cause. The suspi- 
cion with which he was regarded by the patriots 
is expressed in the following notification, ad- 
dressed to him by General David Forman : 

" MiDDLETOWX, MoxMorxH Co., Julv 2, 1777. 
"Sir: — Several complaints have been made to me 
respecting your conduct, particularly for acting as a 
spy amongst us, and from several corroborating cir- 
cumstances, especially that of giving information to 
a party of Tories and British, commanded by your 
sou, George Taylor, late militia Col. in this county, 
now a Refugee, by which means your son and his 
party escaped the pursuit of a body of militia sent 
to attack them ; I do therefore enjoin it upon you that 
you do for the future confine yourself to your farm at 
Middletown, and do not re-attempt traveling the 
road more than crossing it to go to your land on the 
north side of said town, uuloss by liberty obtained 
from the legislative body of this State, or this order 
be recalled, under the risk of being treated as a spy. 
"Yours, &c., 

" David Fokmax, 

"Brig.-Gen." 

On the 26th of November, 1777, the(.'ouneil of 
Safety " Agreed, that Edward Tavlor and Jere- 
miah Taylor, of Middletown, and George Taylor 
and Josiah Parker, of Shrewsbury, be sum- 
moned to appear before the Council as persons 
disaffected to the present Government." On 
the 3d of December following, the Council 
" Agreed, that Edward Taylor give a Bond in 
£"100 to stay within a mile of the College at 
Princeton, and not depart beyond these limits 
without the leave of the Council of Safety, & 
that he be set at liberty when Thos. Canficld, a 
prisoner at New York, shall be discharged by 
the Enemy and suffered to return home." On 
the 27tli of ^fay, 1778, "Agreed, that Edward 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



203 



Tiiylor be discharged from the Bond he gave to 
the Council of Safet\- Some time in the heariunina; 
of December last & have leave to I'eturn home 
for 3 weeks upon entering into another Bond 
to return within that time to this town [Prince- 
ton] & remain here until the future order of the 
Council of Safety, unless he shall in the mean 
time procui-e the releasemeut of John Willett, 
now a prisoner in New York." June 13, 1778, 
" Mr. Edward Taylor having procured the re- 
lease of John ^Villett upon parole that whenever 
required to do so he shall repair to whatever 
place any of the King of Great Britain's Com- 
manders-in-Chief shall judge expedient to order 
him ; Agreed, that the said Mr. Taylor be dis- 
charged from his bond and have liberty to 
return to his place of abode until the said John 
M'illett shall Ije recalled into the enemv's lines ; 
when the said Edward Taylor is to return to 
Princeton, there to continue within a mile of 
the college until he shall be discharged by the 
Council of Safety or the Executive authority of 
this State; he pledging his Faith and Honour 
not to do or say anything contrary to the interest 
of this State or the United States, & to be sub- 
ject to all the laws of this State already in being, 
or that hei-eafter may be made " 

John Taylor, at one time sheriff of Mon- I 
mouth County, and a gentleman of great wealth, 
was born in 1716. When Admiral Lord Howe 
arrived in this county to offer terms of recon- I 
ciliation (in 1777), he appointed Mr. Taylor 
" His IMajesty's Lord High Commissioner of , 
New Jersey." This office, as well as the fact 
that his sons adhered to the crown, and were 
in the British army, made Jlr. Taylor verv ! 
obnoxious to the "\Miigs. Once he was tried for ! 
his life as a spy, but was acquitted. His prop- 
erty was applied to the public use, but not con- 
fiscated, as he was paid for it in Continental 
money ; yet such was the depreciation of that 
currency that the payment was but little better 
than confiscation. He died at Perth Amboy, in 
1798, aged eighty-two years. His daughter 
married Dr. Bainbridge, and two of tiieir sons 
— William and James Bainbridge — were com- 
modores in the American uavv in the ^^'ar of 
1812-15. 

William Taylor, son of John, had his property 



confiscated, but purchased it' again after the war. 
He was a lawyer by profession, and was at one 
time chief justice of Jamaica. He died at 
Amboy in 1806. 

The Tories of Monmouth County (more par- 
ticularly than those of any other part of New 
Jersey) became troublesome and dangerous from 
the very beginning of the war of the Revolu- 
tion, as appears from the records of the Council 
of Safety and ( )f the Provincial Congress. Torv- 
ism was rampant in the county as early as 1775, 
and it increased so rapidly in boldness and ac- 
tivity ' that early in the following year the sul)- 
ject received the special attention and action of 
the Congress of New Jersey, the minutes of 
which body showthe following entry under date 
of July 3, 1776 : 

" Whekeas, autheiitic-k inlormatiou has been re- 
ceived by this Congress that a number of disaffected 
persons have assembled in the County of Monmouth, 
preparing, by force of arms, to oppose the cause of 
American freedom, and to join the British troops for 
the destruction of tliis country ; and it being highly 
necessary that immediate measures be taken to sub- 
due these dangerous insurgents: It is there/ore unatii- 
mously resolced, That Colonel Charles Head, Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Samuel Forman and Major Joseph 
Haight do take two hundred of the militia of Bur- 
lington County and two hundred of the militia of 



' " At one time the Refugees gained the ascendancy, and 
had possession of the village of Freehold for a week or ten 
days, but were at last driven out by the Whigs. Some of 
them took to the swamps and woods, and, like the Pine 
Robbers, secreted themselves in caves burrowed in the sand, 
where their friends covertly supplied (hem with food. The 
most ferocious of them were hung. Those more mild, or 
merely suspected, were put on their parole of honor, or 
sent prisoners to Hagerstown, Md.. to prevent their com- 
municating with the enemy, and at the close of the war had 
thsir property restored." 

This statement, found in Howe and Barber's " Historical 
Collections of Xew Jersey, '' is doubtless unfounded. The 
court-house and vicinity were held for a time in 1769 and 
1 770 by a mob, which had gathered to " drive out the law- 
yers," as they said : and this was probably the origin of 
the tradition which formed the basis of the above state- 
ment. But this riot w.as five years before the commence- 
ment of the Revolution. During the war, although the 
Refugees made raids nearly eserywhere else in the county, 
they never dared attack the county seat (though at one time 
such a project was on foot among them), for it was always 
guarded by troops, — General David Forman's nnlitia. 
"Light-Horse Harry" Lee's troopers, Major Mifflin's 
Pennsylvtinians, or some other force sent for that par- 
ticular purpose. 



20i 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUxVTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Monmouth and proceed witliout delay, in order to 
quell the aforesaid insurrection, and to disarm and 
take prisoners whomsoever tliey shall find assembled 
witli intent to oppose the friends of American free- 
dom ; which prisoners so taken they shall forthwith 
bring before this Congress, and the said officers are 
empowered to take such measures as they shall think 
necessary for this service." 

In November, 1776, when Washington was 
retreating across New Jersey to tlie Delaware, 
pursued by the exultant troof)S of Lord Corn- 
wallis, Richard Stockton, one of the New Jersey 
members of Congress, returned to his home at 
Princeton to take measures for the protection of 
his fiimily from the advancing army of the 
British. For this purpose lie removed them, 
together with some of his property, to the house 
of his frieud, John Covenhoven, in Monmouth 
County, which he supposed to be a secure place 
because away from the line of the enemy's 
march. But on the night of the 30th of No- 
vember, Covenhoven's house was attacked and 
plundered by a party of Refugees, and Coven- 
hoven and Stockton were taken prisoners and 
carried, by way of Perth Amboy, to New York. 
They remained there confined imtil the early 
part of 1777, but the hardship and exposure of 
the journey in the intense cold, and of the subse- 
quent imprisonment, were such that Mr. Stock- 
ton never recovered from their effects, which 
caused his death in 1781. 

On the loth of February, 1777, a severe fight 
occurred between a large body of Refugees and 
a detachment of the First Battalion of Monmouth 
militia, under Colonel Nathaniel Scudder. 
Among the companies of the battalion taking 
part in the engagement were those of Captain 
Hankinsou, Captain Barnes Smock and Captain 
Samuel Carhart. Second Lieutenant John 
Whitlock and Privates Alexander Clark and 
James Crawford were among the killed. The 
Refugees took a numl^er of pi'isoners, among 
whom M'cre Matthias Rue (died in New York, 
Feliruary 2S, 1777), William Johnson, Obadiah 
Stilhvell (died prisoner in New York, April 1.3, 
1777), Joseph Goodenough, William Cole (died 
prisoner in New A^ork, March, 1778), James 
Winter (died prisoner in New A^ork, March 4, 
1777), Joseph Davis (died prisoner in New York, 
March 11, 1777), James Hibbetts (died prisoner 



in New York), Lambert Johnson (died prisoner 
in New A^ork, March 25, 1777), Jonathan 
Reid. 

In Shrewsbury township, on the 3d of Oc- 
tober, 1777, Colonel Daniel Hendrickson, with 
a detachment of his battalion (the Third Mon- 
mouth Militia) fought a body of Refugees \vho 
came to plunder the patriots of the vicinity. 
In the fight, Captain John Dennis, of the militia, 
was taken prisoner to New York, where he died 
of his wounds, January 16, 1778. 

On or about the 1st of April, 1778, a body 
of Refugees, principally belonging to Skinner's 
Royal Greens, came in two or three small ves- 
sels from Sandy Hook to Squan Inlet and 
Shark River, for the purpose of destroying the 
salt-works at those points, ■which (with other 
works at Tom's River and a number of other 
places on the New Jersey coast) had been built 
after the commencement of the war to supply 
the demand for salt, which could not then be 
had from other sources. An account of this 
Refugee raid is told as follows, in a letter from 
Monmouth County to Collins' New Jersey 
Gazette: 

" About one hundred and thirty-five of the 
enemy landed on Sunday last, about ten o'clock, 
on the south side of Squan Inlet, burnt all 
the salt-works, broke the kettles, etc., and 
stript the beds, etc., of some people, who, I fear, 
wished to save them. They then crossed the 
river and burnt all except Derrick Longstreet's. 
^Vfter this mischief they embarked. The nest 
day they landed at Shark Rivei-, and set fire to 
two salt-works, when they observed fifteen 
horsemen heave in sight, which occasioned them 
to retreat with such precipitation that they sunk 
two of their boats. The enemy consisted chiefly 
of Greens, the rest Highlanders. One of the 
pilots Mas the noted Thomas Oakerson." Soon 
after this the Refugee liauds destroyed the salt- 
works at Tom's River, and made other raids 
along- the shores of Raritan Bay, one of which 
latter was thus narrated in the Gazette of that 
time: 

"June 3d, 1778. — We are informed that on 
Wednesday morning last a party of about 
seventy of the Greens from Sandy Hook 
landed near Major Kearney's, headed the Mill 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



205 



Creek, IMiddletowu Point, and marched to jNIr. 
John BiuTowe.-;, made him prisoner, burnt his 
Mills and both his Store-Houses, — all valuable 
buildings, — besides a great deal of furniture. 
They also took jirisoners Lieutenant-Colonel 
Smock, Captain Christopher Little, Mr. Joseph 
Mall, Captain Joseph Covenhovon and several 
other persons, and killed ^Messrs. Pearce and 
Van Brockle, and wounded another man mor- 
tally. Having completed these and several 
other barl_)arities, they precipitately returned the 
same niornins to trive an account of their 
abominal)le deeds to their bloody employers. 
A number of tliese gentry, we learn, were 
formerly inhabitants of that neighborhood." 
The Major Kearney here mentioned, whose 
residence was near the site of the present town 
of Keyport, was one of rthose (of whom there 
were a considerable number in the northeastern 
part of ^Monmouth County) who, while secretly 
favorable to the patriot cause,' were obliged to 
feign adherence to the British in order to save 
their property from destruction by marauding 
parties of Refugees from Staten Island or the 
enemy's vessels in Sandy Hook Bay. On this 
occasion, one of the major's negroes, who had 
been secretly instructed by his master in the 
part he was to play, rushed into the room where 
the major was entertaining his unwelcome 
, guests, and in an excited manner gave the in- 
telligence that a great number of rebel soldiers 
had just arrived at INIiddlctowu Point. Upon 
this, the Refugees retreated precipitately, as 
above mentioned, without having fully accom- 
plished the objects of their foray. 

One of the many ^Monmouth Countv men 
who deserted the cause of their country in the 
dark days of the Revolution was Stephen Ed- 
wards, a young man of Shrewsbury tbwnsliip, 
who, in September, 1778,^ left the county and 
joined the Associated Loyalists in New York. 
Not long after his defection he received orders 
from Colonel George Taylor, of the Loyalists 
(also a renegade, and a former resident of Mid- 
dletown), to return to Moumouth as if on a 

' It was so claimed by liim, but his sympathy with the 
patriots was regarded with doubt and suspicion by many. 

'Some accounts incorrectly give 1780 as the year of this 
occurrence. 



visit, but really for the purpose of ascertaining 
the positions and strength of the militia detach- 
ments and other American forces through the 
county, for which service he was furnished with 
written instructions. The fact of his comiuij; 
being immediately ascertained, and its purpose 
suspected by the commanding othcer of the 
troojjs here, orders were gi\'en to Captain Jon- 
athan Formau, of the light-horse, to arrest 
him. 

Under these orders, Captain Forman went, 
oi\ a Saturday night, to the residence of Ed- 
wards' father, near Eatontown, and there found 
him in bed, with a woman's night-eap on his 
head and his wife by his side. The eaptaiu 
was not in the least deceived by the disguise of 
the night-cap, and, on looking under the bed, 
he found Edwards' clothes, and in them the 
written instructions. Forman was -well ac- 
quainted with Edwards, and the two families 
had been on terms of intimate friendship; and 
now the captain told his prisoner fi-ankly, and 
yet with much emotion, that he was sorry he 
had found him, for that Colonel Taylor's writ- 
ten instructions marked him for the fate of a 
spy, though Edwards declared that he was 
not such, and could not in any way be so re- 
garded. He was, however, taken at once to 
Monmouth Court-House, where, on the follow- 
ing day (Sunday), he was brought before a 
court-martial, tried and convicted as a spy, and 
hanged as such at ten o'clock on Monday morn- 
ning. His heart-broken father and mother, 
wholly ignorant of the terriiile swiftness of 
luilitary punishments in time of war, had gone 
to the coiu't-house on that same moi'ning, anx- 
ious to learn of their son's fate ; and they took 
his remains back with them to the homestead. 

A Refugee raid- into the northeast part of the 
county, in the spring of 1779, was noticed in a 
communication of that time, as follows : " April 
26, 1779. — An expedition, consisting of seven 
or eight hundred men, under Colonel Hyde, 
went to Middletown, Red Bank, Tinton Falls, 
Shrewsbury and other places, robbing and 
burning as they went. They took Justice 
Covenhoven and others prisoners. Captain 
Burrowes and Colonel Asher Holmes assem- 
bled our militia, and killed three and wounded 



206 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



fifteen of the enemy. Ther, however, succeeded 
in carrying off liorses, cattle and other plun- 
der." In iSIay, two or three weeks after this 
affair, two or three hundred Refugees landed at 
Middletown, on a raid for jjlunder, but were 
driven off without doing any very serious 
damage. 

In June, 1779, the patriots of Monmontii 
County, wearied out and alarmed by the con- 
stantly increasing depredations and outrages 
committed by the Refugees and Pine Robbers, 
banded themselves together for mutual defense 
against the atrocities of these desperadoes, in an 
"association," the original articles of which, 
signed by four hundred and thirty-six persons 
(among whose names are found those of many 
of the most prominent families of the county at 
the present day), is now in the office of the 
Secretary of State, at Trenton. The articles are 
as follows : 

" Whereas, From the frequent incursions and dep- 
redations ot'-the enemy (and more particularly of the 
Refugees) in this county, whereby not only the lives, 
but the liberty and property of every determined 
Whig, are endangered, they, upon every such incur- 
sion, either burning or destroying houses, making 
prisoners of and most inhumanly treating aged and 
peaceable inhabitants, and plundering them of all 
portable property, it has become essentially necessary 
to take some dillcrent and more effectual measures to 
check said practices than have ever yet been taken ; 
and as it is a fact notorious to every one that these 
depredations have always been committed by the Rei- 
ugees (either black' or white) that have left this coun- 
try, or by their influence or procurement, many of 
whom have near relations and friends that in general 
have been suffered to reside unmolested among us, 
numbers of which, we have full reason to believe, are 
aiding and accessory to those detestable practices. 



' Quite a number of negroes were banded with tlie Ref- 
ugees in their depredations. A principal one among these 
was a mulatto slave of John Corlies, who lived south of 
Colt's Neck. His name was Titus, and having become a 
leader among the Refugees, he was commonly known as 
" Colonel Tye." Many of his followers were negroes who 
had been slaves in JlonmoutU County. Titus was a brave 
man, and far more honorable and generously inclined than 
were most of the white renegades with whom he was asso- 
ciated, and some of whom he commanded. He was mor- 
tally wounded in making an attack on the dwelling-house 
of Captain Joshua Huddy, at Colt's Neck, in 1780, as else- 
where mentioned. The negroes who associated with the 
Refugees had their rendezvous at Refugee Town, on Sandy 
Hook. 



We, the subscribers, iiihabitants of the County of 

Monmouth, actuated solely by the principles of self- 
preservation, being of opinion that the measure will 
be strictly justifiable on the common principles of 
war, and being encouraged thereto by an unanimous 
resolve of the honoralile the Congress, passed the 3oth 
of October, 1778, wherein they, in the most solemn 
manner, declare that through every change of fortune 
they will retaliate, do hereby solemnly associate for the 
purpose of retaliation, and do obligate ourselves, our 
heirs, executors and administrators, and every of them, 
jointly and severally, to all and every of the sub- 
scribers and their heirs, etc., to warrant and defend 
such persons as may be appointed to assist this asso- 
ciation in the execution thereof; and that we will 
abide by, and adhere to, such rules and regulations 
for the purpose of making restitution to such friends 
of their country as may hereafter have their houses 
burned or broke to pieces, their property wantonly 
destroyed or iduudered, their persons made prismiers 
of while peaceably at their own habitations, about 
their lawful business, not under arms, as shall here- 
after be determined on by a committee of nine men 
duly elected by the associates at large out of their 
number, which rules and regulations shall be founded 
on the following principles, viz. : 

" First — For every good sulij ect of this State, residing 
within the county, that shall become an associator, 
and shall be taken or admitted to parole by any party 
or parties of Refugees as aforesaid, that shall come on 
the errand of plundering orman-stealing, thegood sub- 
ject not actually under or taken in arms, there shall 
be taken an equal number of the most disaffected and 
influential residing and having property in the 
county, and them confine in the Provost jail, and 
treat them with British rigor until the good subjects 
of this State, taken as aforesaid, shall be fully liber- 
ated. 

"Second — For every house that shall be burned or 
destroyed, the property of a good subject that enters 
with this association, there shall be made full retalia- 
tion upon or out of the jiroperty of the disatt'ected, 
as aforesaid. 

" Third — That for every article of property taken 
as aforesaid from any of the associators, being good 
subjects, the value thereof shall be replaced out of the 
property of the disaffected, as aforesaid. We do also 
further associate for the purpose of defending the 
frontiers of this county, aud engage, each man for 
himself that is a subject of the militia, that we will 
turn out at all times when the county is invaded, and 
at other times will do our projiortionate part towards 
the defence thereof. We, the associators, do hereby 
direct that a copy of this association be, as soon as 
the signing is completed, transmitted to the printer of 
the New Jersey Gazette for publication, and that the 
original be lodged in the clerk's office. Also, we do 
request that the associators will meet at the court- 
house on Saturday, the first of July, at one o'clock in 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



207 



the afternoon, for the purpose of electing nine men, 
as before-mentioned, to carry the said association into 
eflect." 

In the First Battalion of ykiuner's Royal 
Greens was a lietiteuant named James Moody, 
who was one of the bravest and most efficient 
officers in tlie Refngee organization, and was for 
that reason often entrusted with the command 
of their marauding expeditious in the north- 
eastern part of Ne^^■ Jersey. An account of one 
of these raids into ^Monmouth County, led by 
this Moody, is found in Collins' Gazette of June, 
1779, viz.: 

" A party of al)0ut fifty Refugees recently 
landed in Monmouth and marched undiscovered 
to Tinton Falls, where they stn-prised and car- 
ried otf Colonel Hendrickson, Colonel Wikoff, 
Captain Chadwick and Captain McKnight, and 
drove off sheep and horned cattle. About thirty 
of our militia hastily collected and made some 
resistance, but were repulsed with the loss of 
two men killed and ten wounded." The two 
killed were Captain Chadwick and Lieutenant 
Hendrickson ; and it was said Ijy those present 
that Moody having taken them prisoners, had 
placed them in between his party and the militia 
to screen the former, and tliat they were shot by 
him to prevent their escaping. The account of 
the affi\ir, which was given by ]Moody himself 
in a pamphlet ' published by him in England 
abo\it the close of the war, was as follows : 

"On the 10th of June, 1779, Lieutenant 
James IMoody recpiested a Tory friend named 
Hutchinson, with six men and some guides, to 
join him in a raid into Monmouth. Moody had, 
besides, sixteen men. Tiiey started from Sandy 
Hook for Shrewsbury, and managed to elude 
the Rebel guard, and gained a place called the 
Falls [Tinton]. There they surprised and took 
prisoners one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, 
one major and two captains, with several other 
prisoners of lesser note, and without injury to 
private property, destroying a considerable 
magazine of powder and arms. With these 
prisoners and such publick stores as they were 

1 " Lieutenant James Moody's Narrative of his Exertions 
and Sufferings in the Cause of the Government since the 
year 1770. .VutUenticated by Proper Certificate. London, 
1783." 



able to bring off Mr. Hutchinson was charged, 
whilst Moody brought up the rear with his six- 
teen men, to defend them. They were, as they 
had expected, soon pursued by double their 
number and soon overtaken. Moody kept up 
a smart fire on his assailants, checking and re- 
tarding them till Hutchinson with his booty had 
sot ahead to a considerable distance. He then 
also advanced for the next advantageous posi- 
tion, and thus proceeded from one good spot to 
another, still covering the ]>risoners, till they 
arained a situation on the shore at Black Point 
where the enemy could not flank him. But just 
at this time the enemy was reinforce<l Ijy ten 
men, so they were near forty strong. Hutchin- 
son with one man crossed the Inlet, behind 
which he had taken shelter, and came to 
Moody's assistance ; and now a warm engage- 
ment ensued, which lasted three-quarters of an 
hour. 

" By this time all their amnnmition, amouut- 
ino- to eishtv rounds, was exhausted, and ten 
men, only three of whom were unwounded, were 
in anv capacity to follow a charge. The bayo- 
net was Moody's only resource, and this the en- 
emy could not withstand ; they fled, leaving 
eleven of their num))er killed or wounded. LTn- 
fortuuately for jNIoody, his small but gallant 
partv could not follow up the blow, being, in a 
manner, utterly exhausted by a long, harassed 
march in hot weather. They found the Rebel 
captain dead and their lieutenant also expiring 
on the field. There was something peculiarly 
shockins; and awful in the death of the rebel 
captain. He was shot by Moody whilst, with 
the most bitter oaths and threats of vengeance, 
after having missed fire once, he was again level- 
ling his piece at him. Soon after the engagement 
one of the rebels came forward witli a handker- 
chief on a stick and demanded a parley. His 
signal was returned and a truce agreed on, the 
conditions of which were that they should have 
leave to take care of their dead and wounded, 
while Moody and his party were permitted to 
return unmolested to the British lines. None 
of ^Moody's men were mortally wounded. Tiie 
publick stores which they brought away, besides 
those destroyed, sold for upwards of £500, every 
shilling of which was given by JNIoody to his 



208 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



men as a reward for meritorious service and be- 
haviour." I 

Afterwai-ds (July 21, 1780) :\Ioody was taken 
prisoner by troops of ^^'ayne's command. He 
was first sent to "the Slote," then tu Stony 
Point, then to ^^'est Point, thence to Esopus, 
and theuce back to ^Vest Point, where Arnold 
was in command, and at that time preparing to 
execute his scheme of treason. Arnold treated \ 
]\Ioody with great severity (even with barbarity), 
placing him in a rock dungeon, the bnttom of 
wliich was covered with water ankle-deep. He 
Mas fettered hand and foot, and compelled to 
sleep on an old door raised on four intones 
slightlv above the water and filth, while the 
irons on his wrists, being ragged on the inside, 
o-ave him intense and continual sutfering. His 
case finally came to the notice of ^Vashington, 
wlio ordered him removed to a better place of 
confinement, took off his irons and treated him 
humanclv. He was soon after brought to trial 
by court-martial for the killing of Captain 
Chadwick at Black Point (as before related), 
contrary to the rules and usages of war. He 
was found guilty and would ha\e been hanged ; 
but, knowing the certainty of his doom, he took 
a desperate chance to effect his escape, and ac- 
complished it (September 17, 1780) by breaking 
the bolt of his handcuffs, knocking down a 
sentinel, seizing liis musket and taking his post 
as sentinel, where he remained undiscovered 
until he found an opportunity in the excitement 
to slip away from the provost-guard, and after 
wauderinu- several days in the woods and once 
coming very near being recaptured, he reached 
Paulus Hook (Jersey City) in safety. 

An account of a murdering raid in Monmouth 
County by the Refugees in 1780 is given as 
below, in Collins' Gazette of ]May in that year : 
" On the 30th ult., a party of negroes and 
Refugees from Sandy Hook landed at Shrews- 
bury in order to plunder. During their ex- 
cursion a Mr. Russell, who attempted some 
resistance to their depredations, was killed, and 
his grandchild had five balls shot through him, 
but is yet living. Captain Warner, of the 
privateer brig ' Elizabeth,' was made prisoner by 
these ruffians, but was released by giving them 
two joes. This lianditti also took off several 



persons, among whom were Captain James 
Green and Ensign John Morris, of the mili- 
tia." 

There was also present in the house at the 
time of this occurrence old ]Mr. Russell's sou, 
John, who was a soldier in the Continental ser- 
vice, but then at home on iurlough to ^•isit his 
parents and wife. He was wounded by the 
Refugees, but recovered, and after the Revolu- 
tion removed to Cedar Creek, in the present 
county of Ocean, where he lived to an advanced 
age, always carrying the sears of the wounds 
he received in his father's house on that mem- 
orable night, the events of which he often 
related, in substance as follows : 

The attacking party consisted of seven Refu- 
o-ees, among whom were Richard Lippincott, 
Philip White, a man named Gilian and the 
notorious Farnham, who was afterwards hanged 
at Freehold. Young Russell saw them through 
the window as they approached the house, and 
at one time they were clustered together so that 
he M'ished to fire at them, telling his father he 
was sm-e they could kill four of them and that 
if they did so, the three others Avould run away. 
His father told him to wait and fire on them 
as they broke into the house. They did so, and 
the father fired first, but missed his aim and was 
then fired on and killed by the Refugee Gilian, 
who, in another moment, fell dead by a bullet 
from John Russell's gun. Immediately after- 
wards John was shot in the side and fell on 
the floor, pretending to be dead. The Refugees 
then plundered the house. The mother and wife 
of John Ru.ssell were in bed with the child, 
who was awakened by the noise of the firing, 
and cried out in alarm, " Grandmother, what's 
the matter ? " Thereupon one of the Refugees 
pointed his musket at the bed and fired, saying, 
"That's what's the matter." Whether he 
' intended to kill tlie child or only to frighten it 
is uncertain. The child was badly wounded, 
but eventually recovered. As the Refugees were 
preparing to leave the house one of them pointed 
his musket at John Russell as he lay upon the 
floor, and was about to fire, saying he did not 
believe he was dead, but the piece was knocked 
up by another (Richard IJppincott), who said 
it was a shame to fire upon a dying man, and the 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



209 



ball went iuto the ceiling. After the Refugees 
had gone, John got up and said to his wife, 
"Ducky, bring me a glass of whiskey; I'll 
come out all right yet." His wound was 
dressed and found to be less serious than was 
supposed, and in due time he recovered, and 
before the war was ended he aided in visiting 
merited retribution on some of the samr who 
killed his father. He was one of the three 
guards who had ciiarge of Philip ^\'hite at the 
time when the latter was killed in attempting to 
escape from them as they were taking him from 
Long Branch to the jail at Freehold, 3Iarch 
30, 1782, as mentioned elseM'here. 

In June, 1780, a part or all of the First Bat- 
talion of Monmouth militia, Colonel Asher 
Holmes, was on dutv on the bav shore, near 
the Highlands, for the purpose of preventing 
communication between the Britisli vessels in 
the bav and the Tories and Refuy;ees in ]Mon- 
mouth Couutv. Ou the mornino; of the 8th 
of that month Joseph Murray, of the com- 
pany of Lieutenant (iarret Hendrickson, in the 
First, having been ou picket duty through the 
preceding night, obtained leave to visit his 
family, and jjroceeded to his home, in the town- 
ship of Middletown,' where, soon after his 
arrival, he was murdered by three pro^vling 
Refugees. ^Murray was a farmer, and one of 
the boldest and most active of the Monmouth i 
County patriots in the Revqlutiou. He had 
detected and prevented several attempts to sup- 
ply the British fleet in Sandy Hook Bay with 
provisions. He had also caused the arrest of one 
or two of the leading Tories of Middletown 
for communicating with the enemy, and like- 
^^■ise had seized their horses for the use of the 
cavah-ymen of the American army. Thus lie 
had aroused the fear and hatred of the Tories 
and it was strongly suspected that some of the 
leading loyalists of ]\Iidtlletowu had instigated 
or hired the Refugees to waylay and murder 
him. 

They had concealed themselves in tall In- 
dian grass adjoining the field he was about to 
harrow, — for he had a family and was obliged 

'The place now (or recently, occupied by John Hedden, 
near ihe deep railroad cut in Middletown township. 
14 



to work for their support as ho could find 
time. On his return from his night duty on 
the bay shore he had iiitchcd his horse to the 
harrow, and after j)lacing his musket agtiiust a 
tree, started to harrow across the field. When 
he had reached the opposite side, near the In- 
dian grass, he turned and started back, when 
two of the Refugees rose from their hiding- 
place, fired on him, woimding him slightly, 
and then rushed on him with their bayonets. 
^Murray, being a very strong and active man, 
succeeded in wrenching the musket from the 
hands of one of his assailants and was making 
a desperate defense, when the third murderer 
came up with his loaded piece and shot him in 
the groin. This last wound brought him to the 
ground, and the cowardly wretches then repeat- 
edly drove their bayonets through his body, 
though witii his last breath the fearless i)atriot 
grimly defied his murderers. He was buried 
a little east of the Middletown Baptist Church, 
\\itli the brief inscription on his headstone : 
" Died in the service of his country." One of 
his sons, M'illiam ^Murray, was a contractor 
for the masoni-y of the court-house erected in 
Freehold in 1808, and his son, William W. 
Murray (grandson of the murdered patriot, 
Joseph), was for a long time engaged in mer- 
cantile business in iliddletown, and was its post- 
master for many years. From him, his home- 
stead in the village passed to his son, George 
C. Murray. 

An incursion made in the same month (June, 
1780) is thus mentioned in a communication of 
that time : " The noted Colonel Tye, a mulatto, 
and formerly a slave [of John Corlies] in Mon- 
mouth County, with his motley c<inipany of 
about twenty blacks and whites, carried off 
prisoners Captain Barnes Smock and Gilbert 
Van Mater, spiked an iron cannon and took 
four horses. Their rendezvous is at Sandy 
Hook." 

A severe fight took place in Shrewsbury 
township. May 24, 1781, between a party of 
Refugees and a militia company commandetl by 
Captain Thomas Chadwick. ^Vmong the 
wounded on the American side was Francis 
Jeffers. On the 21st of June following, Cap- 
tain Samuel C'arhart's company was engaged 



210 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



with a body of Refugees at Pleasant Valley, 
Monmouth County ; several were wounded, 
among them ^^'alter Hyer, of the ilonmouth 
militia. 

On the l")th of October, 17.S1, a party of 
Refuuees from Saudv Hook lauded at .Shrews- 
bury and marched undiscovered to Colt's Neck, 
where they took six prisoners. The alarm 
reached the court-house in the afternoon, and a 
number of people, among whom was Colonel 
Nathaniel .Scudder (M.D.), of Freehold, went 
in pursuit. Tiiey rode to Black Point to try 
to recapture the prisoners from the enemy, and 
wiiile they were firing from the bank Dr. 
Scudder was killed. General Forman was by 
his side when he was shot. Dr. Scudder was 
colouel of the First Regiment ^Monmouth 
militia, and one of the most prominent, active 
and fearless patriots of tlie county. He was 
burietl at Freehold with the honors of war, in 
pursuance of General Forraan's special order to 
that effect, the original of which order, directed 
to Captain Walton, was presented by Mrs. 
Forman to the Xew Jersey Historical Society 
in Ma)', 1847. 

Beigadier-Gexeral D.wid Formax was 
born at Monmouth Court-House, November 3, 
1 745. He was the fourth son of Joseph and Eliza- 
lieth (Lee) Formau. He was a first or second 
cousin of Sheriff Daviil Formau, of Monmouth 
County, from which latter he was distinguished 
by the -sobriquet of " Black David," given him 
on account of his swarthy complexion. Their 
common aucastor was John Forman, who, iiaving 
been imprisoned in Scotland, and afterwards sen- 
tenced to banishment on account of his re- 
ligion, came over \\ith other Scotcli settlers 
about 168o, and found a safe a.sylum and home 
in ^loumouth County. 

Entering New Jersey College at the usual 
age, David Formau must have left it before 
the graduation of his class, as his name is not 
found on the centennial catalogue of that in- 
stitution. Early in the Revolution he was de- 
tailed on special d\ity in Monmouth, to rid the 
county of the lawless desperadoes — Tories, 
Refugees and "Pine Robbere" — who infested 
it more than any othei' county of New Jersey. 
On this, as on other duties assigned him, his 



services were of great value to the patriot 
cause, and it was often remarked by his life- 
long friend, the Rev. John Woodhull, that 
David Forman alone was worth more to ^lon- 
moutii County than a force of five hundred 
men without his leadership. His inveterate 
enemies, the Refugees, called him " Devil 
David," and thireted for his blood with the 
ferocitv of tigei"s. On the morning of October 
16, 1781, while standing on the bank of 
Shark River, near Shrewsbury, convei-sing with 
his companion-in-arms. Colonel Nathaniel 
Scudder, a shot from a party of these miscreants 
who were ambushed on the opposite side of the 
stream missed him, Init killed the brave Colo- 
nel Scud<ler. In relating this circumstance, 
General Formau attributed his narrow escape 
to an involuntary stej) backward, which he said 
was the most fortunate step for himself which 
he ever took, but fatal to his friend aud com- 
patriot. 

David Forman became a member of the Coun- 
cil of State, aud was a judge of the Common 
Pleas for many years. When nearly fifty years 
of age he removed from Freehold, which had 
been his home^ during the trying period of the 
Revolution, to Chestertown, Md. On the 10th 
of September, 1796, he left Chestertown and 
journeyed to Natchez, Miss., to attend to a large 
estate which he owned there. On the 19th of 
the following jNIa^ch, at Natchez, he had a fit of 
apoplexy, from which he remained in a state of 
complete insensibility for three days, and which 
terminated in paralysis of his leftside. In this 
condition he remained until the 12th of August 
following, when, fiudiug his health and strength 
considerably improved, he went to New Orleans 
to take pa-ssage by sea for New York, hoping to 
reach his home. He sailed from New Orleims 
on the 20th of August, but the vessel on which 
he had taken pa.ssage was captured in the Gulf 
by a British privateer, and sent to New Provi- 
dence, in the Bahamas. As soon as the ves.sel 
was taken. General Forman gave up all hope of 
ever again seeing his family, knowing that he 
should not be able, in his enfeeljlal condition, to 



' His home in Freehold is now the property of Henry 
Brinckerhoif, Esq. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



211 



survive the delay and privations which were 
then inevitable. This despondency and anxiety 
jiroved too much for his strength, and on the 
]2th of September, 1797, he died, at the age of 
tifty-two years. 

On the 8th of February, 1782, a jxirty of 
about forty Refugees, under command of Lieu- 
tenant Steelman, made a raid on Pleasant Val- 
ley. They took twenty horses and five sleighs, 
which they loaded with plunder ; and they also 
captured a number of prisoners, viz. : Peter Cov- 
enhoven, Esq. (who had been taken prisoner 
by the Tories in 1779), Garret Hendrickson, 
Samuel Bowue and his son, and Jacques Denise. 
At (Jarret Hcndrickson's house a young man 
named William Thompson slipped away from 
them, and went with all possible speed to carry 
the information to Captain John Schenck, of 
Colonel Asher Holmes' regiment. Captain 
Schenck promptly collected his men and started 
in pursuit. They overtook and attacked tlie 
Eefuojecs, and in the fisrht which ensued the 
young man Thompson was kilhxl and AMUiam 
Cottrell wounded. Twelve of the Tories (three 
of them wounded) were taken prisoners, but in re- 
turning, Schenck's men unexpectedly came upon 
a detachment of sixteen Refugees, commanded 
by one Stevenson, and a sharp fight resulted, in I 
which eight of the prisoners escaped ; but Schenck 
finally captured the entire Tory party (making 
in all twent)'-one prisoners), together with nine- 
teen horses and some sheep, which had been 1 
taken from some of the inhaljitants. 

Captain John Bacon was one of the most 
noted and desperate of the Tory bandits who in- 
fested ilonniouth County during the later years 
of the Revolution, his field of operations being 
mostly in that part of Monmoutli which is now 
Ocean County, though he at times carried his 
depredations northward to the Shrewsbury and 1 
Xavesink Rivers. In April, 1780, he, with hij 
gang, robbed the house of John Holmes (Up- 
per Freehold) and also the houses of John and 
William Price. Afterwards, at ^lanahawkin, 
they attacked a party of patriots, killing Linus 
Pangborn and Sylvester Tiltou, of Colt's Xeck. 
At Long Beach, near Barnegat, Bacon and his 
men attacked a company of twentv-five militia 



when they were asleep, killing the leader, Cap- 
tain Steelman and a private named Reuben 
Soper, and wounding the lieutenant, as also 
more than half the men of the company. 

One of the many desperate acts committed 
by John Bacon during his bloody career was 
the killing, at old Cranberry Inlet, of Joshua 
Studson, of Tom's River, who had been a lieu- 
tenant in the ]Monmouth militia, and on the 
1-lth of June, 1780, was appointed lieutenant 
of Captain Ephraini Jenkins' company, Colonel 
Asher Holmes' battalion, State troops. Six 
months after receiving the latter appointment 
he was killed bv Bacon under the following 
circumstances : Three men, named, respectively, 
Collins, Webster and Woodmansee, then liv- 
ing in Dover township, Monmouth Countv, 
having heard that all kinds of farmers' produce 
could be sold, at high prices in silver money, to 
the British in Xew York, concluded to try the 
venture of loading a whale-boat with "truck" 
and taking it to the British post for sale. They 
were not Refugees, nor were they active Tories 
even, but they were avaricious men, undertak- 
ing the expedition purely for gain, and would, 
doubtless, have preferred to sell their boat-load 
to General A\'ashingtou's officers if they could 
have done so at as remunerative prices as thev 
expected to realize by taking it to the enemy at 
Xew York. Lender these circumstances and 
with these intentions they loaded their boat in 
Tom's River, passed out through old Cranberry 
Inlet, reached Xew York in safety-, sold their 
produce at satisfactory prices, and were about 
setting out on their return voyage when Captain 
John Bacon made his appearance and insisted 
thattJiey should take him a.s ajiassengertoTom's 
River, which they consented to do, though much 
against their inclination, for they knew that if 
they should be overhauled by any patriot craft, 
his presence in their boat would tell heavilv 
against them 

Leaving Xew Yoi'k, with Bacon on board, 
they reached the mouth of Cranberry Inlet in 
safety, but dared not attempt to go in by day- 
light. In the mean time the patriotic citizens of 
Tom's River (^there was not a Tory allowed to 
live there), having heard of the voyage of these 
men and of their return, and being determined 



212 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



to stop the contraband trade between their river 
and New York, had notified the American com- 
mander of the post, who thereupon sent a small 
party to capture them. The party, which was 
under command of Lieutenant Studson, took a 
boat, crossed the bay and concealed themselves 
behind a point just inside the mouth of the 
inlet. After dark the whale-lioat came in, but 
no sooner had it rounded the point than, to the 
consternation of its crew, they saw themselves 
confronted i)y the boat containing the American 
militia, apparently determined on their capture. 
Lieutenant Studson stood up in his Vioat and 
demanded their surrender. The terrified huck- 
sters, being unarmed (and coM'ardly, too), were 
disposed to yield without parley, but Bacon, 
well knowing what his fate would be if taken, 
refused to submit, and promptly fired into the 
crew of the other boat with so true an aim that 
the brave Lieutenant Studson fell dead. The 
sudden and unexpected shot of Bacon and the 
death of Studson threw his men into a momen- 
tary confusion, and before they could recover 
and decide what to do the whale-boat had 
escaped in the darkness. The militiamen re- 
turned to Tom's Eiver the same night and 
delivered the body of their leader to his son-ow- 
stricken wife. 

Bacon, upon landing from the whale-boat, 
made haste to rejoin his men at their rendezvous 
in the pine woods. The men, — Collins, Webster 
and Woodmansee, — knowing they could not re- 
main at home after this bloody affiiir, fled to the 
British army and were forced into that service; 
but thev proved to be of very little use to the 
rovalists, as "they were sick with small-pox 
and sutfered everything but death" during their 
short stay with the British, as one of them 
afterwards said. Taking advantage of one of 
General AVashingtou's proclamations, offering 
protection and safety to deserters from Clinton's 
army, they afterwards returned to their homes. 

The militia of Monmouth and Burlington 
Counties were continually on the look-out for 
Bacon, and they had several fights with him 
and his gang. One of these engagements was 
reported to Governor Livingston by Colonel 
Israel Shreve, under date of " JNIansfield, Da-em- 
ber 28, 1782," as follows : " This evening a 



party of Horse and Foot returned from the Sea- 
Shore after several days' search after Bacon and 
his party. Our Pai-ty consisted of six Horse- 
men and twenty Foot. Not falling in with 
him where they expected, the party returned by 
way of Cedar Creek Bridge, in Monmouth 
County. While refreshing at a tavern near 
that Place, Bacon and his party appeared at the 
Bridge. Our people attempted to iowe the 
Bridge. Xone but Lieutenant Benjamin Shreve 
got over, the second horse being killed on the 
bridge." Lieutenant Shreve having crossed 
the bridge, as mentioned in the report, finding 
himself unsupported, pushed his spirited horse 
through the banditti and escaped, though closely 
pursued and fired upon, wounding his horse. 
He made a long detour through the pines and 
returned to the party in safety. Another ac- 
count of this engagement of the militia with 
Bacon and his baud of desperadoes was thus 
given in Collins' New Jersey Gazette of Janu- 
ary 8, 1783 : 

" On Friday, the 27th ult., Capt. Kichard 
Shreve, of the Burlington County Light-Horse, 
and Capt. Edward Thomas, of the ^^lansfield 
militia, having received information that John 
Bacon, with his banditti of robbers, was in the 
neighborhood of Cedar Cieek, Monmouth 
County, collected a party of men and went im- 
mediately in pursuit of them. They met them 
at the Cedar Creek bridge. The Refugees, being 
on the south side, had greatly the advantage of 
Captains Shreve and Thomas' party in the point 
of situation, but it was nevertheless determined 
to charge them. The onset on the part of the 
militia was furious, and opposed by the Refu- 
gees with great firmness for a considerable time, 
— several of them having been guilts- of such 
enormous crimes as to have no expectation of 
mercy should they surrender. They were, 
nevertheless, on the point of giving way when 
the militia were unexpectedly fired upon from 
a partv of the inhabitants near that place, who 
had suddenly come to Bacon's assistance. This 
put the militia into some confiision and gave 
the Refugees time to get oS". Mr. William 
Cook, Jr., son of William Cook, Esq., was un- 
fortunately killed in the attack and Robert 
Reckless wounded, but is likely to recover. On 



MONxVIOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



213 



the part of tlie Refugees, Ichabod Johnson (for 
whom the goveniinent has offered a reward of 
tweuty-tive pounds) was killed on the spot ; 
Bacon and three more of the party are wounded. 
The militia are still in pursuit of the Refugees 
and have taken seven of the inhabitants prison- 
ers who were with Bacon in the action at the 
bridge, and are now in Burlington jail, some of 
whom have confessed the fact. They have also 
taken a considerable quantity of contraband and 
stolen goods in searching some suspected houses 
and cabins on the shore." 

Bacon's career of crime was finished on the 
evening of April .3, 1783, by Captain John 
6tewart of Arneytown, and Joel Cook, who, 
with four other men, were out for the especial 
purpose of hunting him down. Cook was a 
brother of the William Cook, Jr., who was 
killed by Bacon's men at the Cedar Creek Bridge 
fight in the preceding December, and for that 
reason, especially, he was very bitter in his ha- 
tred of the outlaw. In the darkness of the even- 
ing mentioned, the party came to a small tav- 
ern kept by M'illiara Rose, between West Creek 
and Clamtown, now Tuckerton (Burlington 
County), where they reconnoitred, and discov- 
ered Bacon sitting in the house with his rifle 
between his knees, but with none of his party in 
sight. Captain Stewart at once entered and 
demanded his surrender, to 'which Bacon re- 
sponded by jumping to his feet and cocking his 
gun. Stewart did not fire, but leaped upon 
Bacon and closed with him in a hand-to-hand 
fight, which was ended by Joel Cook, who rushed 
up and drove his bayonet through the body of 
his brother's murderer. Even after receiving 
the bayonet wound. Bacon attempted to escape, 
and was then shot dead by Captain Stewart. 
He was then thrown into a wagon, with his 
head hanging out over the tail-board, and with 
it the ]iarty started for Jacobstown. The Gov- 
ernor of Xew Jersey had otiered a reward of 
^50 for Bacon dead or alive, but it was stated 
that Captain Stewart and his party had no de- 
sire to claim the reward, and that on their 
arrival at Jacobstown they delivered the bodv 
to Bacon's brother, who was regarded as an 
honest and worthy citizen. 

The name of Captain Joshua Huddy is the 



most historic of all in the list of Monmouth 
County patriots who suffered martyrdom in the 
cause of liberty in the war of the Revolution. 
He was the eldest of seven brothers, of the Xew 
Jersey family of Huddy, and " from the first 
hour of the war had devoted himself to the 
cause of Liberty." Brave as a lion, an uncom- 
promising patriot and an officer in the service,' 
he was an inveterate foe to thegangs of Refugee 
wretches who were so long a scourge to the 
county of Monmouth, whom he watched with 
untiring vigilance and pursued with relentless 
enmity, often thwarting their plans for robbery 
and murder, and not infrequently bringing them 
to the punishment they so fully deserved. For 
these reasons he became an object of their es- 
pecial hatred, — one whom, more than any other 
Whig of the county (excepting General David 
Forraan), they wished to kill or capture, and 
many were the plans they formed and 

' The following abstract of Captain Huddy's military rec- 
ord was furnished by George C. Westcott, Secretary of 
Slate, to Governor Philemon Dickinson, in 1837, to be 
placed before a committee of Congress on the petition of the 
daughter of Captain Huddy for relief: 

"Joshua Huddy signs his name as Captain to a petition 
from the militia officers of the county of Monmouth to the 
Legislature, which is dated the 12th of May, 1777. 

"Captain Joshua Huddy is appointed by an act of the 
Legislature, passed September 24th, 1777, to the command 
of a company of Artillery, to be raised from the Militia of 
the State, and to continue in service not exceeding one 
year. 

" In the accounts of the Paymaster of the militia, there 
is an entry of a payment made on the 30th of July, 1778, 
to Captain Joshua Huddy, of the Artillery Regiment, for 
services at Haddonfield, under Colonel Holmes. In the 
same accounts a payment is also made to Captain Huddy on 
the first July, 1779, for the use of his horses in the 
Artillery. 

" I find a petition to the Legislature from the people of . 
Monmouth, dated December 10, 1781, recommending Cap- 
tain Joshua Huddy as a proper person to command a guard 
to be stationed at Tom's River. On examiningthe minutes 
of both Houses of the Legislature, I find no action had been 
taken on this petition ; in fact, there is no mention of it 
having been presented. The Legislature adjourned on the 
29th of December, and did not meet again until May 15, 
1782. Huddy was taken by the Tories at Tom's River, on 
Sunday, March 24, 1782, and it is not unlikely (as the 
Legislature took uo action on the Petition) he was ordered 
to that post by the Council of Safety, which exercised 
legislative powers during the recess of the Legislature. 
The minutes of the Council of Safety must be either lost or 
destroyed, as they cannot be found." 



214 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



the attempts they made to accomplish that 
design. 

One of these attempts (and one which very 
nearly proved successful) was made about the 
1st of September, 1780, by a body of Refugees 
black and white, including among the former 
the mulatto leader known as " Colonel Tye." 
The party made an unexpected attack on Hud- 
dy's house, which was bravely defended by him- 
self and a girl of about twenty years of age, 
named Lucretia Emmons.' The house had been 
a station for a detachment of the militia, and 
fortunately tlie guard had left there several 
muskets, which the girl now loaded as rapidly 
as possible and handed to Huddy, \\ho 
fired them successively from different windows, 
wounding several of the assailants and causing 
them to greatly overestimate the numl>cr of de- 
fenders. This caused them to shrink from 
further direct attack, and they then set fire to 
the house, which, of course, ended all hope of 
successful resistance on Huddy's part, and see- 
ing the flames beginning to spread, he, to save 
his house, agreed to surrender on condition that 
they would extinguish the fire, which terms 
they accepted. The following account of the 
affair was given in a jNIonmouth County com- 
munication (dated September 9, 1780) to the 
Philadelphia Gazette. 

" Seventy-two men attacked him at liis resi- 
dence at Colt's Neck.^ They were under the 
command of Lieutenant Joseph Parker and 
William Hewlett, and advanced to the attack 
about an hour before day. They commenced 
staving a window to pieces, which aroused 
Huddy ; the girl helped him to defend himself. 
Mrs. Huddy and anutlier woman tried to per- 
suade him to surrender, as defense was useless. 
Colonel Tye, "one of the Lord Dunniore's crew,' 
received a severe wound. After Huddy sur- 
rendered they plundered the iiouse. The fight 
lasted two hours. Six militiamen came near 
and fired, and killed their commander. Ensign 
Vincent and sixteen of the State Regiment 

1 Afterwards Mrs. Cluimhers, who was a resident of Free- 
hold until her death. 

2The Huddy house at Colt's Neck was many years after- 
wards the projierty of Thomas G. Haight, father of General 
Charles Haight, of Freehold. 



attacked the Refugees as they embarked, aud 
wounded Huddy. The firing made confusion 
in the boats and one overset, and Huddy swam 
ashore." The letter adds that the Refugees 
made a silent, shameful retreat, loaded with dis- 
grace, aud that the militiamen made much 
merriment over the fact tliat it took seventy-two 
of the enemy two hours to capture a single man, 
whom they lost after all. 

The Refugee party made a short stay at 
Huddy's house, and, gathering such plunder as 
they could easily carry, tltey moved rapidly 
away with Huddy as their prisoner aud driving 
before them a number of cattle and sheep be- 
longing to him and some of the neighboring 
farmers. All these they lost in fording the 
streams crossed on their hurried march, so that 
the amount of booty which they secured was but 
trifling ; but the capture of their one prisoner, 
tlie hated Captain Huddy, was to them a jnutter 
of more exultation thau if they had brought 
away a wagon-train loaded with plunder. And 
if they had been successful in keeping him, 
they \\-ouKl doubtless have wreaked their cow- 
j ardly veugeauce on him then, as anotlier baud 
j of Refugee miscreants did, two years later. 
! The firing at Huddy's house had raised an 
' alarm in the neighborhocxl, and intelligence i>f 
the attack was carried without delay to the 
nearest guard-station, upon which Ensign Vin- 
cent and his small party of militia immediately 
started in close pursuit, and the Refugee party 
were overtaken before tiiey reached tiieir boats 
at Black Point. Five of them were killed by 
I the bullets of the militiamen, and during tlie 
embarkation, or immediately afier they had 
sliDved the boats off, Huddy jumped overboard, 
and, calling out to his friends of tiie pursuing 
party "I am Huddy!" swam to the shore and 
! escajjed, though \\ith a jiainful wound in the 
thigh, received (as was supposed) from the 
militia before they recognized him. 

Cajjtain Huddy's last fight was at Tom's , 
River, which, in the time of the Revolution, 
was a favorite base of operations for American 
privateers, on tiie lookout for British vessels 
carrying supplies to their army at New York 
and at Piiiladelpliia. The reason why those 
vessels made tlieir rendezvous there was because 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



21& 



old Cranberry Inlet, opposite the moutli of the 
stream, \\a8 then open, with a good depth of 
water, and was regarded as the best and most 
convenient inlet along the Jersey coast, with 
the exception of that at Little Egg Harbor. 

At the little village of Dover (now Tom's 
Eiver) there was erected, soon after the opening 
of the war, a block-house of logs, surrounded 
by a low stockade. This work stood on a 
slight elevation of ground, a short distance north 
of the bridge, and about twenty rods east of 
the road leading to Freehold, on laud now be- 
longing to Captain Ealph B. Gowdy and 
Thomas Singleton.^ The stockade was built of 
logs, seven feet high, set pei'pendicularly in the 
groimd and pointed at the top. It was nearly 
square, and every few feet between the logs was 
an opening large enough to sight and discharge 
a firelock. On one side of this inclosure was 
the block-house or barracks, and on the other 
side a little room, half concealed under ground, 
which was called the powder magazine. On 
each of the four corners of the stockade, raised 
high on a strong, well-braced bed of logs, was 
a small brass cannon mounted on a pi\ot, and 
this was intended to be the main protection 
against an assaulting force. No method of 
ingress or exit was ever made in this rude fort, 
and a scaling-ladder was a constant necessity. 

This work and the contiguous villacre were 
occupied by the Americans during the greater 
part of the war as a military post, for the pur- 
pose of defense from Refugee raids against the 
salt-works in the vicinity, of checking c'ontra- 

'" The block-house was at that time a very prominent 
object in the little village. On Jake's Branch, a half-a 
mile south of the place, stood the old saw-mill and flour- 
mill of Paul Schenck and Abram Schenck, now theprojierty 
owned by John Auraack. On the uortlieast corner of what 
is now Water and Main Streets was the public inn kept by 
Abiel Aikens. There were also a few houses, in which lived 
Captain Ephraim Jenkins, Aaron Buck, Mrs. Sarah Stud- 
son (widow of Lieutenant Joshua Studson, who was killed 
December, 1780, while on duty on the coast), Daniel Ran- 
dolph, David Imlay, Jacob Fleming and Major John Cook. 
The manager of the salt-works lived in the town near his 
store-house. This was about all the village where this fight 
took place. To a small wharf on the river-bank one of 
Captain Adam Hyler's barges was tied, in which some 
traffic was made along the coast between this point and the 
Raritau River at Brunswick, where he resided. — Adjutant- 
General William S. Stryker. 



band trade between Cranberry Inlet and New 
York, and to assist the patriot privateers in 
guarding the prizes which they brought into the 
old inlet from time to time. The block-house 
was garrisoned by detachments of the Monmouth 
militia and State troops, commanded at different 
times by several different officers, among whom 
were Captains Ephraim Jenkins, John Stout, 
James Mott and Joshua Huddy, the last-named 
being the most famous of all on accouut of his 
tragic fate, which made his name familiar in 
every part of .Vmerica. 

Captain Huddy took command of the block- 
house and jiost at Tom's River, with his com- 
pany, about the first of the year 17)^2. About 
the 20th of the following JNIarch, nunors of a 
probable attempt to capture this post reached 
the brave Huddy, who, with his comjiauy- of 
two non-commissioned officers and twenty- three 
privates, made immediate prejjarations for a 
stubborn defense. 

Late in the evening of Saturday, the 2."ld of 
March, Captain Huddy received information 
that an attacking party of British and Refugees 
had arrived at the mouth of the inlet. He 
notified the people of the village, and some of 
them came in to assist in the defense. Late in 
the night he sent a reconnoitering party down 
the river, but they returned without having seen 
the enemy, who had landed from their boats and 
were advancing up the road under guidance of 
a renegade wretch, named William Dillon, who, 
some time before, had been under sentence of" 
death at Monmouth Court-House as a spy, but 
was pardoned, and immediately went back to 
the Refugees, and soon afterwards ])iloted a 
British party into Cranberry Inlet for the re- 
capture of the "Love and Unity," ^ a British 

'^The following was the roll of the block-house garrison at 
that time, viz. : 

Captain Joshua Huddy ; Sergeants David Laudon and 
Luke Storey ; Matrosses, Daniel Applegate, William Case, 
David Dodge, Jamas Edsall, John Eldridge, John Farr, 
James Kennedy, James Kinsley, Cornelius McDonald, 
James Mitchell. John Mitchell, John Morris, John Niver- 
son, George Parker, John Parker, Joseph Parker, John 
Pellmore, Moses Bobbins, Thomas Rostoinder, Jacob Still- 
wagon, Seth Storey, John Wainright and John Wilbur. 

' " Friday, Sept. 18, 1778. — Two British armed ships and 
two brigs came close to the bar off Tom's River [Cran- 
berry Inlet], where they lay all night. Next morning, be- 



216 



HISTORY OF M0N3I0UTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



vessel, which had beeu taken by the American 
privateeers. And uow he wa.s engaged in simi- 
lar treason to his country bj' guiding its enemies 
on their bloody errand against Huddy and his 
command. 

At daylight on Sunday, the 24th, the British 
party, of about one hundred and twenty men, 
exclusive of a reinforcement which they had 
received of the gang of the Pine robber Daven- 
port, whose headquarters M'ere in the M'ilderness 
of old Dover township. Huddy's force had 
beeu increased by four or five men from the 
village and vicinity, yet the assailants outnum- 
l)ered them about five to one, so that resistance 
seemed hojieless. But he returned a defiant 
answer to the summons to surrender; where- 
upon the assault was commenced, and the fight 
continued until Huddy's ammunition was ex- 
hausted, and he was at last compelled to sur- 
render. 

The Royal Gazette, the Tory newspaper of 
New York, published by the notorious Riving- 
ton, oave the followinsf, as " The authentic ac- 
count of the expedition against the rebel post 
on Tom's River, New Jersey, under the Honor- 
able Board of Associated Loyalists " 

"On Wednesday, the 2(3th inst. [March, 
1782], Lieutenant Blanchard, of the armed 
whale-boats, and about eighty men belonging 
to them, with Captain Thomas and Lieutenant 
Roberts, both of the late Bucks County Volun- 
teers, and between thirty and forty of the other 
Refugee Lovalists, the whole under com- 
mand of I>ieutenant Blant'hard, proceeded to 
Sandy Hook under the convoy of Captain 
Stewart Ross, in the armed brig ' Arrogant,' 
where they were detained by unfavourable 



tween seven and eight o'clock, they sent seven armed boats 
into the inlet, and retook theship "Washington," formerly 
the " LoTe and Unity," which had been taken by the 
Americans ; they also took two sloops near the bar, and. 
captured most of the crews The captain of the ship and 
most of his officers escaped to the mainland in one of the 
ship's boats. After they got ashore, a man named Robert 
McMnllen, wlio had been condemned to death at Freehold, 
but afterwards pardoned, jumped into the boat hurrahing 
for the British, and rowed off and joined them. Another 
Refugee, named William Dillon, who had also been sentenced 
to death at Freehold and pardoned, joined this psTty of 
British as pilot." — Collins New Jerset) Gazette. 



winds until the 2;3d. About 12 o'clock on that 
night the party landed near the mouth of 
Tom's River and marched to the block-house 
at the town of Dover [now Tom's River], and 
reached it just at daylight. On their way they 
were challenged and fired upon, and when they 
came to the works they found the rebels, con- 
sisting of twenty-five or twenty-six twelve 
months' men and militia, apprized of their 
coming and prepared for defence. 

" The post into which they had thrown them- 
selves was si.x or seven feet high, made with 
large logs, with loop-holes between, :iud a num- 
ber of brass swivels on top, which was entirely 
open ; nor was there any way of entering but by 
climbing over. They had, besides the swivels, 
mu.skets, with bayonets, and long pikes for 
their defence. Lieutenant Blanchard sum- 
moned them to surrender, which they not only 
refused, but bid the party defiance; on Mhich 
he immediately ordered the place to be stormed, 
which was accordingly done, and though de- 
feuded with obstinacy, was soon carried. The 
reljels had nine men carried in the assault, and 
twelve made prisoner, two of whom are 
wounded. The rest made their escape in the 
confusion. Among the killed was a major of 
the militia, two captains and one lieutenant. 
The captain of the twelve months' men sta- 
tioned there is amongst the prisoners, who are 
brought safe to town. On our side, two were 
killed, — Lieutenant Iredell, of the armed boat- 
men, and lieutenant Inslee, of the Loyalists, 
l)otli very brave officers, who distinguished 
themselves in the attack, and whose loss is 
much lamented. I^ieuteuant Roberts and five 
others are wounded, but it is thought none of 
them are in a dangerous way. 

"The town, as it is called, consisting of about 
a dozen houses, in whicii none but a pirtitical 
set of banditti resided, together with a grist and 
saw-mill, were, with the block-house, burned 
to the griiund, and an iron cannon spiked and 
thrown into the river. A fine, large barge 
(called Hyler's barge) and other boat in which 
the rebels used to make tiieir excursions on the 
coast, were brought oft". Some other attempts 
were intended to have been made ; but the ap- 
petirance of bad weather and the situation of 






MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



217 



tlie wounded (being without either siu"geon or 
medicines) induced tlie party to return to New 
York, where they arrived on the twenty-fifth." 

Inuncdiately after tlie surrender of the stocjj- 
ade and its garrison, the Refugees proceeded to 
burn the little village, in which all the houses 
were destroyed, except two, — those of Mrs. 
Studson and Aaron Buck. The latter Mas a 
jiroiiiinent Whig; but his wife was a niece of 
I>illon, the British guide, and that was doubt- 
less the reason for sparing the house. Mrs. 
Studson was the widow of Lieutenant Studson, 
who had been murdered by tlie outlaw, John 
Bacon ; and the lieutenant in command of the 
British party had enough of humanity to inter- 
fere and save her house. Captain Ejihraim 
Jenkins, who was one of the killed in the fight, 
lived at Tom's River, and had volunteered to 
help defend the block-house. His house was 
liurnetl, and his family scattered to be cared for 
by strangers. Abiel Jenkins was another whose 
house was burned. He lost all his property 
during the war, and in his old age (1808) the 
Legislature passed a bill for his relief. 

Amiing the prisoners taken with Captain 
Huddy were Jacob Fleming and Daniel Ran- 
dolph, Esq., of Tom's River, — the latter of 
whom had been a resident of the village at 
Monmouth Court- House. Their captoi-s took 
them to Xew York, and lodged them in the 
noted Sugar-House prison, from whence Huddv 
was taken, on Monday, April 1st, 1782, to the 
prison of the provost-guard in the city, and 
there closely confined until INIondav, April 8th, 
when he, with Daniel Randolph and Jacob 
Fleming (who were soon afterwards exchanged 
for the Tories, Aaron White and Captain Clay- 
ton Tilton) were taken on board a shwp' and 

'The order to the Comniissary of Prisoners to deliver 
Captain Huddy and the others to Captain Lippincott, to 
be taken on board the sloop, was as follows : 

" New YoKK, April 8th, 1782. 

" Sir, Deliver to Captain Richard Lippincott, the three 
following prisoners : Lieutenant Joshua Huddy, Daniel 
Randolph and Jacob Flemming, to take down to the Hook, 
to procure the exchange of Captain Clayton Tilton and two 
other Associated Loyalists. 

"By order of the Board of Directors of Associated 
Loyalists. 

"S. S. Blowers, Secretary." 

" To Mr. Commissar)/ Challoner." 



placed in irons. They were kept ironed on 
board the sloop until Tuesday evening, April 
Dth, wh(>n thev were transferred to the guard- 
ship at Sandy Hook, and there confined between 
decks until Friday, April ll2th, on the morning 
of which day Huddy was taken by a jiarty of 
Refugees t(( Gravelly Poiiu, and there hanged at 
about ten o'clock in the forenoon of that day, 
having executed his will under the gallows, and 
signing it on the head of the barrel from which, 
a few minutes later, he was launched into eter- 
nity.^ On his breast the murderers fastened a 
placard, bearing this inscription : 

" We, the Refugees, haviug long with grief beheld 
the cruel murders of our brethren, and finding no- 
thing but such measures daily carrying into execu- 
tion, we therefore determine not to sufi'er without tak- 
ing vengeance for tlie numerous cruelties ; and thus 



It will be seen by the wording of this order that the 
hanging of Captain Huddy was not contemplated by Lippin- 
cott's superior oiBcers, but that it was their intention to 
have hiin exchanged for Captain Tilton, and Randolph and 
Fleming to be exchanged for " two other Associated Loy- 
alists." 

- Following is a copy of Captain Buddy's will : 

"In the name of God, Amen: I, Joshua Huddy, of 
Middlelown, in the County of Monmouth, being of sound 
mind and memory, but expecting shortly to depart this life, 
do declare this my last Will and Testament. 

" First, I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty 
God, hoping he may receive it in mercy ; and next I com- 
mit my body to the earth. I do also appoint my trusty 
friend Samuel Forman, to be my lawful executor, and after 
all myjust debts are paid, I desire that he do divide the 
rest of my substance, whether by book debts, notes or any 
eflects whatever belonging to me, equally between my two 
children, Elizabeth and Martha Huddy. In witness 
whereof. I have hereunto signed my name, this twelfth day 
of .-Vpril, in the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hun- 
dred and eighty-two. 

"Joshua Huddt." 

The will was written on a half-sheet of foolscap paper, 
on the back of which was this indorsement, viz. : " The 
Will of Captain Joshua Huddy, made and executed the same 
day that the Refugees murdered him, — .April 12, 1782. 
This historical document was found many years afterwards 
.among the p.apers of the executor, Samuel Forman. It was 
signed by Captain Huddy, but had evidently been written 
by another hand, — contrary to the accounts that have fre- 
quently been given, that it was written in full by himself 
on the barrel-head. 

Captain Huddy's daughters subsequently became Mrs. 
Green and Mrs. Piatt. The last-named. Martha, removed 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, and lived to a very advanced age 
leaving descendants. 



218 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



begin, having made use of Captain Huddy as the first 
object to present to your view ; and we further deter- 
mine to hang man for man while there is a Refugee 
existing. 

"Up goes Huddy for Philip White." 

It w:is the notorious Captain Richard Lip- 
puic'ott M'ho commanded the party of Refugees 
who haugid the patriot Huddy. Tradition 
says that among tliat party there were some 
who protested against the execution, knowing, 
as they did, that Huddy was innocent of the 
chartre brought against him. Three of these 
absolutely refused to take part in the murder, and 
when the malignant Lippiueott drew his sword 
and declared he would run any man through 
who dared disobey his orders, these three 
promptly brought their bayonets to the charge 
and defied him, swearing that neither his orders 
nor even those of the British commander-in- 
chief should ever compel them to assist in tak- 
ing the life of anv man for a crime of which 
they knew him to be innocent. 

The specific charge made against Huddy was 
that " he had taken a certain Philip White, a 
Refugee in Monmouth Countv, cut off both his 
arms, broke his legs, pulled out one of his eyes, 
damned him and then bid him run for his life," 
— ^a charge which was false in every one of the 
particulars alleged, for White had been taken 
while Huddy was a prisoner in the hands of tlie 
British in New York. This he told them, and 
proved the statement by several other prisoners. 
This, however, iiad no effect to change his fate, 
for they were determined to take his life at 
every hazard. 

The true story of the killing of Philip White 
is, that he (who was one of the most malignant 
of the Monmouth County Tories) was, with his 
brother ,\aron, taken prisoner by the light- 
horse, at Long Branch, on the '29th of March 
(while Huddy was a prisoner in Xew York), 
and sent under guard, to be taken to the jail at 
Freehold. Their guards were ^Villiam Borden, 
John North and John Russell (the latter being 
the son of the old Mr. Russell who was mur- 
dered by Refugees, as before mentioned). The 
instructions given to the guards were to shoot 
Philip White if he should attempt to escape; 
and he was informed that such orders had been 



given. But he had committed so many atroci- 
ties on the patriots of Monmouth that he felt 
that he had better take the chance of being shot 
in an attempt to escitpe than the chance of 
being hanged at the court-house for his many 
crimes. Therefore, when the party reached a 
point on the Colt's Neck road between the 
houses of Daniel Grandin and Samuel Leonard, 
he jumped from his horse and ran for the 
M^oods, which he had almost reached, when a 
ball from Borden's carbine passed through his 
body, and he fell; but recovered, and again 
made for the woods. Borden intercepted him 
in his flight, and called to him to surrender, 
and he should have quarter; but this he disre- 
garded, and ran to a bog, upon which Borden 
struck him with the butt of his carbine, and, 
as he continued in his attempt to escape, John 
North came up and gave him a lilow with his 
sabre. He was tlieu retaken, but died very 
soon after. Borden testified that White re- 
ceived no wound except the shot and sabre-cut, 
and that he was uninjured in limb. And it 
was fully proved by the affidavits of Judge 
David Forman and others, who saw ^Vhite's 
body at the court-house, that it was unmuti- 
lated and without any indications of broken 
limbs, as the Refugees alleged in their pretended 
charges against Captain Huddy. 

When Lippincott and his party had wreaked 
their vengeance on the Ijrave Captain Huddy, 
thev left his liody hanging on the gallows; and 
it remained there until late in the afternoon of 
the same day, when it was discovered by a 
partv of Americans, who carried it to the liouse 
of Captain James Green, at the court-house, 
where it lay until the 15th, and was then 
buried with the honors of war, the funeral 
being held in the court-house, Avhere the ser- 
mon was preached by the Rev. John Wood- 
hull,- pastor of the Tennent Church, in presence 
of a great concourse of people who attended the 
obsequies. 

While the corpse of Captain Huddy was lying 
in the house of Captain Green, at Freehold, on 
the 14tli of April (the day preceding the fun- 
eral), a large meeting, numbering fully four 
hundred of the most respectable people of the 
county, gathered at the court-house, and pre- 



MONiMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



219 



pared and adopted au address to General Wash- 
ington. Tliis address — which is hei-e given en- 
tire because it narrates many of the circumstances 
of Captain Huddy's c»ipture, imprisonment and 
barbarous execution— was as follows : 

To his Excellency, Cieorge Washington. Esq., Com- 
mander-in-chief of the combined armies of America 
and France, acting in North America, etc., etc. 

" The inhabitants of the County of Monmouth, 
being iissembled on account of the horrid and almost 
unparalleled murder of Captain Joshua Huddy by the 
Refugees from New York, and, as we presume, by ap- 
probation, if not by the express command of the 
British Commander-in-chief, Sir Henry Clinton ; ' 
hold it as our indispensable duty, as well to the 
United States in general as ourselves in particular, 
to show to your Excellency that the aforesaid Cap- 
tain Joshua Huddy, late commanding the post at 
Tom's River, was, after a brave and gallant defence, 
made a prisoner of war, together with fifteen of his 
men, by a party of Reftigees from New York, on Sun- 
day, the 24th of March last past. That five of the said 
Huddy's men were most inhumanly murdered after 
the surrender; that the next day, at night, to wit, on 
Monday, the 2.5th of March aforesaid, the said Cap- 
tain Huddy and the other prisoners who had beeu 
spared from the bayonet, arrived at New York, and 
were lodged in the main guard during that night ; that 
on Tuesday morning, the 26th of the same month. ^the 
said Huddy was removed from the main guard to the 
Sugar-House, where he was kept closely confined 
until removed from thence to the Provost-Guard on 
Monday, April 1st, where he, the said Captain Huddy, 
was closely confined until Monday, the 8th of April, 
instant; when the said Captain Huddy, with two 
other prisoners, was removed from the Provost jail at 
New York, on board of a sloop, then lying at New 
York dock, was put in the hold of the said sloop in ] 
irons, and then the said Captain Huddy was told he ! 
was ordered to be hanged, although the said Captain 
Huddy had never been charged, or brought to any iiitd 
of trial. That the said Captain Huddy demanded to 
know upon what charge he was to be hanged ; that a 
Refugee by the name of John Tilton then told him 
that he (the said Captain Huddy meaning) was 
to be hanged for that he had taken a certain Refugee ' 
by the name of Philip White, and that he (the said 
Captain Huddy meaning) had, after carrying him. 
the aforesaid Philip White, five or six miles, cut ofi" 
his (the aforesaid Philip White's) arms, broke both 
his legs, pulled out one of his eyes, and most cruelly 
murdered him, the aforesaid Philip White ; and fur- 
ther said that he, the aforesaid Captain Huddy, wa-s 

' This presumption was soon afterwards found to be with- 
out foundation, as the barbarous act was disavowed and se- 
verely condemned by Sir Henry. 



ordered to be hanged for the murder aforesaid ; that 
Captain Huddy replied that he had never taken the 
aforesaid Philip White prisoner; and further said 
that he, the aforesaid Philip White, was killed after 
he, the said Captain Huddy was taken prisoner him- 
self, and was closely confined at New York at the 
time the said Philip White was killed. Which, in 
fact and in truth, was exactly as the said Captain 
Huddy had related ; for he, the aforesaid Philip 
White, was in New York on Wednesday, the 27th of 
March last past, and did, on the night of that day, 
sail from New York to Sandy Hook, where he lay 
until Friday, the 29th of March ; that late the same 
night he, in company with Aaron White, John Fen- 
nimore, Negro Moses, John Worthey, and one Isaac, 
all Refugees, weighed anchor at Sandy Hook and ran 
down to Long Branch, in the township of Shrews- 
bury ; that the aforesaid Philip White (so as aforesaid 
mentioned to have been killed by Captain Huddy) 
and the said Negro Moses landed on Long Branch, in 
Shrewsbury aforesaid, on Saturday morning, the 30th 
of March, he, the said Joshua Huddy, being then a 
close prisoner in the Sugar-House at New York. 
That he, the .said Philip White, was taken prisoner 
on the same 30th of March, in the afternoon, and as 
a guard was conducting him, the said Philip White, 
to jail, the said Philip, in attempting to escape, was 
killed by his- guard. 

"That on Friday, the 12th instant, a party of Refu- 
gees, said to have been commanded by a Captain 
Richard Lijipincott, brought the said Captain Huddy 
over to the Highlands of Middletown, hanged 
him at ten o'clock in the forenoon of the same day, 
and left him hanging until four o'clock in the after- 
noon, with the paper herewith annexed- pinned upon 
his breast ; at which time a party of the inhabitants, 
having been informed of the cruel murder, went to 
the place of his execution and cut the unhappy vic- 
tim from the gallows. 

" These being a statement of indubitable facts fully 
proven, we do, as of right we may, look up to your 
Excellency as the person in whom the sole power of 
avenging our wrongs is lodged, and who has full and 
ample authority to hang a British officer of the same 
rank, to a similar end ; for what man, after this in- 
stance of the most unjust and cruel murder, will pre- 
sume to say that any officer or citizen, whom the 
chance of war may put into the hands of the enemy, 
will not suffer the same ignominious death, under 
some such groundless and similar pretence? 

" And we do, with the fullest assurance, rely upon 
receiving eflectual support from your excellency, be- 
cause : First, the act of hanging any person without 
any (even a pretended) trial is, in itself, not only dis- 
allowed by all civilized people, but is considered as 
barbarous in the extreme, and most certainly demands 

- The label which the Refugee murderers had fastened to 
Huddy's breast, as before mentioned. 



220 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



redress. Secondly, because the law of nature and of 
nations points to retaliation as the only measure 
which can, in such cases, give any degree of security 
that the practice shall not become general. Thirdly, 
because the honorable the Continental Congress did, 
on the .SOth day of October, 1778, resolve in the fol- 
lowing words : ' We, therefore, the Congress of the 
United States of America, do solemnly declare and 
proclaim that if our enemies presume to execute their 
threats, or persist in their present career of liarbarity, 
we will take such exemplary vengeance as shall deter 
others from a like conduct. We appeal to that God 
who searcheth the hearts of men, for the rectitude of 
our intentions, and in His holy presence declare that 
as we are not moved by any light and hasty sugges- 
tions of anger or revenge, so, through every possible 
change of fortune, we will adhere to this our deter- 
mination.' Fourthly, because the minds of the people 
are justly irritated, and if they have not compensation 
through a publick channel, they may, in vindicating 
themselves, open to view a scene at which humanity 
itself may shudder. 

"The above was read to, considered and apjiroved 
of by upwards of four hundred respectable citizens. 

" Ordered by them that the committee by us a.p- 
pointed do, in our names, sign it. 

" Ordered that General Forman and Colonel Holmes 
be requested to wait on his Excellency, General Wash- 
ington, with it, and that they do wait his Excellency's 
final determination. 

" Monmouth, April 14, 1782. 
" John Covenhoven, Samuel Forman, 

Thomas Seabrook, William Wilcocks, 

Peter Forman, Asher Holmes, 

Richard Cox, Elisha Walton, 

Joseph Stillwell, Stephen Fleming, 

Barnes Smock, John Smock, 

John Schanck, Thomas Chadwick." 

The committee appointed to wait on General 
Washington placed in his hand.s, beside,* the 
foregoing address, the affidavits of Aarou "White, 
John North, William Borden and John Russell 
in relation to the killing of Philip White, and 
also the affidavit of Daniel Randolph (Mho had 
been a prisoner in the hands of the British with 
Huddy) to the facts embodied in the address in 
reference to Huddy's imprisonment and execu- 
ti( .11. ^^'hen General Washington received their 
pajiers he at once transmitted them to the Pres- 
ident of Congress, notifying that body of his in- 
tention to retaliate, and asking their approba- 
tion of such a step.^ He also ordered the as- 

• The papers having been referred to a committee, and 
that committee reporting on the "JOth of April, Congress 



sembling of a council of war, which was accord- 
ingly held at the headquarters of General Heath, 
at West Point, on the 1 9th of April. The coun- 
cil unanimously decided on retaliation unless 
Lippincott should be given up, the victim to 
be selected by lot from the British prisoners 
(officers) who had .surreuderal at discretion, and 
not under convention or capitulation. This de- 
cision was submitted to Congress and approved 
by tliat body. 

^\'ashingtou notified Sir Henry Clinton 
(April 21st)of the decision of the couucil of war, 
and demanded the .surrender of Lippincott. 
Clinton replied on the 25th, refusing to give up 
Lippincott, but said he had ordered a court-mar- 
tial of that officer to investigate the circum- 
stances of the execution of Huddy. In IMay, 
Clinton was succeeded in command, at New 
York, by Sir Guy Carleton, who Mrote Wash- 
ington condemuins the Huddv murder and en- 
tirely disavowing it on behalf of the British 
authorities. In fact, the British were inclined 
to surrender Lippincott to Washington, l)ut the 
influence of the American Loyalists prevented it.^ 

The demand for Lippincott's surrender hav- 
ing been refused, ^^'ashin^ton ordered the selec- 
tion of a victim from among the British officers 
taken at Yorktown, and then confined at Lan- 
caster, Pa. The lot fell on Charles Asgill, a 
captain in the Guards, a member of a noble fam- 
ily in England, and at that time only nineteen 
years of age, who, immediately after the selec- 
tion by lot, was conducted to Philadelphia and 
thence to Chatham, accompanied by his steadfast 
friend, INIajor Gordon, of the British army, who 
was to remain his c(^)mpanion to the end. 

There was great excitement and exasperation 
among the people when it was definitely an- 
nounced that Li]ipineott would not be given up, 
and a plan was then projiosed to capture him in 
the midst of his friends in New York, and bring 
him away by force. To effect this purpose, 
Captain Adam Hyler, of New BrunsM-ick, hav- 

passed a resohition unanimously approving "the firm and 
judicious conduct of the commander-in-chief in his applica- 
tion to the British General of New York, and do assure him 
of their firmest support in his fixed purpose of exemplary 
retaliation.*" 
- Thatcher. 



MONMOUTH COUNTr IN THE REVOLUTION. 



221 



iug ascertained that Lippincott resided in Broad 
Street, Xew York, left the Kill;^ at dark in a 
single boat, with a crew disguised as a British 
press-gang, and arri\-ed at Whitehall, Xew 
York, about nine o'clock. Here he left the boat 
in charge of a few men and passed directly to 
Lippincott's house, where, on inquiry, it was as- 
certained "he had gone to Cock Pit," and so the 
expedition failed ; but the promptness with 
which the dangerous and desperate service was 
performed proved the devotion of the brave men 
who undertook it.' 

In the mean time the execution of Captain 
Asgill was suspended, and every effort was 
used, every plan that ingenuity could devise or 
sympathy suggest, was adopted to save the in- 
nocent victim. His friend, ^Nlajor Gordon, ap- 
pealed to the French Minister, then in Phila- 
delphia ; he wrote to the Count de Rochambeau, 
and dispatched messengers to numerous in- 
fluential \\'higs throughout the colonies to interest 
them in liehalf of the unfortunate captain ; and 
so eloquent and importunate were his apjieals 
that it was said by General Graham that " even 
the family of Captain Huddy became themselves 
suppliants in Asgill's favor." These untiring 
exertions unquestionably contributed to postpone 
the fate of the victim, until finally the court of 
France made successful intercession. 

" The public prints all over Europe resounded 
with the unhappy catastrophe, which for eight 
months impended over the life of this young 
officer.- The extreme grief of his mother 
[Lady Asgill], the sort of delirum that clouded 
the mind of his sister at hearing the dreadful fate 
which menaced the life of her brother, interested 
every feeling mind in the fate of that unfortunate 
family. The general curiosity in regard to the 
events of the M'ar yielded, if I may say so, to 
the intei'est which young Asgill inspired ; and 
the first question asked of all vessels that ar- 
rived from any port in North America was 

• Naval Magazine, NoTember, 1839, 

^ This quotation is from the Memoirs of Baron <le Grimm, 
whose attention was the more particularly called to the 
story of Captain Asgill's doom, to die in retaliation for the 
murder of Iluddy, by it being made the foimdaiion of a 
tragedy called " Abdir," written by De Sauvigny, and rep- 
resented in one of the theatres of Pari,i in January, 1789. 



alwavs an intiuirv into the fate of that vouno- 
man. It was known that Asgill was thrice 
conducted to the foot of the gibbet, and that 
thrice General AVashington, who could not 
bring himself to commit this crime of policy 
without a great struggle, suspended his punish- 
ment ; his humanity and justice made him hope 
that the English general would deliver over to 
him the author of the crime .Asgill was con- 
demned to expiate. Sir Heniy Clinton, either 
ill advised, or insensible to the fate of voung 
Asgill, persisted in refusing to deliver up the 
barbai-dus Lipi>incott. In vain the Kintj- of 
England, at whose feet the unfortunate family 
fell down, had given orders to surrender up to 
the Americans the author of a crime which dis- 
honored the English nation ; George the Third 
was not obeyed ! In vain the States of Hol- 
land entreated the United States of America for 
the pardon of the unhapjjy Asgill. The gibbet, 
erected in front of his prison, did not cease to 
offer to his eyes those dreadful preparations, 
more awful than death itself. In these cir- 
cumstances, and almost reduced to despair, the 
mother of the unfortunate victim bethought 
herself that the minister of a King armed 
against her own nation might succeed in ob- 
taining that which was refused to her Kino-. 
Madame Asgill wrote to the Coimt de Vergen- 
ues a letter, the elocjuence of which, independent 
of oratorical forms, is that of all peoples and 
languages, because it derives its power from the 
first and noblest sentiment of our nature." 
For more than six months the brave vouua: 

o 

Asgill remained under suspended sentence and 
within the shadow of death. Then came his 
deliverance, wrought out chiefly by his mother's 
piteous petition to the gallant Frenchmtui, Ver- 
gennes, through whose influence the King and 
court of Fi~ance was induced to ask the (Tovern- 
ment of the United States to forego retaliation. 
Such a request from its great ally could not be 
disregarded, and the distressing case was closed 
by the folIo\ving action of Congress, viz. : 

"Thcb-Sday, November 7, 1782. 
"On the report of the Committee, consisting 
of Mr. Rutledge, ^Ir. Osgood, Mr. Montgom- 
er}', ^Ir. Boudinot and Mr. Duane, to whom 



222 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



were referred tlie letter of the 19th of August 
last, from the Coniraander-iu-Chief, the report 
of a committee thereon, and the motions of Mr. 
Williamson and Mr. Rutledge; and also another 
letter from the Commander-in-Chief, with a 
cojjy of a letter to him from tlie Count de Ver- 
gennes, dated July 29th last, iuterceding for 
Captain Asgill : Resolved, That the Commander- 
in-Chief be, and he hereby is, directed to set 
Captain Asgill at liberty." 

A copy of these proceedings and the resolu- 
tion was forwarded by Washington to Captain 
Asgill, with tiie following admirable letter: 

" ,9j>. — It aifords me singular satisfaction to 
liave it in my power to transmit to you the en- 
closed copy of an Act of Congress of the 7th 
instant, by which you are relieved from the 
disagreeable circumstances in which you have 
so long been placed. Supposing that you would 
wish to go to New York as soon as possible, I 
also enclose a passport for that purpose. Your ; 
letter of the 18th came regularly to my hands, i 
I beg of you to believe that my ncjt answering 
it sooner did not proceed from inattention to 
you, nor a want of feeling for your situation; 
but I daily expected a determination of yom- 
case, and I thought it better to await tiiat, than 
to feed you with hopes that might in the end 
prove fruitless. You will attribute my deten- 
tion of the enclosed letters, which have been in 
my possession for a fortnight, to the same cause. 

" I cannot take leave of you, sir, without a.s- 
suring you that, in whatever light my agency 
in this unpleasant affair may be viewed, I was 
never influenced by sanguinary motives, but 
what I considered to l)e throughout the whole 
of it a sense of duty, which loudly called on me 
to use measures, however disagreeable, to pre- 
vent a repetition of those enormities which 
have been the subject of discussion; aud that 
this important end is now likely to be answer- 
ed without the effusion of the blood of an 
innocent person, is not a greater relief to you, 

than it is to me. 

"G° Washington." 

"Capt. Charles Asgill." 

Upon his release Captain Asgill proceeded to 



New York, whence soon afterwards he sailed to 
Engl and and rejoined his family. The letters ad- 
dressed by his overjoyed mother to the Count 
de Vergennes and Major Gordon, expressing in 
the most touching manner her deep gratitude to 
them for what they had done in her son's be- 
half, are intensely interesting in their pathetic 
earnestness, Imt their length forbids their inser- 
tion here. Very few fects have been found 
concerning the subsequent career of the bright 
young officer who stood so long in full ^■iew 
and continual expectation of an ignominious 
but undeserved death. 

In December, 1836, almost fifty-five years 
after the murder of Captain Joshua Huddy, 
his vouugest and only surviving child, Martha 
Piatt, then an aged widow, living in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, petitioned the Congress of the United 
States, asking pecuniary relief In her memo- 
rial, after reciting the above-named facts and 
the circumstances of her father's death, she 
proceeds : " His widow, left desolate, with two 
daughters of tender age, in common witli the 
hio-h-souled females of the Revolution, trusted 
in Providence, and hoped that the country for 
which her husband's life had been sacrificed 
would not forget her or her children. . . . 
While, in obedience to these claims, a British 
officer was selected by lot as the victim of re- 
taliation, and while the melancholy interest which 
youth and innocence associated with the name 
of Captain Asgill excited the deep sympathy of 
the American people, while the heart-rending 
appeal of his noble mother to the Count de Yer- 
o-ennes in behalf of her devoted son induced the 
mediation of the French Court to obtain his 
relea.se, the name and fate of Captain Huddy 
are only remembered as among the many in- 
stances of cruelty incident to a state of war. 
And the widow and children of that martyred 
hero have been left hitherto without the least 
token of the gratitude of their country. Your 
petitioner appeals to the justice of Congress. 
She is now seventy years of age ; her mother is 
dead and her sister also. She alone survives to 
feel anew the horrors of that dreadful moment 
when she was told that she was fatherless and 
that her g-allant sire had met the death of a 



MONMOUTH COUjS[TY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



223 



malefactor, while his only crime was his ardent 
attachment to the cause of American liberty. 
The gratitude (if the countiy has lieen long de- 
ferred, and, th(jugli late, your petitioner asks 
tiiat, in common with the representatives of her 1 
deceased sister, she may be allowed such sum in 
money and such quantities of land as her father i 
would have been entitled to had he served until i 
the conclusion of the Revolutionary War." | 

This petition \\as presented to Congress on 
the 21st of December, 1836, and referred to a 
special committee, consisting of Mr. Storer, of 
Ohio; ]\Ir. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania; Mr. 
Hardin, of Kentucky; Mr. Elmore, of South 
Carolina; and ]Mr. Schenck, of New Jersey. 
In Februar}-, ISol, this committee made a re- 
port, recommending the desired measure of re- 
lief, and embodying a representation of the facts 
in the case, accompanied by remarks upon it, 
from which the following extracts are made: ' 

" Perhaps the annals of the civilized world do not 
present a more melancholy spectacle than was exhib- 
ited in New Jersey while the British army occupied 
the city of New York. The people were all at arms, 
their substance wasted by the enemy, their farms un- 
tilled, their families dispersed. lu addition to the 
•constant and harassing inroads of the British, there 
was a foe within her very borders, more watchful and 
more relentless than the common enemy. Traitors to ! 
American liberty filled the land, willing to sacrifice 
their former friends to gratify their malignant jiassions 
or to prove their loyalty to their King. These men, 
combined together for the avowed object of murder 
and plunder, were to be met at all points ; and it re- 
quired the utmost energy, activity and address to op- 
pose them. Their movements were sudden, and from 
their intimate knowledge of the countay, their march 
was often unknown until their objecthad been eftected. 
Hence the most untiring vigilance was required to 
counteract their plans ; and Captain Huddy became 
so zealously engaged as a partisan leader that he was 
more obnoxious to the Tories than any individual in 
the American service. To these desperate men it was 
then all important that one whom they so much 
dreaded should be de])rived of power to oppose them ; 
and no means were left unattempted to efl'ect that 
purpose. . . . 

" The documents which the committee have an- 
nexed to this report minutely describe the horrible 
tragedy, and they forbear to state here the incidents 
which are there recorded in the language of eye-wit- 
nesses. There is something so revolting in the man- 
ner a brave soldier was doomed to die, something so 
fiend-like in the haste to sacrifice him without the 



parting farewell of his friends and the consolations of 
religion, that no age, however barbarous, can furnish 
a stronger instance of refined, deliberate cruelty. 
Yet even here the devoted sufferer sustained his high 
reputation for moral firmness and heroic devotion to 
liberty. Mr. Randolph testifies that when the Refugees 
were taking the irons from Captain Huddy, to con- 
duct him to the gallows, the brave man said he should 
die innocent and in a good cause ; and with uncom- 
mon composure and fortitude, prepared himself for his 
end. And, to use the language of one who assisted 
at the execution, ' he met his fate with all the firm- 
ness of a lion.' His executioner was a negro. . . . 

"It is painful to state that after a lapse of fifty 
years, while the story of Asgill's cajitivity has been 
made the theme of the biographer and poet, the mem- 
ory of the murdered Huddy has not been honored 
with an epitaph. His country, it would seem, has 
outlived the recollection of his services, and forgotten 
that such a victim was ever sacrificed for American 
liberty. The resolution of Congress, adopted on the 
day subsequent to the discharge of Asgill, and which 
required that ' the British commander .should be called 
to fulfill his engagement to make fiirther inquisition 
into the murder of Captain Huddy, and to pursue it 
with all the efl'ect that a due regard of justice will ad- 
mit,' is yet unfulfilled and unrequited ; and the only 
memorial onthepublic journals of American gratitude 
for the services of the living and the character of the 
dead are resolutions of retaliation, none of sympa- 
thy or condolence. 

"The committee, in the consideration of the case, 
cannot account for the silence of an American Con- 
gress upon a claim like this present, which the history 
of the Revolution so amply established. It is true, 
his representatives have made no appeal until they 
offered their memorial at this session, but it is be- 
lieved that the principles of natural justice are inde- 
pendent of all such agency. If their modesty has 
hitherto deterred them, it is at least the gratifying 
evidence that there is one American family who have 
forborne to remind the Legislature of the nation of its 
high duties, and are contented to await the judgment 
of their countrymen, however tardy maj' have been its 
announcement. 

" The children of Captain Huddy were both females, 
and were left at an early age to their mother's jirotec- 
tion. She struggled, as did the other high-souled 
women of the Revolution, with the ordinary vicissi- 
tudes of war, and sustained herself by the prospect of 
future independence. When her gallant husband was 
in the field, she knew he was engaged in a holy cause, 
and prejfared herself for whatever might occur ; but 
when she found that she was left desolate, and the 
father of her children had been cruelly and wantonly 
murdered, she thenceforward lived but for them. 
These orphans, after the return of peace, were mar- 
ried ; one of them, with her mother, is now dead ; the 
survivor, who is the memorialist, at the advanced age 



224 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of seventy years, now resides in the West, and asks, 
ere she joins those who have already departed, that 
the sufferings of her father may be remembered, and 
his services, even at this late day, be reijuited by some 
token of national gratitude. 

" As Captain Huddy was not in the regular army, 
there is no one of the resolutions of the old Congress 
that would include this case, were it a claim for mili- 
tarv services merely. But when it is remembered that 
lie was actively engaged from 1776 to 1782 in a most 
hazardous and important duty, at a time when ordi- 
nary zeal would have become cold and ordinary cour- 
age'cruslied, when they regard his exposure, his posi- 
tion and his untimely death, the committee cannot but 
conclude that the spirit of these resolutions should be 
extended to your memorialist ; and if there is .such an 
attribute as national gratitude, it should now be ex- 
erted. The Committee report the following resolutions 
for the consideration of the House : 

" Resolved, That the Congress of the United States 
holds in high estimation and grateful remembrance 
the services of Captain Joshua Huddy, of New Jersey, 
in the war of the Revolution, and unites in the opin- 
ion of the Continental Congress of 1782 that he was 
wantonly and inhumanly sacrificed by the enemy 
while in the heroic discharge of his duty. 

" iieso/verf. That in consideration of the services ren- 
dered to his country by Captain Joshua Huddy, and 
in the performance of which he was taken prisoner, 
and afterwards executed for no other crime than his 
devotion to liberty, it is the duty of Congress to ap- 
propriate to his children the same sums they would 
have received had their father been a Continental 
officer, and had continued in the service until the close 
of the war ; and the whole benefit of the resolutions 
of September 19th, 1777, and August 24lh, 1780, he 
extended to them." 

These resolutions, with the entire report of 
the committee, were adopted by Congress Feb- 
ruary 14, 1837, granting to the heirs of Captain 
Huddy the benefits of existing pension laws, 
the same as if he had been an officer of the 
regular Continental service ; also giving them 
six hundred acres of the public lands and the 
sum of twelve hundred dollars, it being the 
amount due to him for seven years' service as 
captain of artillery. And so closes the sad 
story of the patriotic services and savage mur- 
der of a man whose name is often mentioned as 
that of the Hero :Martyr of Monmouth. 



1 



Eichard Lippincott, the Tory captain, whose 
name became a tlieme of reproach and univer- 
sal execration among the patriots of the Revolu- 
tion on account of the leading part which he took 



in the barbarous murder of the hero, Joshua 
Huddy, was a native of Monmouth County, 
born in the year 1745, and at the beginning of 
the war of the Revolution was a resident of 
Shrewsbury township. In or about 1778 he 
left Monmouth County and went to New York, 
where he laid before the Board of Associated 
Loyalists a proposition to raise a company of 
Tories for tlieir service, of which company he 
was to have the captaincy. The desired au- 
thority was given him, the company was quickly 
raised, and he duly received his captain's com- 
mission under orders of ex-Governor Wd- 
liam Franklin, president of the Iward. He 
became one of tlie most active and energetic of 
the subordinate officers in the royal service, 
and was correspondingly detested by the pa- 
triots, especially those of IMonmouth County. 
His property in Shrewsbury township was con- 
fiscated and sold in 1779, as el.-^ewhere men- 
tioned. 

Among his friends, the British, it appears 
that his standing was good. At the coiu-t- 
martial which was convened in New York, by 
order of Sir Henry Clinton, to try him for tlie 
part he took in the hanging of Captain Huddy, 
one of the witnesses. Colonel Jolui ]SIorris, of 
the Second Battalion Royal Volunteers, testi- 
fied that he had known the prisoner, Lippincott, 
for many years ; " that he always supported a 
good character since deponent has known hnu, 
and he has always endeavoured to serve tha 
Government all in his power, and that with 
propriety. Deponent has never known him 
guihy of pluudering or any action of that 
kind?' John Wardell, a Shrewsbury Tory, 
and at that time with the Loyali.sts, testified, at 
the same court-martial, " that he had been ac- 
quainted witli Captain I^ippincott for more than 
ten years; that lie was his neighl)oiu-, and had 
been always looked upon as a peaceable, inof- 
fensive man." 

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooke, the Episco-^ 
palian clergyman of Shrewsbury, who had 
gone over to the Britisli in New York, and 
was at that time a chaplain to one of their bri 
gades, was another who testified in Lippincott' 
behalf before the court-martial. In the min 
utes of his testimony is found the following : 



n-'A 

''i 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



225 



" That he had uot known Lippincott before the 
Rebellion, but has been acquainted with him, 
upwards of three years since Captain Lippin- 
cott has been within his Majesty's lines. That 
he has been paiticularly acquainted with him 
and has every reas(jn to think his character 
stands as fair as that of any Refugee within his 
Majesty's lines." Whether, by the use of the 
words in this last sentence, the reverend gentle- 
man intended to make a distinction in the mat- 
ter of character between the Refugee officers and 
those of the regular British line cannot now be 
determined. 

After the close of the Revolution, Lijjpincott 
w^ent to England to claim compensation for his 
services and for the losses he sustained in tlie 
confiscation of his property by reason of his 
adiierence to the royal cause. He was placed 
on the retii'ed list of captains, witii iialf-pay for 
life ; and the British government gave him a 
grant of three hundred acres of land at York 
(now Toronto). On that tract he settled in 
1793, and there he died in 1826, in the eighty- 
second year of his age. His daughter Esther 
I (his only child) married George Taylor Denni- 
I son, and their son, George T. Dennison (who 
became for a time a member of the Canadian 
I Parliament), wrote as follows, in vindication of 
the character of his grandfather: 

" Richard Lippincott," he said, " was naturally 
a person of the most harndess and quiet dispo- 
• sition. Philip White was a lialf l)rotiier to his 
: wife, and Lippincott was exasperated by the 
butchery of an innocent relative,' who, found on 
a visit to his mother's house, was treated by 
Huddy as a spy. Tiie old man [Lippincott] 
j was respected by all who knew him in the conn- 
I try [Canada], I'ich and poor, and was so well 
' known to all old Loyalists who settled there 
that j)ersons came uninvited tiiirty or forty 
miles to pay tribute to his memory ; hundreds 
; Still living [about 1830] will repudiate the un- 
favorable character, as a man and soldier, given 
him by the American historian [Sabine]. He 
; was true to his Sovereign both in property and 

' Probably having reference to Stephen Edwards, the 
circumstances of whose capture and execution were as he 
relates, and in whose execution Huddj- did take part ; 
. . [while the case of Philip White was entirely different. 
! 15 



peril, ;ind nobly maintained the Lippincott 
family motto, secundus dubusque rectiis. Indeed, 
the truth is, I have always iieard it declared by 
him.self and otliers that he had the authority 
from Sir Henry Clinton himself to hang Huddy 
for White." 

Doubtless, Lippincott did sustain a good char- 
acter among his Canaditin neighb'ors during his 
later years, but that luis very little to do «ith 
the murder of tlie patriot Huddy. It is doubt- 
less true, however, that he was ordered by a 
superior officer of the Board of Associated Loy- 
alists to hang the man (Huddy) wliom, above 
all othei's, they hated and feared for the tireless 
vigilance and energy with wiiicli he acted against 
the villains of their gang ; but the allegatiou 
that tlie murder of Huddy was ordered or 
countenanced b}- Sir Hemy Clinton is too palp- 
ably false and absurd to be entertained for a 
moment. The historian Sparks, when in Lon- 
don, saw original letters from Sir Henry and 
from his successor in coniniand at Xew York — 
Sir Guy Carleton — exju-essing in the strougest 
terms their indignation at the murder of the 
American captain. 

The surrender of Cornwallis and his army 
was universally regarded as an announcement 
of the approaching close of the long struggle 
of the Revolution. Another year of nominal 
hostilities succeeded, Init tlie event of Yorktown 
had assured the independence of America, and 
that fact was tacitly acknowledged, not only by 
tlie Britisli, but by their Tory allies, to whom 
the result brought the deepest disappointment 
and despair. It was an announcement to them 
that their cause was irretrievalily lost ; that they 
were homeless and without acountiy; that their 
property would l)e (if it M'as not already) con- 
fiscated; and that, penniless and friendless, they 
must seek other homes in a foreign country, and 
there try to begin life anew. " When the news of 
peace became known," says a writer of that 
time, "the city of Xew York presented a scene 
of distress not easily described. Tory adherents 
to the crown who were in the army tore the 
lappels from their coats, stamped them under 
their feet and exclaimed that they were ruined ; 
others cried out thtit they had sacrificed all to 



226 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



],i-ove their loyalty, and were now left to shift 
for themselves without the friendship either of 
their King or their country." 

In the month of September next preceding 
tlie final evacuation of New York by the British, 
more than twelve thousand Loyalists and Refu- 
gees-men, women and children— embarked at 
the city and at Long and Stateu Islands for 
Nova Scotia and the Bahamas. " Some of these 
victims of the war tried to make merry at their 
doom by saying they were bound to a lovely 
country, where there are nine months winter and 
three months of cold weather in the year ; while , 
others, in their desperation, wouhl have torn 
tlown their houses, and had they not been pre- , 
vented, would have carried off the bricks of I 
which thev were built." Those who went to 
Nova Scotia were lauded at St. John's and Shel- 
burne, where many, utterly destitute, were sup- 
plied witii food at the public charge, and were 
ol>liged to live in huts of bark and rough 
boards. " Among the banished ones were per- 
sons whose hearts and hopes had been as true as , 
Washington's ; ibr in the division of families, I 
which everywhere occurred, and which formed | 
one of the most distressing circumstances of the 
conflict, manv wives and daughters who, though 
bound bv tlie holiest ties to Loyalists, had given 
their symi)athv to the right from the beginning, 
and who now, in the triumph of the cause which 
had their prayers, went meekly— as woman 
ever meets a sorrowful iate— into hopeless, 
interminable exile." 



The sales of Loyalist property in New Jersey, 
adjudged to be forfeited and confiscated during 
the \VAV of the Kevoluti.in, were made under 
the provisions of" An Act for taking charge of 
or leasing the Real Estates, and forfeiting the Per- 
sonal Estiites of certain Fugitives and Offend- 
ers," passed by the Legislature April IS, 1778. 
Following are the copies of notices of some ot 
the sales made in Monmouth County, under 
that act, viz. : 



Thomas Leonard, Hendrick Van Mater, John 
Throckmorton, Daniel Van Mater, John Longstreet, 
Jr., Alexander Clark, Joseph Clayton, Israel Britton, 
.[ohn Okeson, John Thompson, Thomas Bills and 
Benzeor Hinkson, all of the township of Freehold, 
will be sold at Freehold Court-House, begin- 
ning on Wednesday, the 17th day of March next, 
aud continuing from day to day until all are 

sold. . 

"Thomas Crowel, GeorgeJTaylor, Jr., James btiU- 
well John Mount, boatman, Conrad Hendricks, 
Joseph Baley, John Cottrell, Richard Cole, «amu..l 
Smith, John Brown, James Pew, Thomas Thorne, 
Ezekiel Tilton, Joseph Taylor, John Tilton, ot Mid- 
dletown, and William Smith, of Middlesex, having 
1 lands in said town, will be sold at publick vendue, 
beginning on Monday, the 22d day of March next, 
at the house of Cornelius Swart, and continue from 
dav to day until sold. 

"John Taylo/and William Walton, at New \ork, 
but having property in Shrewsbury, John Williams, 
Christopher Talman, John Wardell, Michael Price, 
James Mount, John Williams, Jr., John P.ntard, 
Clayton Tilton, Samuel Cook,' James Boggs, James 
Curlis Asahel Chandler, John Morris, William Price, 
Robert Morris, Peter Vannote, James Price, John 
and M(n-ford Tjiy^lor, John Hankinson, Timothy Sco- 
bev William Lawrence, Peter Wardell, Oliver Tal- 
man, Richard Lippincott,= Josiah White, Benjamin 
Woolley, Ebenezer Wardell, Robert Stout, Nathaniel 
Parker John Hampton, Samuel Laytoii, Jacob Har- 
ber Jacob Emmons, Britton White, Tobias Kiker 
and Daniel Lafteter, late of the town of Shrewsbury, 
and Gerardus Beekman, of New York, having prop- 
1 erty in said township, will be sold at publick ven- 
due, beginning on Monday, the 29th of March, at 
I Tinton Falls, and continue from day to day until all 

I are sold. ... 

"John Leonard, Gisbert Giberson, Samuel fMiU- 
' well, Barzilla, Joseph, Thomas, WilHam and 
Samuel Grover, John Horner, Fuller Horner, John 
Ferine, William Giberson, Jr., Malakeath Giberson 
John Polhemus, Jr., Benjamin Giberson, Samuel 
Oakerson, Elisha Lawrence and John Lawrence, sons 
of John late of Upper Freehold, and Isaac Allen, 
late of Trenton, will be sold at publick vendue, be- 
ginning on Monday, the 5th day of April next, at 
Wall's Mills, and continue until all are sold. 

"John Irons and David Smith, of the township of 
Dover, will be sold at Freehold Court-House at the 
time of sales there. 

" The two emissions called in, and bank-notes wiU 
be taken in pay. No credit will be given. The sale 



"Monmouth County, ss.: Whereas, inquisitions 
have been found, and final judgment entered thereon, 
in favour of the State of New Jersey against persons 
herein mentioned: Notice is hereby given that the 
real and personal estates belonging to Samuel Osborn, 



1 Previously rector of tlie Episcopal Chureli at ShreWB- 

^'%he notorious Refugee officer who commandeJ the gang 
who murdered Captain Josbua Huddy. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



227 



will begin at 9 o'clock each day. Also, deeds made 
lo the jiurchasers, agreeable to Act of Assembly, by 
" Samuel Foeman, 
" Joseph Lawrence, 
" Kenneth Haskinsox, 

" Commissiotiers. 
" February 17th, 1779." 



CHAPTER XI. 

JfOXMOI'TH COUNTY IX THE REVOLUTION 

(Conthuied). 

Officei's ami Soldiers of Monmouth Couuty in the Patriot 
Service. 

The first Continental troops of the " Jersey 
Line," raised in 1775, were two battaliens, 
designated the Eastern and Western, and subse- 
quently the Fir.st and Second Battalions. The 
Eirst was commanded by Colonel William 
Alexander (Lord Stirling), and, after his pro- 
motion to be brigadier-general, by Lieutenant- 
Colonel William Winds, who was raised to the 
rank of colonel; the Second by Colonel Wil- 
liam ^Maxwell. Tiie I'ollowing year a third 
battalion was added, which was ]>laced under 
the command of Colonel Elias Dayton. In the 
fall of this year (1776) a "second establish- 
ment " of troops from Xew Jersey for the Con- 
tinental army was made, embracing four bat- 
talions, commanded by Colonels Silas Newcomb 
(succeeeded by Colonel Matthias Ogden), Isaac 
Shreve, Elias Dayton and Ei)hraim jNIartin. 
These formed " Maxwell's Brigade," com- 
manded by General (late Colonel) A\'illiam 

I Maxwell. 

' A new arrangement of the American army 
was effected in 1778, under which, aii<l during 
the campaign of 1779, the " Jersey Line" em- \ 
braced three battalions. February 9, 1780, 

. Congress called upon this State for sixteen hun- 
dred and twenty men to supply the deficiency, 
in which volunteers were called for, large boun- 

I . . . ' o 

ties offered, and i-ecruiting officers and muster 
masters appointed for the several counties. The 
muster-master for Monmouth was Colonel Asher 
Holmes. The three regiments thus raised were 
commanded Ijy Colonels ^lathias Ogden, Isaac 
Shreve and Elias Da}-tou, respectively. Each 



regiment contained six companies, and they 
were commanded as follows : 

First Rei/imenf. — Captains Jonathan Eor- 
man, John Flahtivan, Giles ^lead, Alexander 
^Mitchell, Peter G. Voorhees and John Holmes. 

Second Rerjiment. — Captains John Hollings- 
head, John X. Cumming, Samuel Reading, 
Xathauiel Bowman, Jonatiian Phillips and Wil- 
liam Helms. 

Third Regiment. — Captains John Ross, ^\*il- 
liam Gifford, Richard Cox, Jeremiah Ballard, 
Joseph I. Anderson and Bateman Lloyd. 

On the 14th of June, 1780, an act was passed 
calling for six hundred and twenty-four men to 
be raised in the several counties of the State, to 
continue in service until January 1, 1781. The 
cpiota of the several counties was, — ^lonmouth, 
sixty men; Bergen, thirty-three; Essex, forty- 
five ; Middlesex, forty-seven ; Somerset, fifty- 
four ; Burlington, sixty-five ; Gloucester, fifty- 
one ; Salem, fifty-one ; Cape May, thirteen ; 
Hunterdon, eighty-four ; Morris, fifty-one ; 
Cumberland, thirty ; Sussex, fifty. On the 
2-5th of June the Legislature found it uecessaiy 
to adopt more effectual means to complete the 
quota, the deficit of which was then four hun- 
dred and fifty men, to raise which number re- 
cruiting officers M'ere appointed in each of the 
several counties. The officer so appointed for 
Monmouth was Gilbert Longstreet. The bounty 
then paid to each recruit was twelve pounds in 
gold or silver, and the recruiting officer was 
allowed thirty shillings in coin for each recruit. 
The men so enlisted were required to engage to 
serve during the war. 

General Maxwell continued to command the 
Jersey Brigade until July, 1780, when he re- 
sio-ned, ;ind was succeeded bv Colonel Elias Dav- 
ton as senior officer, who commanded the .same 
until the close of the war. 

The news of the cessation of hostilities was an- 
nounced ill the camp of the brigade April 19th, 
1783, and the Jersey Line was discharged Xo- 
vember 3d of tluit year. 

At various times during the war Xew Jersey, by 
reason of its being continually exposed to the in- 
cursions of the British and the ravages of Refu- 
gees and Indians, found it necessary to embody, 



228 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



as occasion required, a certain quota of volun- 
teers from the militia of the different counties. 
These men were held lialile to duty when needed, 
not onlv in this, but in adjoining States. Tliese 
organizations were called " New Jersey Levies," 
"Five Months' Levies," but most generally 
designated as " State Troops." 

Under the act passed November 27, 17 /(J, 
for the raising of four battalions from the militia 
to serve until the Continental battalions could be 
raised and organized, Monmouth County sent 
two companies, as part of the battalion assigned 
for ^klonmouth, ]Middlesex and Burlington, ot 
which the iield officers appointed were : Charles 
Read, colonel; Thomas Seabrook, lieutenant-col- 
onel ; John Taylor, major. 

An act was passed, September 24, 1777, to 
raise a company of artilleiy. The battery was 
soon organized under command of Captain Jt)sluia 
Huddy. It was stationed in Jlonmouth County, 
and did good service until March 24, 17S2, 
when its commander was taken prisoner at 
Tom's River, and was soon after miu-dered by 
Refugees, as has been narrated. 

Under the call of October 9, 1779, for four 
thousand volunteers to continue in service untd 
December 20, 1779, one regiment of ten com- 
panies was raised in ISIonmouth, Essex and ISIid- 
dlesex Counties, aud placed under command of 
Colonel Asher Holmes, of :Monmouth. 

On the 7th of June, 1780, an act was passed 
" to embody, for a limited time, six hundred and 
twenty-four men for the defense of the frontiers 
of this State." This force— of which the term 
of service was limited to January 1, 1781— 
was formed into two small battalions, one of 
which, consisting of two hundred and sixty-two 
men, was placed under command of Colonel 
Asher Holmes, and stationed in Moumouth and 
Middlesex, south of the Raritan River. Another 
body of men, under ^Slajor Samuel Hayes, was 
stationed north of the same river, in ]\Iiddlcsex 
and Bergen ; and a smaller detachment, stationed 
in Sussex County, was placed under command of 
Major Samuel Westbrook. On the 14th of the 
same month an additional company of thirty 
men was ordered to be raised for duty in Mon- 
mouth, under Colonel Asher Holmes. The offi- 
-cers of this company were Captain Ephraim 



Jenkins and Lieutenant Joshua Studson, both of 
whom were afterwards killed by Reftigees in 
that part of Monmouth which is now Ocean 

Countv. 

On "the 26th of December, 1 780, eight hundred 
and twenty men were ordered to be raised and 
embodied "whh the State troops for service to 
January 1, 1782. Of these, Monmouth ftu-- 
uisiiedtwo hundred and fifty-nine men, in three 
companies, of which the captains were John 
Walton, Samuel Carhart and David Anderson ; 
lieutenants, Nathan Sheppard, John Davis and 
Moses Sheppard ; ensigns, John :SIorris, Matthias 
Johnson and David Imlay. Another call^ of 
State troops was made December 29, 1781, 
for four hundred and twenty-two men to serve 
till. December 15, 1782. Of these, one com- 
pany (light horse) was from :Monmouth, and 
under command of Captain John Walton. The 
otiier commissioned officers of the company were 
Lieutenant David Rhea and Cornet Jonathan 
Forman. 



The militia were the first troops organized in 
New Jersey iu the Revolution. On June 3,. 
1775, the Provincial Congress passed an act \ 
providing a " plan for regulating the militia 
of the colony." This plan was still further 
considered and amended August 16, 1775. 
After that date all officers were ordered to be 
commissioued by the Provincial Congress or 
the Committee of Safety. In the assignment 
then ordered Monmouth County had three reg- 
iments. "INIinute-men" having been raised 
in three of the counties, in obedience to the 
recommendation of Continental Congress, this 
ordinance [of August 16, 1775] ordered the 
other counties to furnish them, ranging from 
one to eight companies each, the assignment for 
Monmouth being six companies. These com- 
panies of " minute-men " were " held in con- J 
stant readiness, on the shortest notice, to march : 
to auv place where assistance might be reiiuired, 
for the defense of this or any neighboring 
colony." They were to continue in service 
four months. Their uniform was a hunting- 
frock, similar to that of the riflemen in the 
Continental service. On the 26th of February, 
1776, the "minute-men" organizations were 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



229 



dissolved and the lueu incorporated with the 
militia. 

Jime 3, 1776, the Continental Congre.ss 
called for thirteen thousand eight hundred 
militia, the quota of Xew Jersey being 
three thousand three hundred. Monmouth 
and Middlesex furnished one of the five bat- 
talions required, tour companies being raised in 
eai-h of the two counties. The battalion was 
commanded by Nathaniel Heard, colonel ; 
David Forman, of ^Monmouth, lieuteiii^nt-colo- 
nel, and Thomas Henderson, of ^lonmouth, 
major. 

July 16, 1776, Congress requested the Con- 
vention of Xew Jei-sey to supply with militia 
the places of two thousand men of Washington's 
army who had been ordered int(i Xew Jersev to 
form the " Flying Camp." Of the thirty com- 
panies of sixty-four men each furnished under 
this call, ]\Ionmouth sent three companies, which, 
with three fmm [Middlesex and two companies 
from Salem, comprised one of the four battalions ; 
and its officers were George Taylor, of Mon- 
mouth, colonel ; Whitton Cripps, lieutenant-col- 
onel ; John Duvckinck major. Colonel George 
Taylor refused to qualify, and deserted to the 
enemy, and Samuel Forman, of IMonmouth, was 
appointed colonel. 

April 14, 1778, the militia was divided into 
two brigades, that of Monmouth being in the 
Second Brigade. January 8, 17S1, the militia 
force was formed into three brigades. " The 
good service performed by the militia of New 
Jersey is fully recorded in iiistory. At the 
fights at Quinton's Bridge, Hancock's Bridge, 
Three Rivers, Connecticut Farms and Van 
Neste's Mills they bore an active part; while 
at the battles of Long Island, Trenton, As.san- 
pink, Princeton, Germantown, Springfield and 
Monmoutli they performed efficient services in 
supporting the Continental line."' 

The following list of officers and enlisted 
men of Monmouth County who served with the 
American forces in the war for independence is 
made up from Adjutant-General "William S. 
Stryker's " Official Register of the Officers and 



' " Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolution- 
ary War," by General W. S. Stryker. 



Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War," 
with the addition of names gathered from other 
sources ; therefore, though it is not claimed to 
be perfect and complete, it is believed to be as 
nearly so as is practicable to make it. 

BRIGADIER-GEXEEAl,. 

David Forman, lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Heard's 
battalion "Heard's brigade," June 25, 1776; 
colonel, ditto; brigadier-general militia, March 5, 
1777 ; resigned November 6, 1777, to accept a col- 
onelcy in the Continental line. Commanded Jersey 
militia at the battle of Germantown. 

COLOXELS. 

David Brearley, lieutenant-colonel, battalion " Heard's 
brigade," June 14, 1776 ; colonel, second regi- 
ment, Monmouth ; also lieutenant-colonel. Conti- 
nental army. 

Samuel Breese, colonel, third regiment; resigned 
July 9, 1776. 

John Covenhoven, colonel. 

RiL-hard Poole, colonel. 

Samuel Forman, captain, second regiment ; lieutenant- 
colonel, ditto, October 25, 1775 ; colonel, battalion 
"detached militia," July 18, 1775; colonel, sec- 
ond regiment, Monmouth, May 23, 1777; re- 
signed. 

Daniel Hendrickson, colonel, third regiment, July 9, 
1776; resigned; recommissioned November 20, 
1777 ; taken prisoner June 9, 1779. 

Asher Holmes, first major, first regiment, November 
28, 1776; colonel, ditto, March 27, 1778; colonel, 
regiment State troops, October 0, 1779 ; colonel, 
battalion State troops, June 7, 1780. 

Elisha Lawrence, colonel ; also quartermaster. 

Nathaniel Scudder, lieutenant-colonel, first reg- 
iment; colonel, ditto, November 28, 1776; killed 
in skirmish with Refugees at Black Point, Mon- 
mouth County, October 15, 1781. 
John Smock, captain, first regiment, 1777 ; major, ditto ; 
lieutenant-colonel, ditto, March 27, 1778; prisoner 
of war September, 1780 ; colonel, first regiment. 
George Taylor, colonel, battalion " detached militia," 
July 18, 1776 ; colonel, first regiment ; resigned 
November 28, 1776, and deserted to the enemy. 

LIEUTEXAXT-COLOXELS. 

Jonathan Forman, captain, fourth battalion second 
Continental establishment, November 23, 1776; 
captain, first regiment, September 26, 1780 ; ma- 
- jor, third regiment, November 20, 1781 ; lieu- 
tenant-colonel, second regiment, February 11, 
1783; discharged at close of war; also captain 
Monmouth militia. 

Thomas Henderson, second major, Colonel Stewart's 
battalion "minute-men," February 15, 1776; ma- 
jor, Colonel Heard's battalion, June 14, 1776, 
lieutenant-colonel, Colonel Forman's battalion, 
" Heard's brigade ;" brigade major, Monmouth. 



230 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Elisha Lawrence, Jr., first major, second regiment, 
October 25, 1775 ; lieutenant-colonel, ditto, May 
23, 1777. 

Joseph Salter, lieutenant-colonel, second regiment; 
resigned October 21, 1775. 

David Ehea, second battalion, Jersey line, November 
28, 1776. 

Thomas Seabrook, first major, Monmouth; lieutenant- 
colonel, ditto, November 28, 1776; lieutenant- 
colonel. Colonel Read's battalion, State troops, No- 
vember 27, 1776. 

Auke Wikott", lieutenant-colonel, third regiment. 

MAJORS. 

John Burrowes, captain in Forman's regiment. Con- 
tinental army ; captain, Spencer's regiment. Con- 
tinental army, January 1, 1777; major, ditto, 
July 22, 1779; discharged at close of war. 

John Cook, captain, second regiment ; second major, 
ditto, October 13, 1777 ; killed at block-house, 
Tom's River. March 24, 1782. 

Dennis Denise, first major, thii'd regiment, July 23) 
1776. 

Thomas Hunn, captain, first regiment ; second major, 
ditto, March 27, 1778; cashiered February 21, 
1781, for conduct unbecoming an officer. 

James H. Imlay, major. 

William Montgomery, captain, second regiment; first 
major, ditto, October l.'i, 1777. 

James Mott, second major, second regiment, Oc- 
tober 25, 1775 ; resigned June 18, 1776. 

John Polhemus, first battalion, Jersey line. 

Hendrick Van Brunt, lieutenant, third regiment, 
1778 ; captain, ditto ; second major, ditto, July 23. 
1776; prisoner of war, September, 1780. 

Elisha Walton, ensign, first regiment ; captain, ditto. 
May 7, 1777; second major, ditto; first major, 
ditto, March 27, 1778; major, battalion State 
troops, June 11, 1779. 

James Whitlock, second lieutenant, Captain Burrowes' 
company, first regiment, June 18, 1776 ; captain, 
ditto; second major, ditto ; prisoner of war ; ex- 
changed December 22, 1780. 

ADJUTANTS. 

Kenneth Anderson, adjutant, first regiment. 
George Cook, lieutenant, June 3, 1777; adjutant, 

ditto, June 11, 1778. 
Nathan Crane, adjutant. 
David Rhea, Jr., adjutant, first regiment ; adjutant, 

battalion State troops. 

QUARTERMA.SiTERS. 

John Campbell, quartermaster. 
Richard Hartshorne, quartermaster, first regiment. 
David Rhea, quartermaster ; also lieutenant. 
John Stillweli, quartermaster, first regiment. May 1, 
1777. 

PAYMASTERS. 

Peter Covenhoven, paymaster. 
David Forman, paymaster. 



SURGEONS. 

Thomas Barber, surgeon, first regiment, February 14, 

1776. 
Jacobus Hubbard, surgeon, first regiment, June 10, 

1780. 

surgeon's MATE. 

John Anderson Scudder, surgeon's mate, first regi- 
ment. May 1, 1777. 

CAPTAINS. 

David Anderson, captain, first regiment; cajitain. 
Colonel Holmes' regiment State troops. 

George Anderson, captain. 

David Baird, private, first regiment ; first sergeant 
ditto, 1776; ensign, ditto ; lieutenant, ditto; quar- 
termaster, ditto ; captain, ditto, 1777. 

Joshua Bennett, captain. 

Brewer, captain. 

Andrew Brown, captain, first regiment. 

James Bruere, first lieutenant. Colonel Lawrence's 
regiment, (second?); captain, ditto. 

John Buckalew, captain. 

John Burrowes, captain, first regiment. 

John Burrowes, Jr., captain, first regiment, June 18, 
1776. 

Samuel Carhart, ensign. Captain Burrowes' cominuiy, 
first regiment, June 18, 1776; captain, ditto; 
prisoner of war and paroled ; captain. State 
troops. 

Thomas Chadwick, captain, third regiment, Septem- 
ber 4, 1777. 

John Colaton, captain, 

John Conover, captain, Monmouth militia ; also cap- 
tain. State troops. 

Joseph Cowperthwaite, captain, first regiment, Mon- 
mouth militia ; also captain, Burlington ditto. 

Jacob Covenhoven, lieutenant, troop light horse ; 
(Captain Barnes Smock's company) ; captain, 
ditto ; prisoner of war September, 1780. 

Benjamin Dennis, captain, February 23, 1778. 

John Dennis, captain, second regiment; prisoner of 
war, and died in the hands of the enemy at New 
York, January 15, 1778. n 

Samuel Dennis, lieutenant, Colonel Holmes' reg- 
iment. State troops ; lieutenant, first regiment, 
1779 ; captain, ditto, 1780. 

John Downie, captain, second regiment. 

Stephen Fleming, captain, third regiment ; prisoner 
of war. 

Jonathan Forman, first lieutenant. Captain Burrowes' 
company, first regiment ; captain, ditto ; captain, 
battalion "Heard's brigade," June 14, 17f6; also 
lieutenant-colonel. Continental army. 

David Gordon, ensign, Captain Elisha Walton's com- 
pany, first regiment. May 7, 1777; captain, ditto, 
1778. 

Peter Gordon, captain. 

James Green, captain. 

Guisbert Guisbertson, captain, second regiment; re- 
signed August 2. 1776; afterwards joined enemy. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



231 



Kenneth Hankinson, captain^ Colonel Forman's bat- 
talion, "Heard's brigade," June 16, 1776 ; captain, 
first regiment, Monmouth militia, 1777. 

John Henderson, lieutenant; captain, 1777. 

Daniel Hendrickson, private, troop light horse; cor- 
poral, ditto ; lieutenant, ditto ; captain, ditto. 

John Holmes, second lieutenant. Captain Long- 
street's company, first battalion, first establish- 
ment, December 16, 1775; second lieutenant. 
Captain Pulhemus' company, first battalion, sec- 
ond establishment, Xovcmber 29, 1776 ; captain, 
first regiment, February 1, 1779: discharged at 
close of war. 

Jonathan Holmes, second lieutenant, fourth bat- 
talion, second establishment, November 28, 1776 ; 
second lieutenant, Captain Forman's company, 
ditto, February 17, 1777 ; first lieutenant, ditto ; 
lieutenant, second regiment ; captain, ditto, April 
16. 1780 ; prisonerof war ; discharged at closeof war. 

Joshua Huddy, captain, Monmouth militia; captain, 
company of artillery. State troops ; taken prisoner 
March 24, 1782. at Tom's River; hung by the To- 
ries near the Highlands, April 12, 1782. 

David Imlay, ensign and lieutenant, Monmouth mili- 
tia ; ensign. Captain Anderson's company, Colonel 
Holmes' regiment. State troops ; lieutenant, ditto ; 
captain, ditto, 

Ephraim Jenkins, captain, Monmouth militia; cap- 
tain. Colonel Holmes' battalion, State troops, June 
U, 1780. 

Christopher Little, captain. 

Theophilus Little, lieutenant and captain, 

Thomas Little, Captain Van Brunt's company, third 
regiment; captain, ditto; prisoner of war, Sep- 
tember, 1780. 

Richard Lloyd, first lieutenant, Captain Imlay's 
company, third battalion, first establishment, 
February 7, 1776 ; captain in Hazen's regiment. 
Continental army, September 20, 1777; dis- 
charged at close of war ; major by brevet, 

Elias Longstreet, first Ijattalion, continental line, 

Aaron Longstreet, second lieutenant ; captain, third 
regiment, Middlesex. 

Gilbert Longstreet, captain. State troops. 

Richard McKnight, captain, 1778. 

James Mott, captain. 

John Peairs, captain. 

John Polhemiis, first battalion, continental line, 

Nathaniel Polhenuis, captain, 1777. 

Tobias Polhemus. lieutenant in Captain John Smock's 
company, first regiment : captain, ditto ; prisoner 
of war, September, 1780. 

Joseph Randolph, captain. 

Reuben F. Randolph, captain. 

William Remsen, captain, troop light-horse. 

Robert Rhea, captain. 

John Schank, ensign, first regiment, June 3,1777; 
lieutenant, ditto ; captain, ditto ; also ensign, Col- 
onel Holmes' regiment, State troops. 



William Schank, lieutenant, first . regiment ; captain, 
ditto; also lieutenant in "Captain Smock's com- 
pany, artillery." 

John Schank, ensign. Captain Carhart's company, 
first regiment ; lieutenant. Captain Hunn's com- 
pany, ditto; captain, ditto, October 12, 1777. 

Moses Sheppard, lieutenant, Captain David And( r- 
son's company, State troops; lieutenant, first reg- 
iment : captain, ditto. 

Nathan Sheppard, lieutenant in Captain John M'al- 
ton's company, State troops'; captain, ditto, 

Barnes Smock, captain, first regiment ; captain, com- 
pany artillery ; prisoner of war, September, 178(i, 

Barnes J, Smock, private, troop light-horse; cornet, 
ditto, 1779; lieutenant, ditto, 1780; captain, 1780. 

Hendrick Smock, captain, "miiuite men," October 
12, 1775; captain, fii-st regiment, 1777 ; captain, 
company artillery. 

Joseph Stillwell, ensign, first regiment; cajjtain, 
ditto; captain, commanding guard at Sandy 
Hook, June, 1776 ; captain. Colonel Forman's 
battali<m "detached militia,"' July 18, 1776. 

John Stout, captain. 

Joseph Stout, commissioned September 11, 1775 ; 
killed at Brandywine. 

Michael Sweetman, captain, first regiment. 

Sweetwood, captain, third regiment. 

Nicolas Van Brunt, captain, third regiment. 

John Van Cleaf, captain. 

William Van Cleaf, sergeant, first regiment; lieu- 
tenant, ditto ; captain, ditto ; also lieutenant in 
Continental army. 

Benjamin Van Cleve (or Cleaf ), ensign, Captain Hen- 
drick Smock's company, first regiment, Septem- 
ber 1, 1777; lieutenant, ditto ; captain, ditto, 1780. 

William Van Cleve, first lieutenant. Captain Hen- 
drick Smock's company, first regiment ; captain, 
ditto, 1778, 

Joseph Van Dyke, captain, 

Cornelius Van Mater, captain. 

Henry Waddell, captain ; resigned July 2, 1776, on 
account of disability. 

Thomas Wainright, captain; prisoner eighteen 
months on "Old Jersey Prison-Ship,"' 

Louis Walling, captain, 

Thomas Walling, ensign, Captain William Schanck's 
company, first regiment, September 25, 1777; 
captain, ditto. 

Elisha Walton, captain. 

John Walton, sergeant, light dragoon troop ; ensign, 
ditto; lieutenant, ditto; captain, ditto; captain, 
troop horsemen in Major Hayes' battalion, State 
troops. 



Peter AVikoft', captain. 
State troops. 



second regiment; captain. 



CAPTAIX-LIErXEXAXT, 

Jacques Denise, cornet, "Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons;" lieutenant, commanding com- 



232 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



|)any iu Major Hayes' battalion, State troops ; 
lieutenant, " Captain Barnes Smock's company 
artillery ;" captain-lieutenant, ditto. 

LIEUTENAXTS. 

Jame.s Anderson, Hazen's regiment. 

Thomas Anderson, lieutenant and acting adjutant. 

Barnes Bennett, ensign, lieutenant ; cashiered Feb- 
ruary 21, 1781, for neglect of duty. 

John Blake, lieutenant, firet regiment; also lieu- 
tenant. Colonel Holmes' regiment, State troops. 

John Brinley, lieutenant militia ; also lieutenant 
in Colonel Forman's battalion, "Heard's bri- 
gade," June 14, 177(5; also issuing forage-master. 

Ephraim Buck, lieutenant. 

Job Compton, lieutenant. 

Eulif Conover, lieutenant. 

George Cook, lieutenant. 

Thomas Cook, lieutenant in Colonel Forman's bat- 
talion, "Heard's brigade," June IG, 177(3 ; prisoner 
of war Sei)tember, 1780. 

Ralph Covenhoven, lieutenant. 

Eulif Covenhoven, lieutenant. 

James Cox, lieutenant, first regiment ; lieutenant, 
Colonel Holmes' regiment State troops. 

John Davis, Captain Carhart's company. 

Moses Davis, lieutenant, Captain Hankinson's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

Ezekiel Emley, lieutenant. 

Jacob Fleming, lieutenant. 

Samuel P. Fornian, lieutenant. 

Ephraim Foster, lieutenant; also artificer. 

David Hay, lieutenant. 

David Hendrickson, lieutenant. 

Abraham Lane, private, sergeant, lieutenant. 

Gilbert Longstreet, lieutenant in Captain Wikoft's 
company, second regiment. 

Charles McCoy, lieutenant in Captain Bruere's com- 
pany. 

Abraham Osborn, private, lieutenant. ■ 

John Quay, lieutenant. 

David Rhea, lieutenant in " Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons ; " also lieutenant in Captain Wal- 
ton's company. State troops, horsemen ; lieutenant 
in "Captain Nixon's troop, light-horse," Mid- 
dlesex ; also quartermaster militia. 

Ezekiel Sayre, lieutenant. 

Samuel Sexton, lieutenant, 1778. 

Morris Sheppard, lieutenant. 

Nathan Sheppard, lieutenant. 

Henry Smock, lieutenant ; prisoner of war Septem- 
ber, 1780. 

Henry Stryker, sergeant, " Captain Smock's troop 
light dragoons ; " ensign, ditto ; lieutenant, ditto. 
Joshua Studson, lieutenant militia ; lieutenant in 
Captain Jenkins' company. Colonel Holmes' bat- 
talion. State troops, June 14, 1780 ; killed De- 
cember, 1780, by the Reftigee leader, Captain John 
Bacon, at Cranbury Inlet, opposite Tom's River. 



Jacob Ten Eyck, lieutenant. Captain Carhart's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

Hendrick Van Brunt, Jr., lieutenant, third regiment. 

Hendriek Vanderveer, sergeant, lieutenant. 

James Wall, ensign, "Captain Smock's light dra- 
goons;'' lieutenant, ditto. 

John Whitlock, lieutenant, first regiment ; killed 
February 13, 1777, at Middletown. 

FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 

Jeremiah Chadwick, first lieutenant in Captain 
Chadwick's company, third regiment. 

John Craig, first lieutenant. Captain Elisha Wal- 
ton's company, first regiment. May 7, 1777. 

Richard Edsall, fourth battalion, Jersey line. 

Auke Hendrickson, first lieutenant. Captain Wikoff's 
company, second regiment, November 12, 1777. 

Garrett Hendrickson, first lieutenant. Captain Wil- 
liam Schenck's company, first regiment, Septem- 
ber 2.1, 1777 ; wounded at Middletown, January 
21, 1780. 

Jonathan Holmes, fourth battalion, Jersey line. 

Isaac Imlay, private, lieutenant. 

Curtenius Schenck, lieutenant. 

Jacob Tice, second lieutenant. Captain Hunn's 
company, first regiment, October 12, 1775 ; first 
lieutenant. Captain John Schenck's company, 
ditto ; first lieutenant, Middlesex militia. 

John Walton, first lieutenant. Captain Hankinson's 
company, first regiment, April 28, 1777. 

SECOND LIEUTENANTS. 

Peter Conney, second lieutenant. 

Joseph Cosgrove, second lieutenant. 

Benjamin Covenhoven, second lieutenant in Captain 
Hendrick Smock's company, first regiment, 
September 1, 1777. 

John Coward, second lieutenant. Captain Wikoff's 
company, second regiment, November 12, 1777. 

Thomas Edwards, second lieutenant. 

David Forman, second lieutenant, Captain Elisha 
Walton's company, first regiment, May 7, 1777. 

Elisha Holmes, second lieutenant, fourth battalion, 
second establishment, November 28, 177(3 ; second 
lieutenant, Captain Holmes' company, ditto. Feb- 
ruary 17, 1777 ; retired September 2(3, 1780. 

Jonathan Holmes, ensign in Captain Burrows' 
company, first regiment ; second lieutenant in 
ditto; second lieutenant in "Heard's brigade," 
June 14,1776; also captain in Continental army. 

John Holmes, first battalion. Continental line. 

James Wall, second lieutenant. Captain William 
Schanck's company, first regiment, September 
2-5, 1777. 

James Whitlock, second lieutenant. 

ENSIGNS. 

Peter Bowne, ensign. 
John Buckalew, ensign. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



233 



James Craig, ensign, Captain Walton's troop light 
dragoons ; ensign, State troops, light drag- 
oons. 

Nathaniel Davidson, ensign in Captain Wikoff's 
company, second regiment, November 12, 1777. 

Morris De Hart, ensign, Captain Chadwick's com- 
pany, tliird regiment. 

John Errickson, private, first regiment ; sergeant, 
ditto ; ensign, ditto. 

William Hillyer, ensign. 

John Hutch, ensign in Captain Wikoff 's company, 
second regiment. 

David Imlay, State troops. 

Ezekiel Imlay, ensign, Captain Hankinson's com- 
pany, first regiment, April 2S, 1777. 

AVilliam Imlay, ensign. 

Lambert Johnson, ensign in Captain Barnes Smock's 
company, firat regiment ; taken prisoner Feb- 
ruary 13, 1777; died April 1-5, 1777. while a 
prisoner. 

Abraham Lane, fii'st battalion, Continental line. 

Matthias Johnson, ensign. Captain Carhart's com- 
pany. State troops. 

Jesse Marsh, ensign in Captain Eeuben Randolph's 
company. 

John Morris, ensign ; ensign. Captain Walton's 
company, State troops. 

John G. Schenck, ensign, Captain Huun's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

Peter Vanderhoof, ensign. Captain Samuel Car- 
hart's company, first regiment, 1780 ; ensign, 
State troops. 

Job Walton, ensign in Captain Hankinson's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

E]ihraim Whitlock, ensign, militia; ensign, 
"Heard's brigade," June 14, 1776; also adjutant. 
Continental army. 

CORXETS, 

Jonathan Forman, cornet, " Captain Walton's 
troop, light dragoons," Monmouth militia ; 
cornet, Captain Walton's company (Iiorsemen), 
State troops. 

.SERGEANT.?. 

Jacob Allen, sergeant in Captain Carhart's com- 
pany, first regiment. 
Tunis Aumock, sergeant, " Captain Barnes Smock's 

company artillery." 
John Brine, sergeant in Lieutenant Jacob Tice's 

company, first regiment. 
John Chasy, private, " Captain Walton's troop, 

light dragoons; " sergeant, ditto ; also sergeant. 

Continental army. 
George Collins, ]>rivate, Captain Bruere's ; sergeant, 

ditto. 
Joseph Combs, private, " Captain Walton's troop 

ligh-thorse ; " sergeant, ditto. 
Lewis Covenhoven, sergeant, infjintry; sergeant, 

troop light horse. 



Theodoras Covenhoven, sergeant. Captain Hankin- 
son's company, first regiment. 

David Craig, private, " Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons ; " sergeant, ditto. 

John Emens (Emmons?), sergeant, Captain Hunn's 
company, first regiment. 

Tennis Forman, private and sergeant. 

William Forman, sergeant, Captain Hankinson's 
company, first regiment. 

William Grandin, sergeant, Cajitain Waddell's 
company, first regiment. 

James Herbert, sergeant, Captain Hankinson's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

John Hotf, private in Captain Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany, first regiment ; sergeant, ditto. 

Robert James, sergeant, Cai)tain Waddell's company, 
first regiment. 

Peter Johnson, ''sergeant. Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons. 

Richard Laird, private, " Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons;" corporal, ditto; sergeant, ditto. 

David Landon, sergeant, '' Captain Huddy's com- 
jiany artillery, " State troops. 

Samuel Leonard, sergeant. Captain Waddell's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

William Lloyd, private, Captain Baird's company, 
first regiment ; sergeant, ditto. 

Alexander Low, sergeant. 

James Newell, sergeant. 

Richard Pittenger, sergeant, "Cajitain Walton's 
troops, light dragoons." 

John Reid, sergeant, Captain Hankinson's company, 
first regiment. 

John Rhea, sergeant, "Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons." 

John Russell, sergeant, Captain AValton's troop 
light dragoons. 

Elisha Shippard (Sheppard?), sergeant, Captain 
Hunn's company, first regiment. 

Henry Strieker, sergeant, Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons. 

Derrick Sutphen, jsrivate, Captain Waddell's com- 
pany, first regiment ; sergeant. Captain Barnes 
Smock's company artillery. 

Samuel Throckmorton, sergeant. Captain Waddell's 
company, first regiment. 

Hendrick Vanderbelt, private. Captain Samuel 

Dennis' company first regiment; sergeant, ditto. 

Tunis Vanderveer, matross, "Captain Barnes 

Smock's company artillery ; " sergeant, ditto. 
Cort. Van Koyor, corporal, Captain Hunn's com- 
pany, first regiment ; sergeant, ditto. 
William Walton, sergeant. Captain Bruere's company. 
John Willett, sergeant. 

Abraham Wooley, sergeant, Captain Walton's 
troop light dragoons. 

CORPOR.iLS. 

Joseph Bowne, corporal, Captain Waddell's company, 
light regiment. 



234 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Henry Frease, coi]ioral, Captain Bruere's company. 


Rue, William. 


Sutphen, Peter. 


William Hankinson, corporal, Captain Hankinson's 


Scudder, Job. 


Sylvester, Obadiah. 


company. 




Sharp, Robert. 


Tapscott, James. 


George Blount, private, C 


aptain Bruere's company ; 


Smalley, James. 


Tatem, Charles. 


corporal, ditto ; died of fatigue at Burnt Tavern. 


Smith, Jacob. 


Test, John. 


Burns Norris, corporal. Captain Carhart's company. 


Solomon, John. 


Vankirk, John. 


first regiment. 




Stalm, Isaac. 


Van Pelt, William. 


Samuel Osborne, corporal 


, Captain Waddell's com- 


States, Isaac. 


Warrick, John. 


pany, first regiment. 




Sutfin, David. 


Welet, Valentine. 


Derrick Sipphen (Sutplien 


.\) coriioral, Captain Hunn's 


Sutfin, Job. 


Wilson, James. 


company, first regiment. 


Sutfin, Joseph. 


Worth, John. 


John Throckmorton, corporal in Captain Waddell's 


Sutphen, John. 


Yates, William. 


company, first regiment. 




Henry Vunck, private anc 


corporal. 


Captain Joshua ffjicldy's Company of Artillery, State 


William Wikofl', corporal. 


Waddell's company, first 


T^-oops. 


regiment. 




Applegate, Daniel, matross ; also Continental line. 


PRIVATES. 


Case, William, matross. 


Captain John Walton's 


Troops Light Dragoons. 


Dodge, David, matross. . 
Edsall, James, matross. 


Arwin, James. 


Hall, John. 


Farr, John, matross ; killed at Tom's River, March 24, 


Arwin, John. 


Hankinson, James. 


1782. 


Ash ton, Robert. 


Hankinson, William. 


Kinsley, James, matross ; killed at Tom's River, 


Ashton, Thomas. 


Harbert, Daniel. 


March 24, 1782. 


Brasted, Isaac. 


Harbert, James. 


McDaniel, Cornelius, matross. 


Brinley, Jacob. 


Henderson, John. 


Mitchell, James, matross. 


Brooks, Jonathan. 


Hend rickson, Daniel. 


Mitchell, John, matross. 


Brown, Samuel. 


Hendrickson, Elias. 


Morris, John, matross. 


Brown, William. 


Hight, John. 


Niverson, John, matross. 


Burden, William. 


Jeflrie, Humphrey. 


Parker, George, matross. 


Buckalew, Samuel. 


Jewell, John. 


Parker, John, matross. 


Carr, Ebenezer. 


Jobes, Robert. 


Parker, Joseph, matross. 


Chambers, John. 


Johnson, William (1). 


Petteniore, Jonathan, matross. 


Clayton, Asher. 


Johnson, William (2). 


Robbins, Moses, matross ; wounded at Tom's River, 


Clayton, John. 


Kerr, Watson. 


March 24, 1782. 


Clayton, Jonathan. 


Knox, Jose|ih. 


Rostoinder, Thomas, matross. 


Clayton, Robert. 


Laird, William. 


Stillwagon, Jacob, matross. 


Clinton, George. 


Lippincott, Jacob. 


Storey, Seth, matross. 


Coal, Jacob. 


Lippincott, William. 


Valentine, Thomas, matross. 


Cock, David. 


Lord, David. 


Wainwright, John, matross. 


Combs, Joseph. 


Luif, John. 


Wilber, John, matross. 


Cummins, Robert. 


Mason, Joseph. 




Covenhoven, John. 


Middleton, Thomas. 


Captain Barnes Smock's Company of Artillery. 


Covenhoven, Job. 


Morford, John. 


Aumock, John, matross. 


Covenhoven, Rulifi". 


Morgan, James. 


Covert, William, matross. 


Covenhoven, Theodosius. 


Mount, Moses. 


Hart, Ebenezer. matross. 


Covert, Benjamin. 


Parrent, John. 


Heingey, Samuel, matross. 


Craig, John. 


Perrine, Lewis. 


Hendrickson, Abram, matross. 


Davison, James. 


Perse, Samuel. 


Hendrickson, Elias, matross. 


Davison, John. 


Poster, Charles. 


Hendrickson, John, matross. 


Driskey, John. 


Postley, Richard. 


Hoagland, James, matross. 


Emley, Jonathan. 


Reed, Aaron. 


Johnson, John, taken prisoner February 13, 1777; 


Emley, Joseph. 


Rhea, Robert. 


died prisoner. 


Erwin, John. 


Rose, Joseph. 


Lewis, Ezekiel, matross. 


Ferris, Nathaniel. 


Rue, Henry. 


McDuftie, James, matross. 


Ferris, William. 


Rue, Jolui. 


Niverson, John, matross. 


Fitzsimmons, Jaiucj. 


Rue, Matthew. 


Philwell, David, matross. 


Forman, William. 


Rue, Matthias, died pris- 


Reid, John, matross. 


Freeman, John. 


oner of war at New- 


Reid, Jonathan, matross. 


Gore, James. 


York, Feb. 28, 1777. 


Sickles, James, matross. 





MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



235 



Smith, Joseph, matross. 
Staatser, Isaac, matross. ; 

Tilton, Benjamin, Jr., matross. x/ 
Vanderveer, Josejih, matross. 
Van JIater, Benjamin, matross. 
Van Schaick, Court, matross. 
Vorhees, Tunis, matross. 
Worrell, Jvieholas, matross. 



In other o> 

Aikers, William. Conti- 
nental line. 

Allen, David. 

Allen, John. 

Allen, Judah. 

Allen, Nathan. 

Aniey, David. 

Anderson, Elijah. 

Auder.son, John, Captain 
Waddell'.s company, 
first regiment. 

Anderson, William. 

Applegate, John. 

Applegate, Robert, Cap- 
tain Hankinson's 
companj'. 

Atlen, Jacob. 

Aumock, John. 

Aumock, William. 

Ayers, Richard. 

Bailey, Jonathan. 

Baird, Obadiah. 

Barkelow, David. 

Bates, James. 

Beck, AV^illiam, third 
regiment. 

Beedle, Thomas, first 
regiment. 

Benhaw, Richard. 

Bennett, Edward. 

Bennett, Jacob. 

Bennett, Jeremiah. 

Bennett, John, Lieuten- 
ant Barnes J. Smock's 
dragoons. 

Berdine, Walter, Lieuten- 
ant Tice's company, 
first regiment. 

Berry, Henry. 

Berry, John. 

Bird, Henry. 

Bird, James. 

Bird, William. 

Bogart, Samuel. 

Boltenhouse, Bedford. 

Boman, Coleman. 

Borden, Jesse. 

Borden, John. 

Borden, William. 



•ganizaUons. 

Bostick, William, Wad- 
dell's company, first 
regiment. 

Bowers, John. 

Bowman, John, Captain 
Hunn's company, 
fir.st regiment. 

Bowne, David. 

Bowne, Elias. 

Bowne, James. 

Bowne, Peter, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Bowne, Joseph. 

Bowne, Samuel. 

Bowne, William. 

Brand, John. 

Brearley, John, second 
regiment. 

Breese, John, Continental 
line. 

Brewer, Jacob. 

Brinley, George. 

Brinley, William. 

Britton, Abraham, Lieu- 
tenant Jacob Tice's 
company, first regi- 
ment. 

Britton, Israel, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Broderick, Absalom. 

Broderick, William, Con- 
tinental line. 

Brooks, Jonathan, Cap- 
tain Hankinson's 
company. 

Brower, Abram. 

Brown, David. 

Brown, John. 

Bruer, John, Captain 
Hunn's company. 

Bryant, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Bunting, Ramoth, Conti- 
nental line. 

Burd, Joseph.Continental 
line. 

Burd, Richard, Conti- 
nental line. 

Burk, Samuel. 



Camburn, Nathan. 
Carhart, John. 
Carhart, Richard. 
Carhart, Robert. 
Carhart, Thomas. 
Carl, Uriah, Lieutenant 
Tice's company, 
first regiment. 

Carl, .\drian. 

Carlton, Francis. 

Carman, Elijah. 

Carman, Nathaniel. 

Carroll, Adrian. 

Cavana, John. 

Chafl'ey, Thomas. 

Chamberlain, Aaron. 

Chamberlain, Henry. 

Chambers, James, Conti- 
nental line. 

Chambers, Robert, Cap- 
tain Bruere's com- 
pany. 

Chambers, William. 

Cheeseman, William. 

Childerhouse, John, Con- 
tinental line. 

Clark, Alexander, Cap- 
tain Hunn's com- 
pany ; killed at Mid- 
dletown, February 
13, 1777. 

Clark, Alexander, Lieu- 
tenant Tice"s com- 
pany. 

Clark, Nicholas. 

Clayton, Asher, Captain 
Hankinson's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

Clayton, Elijah. 

Clayton, Jonathan, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Clayton, Joseph. 

Clayton, Noah. 

Clayton, Zebulon. 

Cole, William, first regi- 
ment ; died a pris- 
oner, March 15, 
1778. 

Collins, John, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany, first regiment. 

Colvin, James, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

Combs, Isaac. 

Combs, John, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Compton, George, Conti- 
nental line. 



Compton, Jacob. 
Compton, James, Cap- 
tain Bruere's com- 
pany. 
Compton, James, Conti- 
nental line. 

Compton, Job. 

Compton, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Compton, Joseph. 

Compton, Lewis, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Coner, Thomas, Captain 
Carhart's company,. 
First regiment. 

Conk, Hendrick. 

Conk, John. 

Connelly, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Connett, Matthew, Caj)- 
tain Haukinson"» 
com])any. 

Conover, Elias (1), Caji- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Conover, Elias (2), Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Conover, John N. 

Conover, William, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Conro, Levi. 

Convey. Thomas. 

Cook, George, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Cook, George, Captain 
Hankinson's com- 
pany. 

Cook, Peter, Captain 
John Schanck's com- 
pany, first regiment. 

Cook, Thomas. 

Cook, William. 

Coperat, Joseph, Captain 
Hankinson's com- 
pany. 

Coslick, David. 

Cottrell, Eleazer. 

Cottrell, James. 

Cottrell, Nicholas. 

Cottrell, Thomas, Lieu- 
tenant Tice's com- 
pany. 

Cottrell, William. 

Covenhoven, Cornelius 
(1), Captain Carhart's 
company. 



236 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Covenhoven, Cornelius 
(2), Captain Carhart's 
company. 
Covenhoven, Cornelius 
(3), Captain Hankin- 
son's company. 

Covenhoven, David. 

Covenhoven, Garret, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Covenhoven, Isaac, Cap- 
t a i n Hankiuson's 
company. 

Covenhoven, Jacob, Cap- 
tain Huun's com- 
pany. 

Covenhoven, Job, Cap- 
tain Hankinson's 
company. 

Covenhoven, John, Cap- 
tain Hiinn's com- 
pany. 

Covenhoven, Joseph,Cap- 
tain Hankinson's 
company. 

Covenhoven, Mattliias, 
Captain Samuel Den- 
nis' company. 

Covenhoven, William, 
Captain Hankinson's 
company. 

Covert, Adrian, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Covert, Bunyan. 

Covert, William, Captain 
Hunn's company. 

Coward, Joseph, Conti- 
nental line. 

Coward, Samuel. 

Cox, Asher. 

Cox, James. 

Craig, John, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Craig, Samuel. 

Crane, Silas, continental 
line. 

Craven, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Crawford, James, Captain 
Carhart's company ; 
killed at Middletown, 
February 13, 1777. 

Crawford, Stephen. 

Crawford, William G. 

Cummins, Richard. 

Cummins, Robert. 

Dane, Joseph, Conti- 
nental line. 
Davis, John. 



Davison, William, Cap- 
tain Hankinson's 
company. 

Dean, Matthew, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany. 

Denight, James, Conti- 
nental line. 

Denight, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Denise, Daniel, Captain 
Waddell's company, 
first regiment. 

Dennis, Joseph. 

Dennis, Philip, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

Dey, John. 

Dey, Josiah. 

Disbrow, J. D., artillery. 

Doren, Cornelius, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Dorn, Nicholas, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Dorsett, Benjamin. 

Dorsett, John. 

Dorsett, Joseph, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany. 

Dorsett, Samuel. 

Dorsett, James. 

Driskey, Cornelius, Cap- 
tain Bruere's com- 
pany. 

Driskell, John. 

Drumm, Andrew. 

Drumm, Christian, Conti- 
nental line. 

Dunlop, Samuel, Conti- 
nental line. 

Duvinney, William. 

Eakman, Peter. 

Eaton, John. 

Eldridge, John. 

Embley, Ezekiel, Captain 
Hankinson's com- 
])any. 

Embley, Jonathan, Cap- 
tain Hankinson's 
company. 

Emmons, Abraham, Con- 
tinental line. 

Emmons, Amos. 
Emmons, Ezekiel. 
Emmons, Jesse. 
Emmons, John, Captain 

Hunn's company. 

Emmons, Peter, Captain 

Hunn's company. 



English James. 
Errickson, Errick. 
Errickson, Michael. 
Errickson, Thomas. 
Ervin, John. 
Essick, Stephen, Conti- 
nental line. 
Evengen, William. 
Everingham, John. 
Everingham, Nathaniel. 
Everingham, Thomas. 
Fenton, George. 
Fenton, Peter. 
Fenton, Thomas. 
FerroU, Absalom. 
Fisher, Henry. 
Fleming, Jacob. 
Forman, Dennis, Captain 

Carhart's company. 
Forman, Jonathan, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 
Forman, Samuel, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 
Freeman, Philip, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 
Friend, Hendrick, first 

regiment. 
Frisalear, James. 
Garrison, Garrett, Cap- 
tain Samuel Dennis' 
company. 
Gaston, Daniel. 
Gaston, William. 
Gill, John, Continental 

line. 
Gilledet, Peter, Conti- 
nental line. 
Gillman, Charles, first 

regiment. 
Gillmore, Charles. 
Gollaher, Ebenezer. 
Gollaher, Lewis. 
Gordon, Peter. 
Gordon, William. 
Greenwood, Daniel, Con- 
tinental line. 
Gregory, John. 
Griffy, Eddy, Captain 

Bruere's company. 
Griggs, Matthew. 
Griggs, Thomas, Captain 
Hankiuson's compa- 
ny. 
Grimes, George, Conti- 
nental line. 
Hagaman, Dolhvyn. 



Hailey, George. 

Hall, David, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

Hall, Jacob, Continental 
line. 

Hall, William, Continen- 
tal line, wounded at 
Middletown, June 22, 
1781. 

Halstead, Josiah, Conti- 
nental line. 

Hampton, James. 

Hampton, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Handrix, John, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Hankins, Daniel, Conti- 
nental line. 

Hawkins, Joseph, conti- 
nental line. 

Hankins, Thomas. 

Hankins, William. 

Hankinson, John, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Hankinson, Joseph. 

Hankinson, Reuben, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Hanzey, Samuel. 

Harber, John. 

Harbert, John. 

Harcourt, William. 

Harker, John. 

Harris, Edmond, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Harrison, George. 

Harrison, Job. 

Havens, Jesse. 

Havens, Moses. 

Hays, Daniel, Captain 
Hankinson's company. 

Hays, John. 

Haviland, Job, Continen- 
tal line. 

Henderson, David. 

Hendrickson, Abraham, 
Captain Hunn's com- 
pany. 

Hendrickson, Cornelius. 

Hendricfeson. Hendrick, 
light-horse. 

Hendrickson, James. 

Hendrickson, William. 

Herbert, Jas., light-horse. 

Herbert, Thomas. 

Hibbetts, James, first 
regiment, died pris- 
oner, June 1, 1780. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE REVOLUTION. 



23T 



Hier, Heudrick, Coiiti- 


Johnson,' Joseph, Cap- 


Linsey, Thomas, first reg- 


Morford, Joseph. 


uental line. 


tain Samuel Dennis' 


iment. 


Morford, Noah, Captain 


Hier, Walter, State troops, 


company. 


Lloyd, David, Captain 


Hankinson's compa- 


wounded at Middle- 


Johnson, Peter, Captain 


Waddell's company. 


ny. 


town, June 21, 1781. 


Hankinson's compa- 


Lloyd, James. 


Moribrd, Stephen. 


Hier, William. 


ny. 


Lloyd, .lohn, Captain 


Morgan, Enoch, first regi- 


Hill, James, State troops. 


Johnston, Abraham.; 


WaddelFs company. 


ment. 


Hill, John. 


Johnston, Hendrick. 


Lloyd, Thomas. 


Morris, Robert, Captain 


Hillow, Jonathan, Conti- 


Johnston, John. 


Longstreet, John, Cap- 


Waddell's company. 


nental line. 


Johnston, Joseph. 


tain Waddell's com- 


Morrison, Daniel. 


Hilsey, Joseph, Continen- 


Johnston, William. 


pany. 


Morrison, Wm., Captain 


tal line. 


Jones, Henr)-, Continen- 


Luis (or Lewis), William, 


Hankinson's compa- 


Hilsey, William. 


tal line. 


Captain Hankinson's 


ny. 


Hillyer, Simon. 


Jones, James, Captain 


company. 


Mount, Nathaniel. 


Hires, J., Captain Hunn's 


Hankinson's compa- 


Mains, Andrew, first reg- 


Mullen, John, Continen- 


company. 


ny. 


iment ; wounded at 


tal line. 


Holmes, Anthony. 


Jones, Jonathan, Conti- 


Germantown, Octo- 


Murray, Joseph, third 


Holmes, John. 


nental line. 


ber 4, 1777. 


regiment; killed by 


Holmes, Joseph. 


Jordan, Michael, Conti- 


Mains, William. 


Refugees at Middle- 


Holmes, Stout. 


nental line. 


Mans, Andry, Captain 


town, June 8, 1780. 


Holmes, William. 


Kelsey, John. 


Hunn's company. 


Naberling,Christian,Con- 


Hopkins, Edward. 


Kerr, Ebenezer. 


Marsh, James, Captain 


tiuental line. 


Horner, Samuel. 


Kerr, W., Continental line 


Carhart's company. 


Nance. John, Continental 


Horton, Benjamin. 


Kerr, William, Captain 


Martin, \Villiam, Conti- 


line. 


Hubbard, Jacobus. 


Hankinson's compa- 


nental line, 


Nestor, John. 


Hubbs, David, Continen- 


ny. 


May, Moses. 


Newell, Hugh, Captaiu 


tal line. 


Kerrill, William. 


McBride, John, Conti- 


Bruere's company. 


Hulebart, Marties, Cap- 


Kincard, George, Conti- 


nental line. 


Newman, Samuel. 


tain Carhart's com- 


nental line. 


McChesney, James. 


Newman, Thomas. 


pany. 


Kinsley, James. 


McDaniel, C, Continen- 


Newman, William, Conti- 


Hulu, Matthew. 


Lake, J., Captain Hunn's 


tal line. 


nental line. 


Hulu, William. 


company. 


McDonald, Benj., Conti- 


Nivison, Nathan. 


Hulsart, Benjamin, first 


Lane, A., first regiment ; 


nental line. 


Norris, Burrows. 


regiment. 


wounded July, 177S. 


McDuffie, Robert. 


North, John. 


Hulsart, Cornelius. 


Lane, Jacob. 


McDugal, William. 


Ogborn, William, Lieu- 


Hulsart, Cornelius H. 


Lane, William. 


McGee, James, Continen- 


tenant Barnes J. 


Hulsart, Matt., Lieuten- 


Laird, Robert, Lieuten- 


tal line. 


Smock's dragoons. 


ant Tice's company. 


ant B. J. Smock's 


McKuight, Joseph. 


Oglesbie, Robert. 


Hulsart, William. 


dragoons. 


McLaughlin, Dan., Con- 


O'Neal, Henry Conti- 


Hulse, Timothy, Captain 


Lard, William, Captain 


tinental line. 


nental line. 


Carhart's company. 


AVaddell's company. 


McMullen, John. 


O'Neal, John. 


Hunu, John S. 


Lawrence, Daniel, Cap- 


McNight, Lewis, Captain 


Otson, John, Continental 


Hurley, William. 


tain Waddell's com- 


Hankinson's compa- 


line. 


Imlay, Jonathan. 


pany. 


ny. 


Overfelt, Conrad, Captain 


Imlay, Robert. 


Leard, Richard, Captain 


Molatt, Gideon, Conti- 


Waddell's company. 


Irons, James. 


Hankinson's compa- 


nental line. 


Overteur, Henry. 


Isleton, Jonathan, Conti- 


ny- 


Moore, Caleb.Contiuental 


Page, Timothy. 


nental line. 


Leard, William, Captain 


line. 


Pairs, Samuel. 


Ivins, A. , Continental lin e 


Hankinson's compa- 


Moore, Edward, Captain 


Palmer, Philip, Conti- 


Ivins, Solomon, Conti- 


ny. 


Samuel Dennis' com- 


nental line. 


nental line. 


Leister, John. 


pany. 


Pangborn, Limis, killed 


Jackson, Hugh, Captain 


Lemmon, Isaiah. 


Moore, John. 


at Manahawkin, N. 


Bruere's company. 


Lemmon, Thomas. 


Moore, Joseph. 


J., December 30, 1781. 


James, AVilliam. 


Letson, Thomas. 


Moore, Matthias, Conti- 


Pangborn, Nathaniel. 


Jeffrey, Francis. 'j^ Letts, John, Continental 


nental line. 


Parker, Elisha. 


Jewell J., Captain Hank- 


line. 


Moore, Thomas, Conti- 


Parker, Joseph. 


inson's company. 


Letts, Nehemiah. 


nental line. 


Parker, Mark. 


1 1 Johnson, Henry, first reg- 


Levings, R., Lieutenant 


Morford, J., Captain Han- 


Parrent, Robert, Captaia 


iment. 


Tice's company. 


kinson's company. 


Bruere's company. 



238 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Parse, John, first regi- 
ment. 

Parse, Jonathan, first 
regiment. 

Parsons, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Patten, John. 

Paul, Benjamin, Captain 
Burrows' company. 

Paxon, William, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

Pease, Samuel. 

Pearce, Samuel, Lieuten- 
ant Barnes J. Smock's 
dragoons. 

Peep, Samuel, Lieutenant 
Barnes J. Smock's 
dragoons. 

Peer, Jonathan, Conti- 
nental line. 

Peet, Herman. 

Peirce, Jonathan. 

Peirce, Samuel, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Perrine, Henry. 

Perrine, James. 

Perrine, J., Captain Hau- 
kinson's company. 

Perrine, S., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Pettinger, Richard. 

Pew, Joseph. 

Philmelie, David. 

Pidgeiin, Isaac, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

Pierce, Jt)nathan, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Pike, Thomas M. 

Pittenger, Samuel, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Piatt, Francis. 

Polhemus, James. 

Polhemus, Lefford. 

Polhemus, Nathan. 

Poling, Richard. 

Poling, Samuel. 

Porter, John. 

Post, George, first regi- 
ment. 

Postens, Charles, State 
troops. 

Postens, Jacob, State 

troops. 
Potter, Paul. 
Potter, Reuben. 

Potts, William, Conti- 
nental line. 



Preston, John. 

Preston, Joseph, Conti- 
nental line. 

Price, John. 

Primmer, Adam. 

Purdy, Richard, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

Quackenbush, Peter, Cap- 
tain Hunn's com- 
pany. 

Randolph, Samuel. 

Ray, D., Captain Wad- 
dell's company. 

Reed, A., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Reed, Job, Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Reed, John, light horse. 

Reeves, Hosea. 

Reynolds, James. 

Reynolds, .John. 

Ribeth, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Richardson, John. 

Rivets, George. 

Robbins, Joseph. 

Robbins, William. 

Roberts, Matthew, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Roberts, Thomas, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Robinson, Edniond. 

Rodgers, Samuel, Lieu- 
tenant Tice's com- 
pany. 

Rogers, James. 

Rogers, Richard. 

Roler, Philip, continental 
line. 

Rolls, William. 

Rooler, William. 

Rue, Job, Captain Hank- 
inson's company. 

Rue, M., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Rue, Mathias, Ensign 
Walton's company, 
first regiment ; died 
prisoner of war at 
New York, February 
28, 1777. 

Ruff, John, Captain Sam- 
uel Dennis' company. 

San ford, William. 

Schnack, Cornelius, Cap- 
tain Hunn's com- 
pany. 



Schaner, Rulief, Captain 

Hunn's company. 

Schenck, Crineyonce. 

Schenck, Cyrenus, Lieu- 
tenant Tice's com- 
pany. 

Schenck, Garrett, Lieu- 
tenant B. J. Smock's 
dragoons. 

Schenck, Peter, Lieuten- 
ant Tice's company. 

Schenck, William, Lieu- 
tenant Tice's com- 
pany. 

Scoby, Timothy, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Seabrook, James, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany. 

Sexton, Daniel. 

Sexton, William. 

Shafey, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Shaw, Thomas, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Shearman, .Tosiah. 

Shepherd, Thomas, Lieu- 
tenant Tice's com- 
pany. 

Shockalear, Albertus. 

Sickle (or Van Sickle), 
D., Continental line. 

Smith, Benjamin. 

Smith, Gideon. 

Smith, J., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Smith, J., Captain Hunn's 
company. 

Smith, Peter. 

Smith, Samuel, Lieuten- 
ant Tice's company. 

Smith, Thomas, Conti- 
nental line. 

Smith, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Smock, Cornelius. 

Smock, George. 

Sneider, Chris., Continen- 
tal line. 

Sneider, John. 

Snowden, William. 

Solomon, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Springstein, John. 

Starkey, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Steath, Robert. 



Stewart, William. 

Still, E., Captain Bruere's 
company. 

Stillwagon, Peter. 

Stillwell, Garrett, Lieu- 
tenant B. J. Smock's 
dragoons. 

Stillwell, Gershom. 

Stillwell, John, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany. 

Stillwell, Obadiah, first 
regiment ; died, pris- 
oner, April 13, 1777. 

Stillwell, Thomas. 

Stiner, Matthew. 

Storer, John. 

Storey, Luke. 

Stout, James. 

Stout, Jeremiah. 

Stout, Jonathan. 

Stout, Thomas, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany. 

Strieker, Adam, Captain 
Samuel Dennis' com- 
pany. 

Stymitz, John. 

Stymitz, Peter. 

Sutfin, J., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Sutphen, Abram. 

Sutphen, Court, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Sutton, Jonas, Continen- 
tal line. 

Suydam, Richard. 

Svvangler, Jacobus, Cap- 
tain Bruere's com- 
pany. 

Swem, Jesse, Continental 
line. 

Tallman, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Taylor, David,' Conti- 
nental line. 

Taylor, Edward. 

Taylor, Jas., State troops. 

Taylor, J., Captain Wad- 
dell's company. 

Taylor, Joseph, first regi- 
ment ; wounded at 
Germantown, Octo- 
ber 4, 1777. 

Tharpe, Benjamin. 

Thomas, Richard. 

Thomas, Robert. 



1 Grandfather of Marcus B. Taylor. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE WAR OF 1812-15. 



239 



Thompson, Benjamin. 

Thompson, Lewis, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Thompson, William, Cap- 
tain Samuel Dennis' 
company. 

Thomson, David. 

Thomson, Thomas. 

Thorp, B., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Throckmorton, J., light 
horse; also Continen- 
tal line. 

Throckmorton, J., State 
troops. 

Tice, Richard. 

Tilton, Benjamin. 

Tilton, J., Captain Wad- 
dell's company. 

Tompson, John, Captain 
Waddell's comjjany. 

Tompson, Joseph, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Tonson, Isaac. 

Tribit, John. 

Truax, A., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Truax, Jacob. 

Truax, Samuel, Captain 
S. Dennis' company. 

Truax, Samuel, (2), Lieu- 
tenant Tice's com- 
pany. 

Tunison, C, Lieutenant 
Barnes J. Smock's 
dragoons. 

Tyson, John. 

Valentine, William. 

Van Artsdalen, Jacob C. 

Van Blarkin, David. 

Van Brackley, S., Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Van Cleaf, William, Cap- 
tain Hunn's company, 
taken prisoner, Feb- 
ruary 13, 1777, and 
died a prisoner. 

Van Cleave, John. 
I Van Cleave, Joseph. 

Van Cleave, Peter. 

Vanderbilt, Cornelius. 

Vanderbilt, Jacob. 

Vauderhall, A., Conti- 
nental line. 

Vanderhoof, C, Captain 
Carhart's company. 



Vanderhoof, C. P., Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Vanderhoof, John. 

Vanderhull, Gersh'm, first 
regiment, died March 
28, 1778, of wounds 
received at battle of 
Germantown. 

Vanderhull, A., State 
troops. 

Vanderhull, Henry. 

Vanderveer, John. 

Vanderveer, Peter. 

Vandine, Denise. 

Van Dorn, Isaac, light 
dragoons. 

Van Dorn, Nicholas. 

Van Kirk, J., Captain 
Hankinson's com- 
pany. 

Van Kirk, William. 

Van Mater, C, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

Van Mater, Cyrinus, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Van Mater, Gilbert. 

Van Mater, Guisbert. 

Van Norman, James,Con- 
tinental line. 

Van Northwick, Martin. 

Van Pelt, A., Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Van Pelt, C, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Van Pelt, Hendrick, Cap- 
tain Carhart's ccmi- 
pany. 

Van Pelt, Jacoli, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Van Pelt, Johannes, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Van Pelt, Tunis, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Van Pelt, Walter, Cap- 
tain Carhart's com- 
pany. 

Van Pelt, Wm., Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Van Schoick, Benjamin. 

Vantwicke, John, Conti- 
nental line. 

Vantwicke, Joseph, Con- 
tinental line. 

Voorhees, Henry. Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 



Voorhees, Lucas. 

Voorhees, William, Cap- 
tain Waddell's com- 
pany. 

Voorliees, Jaijues. 

Waiuwright, Vincent. 

Walker, Forniau. 

Walker, George, Ca])tuia 
Waddell's company. 

Wallen, John, Captain 
Carliart's company. 

Wallen, William. 

Walling, Carhart. 

Walling, Daniel. 

Walling, James. 

Availing, John. 

Walling, P., first regiment, 
wounded at Middle- 
town, June 21, 1781. 

Walton, Carhart, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Ward, William, Continen- 
tal line. 

Warner, George. 

Watson, John. 

Watson, William, Conti- 
nental line. 

Weeks, Arthur. 

West, Stephen, Captain 
Waddell's company. 

West, T., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

White, Lewis. 

White, William. 

Whitlock, James, Captain 
Carhart's company. 

Whitlock, Lockhart. 

.Wickoff, Garret. 

Wickott', J., Captain Han- 
kinson's company. 

Wickoft' Samuel. 

Wickoftj Wm., Captain 
Hunn's company. 



Winter, James, first regi- 
ment, died, prisoner, 
March 4, 1777. 

Winter, Joseph, Conti- 
nental line. 

Witchel, Jacob, Conti- 
nental line. 

Wollea, Joseph, Captain 
Hunn's company. 

AVood, Benjamin. 

Wood, George. 

AVood, Matthias. 

AVoodmancy, Asa. 

Woodmancy, David. 

AVoodmancy, James. 

AVoolley, Abram. 

AA'oolverton, Stephen. 

AVorth, AVilliam, Conti- 
nental line. 

AVilber, AVilliam. 

AVilberson, Steron. 

AVilbur, Richard, Captain 
Bruere's company. 

AViley, John, continental 
line. 

AA'ilgus, AVilliam. 

AVilkinson, James. 

AVillett, Humphrey, Cap- 
tain Samuel Dennis' 
company. 

AVilliamson, Arthur. 

Willin, Henry, Continen- 
tal line. 

AVil.son, Andrew, Conti- 
nental line. 

AVilson, Benjamin, Cap- 
tain Samuel Dennis' 
company. 

AVilson, Jacob. 

AVilson, John. 

AVilson, Peter. 

Yateman, John. 

Yates, Benjamin. 



CHAPTER XII. 

WAR OF 1812-1.5 — MEXICAN WAR CIVIL WAR 

OF 1861-6.5. 

In the war of IS 1 2-1 5 with Great Britain, a 
number of military eompanie.s under Monmouth 
County officers/ and made up of Monmouth 
County men, entered the service and performed 

' In the war of 1807, when British outrages — particularly 
that perpetrated on the ship "Chesapeake" — made war 



240 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Benjamin Van Cleve, first lieutenant in Captain 
Robert Conover's company. 

Jonatlian Pierce, in Captain Daniel D. Hendrick- 
son's company of militia, serving under Colonel 
John Frelingliuysen. 

Joseph H. Thompson, Captain Thomas White's com- 
pany, under Colonel James Abrahams, May, 
1813 ; also served in Captain Robert Conover's 

companv. 
James Covert, Captain William Ten Eyck's company, 

volunteered in 1814. 
John B.Van Cleef, Captain Robert Conover's company. 
Garrett H. Smock, Captain Ten Eyck's company. 
Samuel Van Schoick. Captain Thomas White's com- 
pany; served at Navesink Highlands, 1813. 

^^,„,, „_ ._ _ . I Daniel Browcr, Captain Robert Conover's company. 

Captain Day's compauy, of Orange, riume's , j^hn Thompson, Captain Ten Eyck's company 
'^SU of N,Ju/»n., Davis- Ri"^,".'! ^-.„ ;^».|, .^'C:/""'' "'"''' ' 



their tour.s of duty, principally in guarding the 
coast of the ocean and bays bordering Monmouth 

County. 

The formal declaration of war was made on 
the lilth of June, 1812, but two months before 
that time a requisition had been made on New 
Jersey for five thousand men, who were easily 
raised for the service, and placed under command 

of General Ludlow. 

On the 11th of :SIay, 1813, Captain William 
Ten Eyck's rifle company, of Freehold, Lieu- 
tenant James Ten Eyck's rifles, of Middletowu 
Point, with the "Jersey Blues," of Trenton 



Bloomfield, marched to Navesink Highlands for 
a thirtv days' tour of duty. On the Uth of 
July another call was made for men, under 
which Captain William Ten Eyck's Kifles and 
Lieutenant James Ten Eyck's Rifles, of Middle- 
towu Point, were again called out. The terms 
of service of these and the other companies 
were short (averaging less than three months), 
and none of the Monmouth County troops were 
called on to take part in any active operations 
against the enemy. 

It has not been found practicable to obtain a 
full list of the Monmouth County officers and 
soldiers who served in the war, but the naoK-s 
of a considerable number have been gathered 
from various sources, and are here given : those 
to which are added the names of the captains 
under whom they served having been taken 
from affidavits accompanying pension appli- 
cations ; the others chiefly from notices of the 
"Monmouth Old Guard of 1812," viz. : 
Thomas C. Throckmorton, first lieutenant in Cap- 
tain William Ten Eyck's company militia, volun- 
teered August 21, 1814. 



immineut between the two countries. President Jefferson 
made a call for troops (July 6th), under wliicli call twenty- 
four companies in the State of New Jersey promptly ten- 
dered their services. Of these, one-fourth part (six com- 
panies) were of Monmouth County, viz. : the company of 
Captain John S. Holmes, of Middletown ; Captain Uavid 
Crai- of Monmouth (Freehold); Captains Philip Holmes 
and Mathiae Van Brackle, both of Middletown Point ; Cap- 
tain Benjamin Wardell, of Monmouth ; and Captain Samuel 
Rogers, of Allentown. These companies were tendered to 
the Governor on and about the 27th of June, 1807, but 
their services were not required at that time. 



pany, Baptisttown, 1814. 
Isaac Morris, Captain Hopping's compauy mihtia, 

drafted 1814. 
Henry Benham, Captain Robert Conover's company,. 

Thomas McGiU, Captain Ditmar's company. Colonel 

John Freylinghuysen's battalion, 1814. 
George Duncan, Captain James Newell's company, 

1814. 
Daniel Christopher, Captain Charles Moore s com- 
pany, Sandy Hook, 1814. 
Jacob Pittenger, Captain Thomas White's company. 

Colonel Abraham's battalion militia, 1813. 
Thomas D. Thompson, Captain Robert Conover's 

compauy, Highlands and Sandy Hook, 1814. 
Daniel W. Applegate, Captain Robert Conover's com- 
pany Highlands and Sandy Hook, 1814. 
William I. Hendrickson, Captain Robert Conover's 

companv, Highlands and Sandy Hook, 1814. 
Thomas McTeer, Captain Robert Conover's company, 

Highlands and Sandy Hook, 1S14. 
Robert E. Craig, Captain Ten Eyck's company. 
Andrew Marks, Captain James Newell's company, 
1814- also in Captain William Bradley's com- 
pany' and Captain Obadiah Allen's company. 
Cornelius Barkalow, Captain John Frazier's company. 
John I. Errickson, Captain John Frazier's compauy. 
Pearson Thompson, Captain James Robinson s com- 
pany cavalrv, under Colonel Decatur, 1813. 
James Connolly, Captain James Robinson's comi^any 

c'lvalry under Colonel Decatur, 1813. 
John Applegate, Captain Robert Conover's company, 

Henry l'. Van M.ater, artillery, under General W. Col- 
fax. . , 
Daniels. Hays, Captain Thomas White s company. 

Highlands, 1813. 

Thomas Matthews, Captain Thomas White s com-^ 
panv Hidilands, 1813. 

EliasE.'Bramer, Captain William Ten Eyck's com- 
pany. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 



241 



John Cottrell, Captain Abraham Ditmar's company. 

Walter Yetman, Captain Robert Conover's company, 
1814. 

Edward Connolly. Captain Robert Conover's com- 
pany, 1814. 

James Cook, Captain Edwards' company. 1814. 



Edward West. 
Thomas Fardon. 
Elias Vanderveer. 
Isaac Vandoren. 
Joseph H. Thompson. 
Hendrick W. Heyer. 
John Uubbius. 
K. S. Havens. 
Peter D. Barkalow. 
William Conk. 
Daniel W. Applegate. 
Daniel Lawrence. 
Peter Vandoren. 
Elias Truax. 
George E. Tiffin. 
Joshua Wilson. 
Samuel Posten. 
John West. 
Michael Mapes. 
Joel Mitten. 
Daniel Van Brunt. 
William Springsteen. 
Asher Haggerty. 
Montillon Woolley. 
William Emery. 
Jacob Garrabrant. 
William Brown. ^ 
Jesse White. 
Joseph Brown. ^ 
Peter Snyder. 
Jacob Morris. 
William Reynolds. 
John Lane, 8r. 
John Springsteen. 
Woodward Dennis. 
William Hoffmire. 
Elihu Jeffrey. 
Hendrick Conk. 
Peter Stillwagon. 
Hendrick W. Sickles. 
David Pierce. 
Joseph Covert. 
William P. Matthews. 
Hendrick I. Sickles. 



James Covert. 
Joseph Sickles. 
Philip Stryker. 
Robert E. Craig. 
James Herbert. 
Thomas I. Smith. 
Samuel Smith. 
William Lamberton. 
Joseph Morris. 
Joseph P. Brewer. 
Garret H. Smock. 
John Compton. 
Peter Van Mater. 
Matthias Golden. 
Daniel Brewer. 
Jonathan Tunis. 
Thomas Lamberton. 
Tunis Aumaek. 
Nicholas Worrell. 
Henry Van Mater. 
Jacob R. Holmes. 
John Patterson. 
Benjamin Freeman. 
Simeon Freeman. 
John Taylor. 
John R. Smith. 
William Combs. 
Thomas M. Smith. 
Henry Latourette. 
David Taylor. - 
Daniel Bennett. 
Govine Harvey. 
Michael Maps. 
Asher Ward. 
William Dangler. 
William Huffmire. 
Peter Williams. 
Joel Mitten. 
■ Joshua Wilson. 
John Casler. 
Peter Snyder. 
Captain Samuel Osborne. 
Jacob Luker. 
Woodward Dennis. 



During the war a great number of British 
I armed vessels cruised along the coast and entered 
I the bay of Sandy Hook, some of the smaller of 

which were taken by daring American seamen. 

One of the most notable of these captures was 
1 made off Sandy Hook, on the 4th of July, 18L"J, 

by "Mad Jack Porcival," who, with a party 

10 



of sailors disguised as fishermen, sailed boldly 
out in a fishing-smack and attacked the sloop 
"Eagle," tender to the British man-of-war 
"Poictiers." The sloop, which was under com- 
mand of a midshipman, and carried a brass 
iiowitzer and a c^rew of eleven men, was captured 
after a short fight, and, with her company and 
armament, was taken as a prize into New 
York. 

The treaty of peace between the two nations 
was concluded at Ghent Decemlier 24, 1814, 
was ratified February 17, 1815, and on the fol- 
lowing day was formally proclaimed by Presi- 
dent Madison. 

In the jNIe.xican War of 184()-48 New Jersey 
was called on for three companies of infantry, 
one of which, raised at Trenton by its captain, 
Joseph A. Yard, became Company G of the 
Tenth United States Infixntry, commanded by 
Colonel R. E. Temple. Tlie company officers 
were Captain Joseph A. Yard, First Lieutenant 
George AV. Taylor, Second Lieutenants Benja- 
min Yard and Isaac Patton (transferred to the 
Third Artillery), First Sergeant William S. 
Truex (afterwards first lieutenant and trans- 
ferred), Second Sergeant Jolin A. Lalvc, Thirtl 
Sergeant Henry R. Perrine, Fourth Sergeant 
Charles Williamson, Corporals John B. Nevius, 
Ellis Harrison, W. P. Tumlinson and Obadiah 
Ayres. Besides the Monmouth men among the 
officers, there were a number of privates from 
this county serv^ing with the company, among 
whom were AVilliam H. Conk, Thomas Conk, 
Garret S. Cox, Elisha Dunwill, Frederick Meyer, 
William 0.«borue, Roger Palmer, Stephen Still- 
wagon (afterwards .•sergeant), John A.White and 
Josepli Dye. 

The company, with other soldiers of the Tenth 
Infantry, embarked on board the brig "G. B. 
Lamar," in April, 1847, and proceeded to Brazos 
Santiago. The command remained on duty 
through tlie war in the vicinity of Matjunoras, 
and at the close of the conflict returned home, 
having done its duty well, tliough seeing very 
little, if any, of actual fighting. William S. 
Truex, who went out with this comj)any as 
sergeant, and on arrival at Brazos was promoted 
to fir.st lieutenant and transferred to another 



242 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



regiment, became a colonel in the War of the 
Kebelliou, and is now living in Monmouth 
County, at Asburv Parl<. 

In the sreat war whicli wa-s waged from 1861 
to 18(jij for tiie suppression of rebellion and 
tiie preservation of the Union of the States, 
Monmouth County took an "honorable and pa- 
triotic part. At the receipt of the intelligence 
of the attack on Fort Sumter, in April, 1861, 
there were seen everywliere in Monmouth the 
same demonstrations of loyalty to the Union 
and of a determination to crush out treason at 
every hazai'd, the same enthasiastic meetings 
and flag-raisings, the same disposition of young 
men to volunteer and of old men to encourage 
and aid them in doing so, as were found every- 
■where in the other counties of the patriotic 
State of New Jei-sey. And later on in the 
great struggle, when the Union armies became 
wasted and thinned by battle and disease, and 
call after call was made for men to take the 
places of the dead and disabled ones, there was 
shown here the same determination to stand by 
the government, at whatever cost ; and the peo- 
ple and the local authorities, with the same 
alacrity, voted the moneys which were neces- 
sary to accomplish the desired end. 

From the time when the President of the 
United States made the first call for soldiers 
until the time when the death of the Rebellion 
rendered further calls unnecessary, tiie men of 
Monmouth County responded to each appeal 
with a patriotic devotion not excelled in any 
part of tlie State or of the Union. The names 
of these soldiers are found on the rolls of a 
large number of regiments of this and other 
States; and such of those regiments as were 
most noticeable for the number of Monmouth 
County men serving in their ranks are espe- 
cially mentioned in the following brief histori- 
cal sketches of their organization and services 
in the great war for the Union. ' 

On the 1 5th of April, two days afler the foil 
of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued his 
first call for troops, tlie number required being 
seventy-five thousand, of which number, the 
quota of New Jersey was four regiments of seven 
hundred and eighty men each, — a total of three 



tiiousand one hundred and twenty, — to be de- 
tached from the militia of tiic State. On re- 
ceipt of the requisition, on the 17th, Governor 
Charles S. Olden issued his proclamation di- 
recting all individuals or organizations willing to 
volunteer to report themselves within twenty 
days, and at the same time orders were issued 
to the four generals of division for each to 
detail one full regiment for tiie service, and 
immediately proceed to the organization of the 
reserve militia. Under tlie orders volunteers 
were to be accepted for three months' service; 
but if a suificient number of these did not 
oiFer, the deficiency was to be made up by a 
draft from the militia. It was not, howe\er, 
found necessary to adopt tlie latter alternative. 
Volunteei's aggregating more than the required 
number were easily obtained,^ and to this force 
]\Ionniouth County contributed its full propor- 
tion of men, being most numerously I'cpre- 
seuted in A Company, Captain Joseph A. 
Yard, and G Company, Captain Vincent W. 
Mount, of the Third Regiment ; though the 
men of ilonmouth were numerous in several 
other companies of the three months' troops 
raised at that time. The field offic-ers of the Third 
Regiment were Colonel William Napton, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Stephen Moore and Major James 
S. Yard, of Freehold, editor and projjrietor of 
the Monmouth Democrat. Another prominent 
citizen of Monmouth County who Avas among* 
the first to offer his services to Governor Ol- 
den was William S. Truex, who had seen much 
of actual service in the regular army, and was 
then lieutenant-colonel of militia. Immediately 
afterwards he became major of the Fifth (three 
years'), and later in the ^\■ar was colonel of the 
famous Fourteenth Regiment of New Jersey, 
as will be mentioned in succeeding pages. 

The three months' troops were raised with 
such expedition that on the last day of April 
the quota of the State was complete, and it was 
mustered into the State service as a brigade, 



1 Within a few days over one hundred companies of 
i volunteers — equal to ten thousand men — had offered their 
services under the Governor's proclamation, and even this 
number could have been greatly increased but for the prev- 
alent belief that the quota would be filled by the brigade 
already organized. — Foster^s "iV^w Jersey ayid the Rebellion.^' 



1 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-G5. 



243 



under command of Brigadier-General Theodore 
Kiinyon. On tlie 1st of May, Governor Olden 
sent a special messenger to General B. F. Butler, 
then in command at Annapolis, Md., requesting 
him to prepare to receive the New Jersey brig- 
ade. At the same time he sent another mes- 
senger to Washington to notify the Secretary 
of War that the State authorities of Xew Jersey 
would furnish their volunteers with the neces- 
sary arms aud accoutrements, which the United 
States government was at that time unable to 
do. The Governor also telegraphed the War 
Department, saying that the troops from this 
State would move forward on the 1st, 2d and 
3d of May, and asking that all possible 
measures be taken to insure their efficiency and 
prom<jte theii' comfort. 

As railroad communication with Baltimore 
had been severed by the destruction of the 
bridges over Gunpowder Creek and other 
streams, it was decided to send the New Jereey 
troops forward by water, l^y way of Annapolis, 
Md. They were accordingly embarked ou 
fourteen Delaware and Raritan Canal jiropellers, 
ou the 3d of May, and proceeded down tlie 
Delaware Kiver and throug-h the Delaware and 
CiiesajDcake Canal and Chesapeake Bay to their 
destination, M'liich was reached on the night of 
the 4th. " The arrival of the brig-ade, " savs 
Foster, "was at once reportetl to General Butler, 
who, after some ceremony, ordered its advance 
to Washington, and on the 5th the First Regi- 
ment, with six companies of the Second and 
nine companies of the Third, started forward 
in two trains of cars. The first of these trains 
readied Washington about midnight, and tlie 
second at eight o'clock on the following 
morning. The same evening the Fourth Regi- 
ment aud the remaining company of the Third 
readied the caijital. The four companies of the 
Second left at Annapolis were detailed, by order 
of General Scott, to the ser\-ice of guarding the 
telegraph and railroad track between Washing- 
ton and Annapolis Junction. On the 6lh of 
May the arrival of the brigade was reported to 
General Scott, and no camp being provided, the 
troops went into sucli quarters as were available 
in Washington. On all sides the arrival of the 
troops was hailed with pleasui-e. ]Men felt that 



now the capital was safe. These three thousand 
Jerseymen, thoroughly armed and equipped, — as 
no regiment previously arrived liad been, — could 
be relied ou to repel all assaults. New Jersey 
never stood higher in the estimation of the 
loyal people of the country than at that junc- 
ture, when she sent to the nation's defense the 
first full brigade of troo2)s that reached the 
field." 

The passage of the troojjs from Trenton to 
Annapolis, and their arrival at the latter place, 
were thus noticed by the National Intelligencer ; 
"The whole l)rigade, with its four pieces of artil- 
lery, ai'rived at AunajiolLs on Sumlay, ^lay 5th, 
in twenty-eight hours from Trenton, and pro- 
ceeded direct for AA'ashington. It is stated tliat 
the fomteen transports, with a strong convoy, 
Captain F. R. Lojier, made a splendid apjiear- 
ance, steaming in two lines down the Chesa- 
peake. They had been greeted by a great Union 
demonstration as they passed along the Chesa- 
peake and Delaware Canal. They are armed 
with the ^liuie musket, but are to have the 
Millie rifle and sword bayonet. . . . This corps 
is composed of some of the best men in tlie State, 
and in athletic appearance, as well as general 
soldierly deportment, is a credit to the country.'' 

On the 9th aud 10th of May the regiments 
of the brigade moved out from Washing;ton to 
Meridian Hill, near the city, where they formed 
a camp, which was christened " Camp Jlon- 
mouth." There thcv remained, engaged in 
drill and the perfecting of their discipline, until 
the 23d of the same month, when, in obedience 
to orders received from General Mansfield (com- 
mander of the forces around Washington), the 
Second, Third and Fourth Regiments' moved 
from their camp at about midnight, and took 
the route, by way of the Long Bridge, across the 
Potomac, to Virginia.^ They reached the "sacred 

' The First did not move until the following day. 

^ '• At twelve and ,i quarter o'clock." said Major Vard, in 
a letter written soon after, describing the movement across 
the Totomac, "the regiment was formed on the parade- 
ground in silence. The moon was shining brightly and 
there was not a cloud in the sky. At twelve and three- 
quartei'S the order to inarch was given. The long lines 
filed slowly out of camp and down the road, their bayonets 
gleaming in the moonlight, and no sound save the measured 
, tramp of nearly a [two] thousand feet. . . . Through the 



244 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



soil " at about three o'clock iu the morning 
of the 24th ; then, proceeding more than a mile 
farther on the Alexandria road, halted, and after 
a brief rest and the making of the usual military 
dispositions, commenced the construction of a 
strong defensive work, which, after about three 
weeks of severe and unintermitted labor, — per- 
formed exclusively by the men of New Jersey, 
— was completed, mounted with heavy guns^ 
and appropriately named, in honor of their 
brigade commander, " Fort Runyon," — a name 
which continued to be applied to it until after 
the close of the war. 

The position of the brigade remained sub- 
tantially unchanged until the 16th of July, 
when a part of it was moved forward a few 
miles, this being a part of the grand advance 
on Manassas, from which the most brilliant 
results were expected, but which ended in the 
defeat and rout of the Union forces at Bull 
Euu on the '21st of July. The Jersey brigade, 
however, was not actively engaged in the battle 
of that disastrous day, being posted at several 
points iu the rear,' as part of a large reserve 

city, past WillarJ's Hotel, tramp, tramp, we went, and 
scai-cely a soul was to be seen outside of our dark column. 
As we left the encampment the Second and Fourth 
Regiments fell in behind us. After passing Willard's, we 
found the Seventh New York Regiment standing iu line in 
the street ; we passed them and presently passed a battery 
of tiying artillery, and then a troop of cavalry, and then we 
came to the bridge over the Potomac. On we went, tramp, 
tramp, over the bridge. At ten minutes before three 
o'clock our feet struck the soil of old Virginia. The whole 
length of the bridge was guarded by armed men, and 
troops lined both sides of the road for some distance after 
we crossed. After proceeding along the line of a railroad 
about two miles, we took possession of a hill, ami came to 
a halt." 

1 "Meanwhile, General Runyon had, on the 16th, sent the 
First Regiment of his brigade to a point occupied by our 
pickets, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, three miles 
beyond Springfield, where they acted as a guard to a party 
engaged in repairing the railway. On the same day four 
hundred and twenty-five men of the Third Regiment 
were detailed as an escort to a provision train en route for 
the main body of the body. At the same time a guard was 
detailed from the Fourth Regiment for another section of 
the railroad, which it was important to hold. Another de- 
tail of one company from this regiment was then guarding 
the Long Bridge, and still another on duty at Arlington 
Mills. The remainder of the regiment was ordered to pro- 
ceed to Alexandria, together with the Second (three 
months') Regiment. Colonel Taylor, commanding the Third 



force commanded by General Runyon. But in 
the position assigned to them the several com- 
mands did their whole duty, and when the 
day was hopelessly lost, and the Union army 
came flying from the field in disorganization 
and panic, these New Jersey regiments, stand- 
ing firm, aided materially in rallying the terri- 
fied fugitives, and so staying the tide of over- 
whelming disaster. 

On the 24th of July, three days after the 
Bull Run battle, the Third and Fourtli Regi- 
ments (their term of service having expired) 
were ordered to report to General ^lansfield for 
muster out. The First and Second received 
the same orders on the following day, and the 
four regiments of three months' nien were, ac- 
cordingly, mustered out of the United States 
service and returned to New Jersey, where they 
were most enthusiastically received by their fel- 
low-citizens. A majority of the men afterward 
enlisted in three years regiments, and did good 
service, while many of them gave their lives 
for their country on the battle-fields of Vir- 
ginia and the Southwest. 

Joseph Ashtox Yard was born in the city 
of Trenton, N. J., on the 23d of March, 1802, 
in a frame house that lately stood on the west 
side of Greeue Street, nearly opposite Academy 
Street. He da^cended, in the fourth generation, 
from William Yard, of the county of Devon,, 
in England, who came to America previous ta 
1700, and was among the first settlers on the 
tract occupied by the original city of Trenton. 
His father, Captain Bcujamin Yard, was a car- 
penter, not yet "out of his time," in 1789, 
when he built the triumphal arch under which 
Washington passed at his reception in Trenton, 
when on his way to his inauguration as first 
President of the United States. His motlier 
was Priscilla Keen, daughter of John Keen, of 
Holmesburg, Pa., whose ancestors and the an- 
cestors of their connections, the Holmeses and 
Ashtous of that section, were descendants of 
the early Baptist emigrants from New England 

(three years) Regiment, was at the same time ordered to 
march to a point on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad; 
and during the night following, the First and Second 
(three years) Regiments were moved forward to Vienna." 
— Foslrr's " yetc Jersey and the ReheHinn. " 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



245 



during the persecution of that Sfct by the New 
England Puritans. 

At sixteen years of age he w;is about to learn 
his father's trade when he was thrown from a 
horse and sustained injuries which, for a time, 
incapacitated him for that business, when he 
coiunicnced the study of medicine under Dr. 
James T. Clark, and attended the lectures of 
Dr. McC'lellau, of Philadelphia. About tliis 



forty hands in his employ, and finding a mar- 
ket for his goods throughout New Jersey, and 
in Pennsylvania along the valley of the Dela- 
ware from Easton to Philadelphia. 

In 1832 the cholera first appeared in Trenton. 
Of this period Hon. Franklin S. ]\Iills writes, in 
a recent letter to the Trenton True American: 

"Captain Yard was a genuine humanitarian, 
and never passed a sufferer without affording 




time his brother Jacob, who was enorasred iu the 

' DO 

manufacture of brushes in Trenton, while on a 
visit to New Orleans died suddenly of yellow 
fever. He was then obliged, reluctantly, to 
give up the idea of being a physician, and, with 
his brother Charles, assumed the management 
of Jacob's business for his father, and subse- 
quently, after his marriage, purchased it. He 
soon liuilt up a large and lucrative trade for 
that period, at one time having as many as 



relief. The fearful agonies of the victims of 
cholera awakened the sympathies of his large 
heart. Without any appointment, and without 
compensation, himself, his W(irknn'n, his horses 
and wagons were all given to the work of alle- 
viating the suffering and Imrving the dead. 

" Dr. Joseph C. Welling and Captain Yard 
spent must of their time at the hospital and 
among the sick and dying, and wliili' his com- 
panion. Dr. Welling, was administering medi- 



246 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



cines, Captain Yard and his men were employed 
in bringing into the hospital those who were 
suddenly seized with the disease and removing 
those who had already died. Kindness and 
sympathy for the suifering were shining quali- 
ties in the character of Captain Yard, and in 
self-sacrificing devotion to the objects of charity, 
and especially to the sick and those who had 
been stricken down by sudden misfortune, he 
had few equals." 

He continued to prosper in business, and 
maintained himself and his family with credit 
until about the year 1835, when a money crisis 
caused the failure of his consignee in New 
York, where he had built up a large trade. 
This and the war between France and Russia, 
which interfered with the export of bristles, 
then principally brought from Russia, obliged 
him to wind up his business. He sold his 
tools and machinery, his dwelling and other 
property, and paid his creditors, and, as he ex- 
pressed it, he " hadn't a dollar left." At this 
time he had a large family to support. 

In the winter of 1835-36 he was appointed 
keeper of the New Jersey State Prison, then in 
the old building now known as the State Arse- 
nal. The new prison ^\■as in course of con- 
struction. He was also appointed to superin- 
tend the completion of the new prison, and for 
the first time employed the convicts upon that 
work, making a great saving to the cost of con- 
struction. In 1839 he removed the pris<iners 
to the new building, and carried on the work 
until it was completely finished according to the 
original plans. In the management of the 
prison he was entirely successful, returning a 
surplus of from six thousand to ten thousand 
dollars aunnally over the running expenses. In 
the winter of 1839-40, the Whig party having 
a majority in the Legislature, he was removed, 
but the Democrats having a majority in tlic 
election in the fall of 1843, he was rcMppointet! 
in 1844, and held the office one year, when, tiie 
Whigs again succeeding, he was again removed. 

Upon his first removal, in 1840, he was ap- 
pointed to take the census of Eurliugton County, 
which he successfully accomplished in three 
months, the time allotted, traveling the whole 
county on horseback, and visiting in person 



every family in the county, with the exception 
of the city of Burlington. 

This same year he estal)lished the auction 
and commission business in Trenton, in wliich 
he was successful, and was enabled to maintain 
his family respectably and to give his chil- 
dren such educational facilities as the city then 
aflbrded. 

In politics he was always a Democrat, casting 
his first vote for President for Andrew Jackson 
at the election of 1824. He took an active part 
in what is known as "The Tyler Campaign." 
The Whig party, under the leadership of Henry 
Clay, quarreled with Tyler for his veto of the 
bill to recharter the United States Bank. The 
Democrats sustained Tyler's policy, and to lend 
aid to this movement jNIr. Yard purchased the 
Emporium and True American, and conducted 
it from 1843 to 1846, but, having no practical 
knowledge of the business, it did not prove 
remunerative. The object for which he pur- 
chased it having been accomplished, however, 
he retired from its management and it passed 
into other hands. He was an earnest and pop- ^ 
ular speaker, and on several occasions " stumped " 
the entire State in the interest of the Democratic 
party. 

Upon the accession of Mr. Polk to the Presi- 
dency, ]\Ir. Yard was appointed an inspector in 
the New York custom-house, whicii position 
he filled until the breaking out of the war with / 
Mexico, -when he sought and obtained a com- < 
mission as captain in the Tenth United States | 
Infantry. He raised the first company for that j 
regiment, and marched from the city of Trenton j 
within thirty days after receiving his commis- I 
sion with the full complement of one hundred 
men. In those days this was considered a re- 
markable succ'ess, volunteers not being found as 
readily as they were in subsequent years. On 
the way to New York public receptions were 
tendered to his company at the ])rineipal towns 
in New Jersey through which they passed. He 
joined General Taylor on the Rio Grande in the 
spring of 1847, where he remained until the 
spring of 1848, when, after suffering for several 
months from the disease incident to that climate, 
he returned home as the only hope of surviving. 
After montiis of illness he recovered. His regi- 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



247 



raent followed in the fall, when, after tiieir dis- 
charge from the service, the non-coniniissioned 
officers aud privates of the regiment came to 
Trenton and pi-esented Captiiiu Yard with a 
gold-mounted sword, bearing an appropriate in- 
scription. The presentation took place at the 
Mercer C'ountv court-house, on the eveninu- of 
August 31, 1848, aud was accompanied by a 
letter bearing the signatures of over three hun- 
dred soldiers. 

Upon leaving Reynosa, of which Captain 
Yard was the military governor for several 
months, the Mexican officials aud leadina: citi- 
zens of the town presented him a letter, of which 
the following is an extract: "He has taken care 
of the tranquillity and security of our families 
and of the interest of the town ; he has given 
succor to the poor and attended tliem in their 
sickness, and without any other recompense than 
that which tliose wish who believe that there is 
another life." 

After the recovery of his health he was re- 
instated in the jiosition in the castom-house, 
which he relinquished upon entering the army; 
but shortly after the accession of General Taylor 
to the Presidency, in 1849, he was removed to 
give place to a member of the Whig party, not- 
withstanding the pledges of that party during 
the canvas that none of the soldiers in the war 
against Mexico should be removed on partisan 
grounds. This removal was the occasion of 
much discussion in Williamsburg, N. Y., where 
Captain Yard then resided, and especially among 
the merchants and business men of New York 
City who had their homes in Williamsburir, 
many of them being influential members of the 
Whig party. To show their disapprobation of 
the removal, they suggested the nomination of 
Captain Yard for the New York Assembly by 
the Democrats, promising their support. The 
suggestion was adopted, and, although the dis- 
trict usually had a reliable Whig majority. Cap- 
tain Yard was elected. He took a prominent 
part in the Legislature. He was chairman of 
the Committee on State Prisons, and also of the 
special committee "to inquire into the condition 
of the New York volunteers in the Mexican 
war, with a view to their relief," many of them 
being destitute and suffering great privations. 



During the session of 1850 a bill was passed 
providing for the erection of a penitentiary at 
Syracuse, designed to be an intermediate prison 
between the county jail and the State pri.sDU. 
UiJon the recommendation of Captain Pillsbur^•, 
of the Albany Penitentiary, Captain Yard -was 
appointed to superintend its erection, and was 
afterwards appointed its warden. He completed 
the buildings and carried on the operations of 
the prison successfully for two years, when he 
was removed to give place to a political favorite 
of the Board of Supervisors of Onondaga Count v, 
in whom the power of appointment was vested. 

In 1855, under the administration of Presi- 
dent Pierce, he was again appointed to a posi- 
tion in the New York custom house, which he 
held until the outbreak of the Rebellion, in the 
spring of 1861. He resided at Trenton at this 
time, and anticipating the call for troops he, in 
the morning newspapers of April 15th, issued a 
call for volunteers. The ranks of his company 
were filled in a few days and it was the first 
company raised in the State, and the first in the 
State to be mustered into the service of the 
United States. It was named the Olden ( Juards, 
in compliment to the then Governor of the State, 
and was attitched to the Third Regiment New 
Jersey Militia, in General Runyon's brigade, 
and designated as Company A of that reg- 
iment. He led the company to the field, 
aud it was the first company from the North 
to occupy the soil of Virginia, being on 
the right of the Third Regiment, com- 
manded by the senior colonel of the brigade, 
which led the advance. He served with his 
regiment to the close of its term of enlistment 
and received an honorable discharge. Subse- 
quently lie raised and conducted a company to 
the field to repel Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. 

The hardships which he had endured in his 
military cimipaigns, and the struggles which he 
had made to maintain his family, now began to 
tell upon his constitution, and obliged him, much 
against his inclination, to retire from the active 
life which he had hitherto led. At the close of 
the war, his wife having recently died and his 
children mostly grown up, he removed from 
Trenton and took up his residence at Farming- 
dale, with a son and daughter unmarried. Here 



248 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



lie engaged in the cultivation of a few acres of 
land and in works of charity and religion. 
He became a memljer of tlie ^Methodist Episco- 
pal Cliurcli in Trenton at the age of sixteen 
years and always remained in the communion of 
that churcii. In his early manhood he was ac- 
tive in the service of the ciiurch, but in later 
years the cares of his family and his multifari- 
ous business engagements drew liim away from 
its active labors. In his declining years he re- 
sumed them and became an active and zealous 
worker. He was also zealous in the cause of 
temperance and became prominent throughout 
Monmouth County in tliis field of labor. 

In 1824 he married Mary Woodward Ster- 
ling, daughter of John Wesley Sterling, a far- 
mer tlien residing near Mount Holly, by whom 
he had eight sous and three daughters, all of 
whom grew up to maturity except one son, who 
died at eight years of age. 

Captain Yard died at his residence at Farm- 
ingdale on the 17th of October, 1878, where, on 
the occasion of his funeral, public honors were 
accorded to his memory. His remains were 
conveyed to Trenton, whei'e also public exercises 
were held. The interment was in Mercer Cem- 
etery. The portrait of Captain Yard which 
accompanies this sketch, is engraved from a 
daguerreotype, taken when he was about fifty 
years of age. 

The fact has already been noticed that, in 
response to (Joveruor Olden's proclamation of 
the 17th of April, 1S61, calling for troops, 
nearly ten thousand men oiFered their services, 
of which number only four regimeuts (three 
months' men) could be accepted. Of the large 
uumber who were excluded, many, being 
anxious to enter the service, proceeded to New 
York, Philadelphia and other points outside 
the limits of New Jersey, and enlisted in regi- 
meuts of other States. Of the large number 
who enlisted in this manner, — estimated by the 
adjutant-general at more than five thousand 
men from the State, — Monmouth County con- 
tributed its full proportion, antl its men were 
found in at least fifteen regimeuts of other 
States ; but of these it is impracticable to give 
any correct record. 



After the acceptauce of the three mouths' 
men, it very soon became apparent to the au- 
thorities at Washington that it would be neces- 
sary to call into the field a much larger number 
of regiments, to be made up of men enlisted for 
a longer term of service ; and thereupon the 
President issued a call for thirty-nine additional 
regimeuts of infantry and one of cavalry, to be 
enlisted for three years or the continuance of 
the war. Under this call, the quota of New 
Jersey was placed at three full regiment.s, and a 
requisition for these was received by Governor 
Olden on the 17th of May. No difficulty was 
found in furnishing them, for a sufficient num- 
ber of companies had already been raised, and 
were anxiously waiting to be mustered into the 
service, and the Governor, in notifying the 
Secretary of War of that fact, added that " If 
the occasion required their services, this State 
would loillingly furnish twice as many regiments 
to serve during the war." From these com- 
panies there were organized, without delay, the 
First, Second and Third (three 3'ears') Regi- 
ments, which were mustered into the United 
States service for that term, being uniformed 
and furnished with ctimp and garrison equipage 
by the State of New Jersey, but armed by the 
general government. The three regiments left 
Trenton on the 28th of June, 1801, and were 
reported to General Scott, at \^^ashiugton, on 
the following day. In each of these regiments 
there were enlisted a considerable number of 
Monmouth County men, though no one of their 
several companies was exclusively so made up. 

On the 24th of July, three days after the 
great disaster of Bull Run, Governor Olden 
receive^ from the President a requisition for 
five more regiments, to be enlisted for three 
years or the war, and " to be taken, as far as 
convenient, from the three months' men and 
officers just discharged, and to be organized, 
equipped and sent forward as fast as single regi- 
ments are ready, on the same terms as were tho.se 
already in service" from the State of New Jersey. 
Under this requisition there were formed and 
organized the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh 
and Eighth Regiments of New Jersey Volunteer 
Infantry. The Fourth, with Hexamer's battery 
attached, M'as the first of these which moved to 



-i 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



249 



the front, and it reached AVtishington on the 
2 1 St of August. The others followed very soon 
afterwards. 

In the Fiftii Regiment (three years') New 
Jersey Infantry Volunteers was one company 
(K) of men from Monmouth County. Its 
original captain was Vincent W. Mount. The 
regiment was organized at Camp Olden, Tren- 
ton, and left the State for the seat of war 
August 29, 18(il. It went into camp at Meri- 
dian Hill, Washington, and in the following 
December was assigned to tlie Second New 
Jersey Brigade, under Colonel Samuel H. Starr, 
which became the Third Brigade of General 
Hooker's division on the Lower Potomac. The 
Fifth was differently brigaded several times 
afterwards. lu April, 1S()2, it moved with 
Hooker's division to the Virginia Peninsula, 
where its battle record commenced. During its 
term of .-service it took part in the following-named 
engagements, viz. : Siege of Yorktown, ending 
May 4, 1862; Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 
1862 ; Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 1862 ; 
Seven Pines, June 25, 1862 ; Savage Station, 
June 29, 18(i2 ; Glendale, June 30, 1862 ; Mal- 
vern Hill, July 1, 1862; Second Malvern Hill, 
August lo, 1862; Bri,stow Station, August 27, 
1862; Second Bull Run, Augu.^t 29-30, 1862; 
Chantilly, August 31, 1862 ; Centreville, Sept. 
2, 1862; Frederick.sburg, December 13-14, 
1862; Chancellorsville, May 3-4, 1863; Gettys- 
burg, Pa., July 2-3, 1863 ; Wapping Heights, 
July 24, 1863; McLean's Ford, October 13, 
1863; Mine Run, November 29 to December 
1, 1863 ; Wilderness, May 5-6, 18()4 ; Spott.-^yl- 
vania, May 8 to 18, 1864; North Anna 
River, May 23-24, 1864; Tolopotoraoy, May 
30-31, 1864; Cold Harbor, June 1-5, 1864; 
Peter.sburg Defenses, June 16-23, 1864; Deep 
Bottom, July 26-27, 1864 ; Mine Explosion, 
July .30, 1864; North of James River, August 
14-18, 1864; Fort Sedgwick, September 10, 
1864; Poplar Sj^-ing Church, October 2, 1864; 
Boydtou Plank-Road, October 27, 1864; Fort 
Morton, Va., November 5, 1864. 

The regimental officers of the Fifth were: 
Colonel.'*, Samuel H. Starr, William J. Sewell ; 
Lieutenant-Colonels, Gershom Mott, John 
Ramsey ; Majors, William S. Truex, A.shbel 



W. Angel ; Adjutants, Caldwell K. Hall, Wil- 
liam H. Hill ; Quartermasters, James F. Rus- 
ling, George Sandt ; Surgeons, James C. Fisher, 
Henry F. Vanderveer; Assistant Surgeons, 
Addison W. WoodhuU, Oliver S. Belden, Wil- 
liam Blundell; Chaplain, Thomas Sovereign. 
Following is a list of officers and enlisted men' 
of the Monmouth Couutv company of the 
Fifth : 

Captains. — Vincent W. Mount, resigned June 6, 1862. 

Edward A. Acton, mustered in June 11, 1.S62; iir.st 
lieutenant company F, August 28, 18G1; captain, 
vice Mount, resigned ; killed at Bull Run, August 
29, 1862. 

Guy Bryan, mustered in August 28, 18G1 ; transferred 
from company I ; resigned February 11, 1863. 

Cyrus H. Rogers, mustered in June 1,1863; first 
lieutenant company C, May 10, 1862; captain, 
vice Bryan, resigned ; discharged by order War 
Department ; mustered out May 30, 1864. 

First Lieutenants. — John T. Cottrell, resigned Mav 14, 
1862. 

Theodore Young, second lieutenant, August 29, 1861 ; 
first lieutenant, vice Cottrell, resigned ; commis- 
.sioned captain December 4, 1863; not mustered; 
mustered out September 7, 1864. 

Second Lieutenants. — William Newman first sergeant 
company E; second lieutenant, vice Young, pro- 
moted. 

William J. Rusling, mu.stered in January 6, 1863 ; 
sergeant-major; second lieutenant, vice Newman, 
deserted ; first lieutenant company I, March 18, 
1863. 

George W. Dally, mustered in August 20, 1863 ; cor- 
poral company H ; second lieutenant, vice Rus- 
ling, promoted ; resigned January 2.'), 1S64, dis- 
ability. 

First Sergeant. — Edwin G. Smith, prisoner, mustered 
out September 21, 1864. 

Peter H. Dye, corporal, August 29, 1861 ; re-enlisted 
December 23, 1863 ; sergeant, September 10, 
1864 ; first sergeant, November 1, 1874 ; promoted 
second lieutenant company B, seventh regiment, 
November 13, 1864. 

Sergeants. — George H. Mitchell, promoted second lieu- 
tenant company B May 16, 1862. 

George Stults, corporal, June o, 1862 ; sergeant, April 
1, 1863 ; mustered out September 7, 1864. 

William A. Wines, corporal, November 1, 1862; ser- 
geant, August 1, 1863 ; mustered out Sej^tem- 
ber 7, 1864. 

'As given in Adjutant-General Stryker's "Record of 
Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil War, 1861- 
186.5." 

The date of muster in is August 29, 1861, except sis 
otherwise noted. 



250 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Corporals. — William Yetman, mustered out September 

7, 1864. 
Robert D. Silvers, mustered out September 7, 18(54. 
Musician, James Martin, mustered out Sep. 7, 1864. 
Privates. — Brady, J., mustered out September 7, 1864. 
Fisher, David R., mustered out September 7, 1864. 
Fratt, Henry L., mustered out September 7, 1S64. 
Fratt, John R., mustered out September 7, 1864. 
Riddle, Daniel, mustered out September 7, 1864. 
Riddle, John, mustered out September 7, 1864. 
Robbing, Samuel V., mustered out September 7, 1864. 
Sayers, Kehemiah, mustered out September 7, 1864. 

Discharged. 
George W. Paynton, sergeant, discharged, disability, 

Washington, D. C, December 22, 1862. 
John H. Van Pelt, corporal, discharged, disability, 

Washington, D. C, October 25, 1862. 
Charles B. Morris, corporal, discharged. Fort 

McHenry, Md., October 6, 1862; wounded in ac- 
tion. 
Ashman, Matthew, private, discharged, disability, at 

camp, near Budd's Ferry, December 8, 1861. 
Barricks, William, private, discharged, disability, at 

camp near Washington, D. C, December 2, 1861. 
Barton, Shelton, private, discharged to join regular 

army, October 28, 1862. 
Belt, George, private, discharged, disability, hospital, 

Philadelphia, October 1, 186.3. 
Best, Lewis, private, discharged, disability, Budd's 

Ferry, Md., May .31, 1862. 
Brasted, Daniel, private, discharged, disability, March 

15, 1862. 

Brewer, Bela. jirivate, discharged, disability, Decem- 
ber 16, 1861. 

Brown, John, private, discharged to join regular army, 
October 28, 1862. 

Conover, John, private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Cottrell, Richard, private, discharged, disability, 
August .3, 1862. 

Dey, William W., private, discharged, disability, 
Baltimore, September 26, 1862. 

Earles, Charles, private, discharged, disability, March 

16, 1862. 

Edmunds, Lawrence, private, discharged to join regu- 
lar army, October 28, 1862. 

Forbes, James, private, discharged; paroled prisoner, 
May 2.3, 1862. 

Gravatt, Charles H., private, discharged, disability, 
June 13, 1862. 

Grover, Brazilla, private, discharged, disability, Oc- 
tober 19, 1862. 

Grover, Joseph, private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Hale, Joseph, private, discharged, Philadelphia, No- 
vember 29, 1862; wounds received in battle. 

Hampton, Thomas, private, discharged, Newark, X. 
J., May 13, 1864 ; wounds received in battle. 



Jones, Benjamin R., private, discharged, disability, 
October 1, 1861. 

Lake, Joseph, private, discharged, disability, Decem- 
ber 7, 1861. 

Lane, Stephen, private, discharged, disability, Octo- 
ber 21, 1862. 

Leonard, Charles B., private, discharged, disability, 
December 3, 1863. 

Lucas, George R., private, discharged, disability, June 
13, 1862. 

McBride, Thomas, private, discharged, disability, No- 
vember, 14, 1862. 

Mullen, Thomas, private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Newman, Joseph, private, discharged, disability, .Tune 
23, 1862. 

Parker, Thomas H., private, discharged, disability, 
August 14, 1862. 

Riley, John, private, discharged, disability, Baltimore, 
October 21, 1862. 

Rose, Charles H., private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Rue, William H., private, discharged, disability, Sej)- 
tember 15, 1862. 

Southard, Joseph, private, discharged, disability, con- 
valescent camp, Alexandria, Va., Dec. 28, 1862. 

St. Clair, Henry, private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Van Note, Robert, private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Wilbur, Theodore, private, discharged to join regular 
army, October 28, 1862. 

Williams, Conrad, private, discharged, Washington, 
D. C, March 10, 1864 ; loss of arm by wound re- 
ceived in liattle. 

Transferred. 

Cole, William E., sergeant ; transferred to company 
G, seventh regiment ; re-enlisted Dec. 23. 1863. 

Bellis, James O., sergeant; transferred to company 
G, seventh regiment ; re-enlisted .January 9, 
1864. 

Brown, James, private ; transferred to company G, 
seventh regiment ; re-enlisted December 23, 
1863. 

Brown, Joseph R., private ; transferred to company 
G, seventh regiment ; re-enlisted December 23, 
1863. 

Buckelew, William D., jirivate; transferred to vet- 
eran reserve corps January 15. 1864 ; dis- 
charged therefrom August 31, 1864; corporal, 
August 29, 1861 ; private, December 10, 1862. 

Carey, William H., private ; transferred to veteran 
reserve corps; discharged August 29, 1864. 

Chenier, Alfred, private; mustered in October 8, 
1863 ; transferred to company G, seventh regi- 
ment. 

Dey, William H., private ; transferred to company 
G, seventh regiment ; re-enlisted December 26, 
1863. 



« 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



251 



Hayden, Peter S., private ; transferred to veteran 
reserve corps September 1, 1863 ; discharged 
August 29, 1864. 

Hendrickson, Charles, private ; transferred to com- 
pany G, seventh regiment ; re-enlisted December 
23, 1863. 

King, James, private ; transferred to veteran reserve 
corps November 1, 1863 ; discharged September 
5, 1864. 

Murdock, Benjamin, private ; transferred to company 
G, seventh regiment ; re-eulisted December 23, 
1863. 

Pierce, Abraham, private ; transferred to veteran 
reserve corps February 15, 1864; re-enlisted 
April 13, 1S64 ; discharged November 21, 1865. 

Powelson, William, private; transferred to veteran 
reserve corps January 15, 1864; re-enlisted 
April 10, 1864 ; discharged July 1, 1865. 

Rhodes, John C, private; transferred to veteran re- 
serve corps March 31, 1864; discharged August 
15, 1864. 

Rice, John, private; transferred to company G, sev- 
enth regiment; re-enlisted December 23, 1863. 

Rosswick, Henry, private ; transferred to veteran 
reserve corps November 15, 1863; discharged 
September 1, 1864. 

Soden, John, private ; transferred to company G, 
seventh regiment; re-enlisted December 23, 
1863. 

Died. 

Estell, Thomas H., first sergeant ; died of disease, 
Georgetown, D. C, February 3, 1863. 

Estell, Benjamin H., first sergeant; died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, May 19, 1862. 

Dubois, Isaac G., sergeant; killed in battle, Wil- 
liamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862. 

Shackelton, Samuel, sergeant; killed in battle, Get- 
tysburg, July 2, 1863. 

Stahl, Henry, corporal; killed in battle, Chancellors- 
ville, May 3, 1863. 

Clayton, John B., corpora! ; killed in battle. Bull 
Run, Va., August 29, 1862. 

Applegate, William W., private; died at Fair Gaks, 
Va., May 15, 1862, of wounds received at battle 
of Williamsburg. 

Blake, Alfred, private; died at Hightstown, N. J., of 
wounds received at battle of Williamsburg. 

Brewer, John H., private ; died at Yorktown, Va., of 
fever, June 28, 1862. 

Button, William J., private ; died September 24, 
1863, of wounds received at Gettysburg. 

Chapman, Alexander, private ; died at Freehold, 
N. J., July 5, 1862, of wounds received in battle 
of Williamsburg. 

Cook, George W., private ; killed in battle of the 
Wilderness, May 6, 1864. 

Donaldson, James, private ; died at Freehold, N. J., 
September 26, 1864. 



Eaach, John, private ; missing in action at Gettysburg, 

July 2, 1863 ; supposed to have been killed. 
Golden, Joseph E., private; died of disease at Alex- 
andria, Va., December 11, 1862. 
Headden, George M., private ; missing in action at 

Spottsylvania Court-House, Va., May 12,1864,- 

supposed to have been killed. 
Ingerman, Frederick, private; died of disease at 

Manassas, Va., November 16, 1862. 
James, George F., private ; killed in battle of Chan- 

cellorsville. May 3, 1863. 
Lockerson, John, private; killed in battle of Ball 

Run, August 29, 1862. 
McBride, Lewis, private; died of disease, Mav 13, 

1862. 
Michael, Philip, private; died at Yorktown, Va., 

June 8, 1862, of wounds. 
Moss, AV^illiam, private ; died of disease at Newport 

News, Va., May 19, 1862. 
Remson, Andrew J., recruit ; mustered in April 13, 

1864; missing in action at Wilderness, ^lay 5, 

1864 ; supposed to have been killed. 
Reynolds, Peter, recruit; mustered in January 29, 

1864 ; died at AVashington, D. C, July 30, 1864, 

of wounds received in action before Petersburg, 

June 17, 1864. 
Rhodes, James H., private ; killed in battle of Chan- 

cellorsville, May 3, 1863. 

ycanes of deserters omitted. 

The Fourteeiitli Volunteer Infantry of Xew 
Jersey was one of the State's quota of five regi- 
ments required under the call for three hiuidred 
thousand men issued by President Lincoln on 
the 7th of July, 1862. It was i-aised and 
organized at Camp Vredenburgh, near the old 
jNIonmouth battle-ground, a sliort distance 
northwesterly from the town of Freehold, and 
it contained three companies (A, D and G) of 
^lonmouth County men. Several of its other 
companies contained a considerable number of 
Monmouth soldiers. The regiment was mus- 
tered into the service for three years or the con- 
tinuance of the war, on the 26th of Augu.st, 
1862. It left the State on the 2d of September 
following, and proceeded to the vicinity of 
Monocacy, Md., where it was stationed to guard 
the Monocacy bridge during the advance of the 
Confederate army into Maryland in tlie cam- 
paign of South Mountain and Antietam. There, 
and at various threatened and exposed points 
in tliat vicinity, it remained until the 9th of 
Julv, 1863, when it was attached to the Third 
Corps, and took its place in the front, with the 



252 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Army of the Potomac, witli which it remained 
in ai'tive service nearly all the time until its final 
muster out, near Washington, D. C, on the 
18th of June, 18(35, having been at several 
times increased in strength by bodies of recruits 
from the draft rendezvous at Trenton, N. J. 
During its term of service the regiment was 
attached to a provisional brigade of the Eighth 
CoqDS; to the First Brigade, Third Division, 
Third Corps, and to the First Brigade, Third 
Division, Sixth Corps. After leaving Mono- 
cacy it took honorable and gallant part in the 
principal engagements of the main army on the 
Rajjidan, througli the campaign of the Wilder- 
ness and before Petersburg until the latter part 
of June, 18(54, wlicn it was ordered to Maryland, 
with other troops, to repel the invasion made by 
the Confederate army under General Early. In 
that campaign it was engaged, and lost heavily 
in killed and wounded at !Monocacy July 9, 
l.S(34. Soon afterwards it became attached to 
the Array of the Shenandoah, and participated 
in the battles and victories of General Sheridan 
in the vallev of Virginia, there losing its brave 
commanding oiScer, Major Peter Yredeuburgh, 
who fell in the charge at Opequan, near AVin- 
chester. 

Majoh Peter Vkedexburgh, Jr., of the 
Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, and com- 
manding officer of that regiment at the battle 
of Opequan, Va. (where he lost his life at the 
post of duty on the 19th of September, 1864), 
was the eldest son of Judge Peter Vredeu- 
burgh, of Freehold, and a lawyer of high 
attainments and brightest promise. He was 
born in Freehold, February 12, 1837 ; studied 
law under H(m. B. F. Randolph, was admitted 
to the bar in February, 1859, and licensed as 
counselor at the February term in 1862. On 
his admission as attorney, in 1859, he settled at 
Eaton town, where, by his attention to business, 
his senial manners, and love and fitness for his 
profession, he soon gained the confidence of the 
community, and acquired a lucrative practice, 
in which he continued for more than three 
years, until the summer of 1862, when, in 
obedience to his convictions of duty, he re- 
solved to enter the military service of the 
government with the troops which were then 



being hurried forward for the suppression of 
the Southern Rebellion ; and on the 1st of 
September in that year he accepted from Gov- 
ernor Olden the commission of major of the 
Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, which fact, 
as also the departure of the regiment from 
Freehold, its movement to Monocacy, ]\Id., and 
its encampment of nearly nine months at that 
place have already been mentioned. 

In January, 1863, Colonel Truex, of the 
Fourteenth, was appointed commandant at 
Frederick City, Md. (near the regimental camp- 
ground), and Major Vredenburgh was made 
pi'ovost- marshal. Concerning the manner in 
which he executed the duties of that position, 
the Hon. Joseph D. Bedle said : " His legal 
knowledge and practice, good heart and quick 
perceptions, made him peculiarly fitted for that 
office. He ably diseliarged its duties. It was 
a subject of ncjte by those who attended his 
court that he would readily detect the grade 
and character of offeu-ses, however specious 
might be the statements of the ofi^ender ; and 
though the trial was summary, and the sen- 
tence quickly pronounced, as they must neces- 
sarily be in such courts, yet the guilty would 
rarely escape, or the innocent sutfer, or punish- 
ment be considered disproportionate to the 
offijuse. The press and people of Frederick 
City, and the soldiery also, commended his ad- 
ministration of military law ; and there, in the 
neighborhood of the camp at Monocacy, he is 
pleasantly remembered and his death lamented." 

On the 5th of September, 1863, Major Vred- 
enburgh was detached from his regiment by 
General French appointing him inspector-gen- 
eral of the Third Division, Third Corps. In that 
capacity he acted until the 11th of December 
following, when he received the appointment of 
inspector-general of the Third Corps, embracing 
twenty-seven thousand men, and in that position 
he continued until the Third Corps ceased to 
exist, by reason of the reorganization of the 
army, on the 25th of ^larch, 1864. In that 
reorganization the Third Division was assigned 
to the Sixth Corps, and placed under command 
of General Ricketts, Major Vredenburgh still 
ci)ntinuiug as inspector-general on Ricketts' 
staff. It was the testimony borne by his gen- 




■if^AJiHiCdiie 




y.^^^ 




4 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIA^IL WAK OF 1861-65. 



253 



eral and by all his coinpauions in arms tliat in 
all the bloody battK's from the Rapidan to 
Petersburg, Major Vredeuburgh, as inspector- 
general, took a part of the greatest possible 
activity. His industry was unwearied and in- 
cessant. Whenever liis exertions could serve 
his division or the cause of the Union, he took 
no account of labor or of danger. He was as 
cool, quiet and collected in the greatest extremi- 
ties of peril as on parade. " When we were in 
the front," wrote one of the officers of the 
Fourteenth, "we always saw Major Vredeu- 
burgh ; when in the rear, never. How our 
boys would shout as they saw him dashing 
along from one end of the line of the division 
to the other, through the deadliest fire !" In the 
famous charge of the Third Division at the bat- 
tle of Cold Harbor, he was requested by Gen- 
eral Ricketts to lead the assault, which he did, 
riding in advance of the column, and leajiing 
his horse over the breastworks ahead of the 
men. 

At the battle of Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864, 
the gallantry of Major Vredeuburgh was very 
conspicuous. During the day he was particu- 
larly observed by the commanding general. Lew 
Wallace, who mentioned him as an officer of 
inestimable value ; and General Ricketts also 
spoke of him in the highest terms of jjraise. 
IMajor Yard, who M-as sent to Monocacy after 
the battle to look after the killed and wounded 
of the Fourteenth, wrote, — " Special mention 
should be made of Major A'redeuburgh, on 
General Ricketts' staff, who, it is said by those 
who witnessed the fight, exhibited more bravery 
than any man on the field." 

On the 17th of July, Major Vredeuburgh was 
advanced to the position of inspector general of 
the Sixth Corps, General Ricketts being then 
placed in command. But as the Fourteenth had 
lost very heavily in officers at Monocacy, he felt 
it his duty to return to the regiment, and ac- 
cordingly made written application to that effect, 
which was returned with the following indorse- 
ment : 

"Headqcartees Sixth Corps, Julj- 21, 1864. 

" While appreciating the high military feeling which 
prompts this application, it cannot at present be 
granted without serious inconvenience. Major Vre- 



denburgh's admirable fitness for a stafl' officer, and his 
distinguished gallantry, to which I am much indebted^ 
induces this refusal. 

" James B. Ricketts, 
" Brigadier-General Commanding Corps." 

About one month later Major Vredeuburgh 
rencM'ed his application, and it was then granted. 
On the 2oth of August he was ordered back to 
his regiment, and he was its commanding officer 
through the short remainder of his life. Dur- 
ing the period of his service as a staff officer he 
had taken gallant part in the following-named 
engagements: In 1863, at Manassas Gap, Va., 
July 17 ; Wapping Heights, July 24; Culpeper, 
October 12; Bristow Station, October 14 ; Kel- 
ly's Ford, November 7 ; Brandy Station, ]S'o- 
vember 8; Locust Grove, November 27; Mine 
Run, November 29, December 2. In 1864, at 
Culpeper Ford, February 6 ; Wilderness, May 
4-7; Spottsylvania, May 8-11 ; Spottsylvania 
Court-House, May 12-14; Po River, May 15; 
North Anna, May 23-24 ; Tolopotomoy, May 28 ; 
Hauo\er Court-House, ilay 30-31 ; Cold Har- 
bor, June 1-10; Bermuda Hundred, June 14; 
Before Petersburg, June 16-23; Monocacy, Md., 
July 9; Snicker's Gap, July 18; Strasbm-g, 
Va., August 15 ; Charlestowu, Va., August 21. 
As commander of the Fourteenth, he was once 
more to enter the fire of conflict, and to fight his 
last battle at Opec^nan. In the morning of Sep- 
tember 19, 1864, after a night march of twenty 
miles, he came with his regiment to the banks of 
the little stream that flows past that historic 
field. Before them, six hundred yards away, 
stood the grim earth-works of the Confederates. 
For some hours they remained under a heavy fire 
from the batteries, and a little before noon came 
the order to assault the works. Major Vredeu- 
burgh mounted, placed himself at the head of his 
regiment, addressed a few words of cheer to the 
men, and then shouted his last order to charge. 
The line moved rapidly forward over the crest 
of the hill, but had scarcely advanced a dozen 
paces when a shell struck him in the throat, and 
he fell from his horse dead. No better blood 
than his ever reddened a battle-field, and no 
soldiei"s ever mourned the fall of their leader 
more deeply and sincerely than the men of the 
Fourteenth lamented the death of Major Peter 
Vredenbursrh. 



254 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The chaplain of the regiment, Rev. F. B. 
Eose, received from General Wright an order 
to take the body of ^Nlajor Yredenburgli to his 
home at Freehold, but being unable to obtain 
the necessary escort, it was buried near the di- 
vision hospital, on the Cliarlcstown turnpike, 
about four miles from Winchester. In the same 
grave were deposited tlie bodies of Lieutenant 
Green, of the Fourteenth, and Major Dillingham, 
of the Tenth Vermont Regiment. A few days 
later the proper escort was obtained, and the 
bddv disinterred and conveyed to Freehold. 
The funeral took place on Friday morning, Sep- 
tember 30th, the services being held in the Re- 
formed Church. The attendance was very 
large, and included a body of military, but with- 
out arms or music. The pall-bearers wei-e 
Joseph D. Bedle, Charles A, Bennett, D. V. 
Conover, Henry S. Little, Aaron R. Throck- 
morton, Holmes W. ]\Iurphy, George C. Beek- 
man and Philip J. Ryall. The remains of Major 
Vredenburgh were interred in the Freehold Cem- 
etery,^vhere a granite monument marks hisgrave. 

After the battle of Opequan and death of 
Major A'redenburgh, the Fourteenth fought at 
Flint Hill, September 21, 18(54; Fisher's Hill, 
September 22, 1864; Mount Jackson, Va., Sep- 
tember 25,1864; Cedar Creek, October 19,1864; 
Hatcher's Run, February 5, 1865; Fort Stead- 
man, March 25, 1865; capture of Petersburg, 
April 2, 1865; Sailor's Creek, April 6, 1865; 
Farmville, Va., April 7, 1865; Appomattox, 
April 9, 1865. 

"The regiment," says Sergeant Terrill,in his 
history of it, "had been gone nearly three 
years ; leaving New Jersey with nine hundred 
and fifty active men two hundred and thirty 
returned. During that time it had participated 
in numerous battles and skirmishes, fighting 
each time with that bravery which the New 
Jersey troops were noted for. In that time the 
regiment had traveled by rail ten hundred and 
fifty-one miles ; by water, six hundred' and 
twenty-eight miles ; and on foot, two thousand 
and fifteen miles." Following is a roster of the 
field and stafl' of the Fourteenth, and also a list 
of the officers and enlisted men of its Monmouth 
County companies, — A, D and G. 



FIELD AND STAFF. 

Colo}iel.—\yil\ia.m S. Truex, mustered in August 25, 
1862 ; breveted brigadier-general April 2, 1865 ; 
mustered out June 18, 1865. 

Lieidniant-Coloneh. — Caldwell K. Hall, mustered in 
August 27. 1862 ; resigned September 10, 1864, 
on account of wounds received in action at Mono- 
cacy, Md., July 9, 1864 ; breveted colonel and brig- 
adier-general March 13, 1865. 

Jacob J. Janeway, mustered in December 28, 1864; 
captain company K August 25, 1862; major Sep- 
tember 19, 1864; lieutenant-colonel, vice Hall, re- 
signed ; breveted colonel April 2, 1865 ; mustered 
out June 18, 1865. 

Majors. — Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., mustered in August 

26, 1862 ; killed in battle at Opequan, Va., Sep- 
tember 19, 1864. 

.John C. Patterson, captain company F October 5, 1863; 
major, vice Janeway, promoted ; breveted lieuten- 
ant-colonel and colonel March 13, 1865; mustered 
out June 18, 1865. 

Adjutants. — F. Lemuel Buckalew, mustered in August 

27, 1862 ; resigned December 2, 1864 ; wounds re- 
ceived in battle at Jlonocacy, Md. 

William H. Foster, first lieutenant company H, Octo- 
ber 8, 1864; adjutant, r/ce Buckalew, resigned ; 
breveted captain and major March 13, 1865. 

Quartermaster. — Enoch L. Cowart, mustered in August 
26, 1862 ; mustered out June 27, 1865. 

Surgeons.— Axahrosie Treganowan, resigned December 
10, 1863. 

Joseph S. Martin, a.ssistant surgeon, Augu.st 20, 1862 ; 
surgeon, vice Treganowan, resigned ; mustered out 
June 18, 1865. 

Assistant Surgeons. — Joseph Woolvertou,promotedsur- 
geon thirtieth regiment, September 26, 1862. 

Herbert B. Chambre, resigned August 14, 1863. 

B. Leflerts Disbrow, mustered in October 20, 1863 ; 
mustered out June 18, 1865. 

Chaplain.— ¥ra.nk B. Eose, mustered in September 1, 
1862; mustered out June 18, 1865. 

COMPANY A.^ 

Captain.— Austin H. Patterson, resigned November 16, 
1863, to accept commission as major thirty-fifth 
regiment. 

Henry J. Conine, first lieutenant company D, .Vugust 
15,1862; captain, nice Patterson, resigned ; killed 
at Monocacy, Md.. July 9, 1864. 

Charles M. Bartruft', private July 31, 1862 ; sergeant- 
major August 30, 1862 ; second lieutenant Octo- 
ber 31, 1862; captain, OJice Conine, killed; breveted 
major October 19, 1864; breveted lieutenant-colonel 
April 2, 1865; mustered out June 18, 1865. 

First Lieutenants. — Abraham J. Havens, resigned Octo- 
ber 23, 1862, disability. 

'Date of muster in, August 26, ]8i52. and muster out, 
June 18, f 86j, except as notefl. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAK OF 1861-65. 



255 



Frederick W. Kerner, second lieutenant July 15, 1862; 

first lieutenant, vice Havens, resigned ; discharged 
August 13, 1864, disability. 
Cornelius S. Barkalow, I'ice Kerner, discharged ; cap- 
tain company I December 1, 1864. 

Samuel G. Hill, sergeant company F ; first lieutenant, 
vice Barkalow, promoted; mustered out with 
company. 

First Sergeant. — William T. Lafetra, sergeant Decem- 
ber 1, 1864; first sergeant Januai-y 1, 1865. 

Sergea7its. — William^B. Conover, April 20, 1863 ; pro- 
moted to second lieutenant company F January 
30, 1865. 

James C. Warden, July 10, 1864; promoted second 
lieutenant company C November 16, 1864. 

Andrew Kerr, sergeant January 1, 1865. 

Henry Hayes, February 10, 1865. 

John S. White, September 26, 1864; discharged at 
general hospital, Newark, May 3, 1865. 

John C. Reynolds, January 1, 1863 ; discharged at 
Trenton, May 15, 1865. 

Corporals. — Nathaniel Britton, September 1, 1864. 

Wesley Layton, September 1, 1864. 

Alfred Asay, June 6, 1863. 

&imuel F. Holmes, September 26, 1864; discharged 
at Trenton, May 3, 1865. 

Archibald Sutphin, November 30, 1864. 

Benjamin L. Garrison, January 4, 1865. 

Cornelius Gibson, February 15, 1865; discharged at 
Trenton, May 3, 1865. 

John Yetman, January 3, 1863 ; discharged at Trenton, 
May 3, 1865. 

Musician. — William Grosse, sergeant July 21, 1862 ; 
musician December 31, 1862. 

Privates. — Ayers, William. 

Beers, Charles B., discharged Trenton, May 3, 1865. 

Bennett, Holmes C, discharged, hospital, Washington, 
D. C, Ajiril 28, 1865. 

Burdge, William, recruit one year ; mustered in Sep- 
tember 2, 1864. 

Cottrell, James, discharged Trenton, May 3, 1865. 

Dey, Joseph N. 

Grover, James W., recruit one year; mustered in Sep- 
tember 2, 1864 ; discharged, hospital. May 3, 1865. 

Grover, JohnW., recruit one year, September 16, 1864. 

Hampton, James H., recruit one year, September, 1864. 

Hendrickson, William. 

Huth, David. 

Irwin, George. 

Irwin, Henry. 

Keifer, Jacob. 

Lippincott, Henry, recruit one vear, September 2, 
1864. 

Lutes, James R. 

Marks, George. 

Marriner, George W. 

McBride, George. 

Morris, Isaiah. 

Perrine, Joseph R 



Preston, Corlis. 

Ross, William B., promoted sergeant-major January 

20, 1864. 
Springsteen, Alexander. 
Swenderman, George. 
Tanner, John. 
Van Horn, John C. 
Walt, George H. 
White, Nicholas V. 
White, Stephen S. 
Yetman, William, discharged, hospital, Annapolis, 

Md., May 4, 1865 ; mustered out July 15, 1865. 

I}ischaryed. 
Reid, Frank, corporal, discharged, disability, Newark, 

December 15, 1864. 
Andrews, Garrison, private, discharged, disability, 

August 4, 1865. 
Best, Louis, private, discharged to join regular army 

November 15, 1862. 
Carman, William W., private, discharged, disability. 

May 12, 1865. 
Cole, John, j)rivate, discharged July 20, 1865, for 

wounds received at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 
Fleming, Hartshorne, private, discharged, disability, 

April 28, 1865. 
Hayes, Charles H., private, discharged, disability, 

March 6, 1864. 
Hildebrand, Julius, private, discharged to join regular 

army December 1, 1862. 
Hoagland, Henry L., private, discharged to join regu- 
lar army November 15, 1862. 
Hurley, John H., private, discharged for wounds re- 
ceived in action. 
Magee, Hercules, private, discharged, disabilitv, April 

14, 1864. 
Magee, James H., recruit, discharged, disability, June 

8, 1865. 
McBride, John, private, discharged, disability. May 

12, 1865. 
Mooney, Charles C, private, discharged, disability, 

May 12, 1865. 
Mooney, William H., private, discharged to join reg- 
ular army November 16, 1862. 
Moore, Richmond F., private, discharged, disability, 

August 8, 1864. 
Soden, Jonathan C, private, discharged, disability, 

January 27, 1864. 
Tallmau, Jacob, private, discharged, disability, June 

17, 1864. 
Van Brunt, William, private, discharged, disability, 

June 17, 1864. 
Wagoner, Hendrickson, private, discharged, disability, 

November 6, 1864. 
Wagoner, John H., private, discharged, disability, 
August 18, 1865. 

Transferred. 
Schenck, Uriah, corporal, to veteran reserve corps, 
November 1, 1863; discharged January 16, 1864. 



256 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



•! 



Myers, John D., musician (recruit), to company K., 

second regiment. 
Agen, Baxter, private (one year recruit), to company 

I. 
Allen, George, private, to veteran reserve corps, June 

15, 1864; discharged July 8, 1865. 
Bunting, Charles H., private, to veteran reserve corps, 

June 15, 1864 ; discharged July 8, 1865. 
Clemens, John G., private, to veteran reserve corps, 

June 15, 1864; discharged July 13, 1865. 
Emmons, William N., private, to veteran reserve 

corps, September 1, 1863 ; discharged August 28, 

1865. 
Everingham, Lewis J., private, to company I, recruit 

one year, 1864. 

Harris, John, private (recruit 1864, one year,) to com- 
pany I. 

Hulse, Daniel, private, to company K. 

Kelly, Patrick, private, to company C. 

Lafetra, , private, to company K, second regi- 
ment (recruit March 15, 1864). 

McGiuty, Anthony, private, to United States navy 
(recruit March 15, 1864). 

Mitchell, Samuel, private, to company I (recruit 
August 24, 1864). 

Schroff, Frank, private, to veteran reserve corps, Jan- 
uary 15, 1864. 

Smith, John, private, to company K, second regi- 
ment (substitute). 

Stein, Jacob, private, to company C (recruit August 

24, 1864). 

I}ied. 

William B. Cottrell, sergeant, killed Monocacy, Md., 
July 9, 1864. 

Daniel A. Carhart, sergeant, died of disease at Wash- 
ington, September 16, 1864. 

Charles H. Stokey, died of disease at Monocacy, Md., 
December 13, 1862. 

Joseph Lake, corporal, died December 9, 1863, of 
wounds received in battle Mine Run. 

Charles M. Potter, corporal, killed in battle Cold 
Harbor, June 3, 1864. 

Joseph V. Magee, corporal, died July 25, 1864, of 
wounds received in battle Monocacy, July 9, 
1864. 

Abijah Applegate, wagoner, killed in action Monoc- 
acy, July 9, 1864. 

Borden, Henry, private, killed in action Monocacy, 
July 9, 1864. 

Brand, Brindley, private, died December 6, 1864, of 
wounds received in battle Monocacy, July 9, 1864. 

Brown, William, private (recruit), April, 1864, killed 
in battle Monocacy, July 9, 1864. 

Clayton, Isaac, private, died of disease, December 29, 
1862. 

Cowell, John, private, died of disease, January 5, 
1863. 

Dangler, Allen, private, died of disease in prison, 
Richmond, Va., February 10, 1864. 



Gibson, Isaac H., private (recruit), 1863, died July 17, 

1864, of wounds received at Monocacy, July 9, 

1864. 
Hankinson, Nathaniel W., private, killed in battle 

Mine Run, November 27, 1863. 
Layton, Charles P., private, killed in battle Cedar 

Creek, October 19, 1864. 
Layton, Peter, private, died of disease, November 29, 

1863. 
Le Compte, David, private, died of disease, February 

24, 1865. 
Llewellyn, John H., private, died of disease, October 

29, 1864. 
Orr, Joseph, private, died of disease, April 12, 1S64. 
Osborn, John H., private, died of disease in jirison, 

Richmond, Va., February 10, 1864. 
Parker, Charles, private, died of disease, November 

8, 1862. 
Reynear, Theodore F., private, died of disease, De- 
cember 28, 1862. 
Soden, Peter, private, died of disease in prison, Rich- 
mond, Va„ July 8, 1864. 
Stillwell, William, private, died of disease, July 31, 

1864. 
Taylor, Barzillai, private, killed in battle Mine Run, 

November 27, 1863. 
Taylor, Samuel, private, died of disease, November 

29, 1862. 
"Van Buren, White, private, died of disease in prison, 

Richmond, Va., February, 7, 1864. 
Wilson, Thomas J., private, died of disease in prison, 
Danville, September 18, 1864. 



COMPAXY D.' 

Captains.— James W. Conover, died at Frederick City, 
Md., August 4, 1864, of wounds received in battle 
at Monocacy, July 9, 1864. 

Henry D. Bookstaver, first lieutenant compa ny K, 
August 25, 1862; captain, vice Conover, died; 
discharged May 22, 1865, disability. 

First Lieutenants.— Kenvy J. Conine, promoted cap- 
tain company A, November 21, 1863. 

Wm. H. Craig, second lieutenant August 15, 1862; 
first lieutenant, i;ice Conine, promoted; commis- 
sioned captain August 9, 1864; not mustered; dis- 
charged November 8, 1864, for wounds received 
in battle Monocacy July 9, 1864. 

James Fletcher, November 20, 1864, u ice Craig, dis- 
charged. 

Second Lieutenants.— Jumes H. Riddle, December 6, 
1863, vice Craig, promoted ; commissioned first 
lieutenant August 9, 1864 ; not mustered ; dis- 
charged, disability, October 17, 1864. 

John D. Franklin, February 25, 1865, vice Riddle, 
discharged. 



i 



1 Mustered in August 26, 1865 ; mustered out .June 18, 
18G.5, except ns noted. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



257 



First Sergeant. — Gilbert Lane, August 31, 18G-t; com- 
missioned second lieutenant company E June 26, 
1865 ; not mustered. 
Sergeants. — John T. Reed, discharged, Trenton, May 3, 

1865. 
.Jacob S. Wideuer, July 10, 1863. 
Richard S. Borden, December 7, 1863, discharged, 

Trenton, May 16, 1865. 
Jackson Conk, August 31, 1864. 

Corporals. — John B. Emmons, July 10, 1863 ; dis- 
charged, Newark, May 3, 1865. 
Joseph Brown, March 1, 186-t. 

Robert T. Duncan, discharged, Trenton, May 3, 1865. 
Charles S. Jobes, discharged, Newark, May 3, 1865. 
William Lacore. 
Graiidiu Hampton. 
William ^tillwagon, August 31, 1864; discharged, 

Newark, May 3, 1865. 
Corporal— 3 o\\Y\ H. Matthews, February 1, 1865. 
Musician. — Cornelius B. Harvey, promoted principal 

musician May 1. 1863. 
Privates. — Anderson, William A. 
Applegate, Asher. 
Bennett, Joseph L. 
Bond, William R. 
Brewer, Isaac. 
Brown, William L. 
Clayton, Edward. 
Clayton, William. 
Clayton, William H. 
Condit, Charles, recruit, September, 1864 ; discharged, 

Newark, May 3, 1865. 
Cook, Abram N., discharged, Newark, May 3, 1865. 
Cook, Andrew J. 
Cook, Samuel. 
Dow, Clinton. 
Duncan, Joseph P. 
Emmons, Charles W. 

Fielder, Benjamin H., one year recruit, Augu.st, 1864. 
Furd, David J. 
Imlay, John. 
Lawyer, Josejih J. 
Lewis, Joseph O. 
Longstreet, Abraham. 
Mathews, Charles T. 
Mathews, James H. 
IMcDermott, Charles V., discharged, Trenton, May 

15, 1865. 
iliiilou, James F. 
Minton, William H. 
Jloore, William S., discharged, Trenton, May 3, 

1865. 
Morton, David W. 
Patterson, Caleb. 
Pettit, Richard B. 
Pullen, Charles. 
Pulleu, William H. H. 
Reed, Joseph. 

Reynolds, John T., discharged, Newark, May 4, 1865. 
17 



Sherman, Gordon. 
Stinuix, James. 
Strickland, Alexander. 
Sullivan, Daniel. 

Truex, John, discharged, Trenton, May 3, 1865. 
Wagoner, Reuben H., discharged, Newark, May 3, 
1865. 

Discharged. 

Brewer, Charles A., at Chester, Pa., June 1, 1865 ; 

wounds received in battle Cold Harbor, June 1, 

1864 ; loss of leg. 
Caft'rey, Charles S., dischargeil, disability, Newark, 

January 28, 1864. 
Clayton, John V., discharged to join regular army, 

December 28, 1862. 
Clayton, Thomas, discharged, disability, August 19, 

" 1865. 
Gaskin, Benjamin W., discharged, disability, Newark, 

Deceiubcr 13, 1864. 
Girard, Frederick, discharged to join regular army, 

November 4, 1862. 
Grravatt, John, discharged, disability, September 30, 

1863. 
Holmes, Edward, discharged, disability, Baltimore, 

September 26, 1863. 
McCormick, Jeremiah, discharged, disability, Newark, 

July 11, 1865. 
Morton, Nicholas P., discharged, disability, Philadel- 
phia, October 11, 1864. 
Sherman, William B., discharged, disability, Trenton, 

June 30, 1863. 

Transferred. 

Charles H. Curtis, corporal, to veteran reserve corps, 

December 19, 1864; discharged June 29, 1865. 
Nathan C. Ripley, corporal, to veteran reserve cor|)s, 

March 15, 1865. 
Augustus Linder, musician ; principal musician, Au- 
gust 26, 1862 ; transferred to company D, second 

regiment, December 19, 1864. 
Allen, John, recruit, February. 1865 ; transferred to 

second regiment. 
Bowden, Charles J., recruit, 1865 ; transferred to 

second regiment. 
Brown, Nelson P., to veteran reserve corps, .lanuaiy 

1, 1865; discharged June 29, 1865. 
Bunn, Mathias, recruit, IMarch, 1864, to company E. 
Cottrell, Daniel G., recruit, 1865, to company D, second 

regiment. 
Creighton, George, recruit, 1865, to second regiment. 
Curley, Michael, recruit, 1865, to company C. 
Doran, .lohn, recruit, 1865, to second regiment. 
Hagerman, Nicholas, to veteran reserve corps, Janu- 

uary 15, 1864; discharged June 26, 1865. 
Hall, Joseph, recruit, 1865, to company I), second 

regiment. 
Hampton, Russell, recruit, 1864, to company D, second 

regiment. 
Hess, George, recruit, 1865, to company D, second 

regiment. 



258 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Hyers, Barzillai, to veteran reserve corps, March 16, 
1864; discharged July 5, 1865. 

Imlay, Thomas, transferred to regular army. 

Jamison, Isaac, to veteran reserve corps, June 15_ 
1864; discharged July 18, 1864. 

Jones, James, recruit, 1866, to second regiment. 

Little, George L, recruit, 1864, to second regiment. 

Little, Robert W. C, recruit, 1864, to second regi- 
ment. 

Mathews, Charles J., to veteran reserve corps, March 
15, 1864 ; discharged June 18, 1865. 

Mathews, Merwin O., recruit, 1865, to second regi 
meut. 

Monroe. James, recruit, 1865, to second regiment. 

Parker, Jonathan, recruit, 1865, to second regiment. 

Reeder, Frank, recruit, 1865, to second regiment. 

Richardson, Morris, recruit, 1865, to second regiment. 

Riddle, Hyers, to United States navy, April 10, 1864. 

Sherman, Beuajah, recruit, August, 1863, to second 
regiment. 

Sherman, James W., to United States navy. 

Smith, William, recruit, February, 1865, to fifteenth 
regiment. 

Stenhouse, Ebenezer, recruit, April, 1863, to com- 
pany K. 

Sutton, Charles, to company E, October 11, 1862. 

Vanhise, John S., recruit, March, 1864, to second 
regiment. 

Wallace, Peter, recruit, February, 1865, to second 
regiment. 

Yard, Alexander, to company L, first cavalry, Au- 
gust 29, 1865. 

Yetman, Tunis, to veterau reserve corps, April 17, 1864 
discharged September 9, 1864. 

Died. 

William Church, first sergeant, killed in battle Mon- 

ocacy, July 9, 1864. 
Henry Van Kirk, corporal, died of disease, Wash- 
ington, D. C, September 25, 1868. 
Addison, William, died of disease. Brandy Station, 

Va., January 9, 1864. 
Armstrong, Jacob L., died December 20, 1864, wounds 

received in battle near Petersburg. 
Barker, Robert, died of disease, Philadelphia, April 

19, 1865. 
Bills, William H., killed in action. Cold Harbor, 

June 1, 1864. 
Brown, Peter, died Richmond, Virginia, prisoner of 

war, July 9, 1864, wounds received in battle. 
Camp, George H., died of disease, Brandv Station, 

February 9, 1864. 
Estell, Andrew J., died of disease, Frederick, Md., 

December 30, 1862. 
Estell, William H., killed in battle, Spottsylvania 

Court-House, May 13, 1864. 
G^rham, David, recruit, February, 1864 ; killed in 

battle. Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 



Gorman, Williaiu, killed in battle, Monocacy, July 9, 
1864. 

Hawkins, James, recruit, February, 1864: died of 
wounds received Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864. 

Havens, Edward, died of disease, Frederick, Md., 
December 20, 1862. 

Lewis, William H., died of disease. Freehold, N. J., 
December 7, 1863. 

Martin, Levi, died of disease. South Amboy, Decem- 
ber 11, 1863. 

Runyon, Robert, died of disease, Washington, D. C, 
September 24, 1863. 

Shores, William A. N., killed in battle, Monocacy, 
July 9, 1864. 

Soden, Daniel P., killed in battle. Cold Harbor, June 
1, 1864. 

Strickland, Joseph, died of disease, December 30, 
1863. 

Vandusen, Jeremiah, died of accidental wound re- 
ceived at Winchester, Va., October 31, 1864. 

C'OMPAXY G.' 

Captains. — John V. Alstrom, promoted major, third 
cavalry. May 6, 1864. 

William W. Conover ; July 20, 1864, captain, vice Al- 
strom, promoted; first lieutenant, March 4, 1864; 
second lieutenant, August 16, 1862; resigned 
April 7, 1865, disability. 

First Lieutenants. — George W. Patterson, resigned 
March 1, 1864, disability. 

George W. Robbius, November 1, 1864, vice Conover, 
promoted ; captain, company C, January 4, 1865. 

Charles H. White, January 25, 1865, vice Robbins, 
promoted ; commissioned captain ; not mustered. 

First Sergeants. — Harvey G. Conover, promoted to 
second lieutenant, company H, January 25, 1863. 

William H. Foster, June 20, 1864: promoted ser- 
geant-major, September 18, 1864. 

James W. Hill, January 1, 1865. 

Sergeants. — Albert C. Harrison, commissioned first 
lieutenant, company E, June 26, 1865 ; not mus- 
tered. 

James W. Hartshorne, February 1, 1864; promoted 
to first lieutenant, company I, December 13, 1864. 

Joseph Johnson, September 26, 1864. 

Charles Conrow, January 1, 1865. 

Augustus J. White, May 1, 1865. 

Corporals. — -Henry Hendrickson, discharged, Trenton, 
May 3, 1865. 

William H. Bryan, discharged, Trenton, May 15, 1865. 

Mathias Walters. 

John H. King, substitute, one year. 

Thomas S. Tallman, May 1, 1865. 

William Parker, May 1,1865. 

Musician. — Charles A. Wood. 

Wagoner. — -John McCluskey. 

' Mustered in August 26, 1862 and mustered out .Tune 
18, 1865, unless otherwise noted. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



259 



Privates. 



Blower. William H. 

Brown, James L. dis- 
charged, Annapolis, 
Md, JNIay 4, 18<35. 

Ca.sey, William. 

Cooper, Nelson. 

Cottrell, Gershom M. 

Disbrow, Solomon. 

Doran, Jaraes. 

Finn, Hamilton T. 

Havens, Edwin L. 

Howland, Eseck. 

Johnson, Charles. 

Lewis, Michael. 

McBride, Edward, mus- 
tered in October 5, 
1862. 



Mount, James. 

Polhemus, Aaron, dis- 
charged, Trenton, 
May 12, 1865. 

Smith, Joseph R. 

Stryker, William H. 

Tallman, Curtis W. 

Thomas, Joseph W., dis- 
charged, Trenton, 
May 3, 1865. 

Thompson, Daniel W. 

Tilton, Charle,s H. 

Truex, Elias L., dis- 
charged, Trenton, 
May 3, 1865. 

Williams, White. 

Wright, Weaver G. 



Dhcharged. 

TertuUus S. Diblin, sergeant, at Newark, August 26, 

1863, disability. 
William A. Prickett, sergeant, at Washington, D. C, 

January 26, 1864, to accept promotion to captain 

in twenty-fifth regiment. United States colored 

troops. 
Abram T. Jletzgar, corporal, discharged, Newark ; 

arm amputated. 
Brown, Thomas, discharged, disability. May 12, 1865. 
Cottrell, David S., discharged, disability, July 7, 1865. 
Henderson, Samuel, discharged, disaliility, December 

16, 1864. 
Imlay, Theodore E., discharged, disability, January 

29, 1864. 
Mount, George H., discharged, disability, December 

9, 1863. 
Palmer, David S., discharged, disability, January 30, 

1865. 
Palmer, Valentine, discharged, disability, June 11, 

1865. 
Poling, Hendrick S., discharged, disability (wounded 

in battle), August 7, 1865. 
Slocum, George W., discharged, disability, April 28, 

1865. 
Slocum, John, discharged, disability, December 28, 

1864. 
Slocum, Jordan E., discharged, disability, February 

5, 1865. 
Springstein, Charles, discharged, disability, March 

8, 1865. 
Strain, William, discharged, disability, Januarv 26, 

1865. 
Van Brunt, Lewis, discharged to join regular army, 

December 25, 1862. 
Wilson, George K., discharged, disability, February 

11, 1865. 
Wilson, John, discharged to join regular army. De- 
cember 25, 1862. 



Worrel, Henry, discharged to join regular army, 
December 25, 1862. 

Trannferred. 

.Joseph P. Chadwick, sergeant, to United States navy, 
April 9, 1864. 

George W. White, corporal, to United States navy, 
April 9, 1864. 

Samuel A. Elmer, corjioral, to veteran reserve corps, 
September 30, 18(i4. 

Akley, Elijah, to L'nited States navy, April 9, 1864. 

Carroll, Andrew, recruit 1864; transferred to com- 
pany D. 

Conrow, Tliomas, to veteran reserve cor])s, September 
30, 1864. 

Fisher, Thomas, to veteran reserve corjjs, discharged 
July 5, 1865. 

Grover, William V., to veteran reserve corps; dis- 
charged July 14, 1865. 

Hance, Isaac, recruit 1864 ; transferred to company F. 

Hopping, George W., to signal corps, October 6, 1863. 

Johnson, Samuel, recruit 1865 ; transferred to com- 
pany I. 

Katon. Richard, recruit 1864 ; transferred to company 
K. second regiment. 

Keach, Elisha J., to United States navy, April 9, 1864. 

Smith, Alexander F., to United States navy, April 
9, 1864. 

Twiford, David H., to United States navy, April 9, 
1864. 

Vanderpool, .John, recruit 1865 ; transferred to second 
regiment. 

Vandyke, John Wesley, to veteran reserve corps; 
discharged, disal)ility, July 7, 1865. 

Died. 

Jacob D. Griffin, corporal, June 4, 1864, of wounds 
received at battle of Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 

Spafford R. Jackson, corporal, of disease on board 
United States transport " Atlantic ;" buried at 
sea. 

Anderson, Isaac L., of disease at Danville, Va., 
March 6, 1865 ; prisoner of war. 

Arrants, William H., of disease at Slonocacy, Md., 
December 30, 1862. 

Cottrell, John B., killed in battle. Opequan, Va.. Sep- 
tember 19, 1864. 

Emily, Alonzo, of disease at Monocacy. Md., De- 
cember 1, 1862. 

Erickson, Jonathan, killed in battle, Hanover Court- 
House, Va., May 3, 1864. 

Fields, Elliott, killed in battle Locust Grove, Va., 
November 27, 1863. 

Haley, George, died of disease, Strasburg, Va., Sep- 
tember 20, 1864. 

Hires, Josiah, died of disease, Monocacy, Md., De- 
cember 11, 1862. 

Holloway, Samuel, died of disease, Monocacy, Md. 
March 18, 1863. 



2C0 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



MeClain, David H., died of disease, Washington, 

D. C, July 17, 1864. 
Pearce, Asher, died June 24, 1(S64, of wounds received 

at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 
Reynolds, William, died June 15, 1864, of wounds 

received at Cold Harbor, June 1, 1864. 
Tilton, Richard C, died of disease, Annapolis, Md., 

December 17, 1863. 
Van Brunt, Benjamin, died of disease, Monocacy, 

Md., December 5, 1862. 
White, John H., killed in battle. Locust Grove, Va., 

November 27, 1863. 

List of eleven deserters omitted. 

Tlie Tweuty-ninth Regiment (uine months') 
was raised in August and September, 1862. It 
was organized at "Camp A^redenburgli," near 
Freehold, where, on tlie 20th of September, it 
was mustered into the service of the United 
States for a term of uine mouths' service, by 
First Lieutenant Frank D. Howell, of the Seven- 
teenth United States Infantry. On the 28th 
of the same month it left the rendezvous with 
full ranks and proceeded to Washington, D. C, 
where it was encamped on Capitol Hill, but 
soon after crossed the Potomac iuto Virginia, 
where it was a.ssigned to a provisional brigade 
in the division of General Silas Casey and 
posted in the southern defenses of Washington. 
There and in the vicinity it remained imtil 
November 30th, when it moved to Aquia 
Creek, Va., and became a part of tlie Army of 
the Potomac, tlieu preparing for action, under 
the command of General Burnside. During the 
great battle of Fredericksburg, on the l:3th of 
December, the regiment was under the tremeu- 
dous fire of the Confederates, and it performed 
its duties gallantlj- and well. (3n the stormv 
night of the loth it withdrew to the north .side 
of the Rappaliannock, recrossing the pontoon 
bridge under a terrific fire from the enemy's bat- 
teries, evincing the utmost bravery and steadi- 
ness. During the winter it occupied a camj) 
near Belle Plain (taking part in the famous 
"Mud March" in January), and when General 
Hooker opened the spring campaign of 186."], 
which resulted in tlie bloody battle of Chancel- 
lorsville, the regimeut participated in the con- 
flict on the extreme left, holding its position 
under fire with perfect coolness and sustaining 
a considerable loss in killed and wounded. The 



battle resulted disastrously to the Union arms, 
and this regimeut, which had advanced acros.s 
the Rappahannock on the 29th of April, re- 
crossed to the north shore on tlie 6th of ]\Iay 
and reoccupied its winter camp near Belle Plain. 
About the 12th of June it moved, with the otlier 
commands of the Army of the Potomac, to meet 
the Confederate forces, which were theu enteriusi- 
Maryland on the camj^aign of Gettysburg. On 
the 15th it reached Centreville, Va., where it 
was (with its brigade) relieved from duty witii 
the corps to which it had been attached and 
ordered to Washington, whence, on the 17th, it 
moved homeward under orders for discharge, 
and reached Freehold on the 19th. Its term 
of service had expired, and it was mustered out 
by Lieutenant Robert P. King, of the Fifteenth 
United States Infantry, on tlie.'Wth of June, 1.S6;]. 
Tiie original commanding officer of the 
Twenty-ninth was Colonel Edwiu F. Apple- 
gate, of Freehold, proprietor and editor of tiie 
Monmouth Inquirer. The regiment was made 
up of i\Ionmouth County men, with the ex- 
ception of one company (H), which was from 
Ocean County, though in this,'also, there were 
a number of Monmouth County meu. Follow- 
ing are given the roster of the field and stafi' of 
the regiment, and the lists of the officers and 
men of the uine Monmouth County companies,^ 
viz. : 

FIELD AND STAFF. 

Colonels. — Edwin F. Applegate, September 20, 1862 ; 
resigned January 16, 1863. 

William R. Taylor, lieutenant-colonel, September 12, 
1862; colonel, vice Applegate, resigned. 

Lieutenant- Colon el. — Joseph K. Davison, major, Sep- 
tember 12, 1862; lieutenant-colonel, i'i'ce Taylor, 
promoted. 

Major. — Joseph T. Field, captain, company D, Sep- 
tember 9, 1862; major, vice Davison, promoted. 

Adjutant— EAg&y: Whitaker, September 20, 1862; 
mustered out vfith regiment. 

Quartermaster. — Peter J. Hendrickson, September 
20, 1861 ; mustered out with regiment. 

Surgeon.— Hmry G. Cooke, September 20, 1862; 
mustered out with regiment. 

■The lists are from Ailjutant-General Strykei''s " Officers 
and Men of New Jersey in the War of the Rebellion." The 
date of muster in is September 20, 1862. and of muster out, 
June 30, 1802, except where otherwise noted. This re- 
mark applies to the field and staff, and to all tlie companies 
of the regiment. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAK OF 1861-65. 



261 



Assistant Surgeons. — Judson C. Shackleton, Septem- 
ber 20, 1862; 'mustered out with regiment. 

Ezra M. Hunt, October 9, 1862; discharged January 
7, 1863. 

Elijah W. Lawrence, June 4, 1863; mustered out 
with regiment. 

Cliuplain. — Lester C. Kogers, September 20, 1862; 
mustered out with regiment. 

NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 

Sergeant-Majors.— 'Robert P. Miller, September 20, 
1862; promoted second lieutenant, company E, 
February 23, 1863. 

Burk C. Stout, March 1, 1863 ; mustered out with 
regiment. 

Qiiartermasfer-Sergeanls. — Jacob R. Schenck, Septem- 
ber 20, 1862; promoted second lieutenant, com- 
pany I, February 23, 1863. 

Charles S. Errickson, March 1, 1863 ; mustered out 
with regiment. 

Commissary-Sergeants. — Peter J. Aumack, September 
22, 1862 ; private, March 1, 1863. 

William T. Hopper, March 1,1863; mustered out 
with regiment. 

Hospital Steward. — Michael M. Cook, September 13, 
1862 ; mustered out with regiment. 

COMPANY A. 

Captains. — George H. Green, resigned February 12, 
1863. 

Cornelius H. Emmons, tirst lieutenant, September 6, 
1862 ; captain, vice Green, resigned. 

First Lieutenant. — William Aumack, second lieuten- 
ant, September 6, 1862 ; iir.st lieutenant, vice 
Emmons, promoted. 

Aecond Lieutenant. — George Gibson, March 6, 1863, 
vice Aumack, promoted. 

First Sergeant. — Borden Morris. 

Sergeants. — Edmund W. Williams. 

William S. Worthley. 

Charles H. Wardell". 

Charles Wooley. 

Corporals. — John Emmons. 

Robert Hendrickson. 

Tenbrook ]Morris. 

Lucius AV. Fish. 

William T. Hopper, promoted to commissary ser- 
geant, March 1, 1863. 

James Corlies. 

Henry Gugel. 

Luke Conrow. 

William W. Scott. 

Mii-iicians. — Dewitt C. Newings. 

Elisha P. Woolley. 

Privates. 



Brown, Charles H. 
Brown, James. 
Buckingham. Oliver. 
Gary, William. 
Conk, John H. 
Corlis, Edwin. 
Conrow, John S. 
Croxson, Charles. 
Digging, James, 
Edwards, William. 
Fay, Robert. 
Fox, Thomas. 
Hagaman, John H. 
Hall, George W. 
Holmes, Samuel. 
Horn, Allen. 
Howland, Bloomfield. 
Howland, William H. 
.Jeffrey, Francis. 
Jeffrey, William W. 
King, John A. 
Kirby, Samuel S. 
Li])|iincott, Robert. 
Lii>]iincott, Stephen H. 
Lipjiincott, William B. 
Martin, Henry. 
McDowell, John H. 



Metzgar, John B. 
]\Iorris, George. 
Potter, Elijah D. 
Reed, William. 
Rockwell, Lyman. 
ScuUthorp, William. 
Senn, Frederick. 
Sirles, Charles. 
Smith, David. 
Smith, William. 
Smock, Daniel C. 
Smock, John H. 
Taber, William. 
Tallman, Ellis T. 
Thomas, Augustus. 
Thorne, William. 
Throckmorton, Willia 
Van Brunt, John. 
West, Elvin. 
White, John H. 
Wolcott, Tyler B. 
Wood, William H. 
Woolley, Britton. 
Woolle}', Theodore S. 
Worthley, Charles. 
Worthley, James. 



Anderson, Charles H. 
Anderson, John N. 
Arrance, Stephen. 
Bennett, Harrison. 



Bennett, Henry B. 
Bennett, Jonathan. 
Bennett, Milton. 
Brown, Andrew. 



Discharged. 

Letson, William, at Freehold, September 27, 1862. 
minor. 

William!.:, Andrew, at Philadelphia, Pa., April 13, 
1863, disability. 

Williams, Wade, at Washington, D. C, April 18, 
1863, disability. 

Woolley, Theodore, at Washington, D. C, April 18, 
1863, disability. 

Died. 

Aumack, Sidney, of disease, near Belle Plain, Va., 
April S, 1863. 

Tallman, Joseph, of disease, at Potomac Bridge, De- 
cember 28, 1862. 

West, James, of disease, at Washington, D. C, De- 
cember 1, 1862. 

Wolcott, Elliott, of disease, at Washington, D. C, 
February 7, 1863. 

Wolcott, John B., of disease, at Tenallytown, Md., 
November 15, 1862. 

COMPANY B. 

Captain. — Thomas Robinson. 
First Lieutenant. — William Warner. 
.Second Lieutenant. — George W. Taylor. 
First Sergeant. — William M. Young. 
Sergeants. — William C. Aumack. 
William Flett. 
William Bedle, Jr. 
Edward V. Robinson. 
Corporals. — Peter P. Snyder. 



262 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Septimus S. Bedle. 

William Sewing. 

Wilson Walling. 

Theodore Fields. 

Abraham Morris. 

William C. Van Pelt. 

Logan Bailey. 

il/«,sic('a(!.':.— Cxeorge M. Tilton. 

Isaac Van Woert. 

Wagoner. — Cornelius Britton, Jr. 

Privates. 
Amernian, Cornelius H. Morris, Lewis. 
Amerman, Luther. 
Bailey, Augustus F. 
Bailey, Edward P. 
Bailey, Elijah. 
Bailey, William Cook. 
Briskie, William D. 
Brower, George. 
Burton, William. 
Campbell, Jacob. 
Chambers, Anderson L. 
Chambers, Benjamin L. 
Chartree, Mitchell. 



Nagle, James. 
Ormerod, George C. 
Philipson, Selig. 
Pope, William. 
Roberts, Zebulon. 
Saunders, Benjamin A. 
Seabrook, Stephen. 
Smith, Charles H. 
Smith, Jacob R. 
Smith, John. 
Smith, William H. 
Speer, William A. 
Stetler, Charles. 
Van Pelt, Daniel. 
Van Pelt, David H. 
Van Pelt, Joshua. 

Walling, Albert. 

Walling, Francis A. 

Walling, James M. 

Walling, William. 

Warner, .Samuel A. 

Wharton, Richard B. 

Wheeler, Daniel. 

Wheeler, Moses H. 

Wheeler, Thomas. 

Whelan, Patrick. 

White, John W. 

Wilson, John. 

Young, Henry A. 



Conk, Moses. 
Crawford, Joel. 
Davis, Albert E. 
Decker, John B. 
Dougherty, Hugh. 
Drury, Patrick. 
Ensbro, Patrick. 
Fleming, John. 
Force, William L. 
Gravatt, Thomas. 
Hazlett, George W. 
Hiers, Henry. 
Holston, Alfred B. 
Howard, William H. 
Hughes, Charles R. 
Lambertson, Daniel. 
Layton, Thomas. 
McKenzie, Peter. 

Discharged. 
Clarke, Jacob, at Washington, D. C, April 21, 18G3, 

disability. 
Coe, Henry, at Tenallytown, Md., October 30, 1862, 

disability. 
Herbert, George, at Alexandria, Va., March 4, 1803, 

disability. 
Potter, John Wesley, at Tenallytown, Md., Novem- 
ber 6, 1862, disability. 

Transferred. 
Warner, Abraham, to Twentieth regiment, N. Y. V. 

January 10, 1863. 

Died. 

Devoe, William J., corporal, at Camp Rappahannock, 

Va., May 2, 1863, of wounds received in battle 

at Fredericksburg, Va. 



Wilson, Andrew J., of disease, at Tenallytown, :\Id., 
November 18, 1862. 

C0MP-4XY C. 

Captains.— Thomas A. Slack, resigned April 4, 1863. 
Hiram H. Mount, first lieutenant, September 1, 

1862; captain, vice Slack, resigned. 
Mrst Lieutenant. — John T. Rowell, second lieutenant, 

September 1, 1862; first lieutenant, vice Mount, 

promoted. 
iSecond Lieuteriant.^'Wi\\iam P. White, first sergeant, 

August 25, 1862 ; second lieutenant, vice Rowell, 

promoted. 
First Sergeant.— William C. Applegate, sergeant, 

August 25, 1862 ; first sergeant, June 8, 1863. 
Sergeants. — Ezekiel A. Chamberlain. 
Joseph T. Hendrickson. 
Jonathan Davison. 

Ralph Applegate, corporal, August 27, 1862; ser- 
geant, June 8, 1863. 
Corporals. — Jasper IMcCoy. 
Mark C. Chamberlain. 
Samuel Sutphin. 

John F. Thompson, corporal, February 3, 1863. 
Cornelius C. Lewis. 

Peter Thomas, corporal, February 4, 1863. 
Walter Yetman, corporal, February 4, 1863. 
John M. Camp, corporal, February 4, 1863. 
Musicians. — Joseph ^V. Thorne. 
Richard Kation. 
Wagoner. — Eli Applegate. 



Privates. 



Applegate, Disbrow. 
Armstrong, William A. J. 
Brown, Forman. 
Buckalew, Corlies. 
Buckalew, Edward. 
Buckalew, George. 
Burk, Joseph. 
Cook, William. 
Danser, John R. 
Debou, Asher M. 
Dey, Lawrence F. 
Dey, William W. 
Emmons, Jesse. 
Errickson, William. 
Everingham, Peter. 
Foley, John. 
Frederick, Gul. 
Galliger, William. 
Giberson, Enoch. 
' Halpin, John. 
Hamer, Jacob. 
Hillan, James. 
Hillan, Patrick. 
Hinckley, Frederick A. 
Irwin, Charles L. 
Johnson, Jacob, .Tr. 



Jones, Isaac. 
Kelly, John. 
Kerlin, .James. 
Kerlin, Samuel. 
Kerlin, William. 
Korse, Augustus. 
Layton, Peter. 
Leming, Samuel. 
Longstreet, Mulford. 
Mason, William H. 
McCJlockin, Thomas. 

McCoy, Nathan. 

Nash, Patrick. 

Potter, Phineas. 

Preston, Jacob. 

Pullen, Elwood. 

Pullen, John. 

Reed, Joseph W. 

Reed, SpafFord W. 

Rossell, Joseph H. 

Rue, Cornelius. 

Ryan, Dennis. 

Schenck, Ezekiel D. 

Scott, Lawyer. 

Siebalt, John. 

Sohens. Lewis. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



263 



Storer, John. 
Test, Ezekiel. 
Thomas, ^Villialn. 
Thorue, Alexanders. 
Tier, Jeremiah M. 
Tiltou, William F. 



Van Cleave, ^\'illiam A. 
Vanderhoof, Asher C. 
Vanderipe, Sidney. 
Vanderveer. John F. 
Vauhise, John W. 
Vanouterstrop, Wm. A. 



Discharged. 

Mount, Addie, sergeant, at Baltimore, Md., January 
4, 1863; disability. 

Davison, Samuel (t., corporal, at Alexandria, Va., Feb- 
ruary 25, 1S63 ; disability. 

Laird, Job E., corporal, at Washington, D. C, Decem- 
ber 31, 1862. 

Burns, Joseph, at Bedloe's Island, N. Y., February 23, 
1863; disability. 

Buckalew, William, at AVashington, D. C, February 
10, 1S63 ; disability. 

Larrison, Joel M., at Alexandria, Va., February 18, 
1868; disability. 

Mitchell, Charles H., at Baltimore, Md., January 8, 
1863 ; disability. 

Phillips, Albert, at Philadelphia, February 4, 1863 ; 
disability. 

Wheaton, Henry H., at Alexandria, Va., February 

18, 1863 ; disability. 

Died. 

Asay, John J., of disease. Belle Plain, Va., March 8, 

1863. 
Brewer, Elias, of disease, Washington, D. C, February 

19, 1863. 

Cromwell, Samuel, of disease. Belle Plain, Va., Feb- 
ruary 25, 1863. 

Down, Ephraini, of disease, Philadelphia, Pa., De- 
cember 28, 1862. 

Eeyuolds, Andrew J., of gangrene in hospital, Wash- 
ington, D. C, February 7, 1863. 

COMPANY D. 

I Captains. — Joseph T. Field, promoted major, February 
j 23, 1863. 

1 Charles Luf burrow, September 9, 1862 ; captain, vice 
j Field, promoted. 

i First Lieutenant. — Larue N. White, second lieutenant, 
Sejrtember 9, 1862 ; first lieutenant, vice Luf bur- 
row, promoted. 
j Second Lieutenant. — Joseph J. Taylor, first sergeant, 
September 4, 1862 ; first lieutenant, vice White, 
promoted. 
First Sergeant. — Harvey Jenkins, sergeant, September 

4, 1862 ; first sergeant, March 1, 1863; 
Sergeants. — John L. Applegate, corporal, September 4, 

1862 ; sergeant, March 1, 1863. 
Albert W. Wells. 
Thomas J. Herbert. 
Samuel T. Frost, corporal September 4, 1862; sergeant, 

March 1, 1863. 
Corporals. — Isaac Story. 



Spencer S. Morris. 

Joseph S. Swan. 

John Grant. 

Charles M. Patterson. 

James Seeley, Jr. 

Gordon D. Tompson. 

Robert H. Lewis. 

Musician. — Edward W. Lobdell. 

Wagoner. — William Campbell. 

Privates. 



Antonidos, Sidney C. 
Atwater, Elias. 
Bennett, John H. 
Brown, Matthew. 
Card, Thomas. 
Carhart, Richard. 
Carhart, Thomas. 
Carman, James H. 
Chatten, Joseph A. 
Clayton, Cyrenius T. 
Compton, Thomas. 
Cottrell, William C. 
Covert, Henry L. 
Covert, John L. 
C'rowter, Daniel. 
Curley, Michael. 
Davis, Thomas L. 
Foster, Henry H. 
Griggs, Edgar. 
Grover, Joseph. 
Hallem, Mervin H. 
Hillhouse, John T. 
Hoff', James. 
Hough, John. 
Irwin, Harrison. 
Irwin, Henry B. 
Jagol, Samuel. 
Johnson, Edward T. 
Johnson, ,Iohn G. 
.lohnson, Robert. 
King, John H. 
Kipp, .Tohn Cr. 
Kress, John. 
Layton, Edwin P. 
Lavton, Jacob. 



Lee, Asher M. 
Lewis, George W. 
Little, Robert W. C. 
Luker, Barzillai. 
Luyster, Henry M. 
Marks, George W. 
Matthews, David. 
Moore, John. 
Morris, Gerardus C. 
Morris, John B. 
Mount, Johnson. 
Nowlen, William A. 
Parker, Charles A. 
Parker, Lewis M. 
Pease, Cornelius. 
Reynolds, Francis. 
Runyon, Robert. 
Rush, Patrick. 
Schenck, John (t. 
Schureman, Irving C. 
Scott, Holmes T. 
Seeley, Uriah. 
Smith, Charles H. 
Smith, Hendrick H. 
Smith, AVilliam M. 
Snyder, Frederick. 
Sparling, John H. 
Stoneman, Peter (i. 
Swan, John B. 
Taylor, James G. 
Tilton, Horatio. 
Truex, Henry. 
Van Brunt, William P. 
Vireling, Francis. 
Welch, Edgar B. 



Di.scharged. 
Vallieio, Peter H., sergeant, at Belle Plain, February 

2], 1863; disability. 
Bowne, Edward, at Washington, D. C., January 28, 

1863; disability. 
Foster, Richard T., at Annapolis, Md., September 30, 

1863 ; paroled prisoner. 

Died. 

Burdge, Edward T., of disease at Eiceville, N. J., Oc- 
tober 4, 1862. 

Covert, George W., of disease at Tenallytown, Md., 
November 28, 1862, 



264 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NP]W JERSEY. 



Field, George W., of disease at Potomac Creek, Va., 
January 10, 1863. 

Marks, Joseph, of disease at Washington, D. C, No- 
vember 29, 1862. 

Sherman, John H., of disease at Belle Plain, January 
30, 1863. 

Tunis, John E., of disease at Potomac Creek, Va., De- 
cember 23, 1862. 

Udell, Benjamin F., of disease at Potomac Creek, Va., 
January 7, 18G3. 

COMPANY E. 

Captain. — Joseph T. Lake. 

Mrst Lieutenants. — William H. Conk, r&signed, Octo- 
ber 31, 1862. 

George S. Vanderhoof, second lieutenant, September 
5, 1862 ; first lieutenant, vice Conk, resigned. 

Seco7id Lieutenant. — Robert P. Miller, sergeant-major, 
September 20, 1862; second lieutenant, i/ce Van- 
derhoof, promoted. 

First Sergeant. — William I. Sutphin. 

Sergeants. — William H. Thompson. 

George H. Cottrell. 

Stephen A. Van Cleaf. 

James H. Sodon. 

Corporals. — Charles Sodon. 

Parent Johnson. 

Samuel Storms. 

Cornelius M. Barkalow. 

George V. Matthews. 

Nelson J. Scheuck. 

William H. Case. 

James L. Rivally. 

Musician. — George W. Horner. 
Wagoner. — George Haggerty. 



Privates. 



Applegate, Daniel. 
Baer, Frederick. 
Barkalow, Garret. 
Barkalow, Matthias A. 
Bendy, Job. 
Bishop, John. 
Boice, John H. 
Boice, Matthias A. 
Boice, William. 
Brewer, David. 
Brewer, Jacob C. 
Campbell, James. 
Carson, Roland A. 
Clayton, Joseph. 
Combes, William. 
Connolly, Bernard, Jr. 
Creed, Dennis. 
Douglas, Joseph W. 
Eldridge, Obadiah. 
Ellison, Thomas. 
Emmons, George W. 



Errickson, Cliarles S., pro- 
moted (juartermaster- 
sergeant, March 1, 
1S63. 

Fielder, Alfred. 

Garrabrant, Isaac. 

Gibson, William. 

Gordon, John. 

Gravatt, Charles H. 

Guilford, Thomas A. 

Hadding, Joseph. 

Hagerman, .James H. 

Hardy, Henry. 

Hardy, John H. 

Hayward, Edward H. 

Hawkins, James M, 

Hohl, George. ; 

Hope, Cornelius. 

Hulse, William C. 

Layton, Nelson. 

Lippincott, William H. 



Longstreet, Aaron. 
Mayer, Samuel. 
Messier, Charles W. 
Mulckhey, John. 
Nivison, David. 
Patterson, Lewis. 
Quackenbu.sh, Garret H. 
Reed, James N. 
Reed, William F. 
Riley, Thoma.s. 
Rose, William B. 
Sanford, Edgar N. 
Sherman, Edward. 
Sickels, James H. 



Sickels, Theodore. 

Sickels, Uriah N. 
Smith, Garret. 
Smith, Robert. 
Stillwell, Peter D. 
Van Cleaf, RuliffS. 
Van Doren, Garret V. 
Van Note, James. 
West, Joseph B. 
Wilkins, William. 
Wilson, Thomas F. 
Wilson, William W. 
Woolley, Lemuel. 
Young, Thomas J. 



Discharged. 

Van Pelt, Peter J., corporal, at Philadelphia, March 

18, 1863; disability. 
Patterson, Joseph F., musician, at Washington, D. C, 

January 8, 1863; disability. 
Nivison, Abraham H., at Alexandria, Va., February 

25, 1863 ; disability. 
Nivison, Adam P., at Baltimore, Md., March 1, 1863; 

disability. 
Shepherd, William, at Baltimore, Md., March 24, 1863 ; 

disability. 
AVoolley, William H., at Baltimore, Md., March 19, 

1863; disability. 

Died. 

Combs, Adams P., corporal, of disease. Belle Plain, 

Va., April 18, 1862. 
Powelson, Samuel, of disease, Washington, D. C, 

November 25, 1862. 

COMPANY F. 

Captain. — Robert R. Mount. 

First Lieutenant. — David S. Stevens. 

Second Lieutenant. — Joseph P. Jones. 

First Sergeant. — Burk C. Stout, promoted to sergeant- 
major, March 1, 1863. 

Sergeants.— WiWiam J. Sickles, promoted to first ser- 
geant, March 1, 1863. 

Daniel C. Van Doren. 

John P. Elliott. 

Amos T. Wood, corporal, September 1, 1862 ; sergeant, 
November 2, 1862. 

Thomas J. Swannell, corporal, September 1, 1862 ; 
sergeant, March 1, 1863. 

Corporals. — Joshua R. Hankins. 

Charles E. Applegate. 

William T. Guie. 

William N. Little. 

Barzillai Hendrickson. 

John Baynton. 

John Vanderbilt. 

Elisha L. Walton. 

Musician. — Philip H. Combs. 

Wagoner. — John Burr. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-t55. 



265 



Privalet'. 
Albert, Henry. Left'erson, Conover. 

Allen, Charles N. Lipiiincott, Edmund C. 

Aj)plegate, Daniel. Little, Henry D. 

Applegate, James M. Maladay, Christopher. 

Aumack, Peter J. McCormick, Michael. 

Barry, Edward. McKeon, Arthur. 

. Bennett, Charles E. Morrissey, John M. 

Brant, Edward M. Murphy, John. 

Brannan, Patrick. Murphy, Robert. 

Brogan, Thomas. Nestor, Stephen. 

I handler, Lewis O. Reemy, John. 

« nleman, Abel. Rooney, James. 

< ''>nk, George. Seeley, Leonard T. 
Dangler, Russell. Sheen, Daniel. 
Dennis, Joseph H. Sherman, William H. 
Denise, Samuel T. Skidniore, Walter D. 
D,)ugherty, Patrick. Smith, Charles M. 
Doughty, Benjamin. Smith, Frederick. 
Edwards, George. Smith, John W. 
Fox, Thomas. Stillwell, Joseph H. 

< iarvey, John O. Stratton, Garret L. 
Gilbert, George. Stryker, James M. 
Gill, Henry E. Vanderveer, Joseph W. 
Golden, Garret C. Vanderveer, William, 
Groat, Frederick. Van Dyke, AVilliam H. 
Groat, Henry. Wagoner, Jacob. 
Hildebrand, Augustus. White, Patrick. 
Jetlrey, Bartine A. Wood, Joshua. 
Julius, William. AVood, William G. 
Kane, Peter. WyckotK Smith E. 

Discharged. 
Gray, Edward, at Baltimore, Jld,, Alarch 2, 1863; dis- 
ability. 
Mount, John C, at Washington, D. C, May 7, 1803; 
disal)ilitv. 

Dird. 

Atkinson, Joseph L., of disease, at Potomac Creek, 

Va., December 21, 1862. 
Dennis. William, of disease, near Tenallytown, Md.. 

November 10, 1862. 
Hankins, George, of disease, at Tinton Falls, N. J., 

October 29, 1862. 
Newman, George, of disease, near Tenallytown, Md., 

November 2, 1862. 

COMP.iSY ft. 

Captain. — John H. Hyer. 

First Lieutenant. — James H. Magee. 

Secrmd Lieutenant.— ChuTles S. Vanmater. 

Fir-^t Sergeant.—Wfred D. Van Doren. 

Sergeant.').— John H. Stilhvagon. 

Charles Curtis. 

William H. Yates. 

John H. Sickels. 

Corporals.— Amariiih H. Stewart. 

Theodore Francis. 

William H. Sutphin. 

Samuel Suyster. 



Theodore B. Gibbs. 
Gilbert J. Crawford. 
John S. Holmes. 
John H. Crawford. 
Musician. — Augustus Abbott. 
ira(/we/-.— William White. 



Privates. 



Bennett, Henry. 
Bennett, Renwick. 
Bennett, William H. 
Bowman, Fi-ancis E. 
Brewer, Thompson. 
Carhart, John C. 
Carter, John E. 
Clayton, Ezekiel. 
Costigan, Caran. 
Covert, James. 
Covert, William. 
Crawford, Edward S. 
Crawford, George. 
Crawford, James G. 
Eifert, George. 
Eifert, Valentine. 
Elgrim, William. 
Elgrim, William H. 
Fenton, Charles. 
Flashshaw, George. 
Francis, Charles. 
Golden, Joseph A. 
Gray, James H. 
Hartsgrove, George. 
Heyer, James K. 
Heyer, John A. 
Heyer, Peter. 
Holenbake, Ruthven. 



Martz, Jcjseph. 
McCormick, James. 
Miller, Alfred H. 
Miller, Dodson. 
Miller, Frederick. 
Miller, Robert J. 
IMorris, Peter. 
Morris, William W. 
O'Connor, John. 
Po]ie, Edgar L. 
Randolph, Nathaniel F. 
Riddle, Garret. 
Riddle, James H. 
Schenck, John P., Jr. 
Schmidt, Caspar. 
Scofield, John. 
Scott, Henry D. 
Shafts, James A. 
Smith, AVilliam. 
Smock, Nelson. 
Snyder, Charles. 
Sparling, Josei)h L 
Stillwell, Albert A. 
Stillwell, Shepherd. 
Stryker, Holmes. 
Stryker, James S. 
Stryker, James. 
Sutphin, David. 



Holmes, .Jonathan Jarvis. Sutphin, Koertinius. 

Hunter, Andrew E. Van Arsdale, Stephen D. 

Irwin, Daniel. Vanderveer, Joseph E. 

Irwin, William. Van Doren, Charles L. 

Irwin, William A. Wainwright, Daniel W. 

King, William. Warnaker, John. 

Lang, George. Weeks, AVilliam C. 

Latham, Andrew J. AVeiderhold, John. 

Lawrence, John H. AVilsou, Charles J. 
Layton. E]ihraim. 

Discharged. 

Crawford, Charles, at AVashingtcm, D. C, January 24, 

1868 ; di.sability. 
Stillwell, AA'illiam I., at AVashington, D. C, May 1.5, 

1863 ; disability. 
Van Kirk, Peter, at AVashington, D. C, February 26, 

1863; disability. 

Died. 

Beers, Samuel, of disease, at AVa.shington, D. C, Janu- 
ary 30, 1863. 

Kipp, James H., of disease, at AA''ashington, D. C, 
January 21, 1863. 



266 



HISTOEY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



Sickles, Leonard, of disease, at Belle Plain, Va., March 
7, 1863. 

COMPANY I. 

Captain. — Jeremiah V. Spader. 

First Lieutenaiit.^Chwrles Smith, discharged February 
9, 1863. 

John N. Cottrell, second lieutenant, September 6, 
1862 ; first lieutenant, vice Smith, resigned. 

Second Lieutenant.— 3 AQ.oh R. Schenck, quartermaster- 
sergeant, September 20, 1862; second lieutenant, 
vice Cottrell, promoted. 

First Sergeant. — John Fitzgibbon. 

Sergeants. — Samuel Hughes. 

Edward C. Page. 

Beekman Nowland. 

William L. Atkinson. 

Corporals. — Andrew Knift'en. 

Edward Van Clief. 

David M. Kewman. 

James T. Chasey. 

Josejih Walker. 

William Miers. 

Benjamin Lufburrow. 

Patrick McMahon. 

Musician. — Richard Hays. 
Wagoner. — Alexander Brown. 

Privates. 



Bastedo, Thomas. 
Bra<lley, James. 
Bnckalew, George H. 
Carney, Patrick. 
Carr, Thomas. 
Clayton, Cyrenus J. 
Cloyd, Charles H. 
Coft'ee, Patrick. 
Conners, John. 
Conover, Garret AV. 
Cooper, Benjamin. 
Cottrell, Orsemus. 
Cottrell, Sylvanus. 
Crawford, James. 
Cuniff, Jjimes. 
Desmond, Patrick. 
Doud, Thomas. 
Emmons, Moses. 
Fitz Henry, William. 
Gandley, Bernard. 
Giblin, Michael. 
Glennan, John. 
Harbourn, William. 
Hays, Patrick. 
Hiers, George H. 

Discharged. 

Bridgewater, Theodore, near Belle Plain, Ya., March 

31, 1863 ; disability. 
Clark, Edward, near Belle Plain, Ya., March 31, lSi;3 ; 

disability. 



Isleton, Jeremiah. 
Kane, James. 
Keating, Miles. 
Lippincott, Joseph M. 
McCordal, Hugh. 
McCoert, Michael. 
McGuire, Edward. 
McQuade, William. 
Mensker, Oliver. 
Miers, Theodore. 
Morgan, Clarkson. 
Morris, William H. 
Pierce, John. 
Piper, William H. 
Prink, James. 
Shiener, George. 
Spader, John W. 
Sweeney, Dennis. 
Thompson, John G. 
Tully, Peter. 
Van Brockle, James. 
Van Brockle, Richard. 
Van Pelt, Aaron. 
Wymbs, Joseph. 



Cottrell, Thomas J., near Belle Plain, Va., February 
[ 22, 1863 ; disability. 

j Duffy, Patrick, at Newark, N. J., February i, l.Hti3 ; 

disability. 
Floh, Charles W., at AVashington, D. C, April Id, 

1863; disability. 
Gordon, Hendrick C, near Belle Plain, Va., February 

22, 1863 ; disability. 
Hiers, James L., at Alexandria, Va., February 9, 

1863; disability. 
Jackson, Benjamin L.. at Alexandria, Va., February 

9, 1863 ; disability. 
Kelly, Daniel, at Tenallytown, Md., November 4, 

1862; disability. 

Died. 
Herbert, Derrick A., musician, of di.sease, AVashing- 

ton, January 18, 1863. 
Chasey, John H., at Middletown Point, X. J., October 

26, 1862. 
Coffee, Hugh, of disease, near Belle Plain, Va., March 

31, 1863. 
Morgan, Joseph, of disease, near Belle Plain, Va., 

March 2.'), 1863. 
Tice, Robert, of disease, at Potomac Creek, Va., De- 
cember 24, 1862. 

Li-^f of seven deserters omitted. 

COMPANY K. 

Captain. — Joseph G. Stanton. 

First Lieutenant. — Joseph L. Allen. 

Second Lieutenant. — David AV. Emmons. 

First Sergeant. — John H. Hagerman. 

Sergeants. — Elias C Conover. 

AV alter C. Mooney. 

Henry Cottrell. 

Jacob Garrison. 

Corporals. — James T. Dillentush. 

Daniel Hagerman. 

George AV. Longstreet. 

Thomas Bordan. 

AVilliam H. H. Layton. 

Harrison Hyer. 

Abram Osborn. 

Musician. — Thomas B. Haight. 

Wagoner. — Joseph M. Clayton. 



AUgor, Benjamin S. 
Allgor, Thomas. 
.\pplegate, James H. 
Ayers, Isaiah. 
Burdan, Daniel S. 
Bordan, John A. 
Bordan, AVilliam P. 
Boude, John H. 
Brahn, Edward T. 
Brown, James. 
Brown, Tylee. 
Burdge, Merrick M. 



Frivates. 

Cottrell, Thomas. 
Cottrell, AVilliam J. 
Curtis, David N. 
Dillentush, Joseph. 
Ellmer. AVilliam J. 
Estell, John B. 
Fielder, John. 
Fogarty, John D. 
Gardner, James. 
Hall, John T. S. 
Haight, John T. 
Hulett, Thomas. 



< 



MONMOUTH COUNTS IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-Go. 



2G7 



HuiitsingCT, Don Pedro. 
Hurley, Clark. 
Hurley, Joseph. 
Jolly, John. 
Justice, Timothy. 
King, Job. 
Lafetra. Joseph. 
Lane, David. 
Lane, Samuel H. 
Laytou, Everett D. 
Lewis, John S. 
Liming, William. 
Lippincott, James M. 
Longstreet, Richard. 
Morris, William H. H. 
^Morton, Lack wood F. 



Newman, James M. 
Newman, William. 
Pearce, Cornelius. 
(Juinn, Michael. 
Reed, Aaron E. 
Snider, Hendrick. 
Tuznew, John H. 
Van Dusen, Abraham D. 
Van Hise, Samuel P. 
White, Peter D. 
Williams, Daniel D. 
Williams, Thomas E. 
Woolley, Asher B. 
WooUey, David H. 
Woolley, Jacob. 
^Voolley, James W. 



Dischiiryed. 

Newman, Stewart, corporal, at Baltimore, Md., Febru- 
ary 18, 18(i3 ; disability. 

Allgor, Zachariah, at Belle Plain, Va., February 24, 
1863; disability. 

Claj-ton, Charles T., near Tenallytown, Md., Novem- 
ber 18, 1862 ; disability. 

Estell, Joseph Q., at Washington, D. C, February 7, 
186:-!; disability. 

Gant, Zachariah, at Alexandria, Va.. January 14, 
1863; disability. 

Grant, John, at Alexandria, Va., Fel)ruary 14, 1863 ; 
di.sability. 

Hurley, Samuel, at Alexandria, Va., March 2, 1863 ; 
disability. 

Newman, John H., at Alexandria, Va.. February 9. 
1863; disability. 

Van Note, Nathaniel, at Baltimore. Md., January 26, 
1863; disability. 

White, John S., at Washington, D. C, April (!, 1863 ; 
disaliility. 

Died. 

Tilton, James, musician, of fever, at Alexandria, Va., 

December 28, 1862. 
Huff, Theodore, of fever, at Camp Potomac, Va.. 

March 26, 1863. 
Morton, Joseph A., of fever at Camp Potomac, Va., 

March 24, 1863. 

Company H, of tlie Twtnty-nintli, \yliioli 
wa.s raised chiefly in Ocean County, a.s before 
stated, contained also a considerable number of 
men from Monmouth County. The commis- 
sioned oflScers of this company were Albert 8. 
Cloke, captain ; Charles H. Kimball, fir.«t 
lieutenant; and M. Perrine Gravatt, second 
lieutenant, 

MdNMorXH MEX IX OTHER COMMAND.S. 

Of Monmoutli County soldiers enlisted and 



serving in Xew Jer.sey regiments other than 
those already mentioned, a considerable number 
were found in the Tenth and Eleventh Keg- 
iments, Coni])any I of tiie latter being 
largely made uj) of men from this county. 

The Eleventh Regiment \vas organized at 
Cam]) Perrine, Trenton, in July and August, 
1862, and was there mustered into the service 
of the United States for three years, (m the 
18th of the latter month. It left the State on 
the 2-")th, and proceeded to A\'ashington, where 
it remained until the middle of November fol- 
lowing, \vhen it joined the Army of the Potomac, 
and continued as a part of it luitil the clo.se of 
the war, taking part in the engagements of 

; Frederick.sburg, Chanccllorsville, Gettysburg, 

; Wapping Heights (July 24, 1863), Kelly's 
Ford, Locust Grove, ^line Run, ^^'ilderness, 
Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomoy, Cold 
Harbor, Barker's Mills, Petersburg Defenses 
(June 16 to 2;5, 1864), Deep Bottom, Mine 
Explosion, Ream's Station, Fort Sedgwick, 
Poplar Spring Church, Boydton Plank Road 
(October 27, 1864), Fort Morton, Hatcher's 
Run, Capture of Petersburg (April 2, 1865), 
Amelia Springs, Farmville, Va., andtlie action 
immediately preceding the surrender at A])- 

[ pomattox Court-House. The regiment was 
mustered out of .-service near Washinoton, 
D. C, June (i, 1865. 

The Thirteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth 
and Tweutv-eighth Regiments contained ]\Ion- 
mouth men ; Company A of the last-named 
regiment being largely composed of soldiers 

I from this county. Its original captain was 
Benjamin F. Lloyd, who died of fever in .Jan- 
uary, 1863, and was succeeded in the captaincy 
l)y Wesley Stouey. The Twenty-eighth was 
organized under command of Colonel Closes X. 

I Wisewell, at Camp Vredenburgh, near Free- 
hold, where, on the 22d of September, 1862, it 
was mustered into the service of the United 
States for nine months. It left Freehold for 
the front on the 4th of October, reached Wash- 
ington on the -Jth, and, after several changes of 
location and aasignment, joined the Armv of 
the Potomac at Falmouth, Va., on the 8th of 
December. Four days later it crossed the Raj)- 
pahannwk to the south shore, and on the 13th 



268 



HISTORY OF MONBIOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



it took part in the assault of the impregnable 
Confederate position on the heights of Freder- 
icksljurg, losing one hundred and sixty-one in 
killed and wounded, and twenty-nine missing; 
— total, one hundred and ninety. The regiment 
was again engyged at Chancellorsville, sustain- 
ing a loss of about thirty in killed, wounded 
and missing. At the expiration of its term of 
service it returned to Xew Jersey, ari-iving, on 
the 20th (if June, at Freehold, where it was 
mustered out of service on the (Jth of July, 
18(W. 

In the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Regi- 
ments there was a considerable number of Mon- j 
mouth men, and in the Thirty-eighth, one com- 
pany, A, was chiefly of Monmouth. Its commis- 
sioned officers were Captain Thomas J. Swan- 
nel, First I^ieuteuant Joseph E. Jones, Second 
Lieutenant John Grant. The Thirty-eighth 
was eornmanded In- Colonel William .J. Sewell, 
now a United States Senator of New Jersey. 
It was organized at Camp Bayard, Ti-enton, 
and there mustered into the United States ser- 
vice for one year in September, 1864. During 
its term of service it was on duty with the 
Army of the James, and stationed chiefly at 
Fort Powhatan, on the James River, and at 
City Point, where it was mustered out of ser- 
vice June 30, I860. 

In the Second and Third Cavalry Regiments 
there were a larsje number of men from Mon- 
mouth County, embraced princi|)ally in com- 
panies F, H and I of tiie Second, and companies 
B and K of the Third. The Second was organ- 
ized at Camp Parker, near Trenton, in August 
and September, 186."'), and left the State for 
the front in October. It was first assigned t<^ 
dutv in General Stoneman's Cavalry division 
of the Army of the Potomac, and remained in 
the vicinity of Alexandria, Ya., until the 9th 
of November, 1803, when it moved under 
orders to Eastport, Miss., where it became 
a part of tiie Army of the Southwest. It 
remained in the Department of the Missis- 
sijipi until af^er the close of the war, and dur- 
ing that time took part in nearly forty l)attles 
and skirmishes. A ])art of the regiment was 
mustered out of service at Vicksburg, Miss., 
June 2f), ] 865, and the remainder at tiie same 



place on the 1st of November in the same year. 
The Third Cavalry was raised and organized 
at Camp Bayai'd, Trenton, in the early part of 

1864, and left the State on the 5th of April in 
that year, proceeding by overland march to 
Annapolis, Md. Soon afterwards it joiued 
the Cavalry corps of the Army of the Poto- 
mac, at Alexandria, Va. It continued in 
active service during the remainder of the 
war, taking jiart in ten engagements and skir- 
mishes in the Wilderness and Petei-sburg cam- 
paigns until the latter part of July, 1864, 
when it was moved to the Shenandoah Valley, 
and remained there as a part of Sheridan's 
army until March, 1865, when it moved back 
to the Petersburg line of operations, and was 
present at the surrender of the Confederate 
army at Appomattox. Its companies were ^j 
mustered out of service in June and August, 

1865, at Alexandria, Ya., and Washington, 
D. C. The whole number of battles and skir- 
misiies in which the Third was engaged during 
its terms of service was thirty-five, embracing 
the actions at United States Ford, Hawes' 
Shop, ^Mnchester, Opequan, Fisher's Hill, 
Cedar Creek, Five Forks, xVppomattox aud 
others of the severest cavalry conflicts of the 
war. 

In the artillery service, in Batteries A (Hexa- 
mer's), B (Beam's) and D (^^^)odbury's), ]\Ion- 
mouth County men were quite numerous, par- 
ticularly in Battery D, \^"iiich was raised and 
organized in the summer of 1863, and mustered 
into the service of the United States at Camp 
Perrine, Trenton, on the 16th of Sejrtembcr in 
that year, its total strength being one hundred 
and forty-four officers and privates. It left the 
State on the 29th of September, and proceeded 
to Camp Barry, Washington, D. C, where it 
received its outfit of guns, horses and equip- 
ments, and remained through the winter. On 
the 23d of April, 1864, it left the camp and 
moved to the front, where it was assigned to 
the Tenth Army Corps. It took part in the 
operations of the campaign of 1864 before 
Petersburg until November 4th, when it was< 
ordered, with other troops, to New York City, 
to be ready to quell the riots whicli were ex- 
pected to occur during the Presidential election. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR OF 1861-65. 



269 



It returned to the Petersburg lines on the 21st 
of Xoveniljcr, ami continued on the front durint;- 
the remainder of the war. It was nuisteriKl out 
of tiie service at Richmond, Va., June 17, 
18(3-"). Tlie l)attle record of Battery D eml)races 
ten engagements, in which it took part from 
May 10, 1864, to April 3, 1865. 

During the War of the Rebellion more than 
three thousand men of New Jersey served in tlie 
United States navy. Of this large number, the 
ocean-bordered county of Monmouth furnished 
many more than her full quota, on a population 
basis. It is, however, impracticable to give 
here a list of their names or a record of their 
services, for they w^erc scattered and distril)uted 
among more than half the vessels of tlie navy 
serving on the Atlantic and Gulf blockades, in 
the different cruising squadrons and on the 
gunboat fleets which patroled the rivers of the 
I west and south. 

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

The (jfraud Army of the Republic, of which 
Henry M. Nevius is the department comman- 
der in the Department of New Jersey, has in 
Monmouth County the follo\Aing-named posts, 
composed of members who were officers or en- 
listed men in the military service of the United 
States in the War of the Rebellion : 

C. K. Hall Post, Xo. 41, at Asbury Park, 
N. J., instituted February 11, 1880. Member- 
ship, forty. The post ^vas named after Cald- 
well K. Hall, who was adjutant of the Fiftli 

■ New Jersey Volunteers from August 28, 1861, 
, until 1862, when he was promoted to lieu- 
I tenant-colonel of the Fourteenth New Jersey 
; Volunteers ; was brevetted colonel for nierito- 
I rious services at Cold Harbor, Va., and bre\ct 

brigadier-general for gallantry at Monocacy, Md. 

[ James B. Morris Post, No. 46, instituted July 

1 15, 1880, at Long Branch ; one hundred mem- 
bers. Named after James B. Morris, first lieu- 

, tenant Battery D, First Regiment New Jersey 

I Artillery. 

■ Vredeuburgh, Post No. 47, Manasquan, with 
thirty-one members, instituted July 26, 1880. 
Named after Peter Vredeuburgh, Jr., major 
Fourteenth New Jersey Volunteers, killed in 

i action at Opequan, Va. 



Captain J. W. Conover Post, No. 63, at Free- 
hold, instituted January 16, 1881 ; naMubers, 
sixty-six. Captain Compauy D, Fourteentii New 
Jersey Volunteers, died of wounds received in 
action at battle of Monocacy, Md. 

J. G. Shackelton, Post No. 83, at Matawan, 
instituted November 21, 1883 ; sixty-five mem- 
bers. Named after Dr. J. G. Shackelton, as- 
sistant surgeon Twenty-ninth New Jersey Vol- 
unteers. 

Arrowsmitli Post, No. 61, Red Bank, institu- 
ted Dec. 6, 1881 ; one hundred and one members. 
Named after Cieorge Arrowsmitli, lieutenant- 
colonel One Hundred and Forty-seventh New 
York Volunteers, killed July 1, 186:!, in the 
battle of Gettysburg. 

George Akrow.smith rendered his services 
to the common cause in the regiments of another 
State, but the glory 2>ertaining to his name 
belongs to New Jersey. He was born in the 
township of Middletown, Mcmmoutli Countv, 
April 18, 1839, and was the fourth son of 
Major Thomas Arro^^•smith, who has recently 
gone to his grave at a ripe age. Having re- 
ceived such advantages as the schools in his 
father's neighborhood afforded, he repaii'ed to 
Hamilton, New York, and after a brief course 
in the grammar school, entered Madison Uni- 
versity in 1855, graduating with great cn-dit in 
1859, being then but little over twenty year.s 
of age. His scholarship made the faculty desire 
to keep him in connection with the university 
as a tutor, and he spent some time in that 
capacity, and shortly after conjoined with it the 
study of the law. He had just received his 
license to practice when the war broke out. A 
predilection for military life, seconded by an 
ardent patriotism, led him to volunteer for the 
defense of his country. A company was raised 
at Hamilton, to which, with a number of the 
students of the university, he joined himself, 
and was immediately selected as captain. The 
company was mustered into service May 26, 
1861, and made part of the Twenty-sixth Reg- 
iment New York Volunteers. On reachinij; 
Virginia the Twenty-sixth was assigned to 
Brigadier-General McDowell's division. In a 
short time his intrepidity gained for him the 
sobri(juet of the " Young Lion." The Twenty- 



ro 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sixth was engaged in the battle of Culpepper, 
anil ('aptain Arrowsmith's gallantry caused 
Ills pioniotiiin by General Powers to be as- 
sistant adjutant-general ipfhis lirigade. In the 
second battle of Bull Run he distinguished 
liimself, and wlien General Powers was 
WDunded, led his command. At one time, 
not recognizing the rank of General Schenck, 
he rallied and led t\\o regiments into the 
fight amid a shower of grape and canister. 
His services in this battle gained marked 
encomiums from General McDowell, and one 
of the general's sfciff wrote: " Arro\\smith 
has covered himself with glory." .\-lthough 
not wounded, his cap and clothes bore evidences 
of his narrow escape, and liis healtli having 
suffered by hardship and exposure, he was 
compelled to accejit a furlough. The news of 
his bravery and skill had justified the proph- 
ecies of his friends in Madison County, and a 
new regiment being raised, — tlie One Hundred 
and Fifty-seventh, New York Volunteers — he 
was urged to accept the colonelcy. He, 
however, j^'^^^rred that Professor Brown, 
witli whom in his college career he had formed 
a strong friendship, sh(juld take the first 
place, and he became lieutenant-colonel. This 
regiment was, unfortunately, attached to Gen- 
eral ."^chui-z's command, and was the only 
American regiment in the division. The 
Germans, owing to dissatisfaction arising 
from Sioel's removal, behaved badlv at Chan- 
cellorsville, but the One Hundred and Fifty- 
seventh was complimented in general orders 
and the brave bearing of Arrowsraith greatly 
praised everywhere. At the battle of Gettys- 
burg our lieutenant-colonel took an active 
part. With his hat in one hand and his sword 
in the other, he went forward, exclaiming, 
" Come, boys, follow me!" Suddenly Colonel 
Brown fouud his lieutenant missing, and, moving 
to the right, discovered him lying on his back, 
badlv wounded in the head, evidently insensible 
and near his end. So terrible had been the 
exposure to which he had led his men that 
only eighty came out of tlie fight out of the 
four hundred and twenty who went in, and but 
eigiit officers out of twenty-six remained. Ow- 
ing to the hot fire of the enemy, it was impossi- 



ble to remove him, and his wounded comrades 
report that in a \ery short time he died. Col- 
onel Brown well described him as "a lirave man, 
a skillful officer, possessing a keen sense of iionor, 
generons to a fault and of the noblest imjjulses." 
And we mav add he was a trulv relig-ious man. 
Some time before entering the army he united 
mth the Baptist Church at Hamilton. His 
body lias its resting-place in Fairview Cemetery, 
Middletown township. Here a comely granite 
monument, erected by citizens who loved him 
in his youth and graduates of his university, 
attests their appreciation of his character and 
achievements. On the die is the following in- 
scription : 

" LiEUTEXANT-CoLONEL George Arrowsmith. 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTY SEVENTH NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS. 

He bore a distinguished part in several severe en- 
gagements, and fell at Gettysburg gallantly 
leading his regiment, July 1, 1863. 

Aged 24 years, 2 months, 13 days. 

Erected by kfe numerous friends in token of his 
distinguished personal worth, patriotic devotion and 
distinguished bravery." 



I 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH 
COUNTY. 

The earliest courts in the territory now fonn- 
ing the county of Monmouth were held under 
authority conferred by Governor Nicolls in the 
"Monmouth Patent," which provided for the 
enactment of prudential laws by the people, and 
the estalilishment of courts. At first, the laws 
of local application M^ere pa.ssed at town-meet- 
ing, and others of a more general character by 
a General Assembly of representatives of the 
towns, convened at Portland Point, — now the 
Highlands of Xavesink. The first courts in 
what is now the county of Monmontli were 
held under authority of the Nicolls patent in 
l(i(37. But the Lords Proprietors of East New 
Jersey did not long permit the jiatentees and 
people of the Monmouth settlements to exercise 
the powers conferred by the patent of tlie royal 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



271 



Gi)\ernoi'. The local courts, which had been 
for a time in operation, had proved themselves 
entirely too feeble to quell the disturbances and 
ilisoi'ders of that tinu', and the power and in- 
fluence of Govern(jr Carteret soon brought about 
their discontinuance. But in Idlo, when the 
second Proprietary ^\.ssembly met, one of its 
first acts provided for the establishment and 
maintenance of court.s of justice throughout 
the province. There was to be, in the first 
place, a monthly court of small causes, for the 
trial of all matters under forty shillings. This 
eourt was to be held on the first AW'dnesday of 
every month in each town of the province, by two 
or three persons to be chosen by the people, of 
whom a justice of the peace was to be one. 
Then there were the County Courts, or Courts 
of Sessions, to be held twice a year in every 
county,^ the judges of which were also to be 
elected out of the (so-called) county to which 
the court belonged. These courts were em- 
powered to try " all causes actionable," and no 
appeals to be had from their judgments under 
the sum of twenty pounds, " excejjt to the 
Bench or the Court of Chancery," — the term 
"the Bench " meaning the Provincial Court of 
Assize, to he held once a year in the town of 
Woodbridge, or wherever the Governor and 
Council should appoint. '• This was the Su- 
preme Court of the province; but from it, 
appeals would lie to the Governor and Council, 
and from them, in the last resort, to the King."' 
In 16S2-83, under the twelve proprietore, the 
four original counties of New Jersey were 
erected, and in each of these the County Courts 
were to be held four times a year. " The 
County of Monmouth, their Sessions to be the 
fourth Tuesday in ]March, in the Publick :\Ieet- 
iug-House at ^Middletown yearly. The fourth 
Tuesday in June in the Puljlick JMeeting-House 
at Shrewsbury yearly. The fourth Tuesday in 
Sejjtember in the Publick Mceting-House in 
Middletown. And the fourth Tuesday in 
December, at the Publick Meeting-House in 



'The "two towns of Navesiak," Middletown and Shrews- 
bury, to be considered as a county, though no counties had 
then been erected in tlie province. 

' Field's Provincial Courts. 



Shrewsbury."^ The judges were to consist of 
at least three of the justices of the peace in the 
resjiective counties. A high sheriff in each 
county was nt)w for the first time provided for, 
and all processes out of the County ( 'ourts were 
to be directed to him. In the court for the 
trial of small causes, either party could demand 
a jury; and so sacredly was that mode of trial 
held that no man could be denied the benefit of 
it, even in the smallest matter. A change, too, 
was made in the name of the Supreme Court of 
the province. Instead of the "Court of As- 
size," it was to be called the " Court of Common 
Right," — a name not transplanted from Eng- 
land, l)ut entirely new, and peculiar to New 
Jersey. With reference to this court, the pro- 
prietors said, in their instructions to Deputy- 
Governor Grawen Lawrie : " We do require this 
one thing concerning the Court of Common 
Right : that it be always held at our Town of 
Perth [Amboy], if it be possible." Notwith- 
standing this injunction to the Deputy-Gov- 
ernor, the Court of Common Right (to consist 
of " twelve members, or six at the least '' ) was 
organized to be held at Elizabethtown four 
times a year; and it was not luitil KiSG that 
the court was directed to be removed thence, 
and held at Perth Amboy, the act 2)roviding 
for the removal declaring " that Amboy is 
more conveniently situated, near the centre of 
the province, the most encouraging place for trade 
and traific by sea and land, and which will occa- 
sion great concourse of people." The Court of 
Common Right was a Court of Equity as well 
as of Common Law until 1695, when an act 
declarative of " the rights and Privileges of 
His Majesty's Subjects inhabiting within the 
Province of East New Jersey " i)rovided that the 
judges of the Court of Common Right should 
not be judges of the High Court of Chancery. 

" The first ordinance for the establishment of 
Courts of Judicature in the Province of New 



'The first grand jury in the county, consisting of four- 
teen persons, met at Middletown on the fourth Tuesday of 
September, 1687. The first indictment was found, in 1689, 
against sixteen persons *' for horse-racing and playing at 
nyne-pins on y« Sabbath-Day." The bills were at that 
time drawn in advance by the prosecuting officer, and sent 
to the grand jury for their action. 



272 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



Jersey," says Field, " was that of Lord Corn- 
bury in 1704.'' It is really gratifying to be 
able to find a single i-edeeming feature in the 
administration of this weak, corrupt and tyran- 
nical man, who disgraced the sovereign whose 
representative he was, and dishonored the noble 
ancestry from which he sprung. But he is 
entitled to the credit of having laid the founda- 
tion of our whole judicial system, and oi having 
laid it well. True, the materials for such a work 
were found in the several courts which existed 
under the proprietary government ; but he 
reduced them to order and gave them shape 
and beauty and proportion. All that has been 
done from that' day to this has been Init to fill 
up, as it were, the outlines which he sketched, 
to make some additional ajiartments to the 
judicial edifice whicli he constructed. 

" He gave to justices of the peace cognizance 
in all cases of debt and tresj)ass to the value of 
forty shillings, with the right of appeal to the 
Court of Sessions where the sum in controversy 
was over twenty shillings. He ordained that 
there should be a Court of Common Pleas kept 
audholden in everycountyof the Province atthe 
place where tlie General C'ourts of Sessions were 
held, and to begin immediately after the Ses- 
sions had ended, with power to hear and deter- 
mine all actions triable at Common Law, of 
what nature or kind soever ; subject to a re- 
moval to the Supreme Court either before or after 
judgment, where the matter in dispute exceeded 
ten pounds, or the title to land came in question." 

The General Sessions of the Peace were 
directed to be held four times a year in every 
county, at the times and j'laces mentioned in the 
ordinance. For the county of Monmouth the 
places designated were ^liddletown and Shrews- 
bury ; the times of meeting were the fourth Tues- 
days in February, May, August and December. 

The courts of jNIoiunouth County continued 
to be held at Middletown and Shrewsbury, al- 
ternately, until 1713 ; for about two years after- 
wards, at Shrewsbury only ; and from November, 
1715,^ at Freehold, where they have always 
since been held. 

' The first court at the place which is now Freehold con- 
vened on the fourth Tuesday of Novemher, 1715, — Judge 
John Reid presiding; Thomas Gordon, Attorney-General. 



By the provisions of Lord Cornbury's ordi- 
nance, al)0ve mentioned, a Supreme Court of 
Judicature was to be held alternately at Perth 
Amboy and Burlington. At Am boy on the 
first Tuesday in May and at Burlington on the 
first Tuesday in Xovember, annually and every 
yetir ; and each session of tlic said CDurt to con- 
tinue for anv term not exceedins; five da vs. 
"And," .says Field, ''if the questifm were nmv 
asked. What is the jurisdiction of the Supreme 
Court of the State of New Jersey, as at present 
constituted? the only answer that could be 
given would be, in the language of I^ord Corn- 
bury's ordinance," which was as follows: "To 
have Cognizance of all Pleas, civil, criminal 
and mixt, as fully and amply, to all intents and 
purposes whatsoever, as the Courts of t^ueen's 
Bench, Common Pleas and Exchequer within 
her Majesty's Kingdom of England, luive or 
ought to have, in and to which Supream Court 
all and every Person and Persons whatsoever 
shall and may, if they see meet, conmience any 
.Vction or Suit being upwards of Ten Pounds, 
and shall or may, by Certiorari, Habeas Cor- 
pus, or any other lawful Writ, remove out of 
any of the respective Courts of Sessions of tin- 
Peace or Common Pleas, any Infoi'niation or 
Indictment there depending, or Judgment there- 
upon given, or to be given, in any Criminal 
matter whatsoever, cognizable before them mi- 
any of them; as also all tictions, Pleas or Suits, 
r^al, personal or mixt, depending in any of the 
said C^iurts, and all Judgments thereupon given,, 
or to be given, — Provided always That the Ac- 
tion or Suit deiiending, or Judgment given, be 
upwards of the vtdue of Ten Pounds, or that 
the Action or Suit there depending or deter- 
mined, be concerning the Right or Title of any 
Free-hold." 

Circuit Ct)urts were prtivided for Ijy Corn- 
bury's ordinance, as follows: "And one of the 
justices of the .said Supreme Court shall, ont'C 
in every year, if need shall so require, go the 
Circuit, and hold and keep the .said Sujiream 
Court . . . for the County of Monmouth, at 
Shrewsbury, the second Tuesday in May . . . 
Which Justice, when he goes the Circuit, shall 
in each respective County be assisted by two or 
more Ju.stices of the Peace, during the time oi 



i 



I 



THE BENCH AND BAE OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



tATO days, wlnlst the Court in the Circuit is 
sitting, and no longer." Tlie judges of tlie 
several courts were authorized to establis], rules 
of pracfce for regulating their proceedings; and 
It was also ordained by Cornburv that all issues 
of fact should be tried by a jury of " Twelve 
men of that Neighbourhood, as it ought to be 
done by Law." 

" The ordinance establishing the circuits' re- 
quired the high slieriff, justices of the peace, the 
xnayor and aldermen of any corporation witliiu 
I the counties, and all officers of any of tlie 
I court,, to be attending on the chief justice and 
other justices going the circuit, at his comin. 
"^foa,Hl leaving the several counties, and dnr! 
inghis abode within the same; and the practice, 
as It was ,n England until the introduction of rail- 
ways, was for the sheriff, with as manv justices 
='"'1 other gentlemen on liorseback as "he could 
conveniently collect, to await tlic arrival of the 
judge at the count.y line, to ^vliich he was in like 
Planner escorted by the officers of the adjoininc 
county, and escozt him to the lodgings. At the 
opening and closing of the couS, from day to 
day, the sherilFand constables, with their stive 
of office, escorted him from and to his place of 
^, fo the .>urt-house, as wa. JJuI 
usual custom until very recently. When sittino- 

a u,l,e of office,- and commonly a wig, aIthou<.h 

England hey considered it necessary to carry 

^- of these indispensable articles,_„amely 

. "" ^'''''- ^^'^''^^^ ^-ig for the mornin:, when u,^; 

-ec^rt; the powdered dress wig f^i-di^r 
he tie wig with the black coif when sittino- on 

>nt foi the criminal side.' At May term, 1765, 



' Elmer's Reminiscences. 
"The costume worn hv tha ;„ i 

^yalanth i'n^;:;,!''^^ -f fi-t appointed .,, 

-ngs ana cuffs o , r'^et bam, 7""' "'"^ '^'^ 
iorned with black silk W : ^"^'Po-^--^'! wigs, 

- worn. The la^at oX^; "^ ''' ^"-- 
metimes bantls an.I bac^s The '. 1 , ^'""'' """^ 

Me of the last century ri79n thev f„ii • , ™^ '"« 
■Meld. L^'-iJ they fell into rlisuse." 

18 



273 

ride 'rr^l^^T^^ 

le he C oiiit, considering that it is the ...sag^ 

L^:!^";^^:-"-'-l--'t law, during te™ 
mc M e.tminster, and on tJie circuits through 

^^kuigdom, constantly to appear in court hi 

of the law, and as the introduction of the like 
-age into this Province may tend to advanc 
the dignity, solemnity and decorum of Z 

ourts and have maiiy other usefid consequences 
It I.S thc.refore ordained that no person prac: 
-ng as counsel at the bar (except tho e of 

in :' '^"''"■•■■^^ '''''' ^- ^^- ^"tur 

appear at any Supreme Court to be held in this 

,Pjw,nce,orinanyofth3courtsontheci..Ji 

unless he be liabited in the bar-gown and band 

mmon ly worn by barristers at Westminst r 

and on the circuits in England, under a penaltv 

o a contempt of this rule.' It continued o ^e 

observed until 1791, when the leading counsd! 
ors in-esented a petition setting forth that it was 
found to be troublesome and inconvenient, Ind 
deemed by them altogether n.seless, and it wa 
rescinded." -^ n was 

The Common Law Courts, as established by 
C nb„ , ,,,,,^^„^^ ^^. 1704, continued, says 

Wn The constitution of 1776 merely directed 

ticLv '"^^^''r'' '' '" ^^''P"'"^«^' thereby 
tacitly adopting them, with all tlie judicial power 
t y had at the time. And shortly after thellopi 

that the several courts of law and e.piity of 
this State shall be confirmed and established 
and continued to be held with the like |,owers 
under the present government, as they were 1 eU 
at and before the Declaration of Lid^endenc:!" 
^Noididthe constitution of 1844 make anv al- 
teration in the character of the courts of Xew 
Jersey, save only that the Governor was no 

fongerto be chancellor,and that the Court of 
Errors and Appeals in the last resort, instead of 
consisting of the Governor and Council, vl to 
be composed of tlie chancellor, the justices of 

consist Of the Chancellor, the .ntti^ro?;,:!;!': 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The aueient writer Oldmixon, in his enumera- 
tion of the advantages and blessings enjoyed by 
tiie people living in the provinces east of the 
Delaware, mentions among them the fact that at 
the time of his writing there were no lawyers, ] 
physicians or preachers in New Jersey. And j 
Gabriel Thomas, in his " Geographical Account . 
of Pennsylvania and West New Jersey," says : , 
" Of Lawyers and Physicians I shall say nothing, i 
because this country is very peaceable and j 
healthy ; long may it continue, and never have | 
occasion for the tongue of the one nor the pen of j 
the other, both equally destructive to men's 
estates and lives." But if this was true of the 
western province, it was certainly wholly inap- 
plicable to East Xew Jersey, which, at the time 
he wrote (1698), was by no means " peaceable," 
but, on the contrary, was in a state of almost 
continual anarchy and disorder. 

The " Concessions " of the twenty-four pro- 
prietors of East New Jersey (in whose councils 
the Quaker ideas and influence were largely 
predominant) provided that in all coin-ts of the 
province persons of all persuasions might freely 
appear in their own way, and there plead their 
own causes, or, if unable, they might do so by 
their friends ; and no person should be allowed 
to take money for advice or pleading in such 
cases. But these Quaker restrictions were not 

Court and six judges, which Judges were to be appointed 
for six years. This Court was thus made higher by the 
judicial character of the members, aud more permanent 
from the extension of the term of office. The powers be. 
longing to the Court of P.ardons, which had been exercised 
by Governor and Council, were now vested in the Governor, 
the Chancellor and the six .Judges of the Court of Errors 
and Appeals, or a major part of them. This body might 
remit fines*and forfeitures and grant pardons after convic- 
tion in all cases except impeachment. The duties of Chan- 
cellor and Ordinary, formerly performed by the Governor, 
were now assigned to a separate officer. A change was also 
made in the mode of appointing judicial officers. Under 
the former constitution all these appointments were made 
by the legislative bodies in joint meeting. Now, the .Tus- 
tices of the Supreme Court, the Chancellor and the Judges 
of tlie Court of Errors and Appeals were to be nominated by 
the Governor and appointed by him with the advice and 
consent of the Senate ; Justices of the Supreme Court and 
the Chancellor to hold their offices for seven ye.ars ; Judges 
of the Court of Common Pleas to be appointed by the Senate 
andGeneral Assembly in joint meeting, and commissioned 
by the Governor ; Justices of the Peace to be elected by the 
people." 



long (if ever) enforced, and lawyers soon made 
their appearance in the courts. In 1(594 the 
Assembly and Council passed " An Act for the 
Pvegulation of Attorneys-at-Law within the 
Province," which prohibited justices of the 



peace, sheriifs aud clerks of the courts from 
acting as attorneys, under penalty of a fine of 
twenty pounds ; and in 1 698, Governor Basse was 
instructed to procure the passage of an act by 
which no attorney or other person should be 
suffered to jiractice or plead for fee or hire in 
any court of judicature unless he had been reg- 
ularly admitted to practice by license from the 
Governor. |i 

The first lawver of ^loumouth County was T 
Richard Hartshorne. It is not known that he > 
had l)een educated to the profession in England, \ 
but it is certain that he was au attorney after he 
came to reside at the Highlands, in Monmouth, 
and also that lie became a man of extensive in- 
fluence and filled many honorable positions, 
among which was that of commissioner (ap- 
pointed in 1676) to adjust and decide some mat- 
ters of difference between the two provinces of 
New Jersey. 

At the Monmouth Sessions of March, 1695- 
96, " Thomas Gordon was, by the Court, con- 
stituted and appointed as King's Attorney." 
The fact that he was so appointed does not prove 
conclusively that he was a lawyer, but other ref- 
erence to him, found in various places in the 
records of that period, make it reasonably cer- 
tain that he was. ]Many other entries are found 
recording the appointment of different persons 
as Kind's attorney ; but as laymen were some- 
times appointed to that office, it is not possible 
to say which were and which were not members 
of the profession. 

John Reid, who was one of the most promi- 
nent men of Monmouth County in the year 1 700, 
and thenceforward until his death, was not a 
lawyer by education, but came over from Scot- 
land as an " overseer " for the Barclays. After 
a short stay at Perth Amboy, he removed to a 
tract called " Horten,sia," on Hop Brook, in 
:\Ioninouth, where he resided during the re- 
mainder of his life, and became presiding judge 
of the Court of Quarter Sessions of :Monmouth. 
That he was never a lawyer, but, on the contrary, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



275 



ratlier disposed to regard them with some degree 
of distrust (as was common in jVew Jersey at 
that time), is shown from some of his writings/ 

' Among the papers found in his effects after his Jeath 
is the following: 

'■ Mr. John Keid's Observations on the Laws of New 
Jersey, 1713. 

" Some Observations of our Laws, in a Letter to one of 
our Representatives for the Eastern Division of New Jersey. 

"... But I am told. Sir, 'tis some Attorneys-at-Law, 
whose interests differ from ours, that opposes these our 
Laws, because some of 'em help to secure our Land Titles, 
which they would disturb. They say of our Titles, we 
can't eject strangers that get possession of our Lands. For 
that every one of the Proprietors being Tenants in common 
have not sealed our Deeds. And if they d.are thus question 
our Title, wh.at will become of all the neighbouring Tlanta- 
tions ? ... I am also told. Sir, that some of the same 
Gentlemen, who have been suffered to go at this bold rate 
against our Laws and Land Titles, would also deprive us of 
the English statutes : affirming that no Statutes reach here, 
unless the Plantations ai-e therein expressed, or by general 
words included ; whereby they would include these colonies 

with conquered countries By the Common Law we 

can't convey our Lands from one to another, without solemn 
livery of Seizin or by Fine and Kecovery, — Colie, 1st Inst. 
And if they can persuade us out of the help of the statutes, 
— 27 H's, Ca. 10, — -whereby the use is transferred into pos- 
session, thousands in these parts of the world wanting 
Livery of Seizin, have no possession in Law ; by consequence 
Strangers may enter, and these Gentlemen for a fee will de- 
fend 'em. If. joint tenants, or tenants in common, refuse to 
make Partition, they can't be compel'ied by the Common 
Law,— Lit. 299, .318. And if they can keep off the Statute, 
—31 H. 8 Ca., and 81 H. 8, Ca. 32,— those families whose 
lands h;ive been so parted are to sue and these Gentlemen 
must settle 'em. Nor can we devise our Lands by the Com- 
mon Law,— Inst. iii. C. And if they can bar us the benefit 
of the Statutes,— 32 H. 8 Ca. 1, and 34 H. 8 Ca. 5,— all the 
last Wills in these parts of the world are null (having no 
Act here for 'em). And then 'tis but for every respective 
heir to enter, and these Gentlemen may find employment. . . .', 

He concludes by urging a revision of the laws of the 
province, as follows: "And now, Sir, 'tis time for tlie 
Legislature, not the Advocates, to tell us what Laws to take 
place here, which brings me to what I hinted at before, 
viz. : If our General Assembly would extract the most bene- 
ficial statutes, or parts of 'em which can fit our circum- 
stances, and that have the same reason here, 'twould 
prevent the trouble and charge of making many .\cts. 
Those that shall then be wanting, because of our different 
1 circumstances from England, may be taken from our own and 
neighbouring Acts, compared to complete our body of Laws. 

" But let all our temporary Acts be stitched by themselves 
from time to time, that the bound books of our lasting 
laws may be intire ; and copies of all sorts kept in the 
Clerk's office of each County, that we be no more tossed 
with the precarious breath of mercenary men. And re- 
member, that no man be suffered to practice as an .\ttorney- 



still in existence, yet the same writings show 
that he Avas the possessor of no small amoimt of 
legal knowledge, as also the fact that it was he 



at-Law who is not an Inh.ibitant of this Province. And 
for shortening Law Suits, and lessening costs, let these 
rules of Court (established in Monmouth County) take 
place in all the Courts of this Colony, viz. : 

" 1 — That every man be allowed to appear in Court, and 
plead his own cause himself, or by his Attorney or both. 

"2 — That all process be signed by the Clerk. 

" 3 — That all writs of capias be signed underneath on 
the right hand by the Clerk, and underneath on the left 
hand by the Plaintiff or his Attorney, or the writ abatable. 

"4— Every Plaintiff shall file his declaration in the 
Clerk's office before or at sitting of the Court to which the 
capias is returnable, together with the original specialties 
or other instruments on which the action is grounded, or to 
be non-suited. And every Defendant shall put his plea 
into said office, with original papers, if any, within thirty 
days after said Court, or judgment by default. Where 
Replication is necessary, the plaintiff shall put his replica- 
tion into said office within twenty days after the plea is put 
in, or be non-suited. And when Rejoinder is necessary, 
the defendant shall put in his rejoinder into said office thirty 
days before next court, or judgment. When other plead- 
ings are necessary on either side, they shall be put into 
said office and issue joined fourteen days before that Court, 
or be non-suited. And if the Defendant do not appear 
and stand tryal, the plaintiff shall take verdict by default. 

"5 — When the parties or their Attorneys are present 
at the making of any rule of Court, they are obliged to take 
notice of such rules without further service. But when 
either party or Attorney are absent, the party or his Attor- 
ney in whose favour the Rule is made, shall serve the 
party absent or his .\ttorney with a true copy thereof, at 
le.ast eight days before the expiration of said Rule, or to 
take no benefit thereby. 

" 6 — When any non-resident of the County takes out a 
writ against an inhabitant, he shall give bail into the Clerk's 
office to pay the costs if non-suited, or he discontinues or 
withdraws his suit without consent of defendant. 

"7 — In all actions above the value of ten pounds, the 
defendant shall give special bail if required, except in ac- 
tions of slander, yuare cltiusum fregit, assault and biittery, 
unless it be otherwise ordered by the Court. 

" 8 — All persons being lawfully summoned to serve on 
juries, and not appearing, shall be fined thirteen shillings, 
four pence, unless they can give a satisfactory reason 
that they shall excuse 'em. 

" 9 — Every Attorney at his first appearance in any case 
shall enter his warrant of .\ttorney in the Clerk's Office. 

" 10— Every Attorney having undertaken to plead a 
cause, shall manage the same until it be fully determined 
(unless discharged by his imployer). or the Attorney shall 
pay all the costs and damages sustained by his imployer, if 
ihe case miscarry thro' his default. 

"Dated June 4th, 1813. 



' sic subscribetur. 



''A.Micus Patbis." 



276 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



who proposed and urged the first revision of the 
laws of New Jersey. 

A number of persons who were attorneys at 
about that time in Monmouth County might be 
mentioned, but it would, of course, be impracti- 
cable to give anything like a full and correct ac- 
count of the lawyers who practiced in the courts 
of the county during the period extending from 
their first establishment to the time when they 
were re-esta])lished under the State constitution 
and government. 

The honorable course pursued by tiie attor- 
neys and counselors of New Jersey (including, 
of course, the members of the bar of M(mmouth 
County) concerning the operation of the odious 
Stamp Act, ten years prior to the opening of the 
Revolution, is given by the eminent New Jersey 
historian, Whitehead, as follows : 

" To the members of the Bar the distinction 
is to be conceded of having been the first to 
adopt a systematic opposition to the use of 
stamps in New Jersey. At that day the lawyers 
as a body were perhaps equal, if not superior, 
in talents and character to those who at any 
subsequent period liave upheld the houoi- of 
the State and of their profession ; and altliough 
many of them, rather than countenance a resort 
to arms to procure a redress of grievances, 
eventually abandoned the cause of the colonists, 
yet at the period under consideration they were 
deeply interested in the matter at issue, and 
wai-mly opposed to the encroachments of power 
and ministerial influence. 

"The unliappy state into which the colonies 
were thrown by the passage of the Stamp Act 
had induced several of the leading men of the 
profession to call a general meeting at Perth 
Amboy in September, 1765 (tlie arrival of the 
stamp papers being then daily looked for), in 
order to consult upon the adoption of such 
measures as should indicate then- true opinion to 
the people of the Province, while at the same 
time they prevented any improper popular com- 
motions adverse to the authority of tlie Gov- 
ernment. The meeting took place, and after a 
full discussion of the act and its anticijjated 
etfects, those j^resent determined, without dis- 
senting voice, that they would not, as lawyers, 
make any use of the stamps for any purpose 



or under any circumstances, and this was un- 
derstood to be likewise the intention of most of 
the gentlemen of the bar who were absent. This 
was certainly the wisest course they could have 
adopted ; it prevented any immediate collision 
with the Government; it called for no violation 
of official oaths or resignation by tlu' function- 
aries of the different courts, and although it 
would inevitably operate much to their pecu- 
niary detriment, yet they had the satisfactiDU 
of knowing tliat it rendered the stamps entirely 
useless as a source of revenue to the crown. 

" Tlie day after the meeting (September 20, 
1765jallthe practitioners were desired to attend 
on the chief justice. On their doing so, that 
officer alluded to a rejiort, which had become ' 
current, of his having solicited and exerted him- 
self to obtain the situation of stamp distributor 
for the colony ; and stated that the impropriety 
of the act was a sufficient refutation of the 
charge ; but in order that there might be no 
doubt on the subject, he declared upon his hon( n- 
that he had in no way attempted to obtain tiie 
office. He then inquired of them whether, 
should the stamps arrive and be placed at 
Burlington by or after the 1st of November, 
as was expected, they would, as practitioners, 
agree to purchase them for the necessary pro- 
ceedings in the law? This tiiey answered in 
the negative, in conformity with their previous 
resolution, stating that they would rather have 
their jjrivate interests give way to public 
opinion ; protesting at the same time against 
all riotous and indecent behavior, which they 
would discountenance, by every means in their 
power preserving order; while by an al>solute 
refusal to make use of stamjjs, and other quiet 
methods, they would endeavor to obtain a repeal 
of the law. They were then asked if it was : 
their opinion, should the act go into operation, / 
that the duties could possibly be jjaid in gold' 
and silver? This was also answered in the 
negative, a conviction being expressed that such 
payment could not be made even for one year. 
The Chief Justice then inquired, in the third 
place, if, in their opinion — as the act required 
the Governor and Chief Justice to superintend ,; 
the distril)ution — he siiould be obliged to act] 
as distributor, should the Governor appoint 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



277 



him to that office? lu answer to this, they 
advised him not to accept the appointment ; 
the Governor not being authorized by the act 
to appoint, and if he had that power, he conld 
not entbroe aceeptance ; and moreover tliev 
det'med the office incompatible with the official 
station he already held. 

" The communication of these opinions and 
resolutions drew forth the warmest approbation 
from the jjublic, but it was to be expected that such 
an entire cessation of all legal proceeiliugs would 
not only occasion great confusion in the transaction 
of business generally, but also excite to the adop- 
tion of more energetic measures to frustrate the 
operation of the detested Act, which might leave 
the peojjle at liberty to pursue their usual voca- 
tions uutrammeled by its provisions. Endeavors 
were soon made to transact the business of the 
courts as usual, and censures were cast upon 
them for refusing to do so. They were well sus- 
tained, however, in their determination. 

" It was stated that, to the lasting honor of the 
lawyers of Xew Jersey, it had been and would 
be said they had set tlie example as the most de- 
termined opposers of the oppi-essive acts of Par- 
liament. Some of the most learned and judicious 
had declared that the act was of such a nature, 
and so curiously fabricated, it would execute 
itself and not an American patriot ever fancied 
that tile province could have given such spirited 
and universal opposition. An expectation of 
submission had continued almost universal, down 
t<i the eve of that fatal day destined for the com- 
mencement of their slavery ; and every city, 
town and village upon this vast continent re- 
i sounded with the knell of departing liberty. 
The merchants could not think of venturinof 
their fortunes in a vessel not protected bv a 
stamped passport ; not a person who held an 
office under the Crown could think of losina: his 
appointment, and thereby, perhaps, the only 
means of subsisting himself and lamily, by 
op])osing an act framed under the direction of 
the King's Ministry; not a farmer could bear to 
think ol taking a conveyance for lands without 
a stamp, when his estate for want thereof was 
delared void ; nor would he offer to try an action 
at law, without tiie same prerequisites, lest his 
recovery should be illegal ; in short, the caution 



of the merchants, the fears of the public officers, 
and the ignorance of the common people would 
undoubtedly have introduced the stampeil papers 
had not the professors of the law (through whose 
hands most of them must have pa.ssed) at that 
instant stood forth and declared they would not 
receive them. The colonists were urged to con- 
tinue in their present state till some decisive in- 
telligence sliould be received ; not to call upon 
the courts to open lest the public peace should 
be broken ; nor contradict their pul)lic jjctitions 
for relief by attempting it with their own hands 
before it .should be denied by the mother-country. 
" There were, however, among the members 
of the Bar those who, either from pecuniary or 
sinister motives, were in favor of ultra meiisures, 
and by some of them it was deemed advisable 
to hold another meeting for the purpose of con- 
sultation. This convened at New Brunswick 
on the 13th of Februaiy, 1766. The title of 
' Sons of Liberty,' first adopted at this crisis 
by the freemen of Connecticut, was soon assumed 
by the active citizens of New Jersey. The 
proceedings of individuals and public bodies 
were subjected to the surveillance of these as- 
sociated patriots, receiving their censure or 
approbation, as circumstances might warrant, 
although in a more limited degree than was 
subsequently the case; the apjiroaching con- 
vention of lawyers was consequently not over- 
looked. On the appointed day several hundreds 
of the Sons of I^iberty from AVoodljridgc and 
Piscataway, joined by deputies from the western 
part of the Province, presented themselves at 
New Brunswick and handed in to the gentlemen 
of the l)ar, \vlio were there assembled, a written 
and united request that they should immediately 
proceed to business as usual, without stamps, 
and use their influence to open the courts of 
justice. After due deliberation, the majority 
of the gentlemen agreed, in order ' to preserve 
tiiat happy state of peace and tranquillity which 
has, by the blessing of God, hitherto been main- 
tained in this province of New Jersey, to desist 
from their practice till the 1st day of April 
next, and if they receive no account from the 
Parliament before the said 1st day of April, 
the}- will, in such case, begin in their practice as 
usual, or sooner, if earlier accounts are received.' 



278 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



They also appointed two of their number to 
assure the Sons of Liberty, in the name of the 
whole, that unless the Stamp Act was suspended 
or repealed, they would join in opposition to it 
with their lives antl fortunes. The course 
adopted met with the approval of the assembled 
patriots, thanks were returned and hopes ex- 
pressed that such an example might be imitated by 
every gentlemen of the profession on the continent. 

"The subsequent repeal of the Stamp Act 
put an end to all further proceedings ; but the 
firmness, disinterestedness, prudence and pa- 
triotism already exhibited by the lawyers of 
that day deserve to be recorded." 

On two occasions, in the years 1769 and 
1770, the operation of the INIonmouth courts 
was obstructed, and the attorneys driven from 
the court-house by a mob ; this being the result 
of a deep and bitter feeling which had existed 
for many years (but more especially for a com- 
paratively short time preceding these occur- 
rences) against the lawyers, on accoimt of alleged 
abuses practiced by them in promoting lawsuits 
and increasing the expense of litigation to the 
highest possible amounts. As early as during 
the administration of Governor Lewis Morris 
loud complaints had been made and legislation 
demanded to correct the alleged oppressive com- 
bination ; but little attention was paid to the 
matter by the Governor. The complaints grew 
louder and more threatening, especially after 
the Stamp Act excitement, which caused the 
formation of the society or association called 
the "Sons of Liberty," and in 1769 many 
memorials were presented to the Legislature, 
asking for relief, and worded in language so 
strong as to .show a great and even alarming 
excitement on the subject.^ The agitation 
spread through all the province, but was espe- 
eiallv strong and liitter in the counties of Mid- 
dlesex, Essex and ^lonmonth. That the feeling 
was more intense in the southwestern part of 
INIonmouth than elsewhere seems evident from 
the following, relative to threats of violence 
made by people of that section : 

1 " The table of the Assembly groaned beneath the weight 
of petitions which were daily presented, praying for relief 
and invoking vengeance on the heads of the attorneys.'' — 



ii 



In 1769, Bernardus Legrange, an attorney 
living at Xew Brunswick, was complained of • 
to the Assembly for having exacted exorbitant ■ 
fees. For this he was reprimanded by the • 
Council ; but this punishment was mitigated by 
their j^ublishing, sub.sequently, letters from 
Chief Justice Smith and Second Justice Read, 
statins that Leo^range's charges were oulv .•<uch 
as were customarily made. Soon after\\ards a 
singular anonymous letter, evidently written 
from the upper part of IMonmouth County, ad- 
dressed to the attorney, was thought to be of 
sufficient importance to be inserted in the 
minutes of the Assembly. It was as follows : 

"To Bernardus Legrange, Esq., attorney-at-law ia 
New Brunswick: 

" Friend Legrange: — As I am a lover of peace and 

concord, there is nothing gives me greater pleasure 

than beholding the same have a subsistence among 

mankind. And on the other hand, there is nothing 

can give me so much pain as to see any of the human 

species become a Nuisance to the commonality of 

mankind, whether they become such thro' an act of 

inadvertance or from a selfish ambition. ... I 

will let thee know what I heard the other day among 

a parcel of people, having met accidentally with 'em 

at the Mill at Englishtown, concerning you and some 

more of your brethren ; thee especially they seemed 

to have the greatest grudge against. One of them 

said he wished that fellow, Legrange, would come to 

Court this month ; he should not escape out of a back 

window, as he did before. Another of the company 

makes answer, ' Damn him ! I hear he is to come 

and act as king's attorney ; but that shall not screen 

the rascal,' says he. 'Aye,' says he, ' the lawyers has 

done that a-purpose, that we might not disturb the 

villain ; but, if we catch him, we will Legrange him \ ' 

I, hearing the people expressing themselves in this 

manner, began to examine them what you had done 

unto them that enraged them so against you. ' Why,' 

says one, ' he will bring down our heads and humble 

us.' They say you egged up their creditors to put 

their bonds in suit, saying, ' Monmouth people are all 

likely to fail,' and much more of that nature. And 

I inquired if they cou'd prove their assertions against 

you. They say, yes, they can, by some of their 

creditors; and will, if you carry action. But I could 

not learn against whom, nor where the person lived. 

" Yesterday I was in Upper Freehold, among some 

company, where I heard them resolve, concerning 

you, much the same as above ; wishing you might 

come to court, for there were between seven and 

eight hundred of them ready to receive you. Nay, I 

have heard some of them declare solemnly they 

would use vou as the informers were used in New 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



279 



York ami Philadelphia. I know they collected some 
money to purchase two barrels of Tar, and have 
agreed with a man to hale it a Monday. And, as far 
as I can learn, it is for yon. They intend to tar and 
feather you, and so cart you from the court-house to 
Vankirk's Mill and back again, in imitation of the 
Oisterman in New York. I shou'd have taken the 
trouble to come to your house and informed you of 
the plotters against your person ere now, only, as I 
have considerable property in this County, I know 
they would utterly ruin me if they knew I divulged 
to you the least matter. 

" Friend Legrange, you can act as you think will 
best suit you. Only I would advise you, as a friend, 
to consider seriously the fury of an enraged mob, mad 
with oppression ; and think deliberately with your- 
self how you expect to escape their hands. O, I be- 
seech you to ponder well in your own breast the fate 
of many Kings and Princes when they become obnox- 
ious or hateful to the people. And the spirit of riot- 
ing seems to increase in our day. Think of the fiite 
of Major James Ogden and many of the custom- 
house officers. Nay, we have daily instances of one 
or another falling a sacrifice to the people when pro- 
voked. And I can positively affirm if thou hadst 
dwelt in this County, there would not have been left 
one stone on another of your house ere now. Earo 
anfecedeiifem scefeslum, desiniif pede p(enarenudo. 

" I ordered my young man to leave this for you at 
your house or Duff's for thee." 

This letter being brought to the atten- 
tion of the House of Assembly, that body 
" Resolved, That the said letter is scandalous and 
lunvarrantable ; and that this House look upon 
tilt' same as manifestly tending to a breach of 
the publick peace." On the que.stiou of this 
resolution, the iliddla^ex members voted in the 
negative, those of Monmouth and Somerset 
■were divided, and the vole in the whole House 
being a tie, the Speaker gave the casting vote 
in the affirmati\-e, and so secured its passage. 

With regard to the riotous proceedings at 
^Lmmouth Court-House, to which a slight ref- 
erence is made in the foregoing letter to Le- 
grange, Field .says: "In July, 1769, a multitude 
of jjersons assembled in a riotous manner at 
Freehold, in the county of Monmouth, and 
endeavored to prevent the lawyers from entering 
the court-house and transacting business. But 
the tumult was at this time quelled, owing, in 
a great measure, to the spirital exertions of 
Eiciiard Stockton. ... He appeased the 
rioters, ])unisli(Ml tlie ringleaders and restored 



the laws to their regular course." This state- 
ment, however, does not appear to Ije entirely 
correct in all particulars, though k is true that 
the rioters M'ere appeased and dispersed ; but 
not until after they had cleared the court-house 
and held posse.«sion of it for some little time. 
The same scenes were re-enacted, and \\ith 
greater violence, at the January term of 1770, 
when, on the day for opening the sessions, great 
numbers of people gathered at Freehold, took 
possession of the court-house, and were success- 
ful in preventing the assembling of the court. 
A riot of the same kind occurred at about the 
same time in the county of Essex. 

A few days after these occurrences Governor 
Franklin wrote (January 28th) to C'ortlaudt 
Skinner, saying tliat the recent riotous proceed- 
ings at Monmouth were of so alarming a nature 
that he had thought it neces.sary to call a meet- 
ing of the Council at Amboy on the 7th of Feb- 
ruary, and to require the attendance of the slieriff 
and justices of the county who were present at 
the riot; that the affair was such an audacious 
insult to the government that, let the conse- 
quences Ijc what they might, the offenders shoukl 
be punished in the most exemjilary manner. 

On the 2Sth of April following, the Governor 
wrote the Earl of Hillsborough, saying that the 
Assembly had been adled together on account 
of the riots by the "Sons of Liberty" in ]\I(in- 
mouth aud Essex Counties, but that, in tiie 
mean time, the rioters had been entirely quelled 
and humbled. The Governor Lssued a special 
commission to try the rioters, and some of the 
leading ones were tried and punished in Essex 
County, but in Monmouth they escaped punish- 
ment by reason of the symj)athy and sup])ort of 
the inhabitants of certain parts of the county. 
The disturbances, however, had been ((uelled 
without bloodshed, and from that time until the 
opening of the Revolution the busine.ss of the 
courts went on without molestation. 

AVith regard to the intensely bitter feeling 
against members of the legal profession, which 
had been tlie cause of these outbreaks, the real 
facts were that many of the peojile in this region 
had placed themselves heavily in debt by larger 
purcliases of land than their means would war- 
rant, and when tlie hard times of 1765-70 came 



280 



HISTORY OF M0N3I0UTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



oil they Mere unable to meet the payments then 
iliUiug due, and many were consequently sold 
out b)' the sheritF. Then they wrongly blamed 
the lawyers as having caused their misfortunes, 
and thus they worked themselves up to a state 
of frenzied excitement which brought about the 
result above narrated. 

In mentioning these riotous outbreaks, Field 
intimates that a large proportion of the chief 
promoters of them were men who, six or seven 
years later, abandoned the American cause, and 
went over to the British ; instancing the case of 
Samuel Tucker, of Hunterdon County, who was 
a leading spirit among the opponents of the 
attorneys, and who afterwards joined the enemies 
of his country. But, on the other hand, it 
appears that in the year 1784, Abraham Clark, 
a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 
urged in the Xew Jersey Legislature (of which 
he was a member) the passage of " An Act for 
Regulating and Shortening the Proceedings of 
the Court of Law," of which he remarked : " If 
it succeeds, it will tear the ruffles off'the lawyers' 
wrists." The bill was opposed by Governor 
Livingston, and did not become a law ; but the 
preceding facts seem to show that no one partic- 
idar class of men stood alone in the unreasoning 
and unreasonable antagonism which prevailed 
in New^ Jersey against memliers of the legal 
profession from the time of Queen Anne till 
long after the close of the Revolutionary 
War. 

The number of counselors and attorneys prac- 
ticing in the courts of Monmouth C'ounty 
during the forty years next succeeding the close 
of the Revolution was not large. Among them 
(including several who were not residents of the 
county, but who were very frequently employed 
in cases here) were Jonathan Rhea, Joseph 
Scudder, Caleb and Corlies Lloyd, James H. 
Tmlav, Frederick Frelinghuysen, HenryHankin- 
son (all (if whom were in practice here several 
years prior to ISOO), Garret D. "Wall, Joseph 
Phillips, Theodore Frelinghuysen Richard H. 
Stockton, Joseph W. Scott, Samuel L. Southard, 
Daniel B. Ryall, Henry D. Polhemus and 
others, al most ei|ually prominent. The Monmouth 
courts, and the advocates who practiced in them 
between 1820 and 1845, were referred to by ex- 



add rt 



delivered 



Governor Parker, in an 
October 31, 1873, as follows: 

" Fifty years ago there was scarcely a cele- 
brated lawyer in this State who did not attend 
our courts. Richard St(Jckton, Samuel L. 
Southard, George Wood (whom Daniel AVeb- 
ster said he regarded as his most dangerous op- 
ponent in the Supreme Court of the L^nited 
States) and others, whose fame became national, 
for a long time practiced here. When I came 
to the bar, thirty years ago, among the princi- 
pal practitioners in this county were Garret D. 
Wall, distinguished as a jury lawyer; William 
L. Dayton, who had one of the best legal minds 
of his day ; Daniel B. Ryall, a faithful and 
industrious advocate, of excellent common sense; 
Judge Vreden burgh, who lately died full of 
years and honors; Joseph F. Randolph, who 
filled with great credit many positions of trust 
and James M. Hartshorne, a young lawyer of 
much promise. All these are dead. Subse- 
quently, Jehu Patterson, Edmond jNI. Throck- 
morton and Major Peter Vredenliurgh com- 
menced practice here with bright prospects, but 
were cut off" in the meridian of life. Other 
members of our brotherhood, still living, with 
whom I have so long held pleasant intercourse, 
I will not mention. ..." 

Garret D. Wall was born in the township 
of Middletown, Monmouth County, in 1783. 
His father was James Wall, Mho Mas an officer 
in the militia during the Revolutionary War, 
and Mas in the battle of Monmouth. The first 
of the family in this county was Walter Wall, 
M'ho was one of the original settlers at Middle- 
town. The father of Garret D. Wall died 
M'hen he M'as ten years of age, and soon after 
his father's death he Ment to reside with iiis 
uncle. Dr. Wall, at Woodbridge, X. J. 
When fifteen years old he went to Trenton, 
where he entered the law-office of General 
Jonathan Riiea, who was at this time clerk of the 
Supreme Court. There he became well grounded 
in the principles of law and fiimiliar with prac- 
tice and pleading, and M'as throughout his life 
regarded bv the bar as authoritv on those sub- 
jects. 

INIr. A\'all Mas licensed as attorney in 1<S04, 
and as counselor in 1807. He commenced the 





-.^f-IS 



I 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



281 



business of his profession at Trenton, and at an 
early day was elected clerk of the Supreme 
■Court. In 18'22 lie was chosen a member of the 
General Assembly, ^^t that time he belonged 
to the Democratic party, and he adhered to its 
princij)les throughout his life. 

Being fond of military matters, he entered a 
uniformed militia organization in Trenton, and 
as captain of this organization he served at 
Saudy Hook in the war of 1812. He was 
appointed, soon after the war, quartermaster- 
general of the State, and always after that was 
■called General Wall. 

In 1828 he removed to Burlington. In 1829 
he was elected Governor of the State, but de- 
clined the position. In the same year he was 
appointed by President Jai'kson United States 
district attorney for New Jersey. 

In 1834, General Wall was elected United 
States Senator. He ])roved to be an able sujjporter 
of the Jackson and Van Buren administrations, 
and made many speeches in that body when it 
contained such men as Webster, Clay, Calhoun, 
Benton, Southard and others, which gave him 
a wide reputation as an orator and statesman. 
General Wall died in 1850, being at the time of 
his de;ith a judge of the Court of Errors and 
Ajipeals of Xew Jersey. 

(iarret D. Wall was jierhaps the most popular 
man of his day in the State. He was the leader 
of the Demot'ratic party for a quarter of a cen- 
tury, and so great was the confidence reposed in 
him that the conventions of his pulitical friends 
were often wholly governed by his will in their 
platforms and candidates, and he proved a safe 
leader. 

As a lawyer, General ^A'all stood side by 
side with Richard Stockton, Geoi-ge Wood, 
Peter I). Vroom and other able men of his 
generation then at the head of the bar. During 
his whole professional career, except when en- 
gaged with official duties and absent from the 
State, he attended the courts of ]\Ionmouth 
County. There are many now living who have 
heard him try causes at Freehold. He was 
al)le, adroit, ready and sometimes eloquent. He 
addressed a jury in a familiar way which soon 
won tlunr attention and put them on good terms 
with the speaker and witii themselves. 



General WaW was noted for hospitality; he was 
kind, gentle and companionabl<>, pnblie-sjiirited, 
patriotic, and much attached to his nati\e State 
and county. 

Daniel Bailey Ryall, s(m of Thomas 
and Rebecca Ryall, one of the most respected, 
beloved and distinguished lawyers who ever 
practiced in the courts of Monmouth County, 
was born in the city of Trenton, January 'lO, 
1798, and received his jirimary education in 
the schools and academy of that city. At an 
early age he entered as a student in the law- 
office of the Honorable Garret D. Wall, who 
at that time was the leading practitioner of the 
State. Mr. Ryall was a diligent student, and 
after the usual term of study, aided by tlie pro- 
found learning of his preceptor, he was admit- 
ted as an attorney in September, 1820, and in 
that year came to Monmouth County, and lo- 
cating in Freehold, entered upon the practice 
of his profession. He brought to his work a 
well-balanced mind, a thorough knowledge of 
the practice, soimd practical common sense, 
integrity of character, habits of application and 
indomitable energy. Such a man could not 
fail to succeed. He soon acquired a lucrative 
jiractice, and retained it for more than thirty- 
five yeare, after which time he voluntarily 
retired from active business. 

He loved the profession of his choice, and in 
it he was eminently successful. His industry 
and energy were remarkable, and contributed in 
no small deg-ree to his success. He was not 
only faithful to his clients, but he became en- 
grossed in and seemed identified with the 
causes which were placed in Jiis charge. He 
was absolutely free from jealousy of profes- 
sional rivals. If, in the course of an exciting 
trial, an angry word or an unguarded expres- 
sion was used such as might interrupt amicable 
relations between counsel, he was the first to 
renew the friendly greeting with a smile and 
the offer of the hand. He was genial and 
pleasant in his intercourse with his professional 
brethren, as in social life. He delighted to 
relate to his younger associates incidents illus- 
trating the character of thr learned and elo- 
quent counsel with whom he had mingled in 
his earlier vears. 



282 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" You all know," said the Honorable Joel 
Parker, in an address to the members of the 
bar on the (iccasiou of the formal aunonncement 
of Mv. Kyall's death, " what fears of failure, 
what anxiety for success agitate the mind of 
the young advocate when about passing the 
ordeal of his first case in court. I well remem- 
ber my emotions as I took my seat for the first 
time at this table and found that Mr. Ryall, the 
oldest member of the bar, was the opposing 
counsel. Principles of law applicable to the 
case and almost every fact uj)ou which I had 
relied upon a favorable decision fled from my 
memory. But there was no attempt on his 
part to take advantage of my agitation and 
inexperience. On the contrary, a certain kind- 
ness of tone and manner was manifested that 
soon restored confidence. Afterwards he took 
occasion to speak kind words of encouragement, 
so grateful to ambitious youth just entering the 
threshold of active life. The circumstance 
impressed me deeply, and when, in subsequent 
years, doubt and despondency occasionally 
arose, memory reverted to those cheering M'ords, 
W'hieh had, pei'haps, been forgotten by the friend 
who spoke them ; and now that I am here, 
after the lapse of more than twenty years, to 
join with you in mourning his departure, that 
scene and those words come to my mind as 
vividly as if they were the events of yesterday." 

Mr. Ryall was cidled to fill prominent posi- 
tions both in the State and national councils. 
He was for several successive years a member of 
the Legislature of New Jersey, and during that 
time held the office of Speaker of the Assembly. 
Subsequently he Mas elected a member of the 
House of Representatives of the United States, 
and he discharged the duties of his public posi- 
tion honorablj' and with great ability. He 
died at Freehold on the 17th of December, 
18(j4. 

Mr. Ryall was married, on the 18th of Sep- 
tember, 1S22, to j\Iiss Rachel Bray Lloyd, 
daughter of Caleb and Martha A. Lloyd. 
She died on July 1, 182.3, leaving two chil- 
dren, — Caleb T^loyd and William Scudder. 
The latter died in infancy, the former in 1848. 

On January 2, 1828, 'Mr. Ryall married 
Miss Juliet Phillips Scudder, daughter of Joseph 



and Maria Scudder. She died on February 8> 
1852. Their children were Louisa Scudder, 
Edward Hunt, William Scudder, Thomas 
AYall and Philip Johnston. Of these, Tiiomas 
Wall Eyall, living near Freehold, is the only 
sui'vivor. 

Joseph F. Randolph, a prominent member 
of the Monmouth bar, and later an associate jus- 
tice of the Supreme Coiu't of New Jersey, was a 
native of Xew York City, born March 14, ISOo. 
His father was Dr. Robert F. Randolph, who 
settled at Piscataway, Middlesex County, 
X. J., where the son, Joseph F.j spent his early 
years and received his preparatory education. 
He was admitted to practice as an attorney in 
May, 1825, and as counselor in May, 1828. On 
his admission to the bar he opened an office at 
Freehold, and was soon afterwards appc>inte(l 
prosecutor of the pleas for Monmouth County. 
At the age of thirty-one years he was elected a 
member of Congress, and served in that position 
(having been re-elected) until and including the 
year 1840. In 1841 he removed from Free- 
hold to New Brunswick. In February, l<s4o, 
Governor Charles E. Stratton appointed hiui a 
justice of the Supreme Court, in which office he 
served seven 3'ears, residing at Trenton, to which 
place he had removed from New Brunswick 
upon his appointment. He was highly esteemed 
by his brethren of the bench, and respected by 
the peojile of the State, as an upright and im- 
partial judge. In 1854 he was appointed one 
of the commissioners to revise the laws of the 
State. In the early years of his life he was an 
ardent Whig, and was elected to Congress by 
that party ; but after its death he became a. 
Democrat, and so continued during the remainder 
of his life. In I860 he removed from Trenton 
to Jersey City, where he died, ^March 19, 1873. 

William Lewis Dayton was born in 
Somerset County, N. J., February 17, 1807. 
He graduated at Princeton in 1825 ; studied 
law at Somerville with Hon. Peter D. Yroom;> 
was licensed as attorney in 1830 and as coun- i 
selor in 1838. He commenced the practice of 
his profession in ^Monmouth County, first at 
Middletown Point (now INIatawan) for a short 
time, and afterwards settled at Freehold. He 
I soon took a leading position at the county bar, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



283 



aud was favorably known as a lawyer in otliei" 
parts of the State. 

In 1837 he was eleeted to the Legislative 
Council (now the Senate) of New Jersey. In 
1888 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme 
Court, and removed to Trenton. In 1841 he 
resigned his judgeship with a view of pursuing 
his [)rofessiou. In 1842, Samuel L. Southard, 
one of the United States Senators from N^ew 
Jersey, died, and Judge Dayton was appointed 
to fill the uuex})ired term, and was subsequently 
eleeted for a full term. It is rarely that one 
so youug attaius to such distinction. 

Judge Dayton proved himself in debate a 
match for older members of that august body, 
then in its palmy days. His term as Senator 
expired in 1837, and he then resumed his pro- 
fession . For some years after the date last 
mentioned he attended regularly the INIonmouth 
courts, where he was engaged in nearly every 
important cause. 

In the trial of Charles Jt)hnson fiir the mur- 
der of Maria Lewis, Mr. Dayton defended the 
prisoner. He was convicted ; but in conse- 
quence of the jury not stating the degree of the 
murder in their verdict, the prisoner was again 
tried, and was acquitted. 

In 1856, Judge Dayton was nominated for 
"Vice-President of the United States, on the 
ticket with Fremont, by the then new Repub- 
lican party. In 1857 he was appointed attor- 
ney-general of the State, and in the fall of 
that year was engaged in the prosecution of 
James P. Donnelly for the mui'der (August 1, 
1857) of Albert S. Moses, at the Sea View 
House, a place of summer resort at the Nave- 
sink Highlands. It was a remarkable crime, 
and the case excited intense interest throuohout 
the country. Donnelly was a young man of 
good education and prepossessing manners, 
who was employed as a clerk at the Sea View 
House, and having hist money by playing cards 
with jNIoses (who was also employed at tiie 
same house), entered the hitter's room and 
stablied him iu his bed, to get possession of the 
money,- which Moses had placed between the 
mattresses. The evidence of the murderer's 
guilt was conclusive, and his trial before Judge 
Vredenburgh, in the Court of Oyer and Ter- 



miner, resulted in a verdict of guilty. The 
record was taken to the Supreme Court, and 
afterwards to the Court of Errors and Appeals, 
where all the rulings were affirmed, and Don- 
nelly was executed in the jail-yard at Freehold, 
Jaiuiary 8, 1858. The counsel iu that cele- 
brated trial (now a leading case on the subject 
of dying declarations) were Joel Parker, j)rose- 
cutor of the pleas of Monmouth County and 
William L. Dayton, attorney-general, for the 
State, and Amzi C. McLean, Joseph P. Brad- 
ley, now a judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, and ex-Governor Pennington 
for the prisoner. 

In 1861, Judge Dayton was appointed, by- 
President Lincoln, minister to France. In 
that difficult position, during our civil war, 
he pro\ed himself a wise and able representa- 
tive, and was of great service to the government. 
He died at Paris, December 1, 1864. 

AVilliam L. Dayton was acknowledged by 
all to have been one of the ablest and most 
eloquent jury lawyers of his day. His practice 
was extensive also in the higher courts, where 
his arguments were logical aud convincing. 
He had the rare faculty of seizing only the 
strong points of a case and presenting them 
with brevity. 

John Hull, a judge of the ^Monmouth 
County courts for a quarter of a century, and a 
resident of the county for more than sixty years, 
was born jNIay 28, 1762, in the family mansion 
then owned by his father, Hopewell Hull, at 
the Cross-Roads, between Princetou and New 
Brunswick. The earliest mention of him (otiier 
than the above, with reference to the date and 
place of his birth) is found in an account, given 
by himself", of his capture by British troops in 
the time of the Revolutiou. In 1776, when he 
was oidy fourteen years of age, he went to assist 
his two older brothers, who were engaged in 
making salt from sea-water at a point on the 
Monmouth County coast. While thus employed, 
the British and Refugee's attacked and destroyed 
the salt-works, taking the three brothers as 
jirisoners to New York, where they were con- 
fined in the old "Sugar-House" prison. After 
having been there some time, the ycjuth was 
seen and recognized by Dr. Clarke, a distant 



284 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



relative of the family, but a Royalist, who had 
taken refuge within the British lines. He 
inquired of the boy how he came to be there, 
and ou being informed of the facts, said it was 
no place for one of his tender age, and promised 
to procure his release. He did so, and soon 
afterwards young John Hull was set at liberty 
and allowed to return home, thus, perhaps, owing 
his life to the doctor's kind efforts ; for it could 
hardly be expected that a boy of fourteen years 
could long survive the horroi-s of the "Sugar- 



he followed for many years with great success. 
He was frugal in his habits, untiring in his in- 
dustry, and of the strictest integrity and honesty 
in all his dealings and transactions with men ; 
and he gradually amassed an independent for- 
tune. He always took pleasure in referring t(j 
his early labors at the anvil, and by his own 
example endeavored U> impress upon young 
men the importance of industry, temperance 
and economy, and the dignity of labor. 

,\.t the age of eighteen he married a jNIiss 




^^^^^:^Zc^^^C.,:::^ 



House" prison, where scores of strong men i 
died "daily from starvation, foul air and ill i 
treatment. 

While John Hull was yet but a youth he 
lost his father by death, and, under the opera- 
tion of a law then in force, the large estate was 
inherited by an older brother of John, leaving 
the latter almost penniless. Under these dis- 
heartening circumstances he, with a noble self- 
reliance that did him honor, apprenticed liimself 
to learn the trade of blacksmith, and that trade 



Yanarsdalen, who died early and was soon after 
followed to tlie gra\-e by her infant son, their 
only child. His second wife was !Miss Cressen, 
of New Brunswick, with whom he removed to 
Monmouth County in 1790, and settled in what 
is now Marlborough township, on a farm wliich 
he occupied as a homestead for about forty-nine 
years. He was greatly interested in the success 
and prosperity of tlic old Holmdel Baptist 
Church, then under the pastoral ciiarge of the 
Rev. Benjamin Bennett. Shortly after his 



J 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



285 



settlement in Monmouth County the united 
Dutch Reformed Congregation of Freehold and 
jNIiddletowu wa.'* organized, under the pastoral 
care of the venerable Benjamin Dubois. Mr. 
Hull was among those who favored the estab- 
lishment of that church, and he became inter- 
ested in the building of their house of woi-ship, 
the site of which was but a short distance from 
his residence. In its burial-ground were in- 
terred the remains of his second wife, who died 
sevei-al years after their removal to Monmouth 
County. Subsecpiently he married Ann Bowne, 
dauo'hter of David Bowne, an old-time citizen of 
Freehold (now ^larlborough) township. AVith 
her he continued to reside on the homestead 
farm, actively engaged in agriculture, until 
1839, when they removed to Freehold village, 
which from that tinic was their home during 
the remainder of their lives. 

The appointment of Mr. Hull as justice of 
the peace was made by the Legislature in 1808, 
and in 1813 he was appointed a judge of the 
County Courts of Monmouth. These united 
offices he held untd 1838 — a period of twenty- 
five years, — during which time, in the terms of 
Judge Hull and his colleagues, Henderson, 
Patterson and Hoppin, the reputation of the 
Monmouth court became firmly established as 
one of the most judicious, upright and impartial 
tribunals of the State. 

Judge Hull was one of the three founders 
of the Young Ladies' Seminary at Freehold, in 
1845, the other two being the Rev. D. V. Mc- 
Lean, of Freehold, and the Hon. Thomas G. 
Haight, of Colt's Neck. He always manifested 
great pride and satisfactiou with regard to the 
agencv he had exerted in founding this semi- 
nary, and freely gave his time and attention in 
ornamenting its grounds and attending to all 
its material interests. 

He was entirely a self-made man and the 
architect of his own fortune and reputation. 
He was a very remarkable man for one of his 
position and with his opportunities. He found 
time to read much, had an unusually discrim- 
inating mind and treasured up everything valu- 
able which he read. He was always remarkable 
for his punctuality, and strict and prompt 
attention to all tiie public business to which it 



was his duty to attend. He was exceedingly 
entertaining in social intercourse, was very 
domestic in his habits, and large and liberal 
in his hospitality. During the last fourteen 
yeai's of his life (the time of his residence in 
Freehold) he was chiefly occupied in attending 
to the intei'ests of his large property in jNIou- 
mouth County, which consisted principally of 
valuable farms (among them being the home- 
stead farm in ^larlborough, which is still owned 
by one of his daughters). Until within a few 
months of his death he retained extraordinary 
vigor for one of his age, appearing many years 
younger than he really was. He died on the 
8th of November, 1853, aged ninety-one years, 
five months and ten days. Throughout all that 
long life he possessed the respect and entire 
confidence of his fellow-citizens. His wife 
survived nearly twenty-four years longer, and 
died Marcli 111, 1877, aged eighty-six. Their 
children were two daughters, one of whom is 
the wife of the Hon. Amzi C. McLean, of Free- 
hold; the other, Mrs. Mitchell, of White Plains, 
N. Y. 

From the close of the Revolution to the 
present time some one of the justices of the 
Sujjreme Court of New Jersey has presided in 
the courts of Monmouth County. Among those 
whose names are found mentioned as having 
held court at Freehold prior to the year 1839 
were Andrew Kirkpatrick, William Rossell, 
George K. Drake, Thomas C. Ryerson and 
John I\I. White. It is also found that Chief 
Justice Hornblower presided in the Monmouth 
court. Few persons now living in the county," 
however, recollect farther back than the time 
of Judge James S. Nevius, who first came to 
the Monmouth courts about forty-five years 
ago, and continued to preside in them through 
two successive official terms, after which the 
courts of Monmouth were presided over by 
Justice Stacy G. Potts, and on several occasions 
by Chief Justice Green, during the time that 
intervened before the appointment to the Su- 
preme Bench of Judge Peter Vredenburgh, 
who presided here for many j'ears, and was 
succeeded by Judge Edward W. Scudder, who 
has presided continuously from that time to the 
present. 



286 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



James S. Nevius was born near New Bruns- 
wick in 17(S6, and graduated at Princeton in 
1816. He at once entered the office of Fred- 
erick Frelinghuysen as a law student, and was 
licensed as an attorney in 1819 and as coun- 
selor in 1823. He was appointed a justice of the 
Supreme Court of the State in 1838 and again in 
1845, serving fourteen years in that office. Dur- 
ing his entire term he presided at the courts in 
IMonmouth County. He was very popular as 
a judge and as a man, especially among the 
younger members of the bar. He had an acute 
and logical mind and possessed liigh talent as a 
judicial officer. He had a fund of information, 
which made him an agreeable companion. His 
conversation sparkled with ^nt and anecdote. 
Almost the last cause tried before him was the 
indictment against Charles Johnson for the 
murder of Maria Lewis, which murder was done 
in a lonely spot on the Highlands of Navesink. 
The murder was committed for the purpose of 
robbery, and a large amount of money, principally 
in gold, was taken. The counsel in this case were 
Peter Yredenburgh and Joel Parker for the 
State, and Jehu Patterson, David B. Ryall and 
AVilliam L. Dayton for the defendant. The 
evidence was circumstantial ; the defendant was 
convicted, but obtained a new trial because the 
jury did not, in the verdict, specify the degree. 
The jury were out the greater part of the night, 
and came in about an hour before daylight. 
The lawyers, not expecting the jury to agree 
before the convening of the court in the morn- 
ino;, had retired to their homes. Neither of the 
counsel for the State was called and neither of 
them was present when the verdict was rendered. 
It was an extraordinary proceeding to take a 
verdict in a case so important without the State 
being represented, but it was not the fault of 
the State's counsel. At the next trial, before 
Judge Haines, Johnson was acquitted. 

Ujjon retiring from the bench. Judge Nevius 
opened an office in Jersey City, where he died 
in 1859. 

Judge Peter Veedenburgh was a son of 
Dr. Peter Yredenburgh, of Somerville, N. J., 
a physician of long standing and high repute 
in the county of Somerset. The first genera- 
tion of the family on this side of the Atlantic, 



as appears from ancient records,' sprang from 
William I. Yredenburgh, wlio came to New 
Netherlands from the Hague in May, li)58, in 
the shii) " Gilded Beaver." An old Dutch Bible, 
bound in wooden covers, with brass hinges, pre- 
serves the family record continuously from Octo- 
ber, 1743, to March, 1776, in the Dutch lan- 
a-uasre, and after the latter date in Euolish. 
The same old record states that on the 24th 
of August, 1823, Peter Yredenburgh died at 
NeM' Brunswick, N. J., " in the seventy-ninth 
year of his age, with his faculties but liitle 
impaired, and executing the duties of ( ounty 
Treasurer, an office he had filled without in- 
terruption for forty-two years." This was the 
father of Dr. Peter Yredenburgh, of Somer- 
ville, before mentioned. His son, Peter, after- 
wards Judge Yredenburgh, was born at Read- 
ington, Hunterdon County, N. J., in 1805. 

About the year 1829 he came to Monmouth 
County, and commenced the practice of the 
law at Eatontown, where he remained about a 
year, and then removed to Freehold, where he 
continued to reside during the remainder of his 
life. He took a leading part in politics, identi- 
fying himself with the Whig party. He held 
the office of prosecutor of the ])]eas for fif- 
teen years. He represented the county of 
^Monmouth one terra in the upper branch of 
the Legislature, then called the Council, now the 
Senate of New Jersey. In 1855 lie was ap- 
pointed one of the associate justices of the 
Supreme Court by Governor Price, though 
opposed to him in politics. In 1862 he was re- 
appointed to the office by Governor Olden, thus 
holding the position for fourteen yeai"s, dis- 
chargiug the duties of the office ably and 
acceptably, and sustaining a reputation second 
to no one on the bench. Many of his decisions 
are regarded as the ablest reported. At the 
close of his second term of office he resumed 
the practice of law, but his health soon began 
to fail. This was increased by the death of his 
son. Major Peter Yredenburgh, Jr., who was 
killed in the battle of Opequan, or 'Winchester, 

iCol. Hist. N. Y., MSS. Dutch, page 225. Also, "N. Y. 
General and Biographical Record," published in 1878. 
vol. ix. pp. 62, 151. 



„ 




^'^ ^tyJLHFxUMC- 






I 



THK BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



287 



Va., in 1864, — the sacrifice he laid upon the altar 
of liis couutiy to maintain the right and to pre- 
serve the Union. From this sad stroke Judge 
Vredenburgh never recovered. Tlie vivacity for 
which lie was before distinguished never returned. 
His heart was broken. His grief was like that 
of Jacob when he refused to be comforted, and 
said, ■' I will go down into the grave unto my sou 
mouruino-." It was not long before his health 
gave way so entirely that he was obliged to 
retire from active life. For a time he found 
]iartial solace and comfort in reading; but his 
sight failed, and that source of enjoymeut to 
a cultivated mind was denied him. At length, 
in the hope of prolonging life, he was induced 
to seek a more genial clime; but all was unavail- 
ing. The hand of death was u|)on him, and 
in a strange laud, thr)Ugh surrr)unded by loving 
hearts, his spirit took its flight. He died at 
St. Augustine, Fla., on the 24th of March, 
1873. Among the many eulogistic notices of 
Judge Vredenbui-gh, pulilished in the news- 
papers of the State and elsewhere soon after 
his death, those of the INIonmouth Inquirer 
and the Monmouth Democrat are here given. 
The Inquirer said : 

" It is rarely, even in the highest positions 
man is called upon to fill, that oue passes away 
^ "who is so sincerely and highly esteemed in life 
and so deeply mourned in death. He was 
truly a good man, kind and generous in his 
nature, with no austere or repelling demeanor 
even to the humblest. We never -met him but 
we received such a urreeting as made us feel 
glad that we knew him." 

" Xo man in this country," said the Democrat, 
*' was more generally beloved and respected than 
Judge Vredenburgh, and his death will be 
sincerely deplored by the entire community. 
In this town, where he has resided during the 
whole period of his active life, no member of 
the community will be more missed. During 
the last few years he was fond of promenading 
Main Street during the day, and always had a 
pleasant word for old and young alike. He 
always noticed children, and not a boy, perhaps, 
in the town, but has many kindly reminis- 
cences of pleasant chats with Judge Vreden- 
burgh. His genial flow of spirits, and his 



kindness of lieart, and his polished demeanor 
towards all. Mill cause his memorv long to be 
cherished in the comunuiity." 

"Judge Vredenburgh," said i\\e State (iazette, 
"was an ornament and honor to the bar and 
bench of New Jersey. He was one of tho.se 
great and pure minds who have given the judi- 
ciary of this State such honorable pre-eminence 
in the nation. . . . He was a lawyer of no 
ordinary ability, and while at the bar was 
eminently successful as an advocate. The high 
opinion of iiis friends who urged his ajjpoint- 
ment as justice of the Supreme Court was fully 
realized by the reputation gained by Judge 
Vredenburgh while on the bench." 

Among the resolutions adopted in the 
Supreme Court on the occasion of the death 
of Judge Vredenburgh were the following: 

"Resolved, That as a Judge he was remarkable for 
patience iu hearing, sincerity in his search for right 
and its application to each case before him, minute 
analysis, and fearlessness of responsibility. 

^^ Resolved, That the general simplicity of his man- 
ner, the ready sympathies of his heart, the noble frank- 
ness, candor and plainness which characterized his 
intercourse with the Bar, and his bearing upon the 
Bench, endeared his person to all of us ; and though 
dead, he lives in our memories as one by whose life 
and example we have been instructed, improved and 
served ; and whose virtues deserve to be recorded, that 
they may be emulated and perpetuated." 

Judge Vredenburgh was, as a lawyer, re- 
markable for his powers of minute analysis, — 
a trait especially referred to in the foregoing 
resolutions by the Supreme Court. This jjower 
he brought to bear in the important questions of 
fact tried before him at the circuits, and which 
led him so unerringly to the truth. In the ex- 
citing murder trials of Donnelly, Slocum, Fox, 
Bridget Durgan and others, the smallest threads 
of evidence, sometimes overlooked by counsel, 
were woven by him into nets from which the 
guilty could not esca])e. It was remarked by 
an astute lawyer at the meeting of the bench 
and bar that " Law as administered by Judge 
Vredenburgh was no 'spider's web to catch 
flies, while hornets escaped.' " His concern in 
the settling of rules of law and in the decision 
of questions and cases before him was not so 
much what the action of the appellate courts 



288 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



might ultimately be, as what was right and 
iistice iu the matters he was called ou to decide. 

In 1836, Mr. Vredenhurgh was married to 
Eleanor BriukerhoiF. They had three children, j 
all sons and all of whom became lawyers, viz. : j 
Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., born February 12, 1837, 
admitted as an attorney in February, 1859, and 
as counsellor February, 1862, entered the 
United States military service in the War of 
the Rebellion as major of the Fourteenth New 
Jersey Volunteers, and was killed September 
19, 1864, in the battle of Opequan, A^'a. ; Wil- 
liam H. Vredenburgh, now a member of the 
Monmouth bar, as more fully mentioned below, 
and James B. Vredenburgh, born October 1, 
1844, studied law with Honorable Aaron R. 
Throckmorton, at Freehold, was admitted as 
an attorney in June, 1866, as counsellor in 
June, 1869, and is now a prominent lawyer of 
Jersey City. 

William H. Vredenburgh, second son of Judge 
Peter Vredenburgh, was born August 19, 1840; 
was graduated at Rutgers College in 1859; 
studied law in the office of Honorable Joseph 
D. Bedle; was admitted to practice as an at- 
terney in June, 1862, and as counsellor in June, 
1865. On his fir.?t admission he commenced 
the business of his profession at Freehold, ' 
where he has remained in practice until the 
present time, with the exception of between one 
and two years, when he was located at Eaton- | 
town, to continue the business of his brother. 
Major Peter Vredenburgh, Jr., who was ab- 
sent in the military service. 

During the period of his practice, extending 
through more than twenty years, he has been 
engaged in most of the important cases tried in 
the counties of Monmouth and Ocean. The 
investigation and trial of real estate contro- 
versies has been the subject of his especial at- 
tention in the law courts, and the various forms 
of equitable relief and jurisdiction in compli- 
cated ciises have taken a large proportion of 
his labor and practice in the Courts of Equity. 
The Cox Cabin cases of Emson vs. Campbell, 
Oliphant vs. Hazleton and Hill rs. Stetson from 
Ocean County, and the cases of Allaire vs. 
Allaire ; the sureties of Patterson vs. Inhab- 
itants of Freehold, and Hughes rs. Prior, 



from INIonmouth County, are fair instances of 
his practice in the law courts, while in the 
Chancery and appellate courts, the rejjorted 
cases of Romaine vs. Hendrickson, Morris, 
Tasker & Co. vs. Sprague et Stokes, Havens vs. 
Thompson, Rue and Emson vs. Monmouth 
County Agricultural Railroad Company, Gol- 
den vs. Knapp, Meirs vs. Wain, and Williams 
vs. Vreeland, settled questions of moment iu 
themselves, and principles of interest to the 
profession. The last-mentioned case was the 
first instance in the New Jersey courts of en- 
grafting on a will a legacy not mentioned in 
it, on the strength of a parol declaration of a 
trust by the testator, coupled with the verbal 
acceptance of the trust by the defendant, and 
the result is a noteworthy example of the 
eiiects of hard work and discriminating study. 

In the exciting general election of 1884, Mr. 
Vredenburgh was nominated by the Republi- 
cans of ]\Ionmouth County for State Senator 
against Honorable Henry S. Little, the Demo- 
cratic candidate, and Dr. T. G. Chattle, Pro- 
hibitionist. About one week befoi-e the election 
the unexpected withdrawal of INIr. Little, and 
the concentration of the Democratic vote on 
Dr. Chattle, snatched the anticipated victory 
from the Republicans. In the election, ^Ir. 
Vredenburgh i-eoeived nearly seven thousand 
votes, running far ahead of the regular Repub- 
lican ticket, which in itself was very much 
larger than had ever been polled by that party 
at any previous election in the county. 

In 1865, Mr. Vredenburgh formed a law 
partnership with Philip J. Ryall, which con- 
tinued for about five years, until Mr. Ryall's 
failing health compelled his retirement fr()m 
practice. In 1882 he formed a partnership 
with Frederick Parker, which is now existing, 
under the name and style of Vredenburgh & 
Parker. 

Joel Parker, ex-Governor of Xew Jersey,, 
(to which office he was twice elected), and now 
a justice of the Supreme Court of the State, has 
been for forty-three years a member of the bar 
of his native county, Monmouth. He was 
born on the 24th of November, 1816, iu what 
was then Freehold township, now Millstone, 
about four miles from the town of Freehold,, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



289 



of parents botii of wliom were natives of the 
county. His fatlicr, Charles Parker (of whom 
a biographical sketch is given in another part 
of this work), was a self-taught man, but the 
possessor of a natural financial and executive 
ability which placed him in many public posi- 
tions of trust and emolument, among them 
being that of State treasurer, which office he 
held for thirteen years, under different party 
administrations. On his election as treasui'er, 
in 1821, he removed to Trenton, where his son, 
Joel, received his primary education in the best 
schools of the city, at the same time gaining 
much practical experience in his father's office, 
and storing his mind with valuable knowledge 
from the volumes of the State Library, which 
at that time was under charge of his fathei". It 
had been the intention of Mr. Charles Parker, 
on retiring from his office, to return to Mon- 
mouth County and spend his remaining years 
on a farm M'hich he had purchased in the 
vicinity of Colt's Xeck ; but this plan failed of 
accomplishment, for the reason that in 1833 he 
was re-elected treasurer, and was soon afterwards 
induced to accept the office of cashier of the 
Mechanics' and Manufacturers' Bank of Tren- 
ton, which obliged him to continue his residence 
in that city. Under these circumstances, Joel 
Parker (then about eighteen years of age) was 
sent to manage the farm in Monmouth County, 
where he remained until it was sold, two or 
three years later. He then attended the Law- 
renceville High School, and after a course of 
preparatory study at that institution entered 
Princeton College, where he was graduated in 
1839, and immediately commenced the study of 
law in Trenton with the Hon. Plenry W. Green 
(afterwards chief justice, and also chancellor 
of New Jersey). In 1842 he was admitted to 
the bar, and in the same year located in practice 
at Freehold, which has been his home from that 
time to the present. In the year following his 
commencement of practice at Freehold he was 
married to Maria IM., eldest daug-hter of Samuel 
R. Gummere, who had been principal of a 
Friends' School at Burlington, N. J., but then 
the clerk in Chancery of New Jersey. 

In 1840, Mr. Parker cast his first Presidential 
vote for jNIartin Van Buren, the nominee of the 
19 



Democratic party, of which he has always been 
a memlter and a steadfast supporter. He first 
entered the political arena in 1844, when he 
distinguished himself by public speeches in 
support of James K. Polk, in the Presidential 
campaign of that year. In 1847 he was elected 
to the Assembly from Monmouth, which then 
also included all that is now embraced in the 
county of Ocean, — a territory which has since 
been divided into five districts. He was then 
the youngest member of the House, but being 
the only lawyer on the Democratic side, he 
became the party leader, especially on all <[ues- 
tions of legal bearing. Among the first bills 
offered b}' him was one to equalize taxation, by 
taxing personal as well as real j)roperty. The 
Whigs had a majority in the House, but many 
of the members on that side, while really desir- 
ing the defeat of the bill, wished to avoid 
placing themselves on record as opposing it. 
The farmer members of both parties generally 
favored the meaT^ure. This resulted in the bill 
being laid over and ordered to be published in 
all the papers of the State, together with the 
speech of ^Ir. Parker, whose connection with it 
gave him a State-wide reputation. In the fol- 
lowing year he declined becoming a candidate 
for the State Senate, for the reason that hi.s 
large and increasing practice required all his 
time and attention. Soon afterwards he received 
the appointment of prosecutor of the pleas for 
Monmouth County, and served five years in 
that office. In 1860 he was elected a Presi- 
dential elector bj^ more than five thousand 
majority, and was one of the three electors in 
the Northern States who voted for Stephen A. 
Douglas in the Electoral College. At that time 
he was the brigadier-general commanding the 
Monmouth and Ocean County brigade of militia, 
taking great interest in military affairs. In 
1801 he was nominated by Governor Olden, 
and unanimously confirmed by the Senate, as 
major-general of the militia division in the 
counties of Monmouth, Ocean, INIei-cer, Union 
and INIiddlesex. The appointment was made 
with a view to promote volunteering, and the 
organization of forces for the suppression of the 
Rebellion in the South ; and it was largely due 
to his influence and energy that several regi- 



290 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ments of good fightiug men were promptly 
formed and sent forward to the field. 

In 1862 the Monmouth County delegates in 
the Democratic Convention presented the name 
of Joel Parker for Governor of New Jei-sey. 
He finally received the nomination, and was 
elected by a majority of fourteen thousand six 
hundred over the opposing candidate, the Hon. 
Marcus L. Ward, — a majority three times as 
great as had ever before that time been received 
by any candidate for Governor of the State. He 
was inaugurated in January, 1863, for three 
years. His administration was a successful one, 
distinguished for its efficiency in promoting en- 
listments to aid the general government in the 
suppression of the Rebellion, and in keeping up 
volunteering for one year after all other States 
had commenced drafting to fill their regiments. 
Thi'ough his executive and financial ability, the 
debt of the State on civil account was paid and 
its war bonds maintained at a large premium. 

The promptness of Governor' Parker in rais- 
ing and sending forward troops for the Union 
armies was well known throughout the country; 
it elicited the acknowledgment and commenda- 
tion of President Lincohi, and won for him the 
proud title of " War Governor of New Jersey." 
During the first year of Governor Parker's 
administration the Confederate army, under 
General Lee, crossed the Potomac and made the 
campaign which resulted in the great Union 
victory at Gettysburg. In the mean time they 
had invaded Pennsylvania with the evident in- 
tention of capturing Harrisburg, if not the city 
of Philadelphia. Governor Curtiu, of thatState, 
had but few troops at his command to repel the 
Confederate invasion, and in that time of immi- 
nent peril he called on Governor Parker for as- 
sistance. The alacrity and promptness with 
which New Jersey's War Governor responded 
to the appeal, and the gratitude M-liich his ener- 
getic action elicited from the people of Pennsyl- 
vania, as expressed by their Governor, is shown 
by the following brief extracts from the corre- 
spondence which then passed between them : 

{Telegram.) " Hareisbueg, June 15, 1863. 
" Governor Joel Parker— This State is threat- 
ened with invasion by a large force, and we are raising 
troops as rapidly as possible to resist them. I under- 



stand there are three regiments of your troops at Bev- 
erly, waiting to be mustered out. Could an arrange- 
ment be made with you and the .authorities at Wash- 
ington, by which the service of those regiments could 
be had for the present emergency? Please advise 

immediatelv. 

" A. G. Curtis, Gov. Pa." 

(Telegram.) "EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, 

"TrentoxN.J., 

" June 15, 1863. 
" His Excellency A. G. Curtix, Governor of 
" Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. 
" Your dispatch is received. One regiment has al- 
ready vohinteered, and no doubt others can be sent. 
Where shall they report, and to whom? To whom 
shall they apply for tr.insportation from Philadelphia ? 

Answer. 

" Joel Parker." 

(Telegram.) "HARRISBURG, June 10, 1863. 
" Hon. Joel Parker, Governor of New Jersey. 

" Please instruct colonel of regiment to procure 
transportiition by Pennsylvania Railroad, Phila- 
delphia to Harrisburg. The colonel's requisition and 
receipt to railroad company will be sufficient. Send 
all you can, immediately, to this point, and telegraph 
Superintendent Pennsylvania Railroad, Philadelphia, 
to provide transportation at the time you designate. 
Permit me to thank you for your prompt attention. 
" A. G. Curtix, Governor of Pennsylvania." 

( Telegram.) " Trentox, N. J., June 16, 1863. 
"His Excellency Governor Curtin, Harrisburg, Pa. 
" The nine months' regiments now in the State 
awaiting discharge will be forwarded as fast as possi- 
ble. I issue proclamation to-morrow for the citizens 
to organize for the assistance of Pennsylvania, and I 
will send them to you for the present emergency as 
State troops. ... I hope to be able to send some 

twelve thousand men. 

"Joel Parker." 

This last disjjatch, received by the Governor 
of Pennsylvania within thirty-six hours from 
the time when he first sent to Governor Parker 
for assistance, called forth his thanks, as ex- 
pressed in the following telegram : 

" Harrisburg, June 10, 1863. 
" His Excellency, Governor Parker. 

" The people of this State are under obligations to 
you for your promptness and energy in organizing 
and forwarding men to this place. General Couch 
will have the best possible care taken of them. The 
question of details of which you inquire will have to 
be determined by the War Department." . . . 

" A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania." 

It is proper, in this connection, to note the 
manner in which Governor Parker so promptly 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



291 



accoiuplislied this and the subsequent enlist- 
ments in New Jersey for the defense of Penn- 
sylvania. The time of the troops then at 
Beverly had alreaily expired, and they had 
come back from the army to be mustered out 
and return to their homes. On hearing of the 
emergeuc)' in Pennsylvania, Governor Parker 
took a horse and wagon (the railway train hav- 
ing already left), and drove to the camp at 
Beverly, where he addressed the soldiers, telling 
them of the exigency and api)ealing to them to 
enlist. By this means, and by the stirring pro- 
clamation which he issued on the following day, 
he was enabled to send forward troojjs which 
marched through Philadelphia while the peojjle 
of that city were yet in confusion, and before 
they had raised a single company for the defense 
of their own State. In a letter addressed by 
Governor Curtin to Governor Parker, dated June 
24, 18(30 (nine days after his first appeal for 
aid) the writer said : " I cannot close this com- 
munication without expressing to you the thanks 
of the people of Pennsylvania for your prompt- 
ness in responding to their calls, and to the peo- 
ple of New Jersey for the patriotic disposition 
they so truly manifest, and their willingness to 
take up arms for our defense." And on the 
30th of the same month, Abraham Lincoln, 
President of the United States, said, in a letter 
to Governor Parker: "Please accept my sincere 
thanks for what vou have done and are doing: 
to get troops forward." 

In the summer of the following year another 
heavy body of the Confederate army crossed 
the Potomac to the invasion of Maryland. In 
the campaign which followed, the battle of 
Monocacy was fought, and from that field the 
invaders marched upon Washington, and cut 
the railroad and telegraph communications be- 
tween the national capital and the Xorth. In 
the absence of any definite information, and 
anticipating the necessity that appeared to be 
imminent, Governor Parker, without hearing 
from the military authorities at Washington, 
immediately issued his proclamation calling 
for troops to be ready at a moment's notice. Of 
this proclamation the Philadelphia Inquirer, a 
newspaper of opposite politics, said: "Joel 
Parker, Governor of jVew Jersey, deserves the 



thanks of the loyal people of the United Stjites. 
His proclamation, published yesterday, is con- 
ceived in the genuine spirit of patriotism, and 
has a ring that Mill gladden every loyal heart. 
He expected a call from the Governor of Mary- 
land. Not having received it, he assumes that 
those officers believe they have troops enough to 
meet the emergency. But he thinks the rebel 
expedition more than an ordinary raid. He 
sees that the national forces were driven back 
near Baltimore, and that railway communica- 
tion has been destroyed between that city and 
the North. He does not wait, in the cold- 
blooded, red-tape style, for official notice of 
these grave events, but acts upon them at once. 
He finds that, whatever the government believes 
on the subject, more men may be wanted, and 
he therefore calls on the citizens of New Jersey 
to oi-ganize immediately in companies, and to 
report to the adjutant-general for servace, — for 
service, not in New Jersey, mark, but ' for ser- 
vice in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the Dis- 
trict of Columbia.' " 

Governor Parker's administration continued 
until after the close of tlie War of the Rebellion. 
During that time he made hundreds of appoint- 
ments and promotions in the New Jersey regi- 
ments in the field, but not one of them was 
ever made by him for political reasons only. 
And in his last message to the Legislature in 
that administration he was able to say with 
truth : " Not a single right of the State of New 
Jersey has been yielded, and not one of her citi- 
zens, during my administration, has been de- 
prived of his liberty without due jn-ocess of 
law." In the same time not a single bond of 
the State of New Jersey was sold below par. 
The premiums on State bonds sold during his 
administration amounted to more than one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and at its close the State 
did not owe a dollar on civil account, and had 
in its treasury an actual cash balance of nearly 
two hundred thousand dollars. 

At the close of his first gubernatorial term 
Governor Parker at once actively resumed his 
professional practice, refusing to re-enter the 
political arena. In 18G8, in the National 
Democratic Convention at New York, he re- 
ceived the unanimous vote of his State delesa- 



292 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tion for the Democratic nominatiou for Pres- 
ident of the United States on every ballot. In 
1876, at St. Louis, he again received the eigh- 
teen votes of tlie Xew Jersey delegation. In 
that year lie was placed at the head of the 
electoral ticket, and voted for Samuel J. Tilden 
in the Electoral College. In 1884 he was 
again strongly urged as the Democratic Pres- 
idential candidate. 

In 1871 prior to the assembling of the 
Democratic State Convention at Trenton, he 
positively declined to be a candidate for nomi- 
nation for Governor, but the enthusia.sm of that 
convention compelled him to yield, and he was 
nominated Iw acclamation, all the other candi- 
dates for nomination having been withdrawn by 
their friends. At the election Avhich followed, 
he was successful by about six thousand 
majority, which, although less than his majority 
in 1862, was yet a more decisive victory for him, 
in consideration of all the circumstances. ^\.t 
no time had the Republican party been so 
powerful in the country as in that year, carrying 
every other Northern State by strong majorities. 
In that year, for the first time, colored men 
voted in Xew Jersey, and that vote (about 
seven thousand strong) was cast solidly against 
Governor Parker, who ran some nine thousand 
votes ahead of his ticket, the other Democratic 
candidates being beaten by about three thousand 
votes. 

His second term as Governor was cons2>icu- 
ously successful. The exciting questions which 
presented themselves during his first term did 
not exist, but there were many topics of legisla- 
tion which were important and excited much 
interest. The statute books show that more 
laws were passed in 1872, 1873 and 1874 than 
ever before or since, in the same length of time. 
It was under his administration that the General 
Railroad Law (of which he was an advocate) was 
passed and the constitutional amendments 
which brought about important reforms were 
adopted. The National Guard of the State 
was brought to a high degree of efficiency 
under this administration. 

Governor Parker, while a consistent Demo- 
crat, was not an extreme partisan. In the 
various boards to which were committed the 



educational and other business interests of the 
State, he appointed members of each political 
party. Believing in a non-partisan judiciary, 
he appointed during his last term three Re- 
publican justices of the Supreme Court, and 
two Republican judges of the Court of Errors 
and Appeals, still leaving a majority of each 
court Democratic. His course in resrard to 
these non-partisan appointments gave universal 
satisfiictiou, and secured for him a popularity 
second only to that which he gained as " War 
Governor" during his first administration. 
The present chancellor and chief justice of Xew 
Jersey were among the appointments of Gover- 
nor Parker's second gubernatorial term. When 
he retired from office, in 1875 the Court of 
Errors and Appeals consisted of fourteen mem- 
bers, of whom ten had received their appoint- 
ments from him. 

After the expiration of his second term as 
Governor he resumed his professional business 
at Freehold, and soon acquired a large practice. 
In the same year (1875) his successor, Governor 
Joseph D. Bedle, nominated him as Attorney- 
General of the State, which nomination was 
confirmed by the Senate without reference. In 
1880, he was nominated by Governor McClel- 
lan, and confirmed by the Senate, as a justice 
of the Supreme Court of Xew Jersey, which 
office he now holds. 

Joseph Doesett Bedle was born at Mid- 
dletown Point (now Matawan), in the county 
of Monmouth, X. J., January 5, 1831. He 
is the older of two sons of Thomas I. Bedle 
and Hannah Dorsett, both of whom are still 
living at Matawan. The ancestors of his par- 
ents were of old ^lonmouth County families, 
those on the maternal side extending back for 
a century and a half. Four or five generations 
of the Dorsetts lie buried in the Dorsett burying- 
ground, on the Dorsett farm (lately owned by 
John Stilwell, deceased), about three miles from 
Matawan. From this family came the Hon. 
Garret Doi'sett Wall, the well-known statesman 
and United States Senator from Xew Jersey. 
The father of Joseph D. Bedle early became 
identified with the prosperity and growth of 
Middletown Point, whither he moved imme- 
diatelv after his marriage, and where he has 




.^p~ 



**»J?i,i eaPlaladf 




THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



293 



ever since resided. The son was prepared for 
college at tiie academy in Middletowu Point, 
then Ivept by Philetus Phillips, a distingnished 
iustrnctor of that day ; but by reason of a de- 
sire on the part of his father that he should 
eventually engage in business and also from an 
apf)arent delicacy of health, he was induced to 
foresro the college course and to euter the store 
of Garret P. Conover, in his native town, where 
he spent two years. That was a general coun- 
try store, and the experience there obtained, as 
well as in his father's store (who was also a 
merchant), did much to shape his practical 
business habits, which were always character- 
istic of him. The desire to study law was, 
however, always uppermost in his mind, 
and at the age of seventeen years he entered as 
a student in tlie law-office of Hon. William L. 
Dayton, at Trenton, then United States Senator 
from Ne\v Jersey, where he remained about 
three and a half years, having in the mean time 
.sjjent one winter at the law school at Ballston 
Spa. He afterwards passed one winter in the 
office of Thompson ct AVeeks, large practition- 
ers at Poughkeepsie, and was admitted in New 
York State as an attorney and counselor, Jan- 
uary 5, 1852, — on the very day that he reached 
twenty-one years of age. 

Immediately thei'eafter he returned to New 
Jersey, and pursued his studies with Hon. 
Henry S. Little, at Matawan, and was admitted 
to practice in New Jersey at the June term, 
185.">, of the Supreme Court. He studied law 
about five years previous to beiug admitted in 
this State, during M-hich time he confined him- 
self closely to acquiring a knowledge of the law 
and its kindred literature. 

Upon being licensed, he commenced practice 
at Middletowu Point, remaining there until the 
spring of 1855, when he moved to Freehtild. 
Here he soon made his presence felt and early 
won a place among the leaders of the bar. His 
practice became large and lucrative, and there 
was scarcely a ease of any importance in the 
county in which he was not engaged. His in- 
dustry was great, and his thoroughness of prep- 
aration and judgment in the trial of cases were 
most prominent characteristics. 

July 10, ]8()1, he was married to Althea F. 



Randolph, the eldest daughter of Hon. Ben- 
nington F. Randolph, who then resided at 
Freehold, doing a very extensive law business. 
Their children are Bennington Randolph, Jo- 
seph Dorsett, Thomas Francis, Althea Ran- 
dolph and Mary (deceased). 

At the age of thirty-four years, Governor 
Joel Parker, who knew his cpialities well (both 
having jjracticed in Freehold), appointed him a 
justice of the Supreme Court in the place 
of Hon. E. B. D. Ogden, he having died, and 
who held the circuit in the counties of Hudson, 
Passaic and Bergen, those counties forming one 
judicial district and being the largest in the 
State. The commission of Judge Bedle bears 
date March 2.3, 1865. The labors of that dis- 
trict were very heavy, and he moved soon after 
this appointment to Jersey City, where he could 
be convenient to each of the county-seats. Al- 
though young, his untiring energy and abil- 
ity, and the knowledge of the law made him at 
once equal to the full discharge of his duties, 
and he served the public so faithfully and satis- 
factorily that in March, 1872, he was re-ap- 
pointed by Governor Parker, who had been a 
second time elected. Judge Bedle remained 
upon the bench nearly ten years, when, in Jan- 
uary, 1875, he resigned his office of judge to 
accept that of Governor, to which he had been 
elected in the fall of 1S74 over his compet- 
itor, a very popular man, by a majority of 
nearly 14,(»(»(). 

As a judge he was industrious, quick and 
accurate in his judgment, and administered the 
law with firmness and wisdom. 

With reference to his Governorship, the fol- 
lowing extract is taken from the "History of 
Essex and Hudson Counties:" "Just prior to 
the close of his first term, in 1871, he was prom- 
inently named as a candidate for Governor, 
though he himself took no steps to secure the 
nomination, rather discouraging the movement 
i in his favor. Notwithstanding this fact, his 
name was again l)rouglit forward in 1874, and 
a unanimous nomination tendered him by the 
Democratic State Convention. 

" He accepted this nomination only at the per- 
sistent appeal of the l)arty, declaring that as he 
had been nominated without anv effort on bis 



294 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUiNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



part, so he must be elected, if at all. This 
course he was constrained to adopt, not from 
any lack of disposition to serve the political 
organization with which he affiliated, or unwil- 
lingness to assume the dignity and responsiljility 
of administering the government of his State, 
but simply from a high sense of the impropriety 
of any action having a political bearing by one 
holding judicial office. This higli-minded de- 
termination was appreciated by the people, who 
elected him by one of the largest votes ever 
cast for Governor in the State, though opposed 
by a candidate of great personal popularity. 
Most unmistakably was he called to his honor- 
able post by tlie popular voice, whose expec- 
tations were in no sense disappointed. His 
administration from the first was marked by 
ability, prudence and a patriotism inspired by 
desire for the public welfare. By his states- 
man-like views and noble aims he firmly in- 
trenched himself in the respect and regard of 
the community. Governor Bedle, on the ter- 
mination of his official career, resumed the 
practice of his profession, and has since been 
identified with many important causes, being 
still engaged in active practice." 

The College of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 
1875, conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. 
He has always been a thorough student in 
his profession, and is now in the full vigor of 
mature life. Altliough a resident of Hudson 
County for the last twenty years, he belongs to 
Monmouth County, and is identified with its 
history. 

Aaron Rhea Theockjiorton, who, for 
more than forty years next preceding his death, 
in 1883, had been a member of the ^lonmouth 
bar, and who, during that period, had honorably 
filled various important public positions of trust 
and responsibility in Monmouth County and in 
the State government, was a son of the Hon. 
Thomas C. Throckmorton, a native of Middle- 
sex County, who came thence to Monmouth 
and settled in Freehold in 1803. He was an 
officer in the "War of 1812, subsequently a justice 
of the peace for forty-two years, and judge of 
the Monmouth Pleas twenty-seven years. In 
1808 he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of 
Major James Craig, of Freehold, who was an 



officer in the Continental army, under Washing- 
ton. Upon their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. 
Thomas C. Throckmorton took up their resi- 
dence in the house which afterwards became 
known as the Throckmorton Mansion, in Free- 
hold, standing on the north side of Main Street 
a short distance above the court-house. In 
that house their children were born, and there 
they lived together more than a half-century, 
until separated by death. She died in 1863, he 
in 1868. They had three sons, of whom Aaron 
R., the subject of this biographical sketch, was 
the second, born March 21, 1818. The two 
others were Barbaric, bona in 1813, died in 
1870, and Charles D., born in 1822, and died 
in 1875. 

The education of Aaron R. Throckmorton 
was obtained in the common schools and at the 
old Freehold Academy. At an early age he 
became an assistant in his father's office, but 
about 1835 he went to New York, where he 
remained two years as a clerk in a mercantile 
house. He then returned to Freehold and 
began the studv of law in the office of William 
L. Dayton (afterwards United States Senator 
and minister to France). After INIr. Dayton 
removed to Trenton he completed his studies in 
the office of Peter Vredenburgh (afterwards 
justice of the Supreme Court). He was ad- 
mitted a.s an attorney in May, 1841, and as 
counselor in ]May, 1846. Immediately upon 
his first admission he commenced the practice of 
his profession at Freehold. In 1853 he formed 
a law partnership with Judge James S. Nevius, 
and removed to Jersey City, where he remained 
only about one year. At the organizatit)n of 
the State Senate in 1854 he was elected secretary 
under the presidency of William C. Alexander, 
and held the position for three years. 

In the fall of 1867, Mr. Throckmorton re- 
ceived the unanimous nomination of the Demo- 
cratic Convention for surrogate of Monmouth 
County, and was elected without opposition, 
receiving 2558 votes, which was the highest 
numl)er cast. In 1873 he was renominated, 
receiving nearly three to one of the party vote 
in the primaries, carrying eveiy township except 
one. He was re-elected without opposition in 
his party, receiving 7777 votes in a total poll of 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



295 



9182. In 1877 lie was again renominated, 
carrying every township but one, and wa.s again 
elected, receiving 6131 votes in a total poll of 
9938. 

Having been thrice elected surrogate almo.st 
without oppo.sition, and having held the jio.sition 
for more than fourteen years in a manner which 
made him universally jiopular among the peojilc, 
he, on the 8th of February, 1882, resigned the 
office to accept that of president of the Free- 
hold Xational Banking Company, to which he 
had been elected. He was one of the first 
directors of the bank at its organization, in 1855, 
and he continued a member of the board con- 
tinuously during the remainder of his life. The 
office of president he held from February, 1882, 
until his death, which occurred at Fi-eehold on 
the 3d of March, 1883. 

Mr. Throckmorton was married, December 
14, 1848, to Elizabeth H. Ellis, oldest daughter 
of Hon. Daniel H. Ellis, then of Manalapan 
township. They had three sons, the eldest of 
whom died in infancy. Mrs. Throckmorton 
and her two surviving sons (Charles E. and 
William S. Throckmorton) are now residents of 
Freehold. 

From the earliest years of his manhood Mr. 
Throckmorton took an active interest in public 
affairs, and he became widely and most favora- 
bly known as a public; man. The most impor- 
tant positions which he held have already been 
mentioned. In puljlic meetings and celebrations 
he was always a leader. In the preliminary 
measures taken to procure the incorporation of 
FreehoUl he took a prominent part, and drafted 
the bill, A\liich was afterwards passed by the 
Legislature", creating the incorporated district. 
Prior to the first election under the charter, a 
public meeting was held for the purpose of 
nominating a "citizens' ticket" for officers, 
ignoring all partisanship. At this meeting Mr. 
Throckmorton presided, and the ticket there 
nominated was elected. The citizens' orffaniza- 
tion thus formed was maintained, and each year 
Mr. Thro(dvmorton was called on to preside at 
its meetings until the time of his death, and it 
was largely due to his energetic leadership, 
perseverance and steadiness of purpose that the 
citizens' movement, having for its object the 



securing of honesty and economy in the ad- 
ministration of the local aifairs of the town, was 
maintained, and its nominees (with but few 
exceptions) elected. 

In the formation of the Fire Department of 
Freehold Mr. Throckmoiton was a leader, and 
he was until his tleath an active member. In 
1860 he became a iliember of Olive Branch 
Lodge of Freemasons at Frecliold, and filled in 
succession the several higher positions in it, 
including that of Master for the years 1865-66 
and 1873. He was also elected Junior Grand 
Warden of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey for 
the year 1869. In 1873, having been appointed 
by Governor Parker commissioner to represent 
the State of New Jersey at the Vienna Exposi- 
tion, he, in connection with the business of that 
conmiission, made the tour of Europe, in com- 
pany witli Dr. Vought, Hon. H. S. Little and 
other gentlemen of his acquaintance. On the 
death of Dr. VougJit, who was a manager of 
the State Lunatic Asylum, Governor Ludlow 
appointed Mr. Throckmorton to the position, 
which is one of honor and great responsibility. 

Aaron Rhea Thz'ockmorton was a man re- 
markable for the many admiral)le qualities 
which he (>xhibited, both in public and in social 
life. The difficult duties of the important and 
responsible office of surrogate, which he filled 
so long and so honorably, were performed by 
him with a perfect fidelity, justice and honesty 
of purpose, which received their most emphatic 
recognition in the remarkable majorities by 
which he was re-elected for his second and 
third terms. " He was," said Judge Walling, 
" an excellent type of a good public officer. In 
the first place, he had that peculiar and very 
rare disposition which enabled him to discharge 
trying duties with an evenness of temper which 
was remarkable. His industry and methodical 
habits enabled him to perform a vast amount of 
labor, and his careful and precise ways enabled 
him to do that labor well ; but above all, he 
was a man of the strictest integrity. 
He left behind him a name which is a proud 
inheritance, an example worthy of emulation." 

He was a genial, courteous and friendly man, 
full of benevolence and a kindly regard for the 
feelings of others. For the young practitioners 



29G 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



with whom he came in contact he had always 
a word of encouragement. From those who 
filled positions with or under him, and who 
were with him daily for years, his uniform 
kindness, consideration and forbearance won for 
him a love which outlived its object, and still 
clings to his memory. To the poor his sym- 
pathy and his purse were always open. Needy 
families were shielded from cold and hunger by 
his liberality, yet his benevolence was wholly 
free from ostentation, and many of his charita- 
ble acts remained hidden until after his death. 

For many years, and until the time of his 
decease, he was a communicant of St. Peter's 
Church of Freehold, of which he was elected 
junior warden in 1880. Referring to Mr. 
Throckmorton's connection with the church and 
his fidelity to its principles, his pastor, the 
rector of St. Peter's, spoke of bira "as a devoted, 
earnest, faithful member, and a most liberal 
supporter ; one deeply interested in its welfare, 
eager for its prosperity ; ... as the friend 
revered, the companion esteemed, the parishioner 
always mindful of his churchly relation ; the 
Christian brother, walking in his vocation, re- 
membering his assumed vows of loyalty to his 
Divine Master ; striving, though in the midst 
of temptations and hindrances whicii come to 
every man, to do his duty ; the co-worker 
whose resolve was earnest, whose counsel was 
wise, whose judgment was helpful, whose lov- 
ing deeds were efficient." 

Chakles a. Bennett, judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas of Monmouth County, is now 
one of the senior members of the Monmouth 
bar, having been a practitioner in the courts of 
tlie county for more than thirty-five years. He 
wa-s educated at Princeton College, where he 
was graduated in the class of 1844. He studied 
law under the preceptorship of Judge Benning- 
ton F. Randolph, was admitted as an attorney 
in July, 1847, and as counselor in July, 1851. 
On his admission to the bar he located in his 
native town. Freehold, where he has since re- 
mained in practice, holding, in the mean time, 
many important public positions. 

From 1850 to 1868 he was acting surrogate 
of Monmouth County, during the terras of Dr. 
A. V. Conover and Dr. John R. Couover. In 



that position he had full control of all the 
business of the surrogate's office, for a period 
of eighteen years, performing its duties ably and 
honorably. For twenty-six years (March, 1848, 
to March, 1874) he was clerk of the township 
of Freehold. In 1853 he was elected secretaiy 
of the Freehold ^Mutual Loan Association, and 
continued to fill the office until 1869. He 
was elected secretary of the Monmouth County 
Mutual Fire Insurance C(miiJany in 1859 and 
secretary and treasurer of the Freehold Gaslight 
Company in 1860, and has held both these 
offices continuously to the present time. He 
also held the position of treasurer of the Mon- 
mouth County Agricultural Society from 1860 
to 1883. The office which he now holds, of 
judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Mon- 
mouth County, was tendered to Mr. Bennett 
without any solicitation on his part, and the 
appointment was made by Governor Ludlow in 
April, 1882. 

Judge Bennett is a descendant of an ancestor 
named Jeremiah Bennett, of whom little is now 
known beyond the fact that, in July, 1<)85, he 
became the purchaser of one hundred and thirty 
acres of laud, situated on Navesink River, in 
Middletown township. For three or four gener- 
ations down from Jeremiah Bennett the descent 
is not clearly traced until we reach William 
Bennett, who was living in the lower part of 
Monmouth County before the Revolution. He 
was a great-grandfather of the subject of this 
biographical sketch, and was probably a great- 
grandson of the Jeremiah Bennett before men- 
tioned. 

"William Bennett was the father of a family 
of six children, of whom were the sons Hen- 
drick. Garret and William. The eldest son, 
Heudrick, was grandfather of Charles A. Ben- 
nett, of Freehold. Heudrick Bennett was born 
October 15, 1752, was married to Elizabeth 
Nowlan, October 16, 1774, and died in Freehold 
July 28, 1833. His wife, Elizabeth Nowlan, 
was born January 27, 1754, and died August 
29, 1817. The children of Heudrick and Eliz- 
abeth Bennett were (1) William H. Bennett 
(father of the subject of this memoir), born 
August 1, 1775, and died in Freehold April 20, 
1848; (2) John Bennett, born March 27, 1778, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



297 



diet! (unmarried) November 30, 1812; (3) Eliz- 
abeth Bennett, born March 11, 1780, married 
Phibp White, died in Freehold August 10, 
1849 ; (4) Nancy Bennett, born March 24, 1783, 
died in January, 1784. 

William H. Bennett, eldest sou of Hendrick 
Bennett, was married, December 29, 1800, to 
Jane Lefferson, daughter of Oukey Lefferson 
and his wife, Sarah (Schanck) Leiferson, and 
great-great-granddaughter of Left'ert Pieterse 
Van Houghwort (or Hauwert, a village in the 



Schanck, was born December 29, 1754, and died 
November 19, 1802. Their daughter, Jane 
Lefierson, wife of William H. Bennett, was born 
April 16, 1782, and died at Freehold May 28, 
18(36. 

The children of ^\'illiam H. and Jane (Leffer- 
son) Bennett were eleven in number, all born in 
Freeliold village, where their father settled 
immediately after his marriage. They were (1) 
Sarah, born October 11, 1801, married Wal- 
ter W. Hart, died ; (2) John, born 




y<i^^ ^^Oi^^^^^t^"^^^ 



province of North Holland), the common an- 
cestor of the Leffert family of Kings County, 
N. Y., and Monmouth County, N. J. He emi- 
grated from Holland to America in 1 600, settled 
at Flatbush, L. I., and married Abigail, daughter 
of Auke Janse Van Nuys. He died Decemlier 
8, 1704, and his wife died July 19, 1748, at 
a very old age. Their great-grandson, Oukey 
Lefferson, was born November 8, 1747, was 
married to Sarah Schanck, August 21, 1771, and 
<lied June 29, 1809. His wife, Sarah Schanck, 
(laughter of Garret and Eleanor (Voorhees) 



October 15, 1803, died March 24, 1864; (3) 
Elizabeth Ann, born January 22, ] 806, 
died August 10, 1813; (4) William, born 
August 13, 1808, died August 1, 1832; (5) 
Henry, born March 17, 1811, now living in 
Freehold; (6) Garret S., born May 13, 1813, 
died September 27, 1860; (7) Gilbert, born June 
18, 1815, died October 28, 1>^43; (8) Eliza Ann, 
born April 17, 1818, married John L. Doty, 
and is now living in New York; (9) Charles A. 
(to whom this sketch has especial reference), 
born June 4, 1820; (10) David V., born April 



298 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



22, 1822, died September 1, 1842; (11) Hudson 
Bennett, born May 1, 1825, now living in Free- 
hold. 

Charles A. Bennett was married, September 
28, 1854, to Eleanor B. Clayton, daughter of 
Elias C. and Louisa M. Clayton, of Millstone, 
N. J. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett 
have been Charles A. Bennett, Jr., born May 
8, 1856, now a lawyer of Freehold ; Mary Louisa 
Bennett, born January 4, 1858, and died No- 
vember 17, 188;}; and Fred. Bennett, born 
September 5, 1804, now employed in a mercan- 
tile house in New York. 

William L. Terhune, lawyer, Matawan ; 
was born in New Brunswick, N. J., May 16, 
1815. His father, John Terhune, bookseller and 
publisher, ninety-two years old, is still living 
and engaged in the same business in that city, 
in which he has been for over seventy years. 
He held the appointment of judge of the Court 
of Common Pleas of Somerset County, and for 
a long time was alderman of the city of New 
Brunswick. 

The ancestors of the family were Huguenots, 
who left Holland in the last century, first set- 
tling on Long Island and afterwards came to 
New Jersey. 

Abraham Terhune, the father of John, was 
in the battles of Monmouth and Springfield, in 
this State, and for some time did garrison duty 
at West Point, N. Y. 

W. L. Terhune graduated at Rutgei-s College, 
in New Brunswick, in the class of 1835; the 
same year entered the law office of the late 
Hon. James S. Nevius, afterwards judge of the 
Supreme Court ; was licensed to practice 
September, 1838 ; removed from New Bruns- 
wick to Matawan, then INIiddletown Point, 
1842, from which time to the present he has 
continued there the jjractice of his profession. 

In 1843 he married Marg-aret, daughter of 
the late William Ijittle, a successful merchant 
and business man of the county, one of the 
original corporators of tlie Farmers' and Mer- 
chants' Bank of ]Middlet<jwn Point, and after- 
wards its president. Mr. Terhune is at present 
a director, notary and attorney of this institu- 
tion. 

Jonathan Longstbeet. — Dirck Stoffelse 



Langestraat emigrated to America in 1657, hav- 
ing married, first, Catherine Van Siddock, ainl, 
second, Johanna Havens, widow of Johanuis 
Holsaert. At an early day he purchased lauds 
at Shrewsbury, and devised the same to his son 
Richard. Another son, Adrian by name, who 
died in 1728, married Stanckche, or Christina 
Janse, and had three sons — John, Derick and 
StofHe — and five daughters. Adrian Longstreet 
was by trade a cordwainer, but also owued a 
fiirm or plantation at Freehold, Monmouth 
County. His son John married, on the 17th 
of December, 1736, Ann, daughter of Peter 
Covenhoven and Patience Daws. They had 
five sons — Aaron (who died in j'outh), Pietras, 
Jan, Elias and Aaron — and one daughter, Antje. 
Aaron Longstreet, the grandfather of the 
subject of this biographical sketch, resided 
upon the property now owned by him in Holm- 
del township. He married, March 9, 1778, 
Williampe Hendrickson, whose children were 
Hendrick, John, Lydia (wife of Barnes Smock), 
Annie (wife of Thomas Seabrook) and Nellie 
(wife of Obadiah Schenck, of Ohio). Hendrick 
Longstreet, whose birth occurred May 14, 1785, 
was during his active life a farmer in Holm- 
del township. He was united in marriage to 
Mary, daughter of Joseph and Nellie Holmes, 
on the 11th of October, 1805, and had ('hil- 
dren, — Aaron, Eleanor, Lydia H. (married, 
November 30, 1831, to Daniel P. Schenck), 
Ann H. ; Emeline (married, March 6, 1839, to 
Hendrick Smock) ; Joseph H., Hendrick H. ; 
Mary Ann, John I. H. and Jonathan, born 
May 22, 1828. The birth of the last named 
and youngest of this number occurred on the 
homestead, in the vicinity of which his earliest 
advantages of education were obtained. He 
continued his studies at Johnstown, N. Y., and 
soon after entered Princeton College, from 
which he was graduated in 1850. Deciding 
upon the law as a profession, he entered the 
office of Judge Peter Vredenburgh, of Freehold, 
and continued his legal course at the law-school 
of Honorable John W. Fowler, at Ballston 
Spa, N. Y., and after his removal to Pough- 
keepsie, ]\Ir. Longstreet resumed his studies 
with Judge Vredenburgh, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1854, and began the practice of his 




^^g^!yAJIJllCcn» 



^^^-r--^ £3^.,iL^/^^^^^^-^ 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



299 



profession in Jei-sey City, from wlicnce he re- 
moved at the expiration of the second year to 
Freehold. On the death of his brother, in 
1857, he relinquished an attractive field at the 
bar to assume tiic management of the family 
estate at Holmdel, which has since occupied his 
attention. He has been identified with various 
leading business schemes in the county, — as 
president of the Holmdel Fire Insurance Com- 
pany, of tlie Keyport and New York Trans- 
portation Company and of the Holmdel Cem- 
etery Company. Mr. Longstrcet's political 
affiliations have been with the Democracy, 
though his enthusiasm has never reached the 
point which prompted him to participate in 
party strife or accept official position. He 
is a supporter of and worships with the Holm- 
del Baptist Church. 

In ]March, 1S()9, the Legislature passed "An 
Act to facilitate Judicial Proceedings in the 
County of Monmouth," by which it is provided 
and declared " That the Court of Common Pleas 
and General Quarter Sessions of tlie Peace in 
and for the County of INIonmouth shall hereaf- 
ter consist of four judges in addition to the Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court holding the circuit in 
said county, one of which judges shall be a coun- 
selor-at-law. . . . That whenever the Jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court holding said circuit 
shall be absent, such additional judge shall be 
president of the Court of Common Pleas, Quar- 
ter Sessions and Orphans' Court. . . . That 
the said Courts ma}' hold adjourned and special 
terms of said Courts, or either of them, under the 
same regulations already provided by statute in 
case of the Circuit Court of Oyer and Terminer 
and general jail delivery." The office of " law 
judge " in ISIomuouth County, created by this 
act, has been filled by appointment as follows : ' 

George C. Beekman April, 18G9 

Chiliou Robbins April, 1872- 

Amzi C. McLean April, 1874 

Alfred Walling, Jr April, 1879 

George Crawford Beekman was born 
on the Beekman farm, at ^liddletown, in tliis 
county, July 2, 1839. His father, the Eev. 

'Resigned, to take effect April 1, 1872. 

'To fill unexpired term of George C. Beekman, resigned. 



Jacob Ten Broeck Beekman, was a native of 
Somerset County, N. J., where the family were 
among the early settlers along the Raritan and 
Millstone Rivers. The name was orig-inallv 
spelled Beeckman.' 

His mother, Ann Crawford, was bcirn, lived 
and died on the farm at Middletown. She was 
a daughter of George Crawford, by his second 
wife, Eleanor Schanck, who was a daughter of 
Hendrick Schanck, by his wife, Catharine 
Holmes, a daughter of Jonathan Holmes, by 
his wife, a daughter of Captain Daniel Hen- 
drickson.* 

George Crawford was a son of Richard 
Crawford, who was the second son of George 
Crawford, the eldest sou and heir-at-law of 
John Crawford, who settled in this county some 
time prior to KiT-j.'' 

The will of Richard Crawford, as pul)lished 
on pages 316-317 "Old Times in Old Mon- 
mouth," was not his last will. A subsequent 
one, dated October 1, 1794, was the one ad- 
mitted to probate. The will of his father, 
George, was proved at Perth Amboy, May 10, 
1745, and is on record in Secretary of State's 
office at Trenton. 

John Crawford, the first of the name here, 
died prior to 1731. He is the grantee in a 
Deed, dated in 1687, from proprietors of East 
Jersey, and recorded at Trenton in Book B of 
deed folios 211, etc. The property described in 
this deed is .situated at Xut Swamp and still 
remains in the family. 

George C. Beekman passed his boyhood on 
the farm at Middletown, and went to school in 
the old academy, \vhere Honorable John S. Ap- 
plegatc and Colonel George Arrowsmith, killed 
in tJie battle of Gettysburg, were playmates 
and school-boys together, and roamed over the 



3 See "Beekman" or " Beeckman," Holgate's "Amer- 
ican Genealogy,'' Piersoa's "First Settlers of Albany," 
Riker's " History of Harlem," " Atlas of the New .lersey 
Coast,'' Ellis and Snell's " History of Somerset County, 
N. J." 

•Page 308, " Old Times in Old Monmouth." 

^Will of George Crawford, proved July 23, 1834, re- 
corded in Book C of Wills, p. 388, etc. 

Will of Richard Crawford, proved March 8, 1806, re- 
corded in Book A of Wills, p. 116, etc , surrogate's office 
of Monmouth County. 



300 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Middletown hills many pleasant summer days 
iu tlieir youth, wliou all was ^lunshine and 
summer air for tlie three boys, full of mischief 
and fun, as some now alive may remember. 

He was admitted to the bar in 1863, and be- 
gan the practice of his profession at Freehold, 
where he has since remained. In 1869 he was 
appointed law or presiding Judge of the Mon- 
mouth County courts, and held the office until 
April, 1872, when he resigned it.' While judge 
he originated and adopted the present rules of 
the Court of Common Pleas, readopted with 
some slight modifications in 1872, by Judge 
Robbins. None of the decisions of the County 
Courts were revoked by the higher courts dur- 
ing his term. One of his decisions which was 
carried to a higher court established a new 
precedent, which has since been followed in 
other States, and has been of great protection 
to farmers in the purchase of seed. This case 
is reported in 7th Vroom, p. 262, where Justice 
Depue read the opinion of the Supreme Court, 
and in 9th Vroom, p. 496, where the chief jus- 
tice read the opinion of the Court of Errors 
and Appeals. 

After resuming the practice of law Mr. Beek- 
man was employed in many important jury 
eases tried in the court-house at Freehold. 

Among: some of those which attracted at- 
tention outside of the State was the indictment 
against John H. Silvers for forgerv. The 
defendant had been a prominent citizen of 
Hightstown and a member of the New Jersey 
Legislature. William Warrick was the prin- 
cipal witness against him. The jury found him 
not guilty. 

He also assisted in the defense of Charles 
Cavanaugh, indicted for arson. Although the 
Pinkerton detectives were engaged in working 
up the case against him, and the New York 
press denounced him as the " Long Branch 
Fire-Bug," after two trials he was accpiitted. 

He aided the State in the indictment against 
Samuel Knapp and Robert Drake for conspiracy. 
Hon. Charles H. Winfield, of Jersey City, as- 



^ See reasons for resignation in liis address to tlie Mon- 
moutli bar, published in Monmouth Democrat of March 
28, 1872. 



sisted the defendants, and his speech in sum- 
ming up will long be remembered by those 
present. 

The State against Dr. H. S. Kinmonth, for 
illegal sale of liquor, was also a case of much 
interest, in which Air. Beekman was employed 
to help the State. After two trials the defend- 
ant was acquitted. The speeches of the re- 
spective counsel were published in the Asbury 
Park newspapers, so deep was the feeling 
aroused among the people there. 

The civil case of John Polhemus against 
George Middleton and Henry Larrison, in 
which Mr. Barker Gummere, of Trenton, was 
one of the opposing lawyers, and that of Dr. 
Samuel Johnson against William AV. Conover, 
for slander, were among some of the most inter- 
esting of these jury trials. 

The Law and Equity Reports of New Jersey 
show that he has been engaged as counsel in a 
number of cases in the highest courts of this 
State. Some of these cases have established 
important precedents. The State (Swanson) vs. 
Pierson (8th Vroom, p. 363, etc.) and State 
(Hubbard) vs. Anthony Reckless (9th Vroom, 
393, etc.) settled several questions of law and 
practice in laying out public roads and the 
appointment of chosen freeholders to review the 
same. Ivins vs. Ackerson (9th A^roora, p. 220), 
and the State vs. William H. Hyer (10th 
Vroom, page 598) clear up doubtful questions 
of law. 

The precedent established in the case of Brown 
vs. Mcintosh (10th Vroom, p. 22, etc.) assists 
greatly in suppressing the bonus or usury busi- 
ness in New Jersey. Mr. Beekman is repre- 
sented as counsel for Stewart Brown in this 
report, when, in fact, he was the counsel for 
Mcintosh, the opposing party. Law reporters 
are not infallible any more than other men, when 
they make such mistakes as this. 

The State (Chad wick) rs. W. Errickson (11th 
Vroom, p. 159) was founded on the wreck of 
the schooner "Margaret and Lucy" during the 
terrible storm on the night of March 2, 1877. 
The captain and crew perished and their bodies 
were washed ashore. A strife arose between a 
justice of tlie peace and a coroner of Ocean 
County as to who should hold the inquests and 




-^^. ^/l^^^. 



^/4>»^ €k^^h^ 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



301 



receive tlie fees. This case gives the coroner the 
preference, and so .settled a vexed question along 
the Jersey coast. 

The cases of William W. Conover vs. Warren 
Brown (2d Stewart, p. 510), Thomas B. Stout 
vs. Seabrook Executors, in which ex-Governor 
Bedle was opposing counsel (3d Stewart, p. 187), 
and its affirmance (6th Stewart, p. 826), together 
with other cases reported, show tliat Counselor 
Beekman has raised important questions in law 
and equity, which these cases have settled. 

For many years Mr. Beekman was au active 
speaker in the Democratic party of Monmouth 
County. In 1876 he was a delegate to the 
National Democratic Convention, at St. Louis, 
which nominated Mr. Tilden as President. His 
last sjjeech was made in the fall of that year, in 
Shinn's Hall, Freehold, and published in the 
Monmouth Democrat of October 12, 1876. 
Becoming dissatisfied with the elements which 
controlled that party, and also with those in- 
consistencies which led tiiat party to favor high 
tariff and hard money in one section and low 
tariff and soft money in another, and the fre- 
quent changes of principles between diflPerent 
elections, he, in 1877, withdrew from the Demo- 
cratic organization. Since that time he has been 
an Independent in his politics. Although twice 
appointed as a delegate to National Conventions 
of the Anti-]Monopoly or People's part}, once 
to the convention held in Chicago and a second 
time to the convention held at Indianajwlis, he 
did not attend, as these appointments were made 
without his knowledge or consent. 

In 1877 he married Laura B. Alston, a 
descendant of the Alston family on Staten 
Island.^ He has had three children, all of 
whom are still [^living, viz. : Alston, born July 
1, 1878; Anna Crawford, born April 9, 1880; 
Jacob Ten Broeck, born May lit, 1883. In 
1878 he was nominated by an Independent 
Convention of the people as a candidate for 
State Senator. The Republicans indorsed this 
nomi nation. A very fierce and bitter political 
contest ensued, and for the first time since 
Ocean County was set off the regular nominee 
of the Democratic party was defeated. Mr. 

>See Alston Clute's "Hist, of Staten Isli.rnl." 



Beekman, during iiis term as Stale Senator, 
did not go into caucus, or act with either party, 
l)ut pursued a non-partisan course. 

The Legislative iSIanuals of 1879-81 show 
the various committees on which he served dur- 
ing his term. He originated, drew and secured 
the enactment of several laws still among the 
statutes of New Jersey, — the act reducing the 
cost of foreclosing mortgages one-half, when 
the amount does not exceed three hundred dol- 
lars ; '^ the act obliging the person possessing 
the beneficial interest in real estate to pay the 
taxes;' the act exempting the mortgage debtor 
to the State, school and sinking funds from pay- 
ing taxes on this indebtedness.* 

He also drew and got through the bribery 
law on pages 33-34 of " Pamphlet Laws of 
1880," after considerable opposition. 

He drew the law forbidding the sale or gift 
of intoxicants to minors, or permitting them on 
premises where liquor is sold without written 
permission from their parents. Mr. Sykes in- 
troduced, in 1879, this law in the Assembly, 
and before any attention was attracted it passed 
both houses. The lager beer interest at once 
brought a great pressure on Governor jMcClellan 
to veto it. For days they fairly besieged him, 
and at last induced him to veto it. The next 
year Mr. Oviatt again introduced it, but the 
liquor interests were awake, and so amended it, 
by striking out the " written permission from 
parents," as to destroy its efficiency. 

He also drew and introduced the resolutions 
passed in 1881 in relation to the struggle of the 
Dutch farmers in the south of Africa to maintain 
their independence. 

A number of acts, drawn by others, sucii as 
the appropriation of ten thousand dollars by 
the State to the Monmouth battle monument, 
were introduced by him in the Senate. 

He advocated and voted for tiie various laws 
passed in 1879-80, substituting fixed salaries for 
the cliancellor and Sui)reme Court justices in- 
stead of fees per diem, etc. ; also for the laws 
reducing fees of the clerks, sheriffs and other 
officials, the law restraining foreclosure of 



'Note C, page 34 ; note 7, page 177 ; note 8, page 228, of 
' Pamphlet Laws of 1879." 



302 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



mortgages and suits ou the bond at the same 
time, decrees for deficiency in foreclosures, and 
setting aside sheriff sales for inadequacy of price. 

He drew and tried to effect the enactment of 
laws abolishing the publication of the session 
laws in the newspapers, to abolish the advertise- 
ment of real estate at sheriff sales by a long de- 
scription in two newspapers at the expense of 
the person sold out, to change the selection of 
grand and petit jurors and prevent packing of 
juries, and other bills of like character, which 
may be seen on the files in the Stiite Library. 
The opposition by selfish interests was so great 
that, standing alone, he was defeated in these 
measures for the good of the people. 

He served on and conducted, principally, the 
investigation of the special committee appointed 
in 1881 to look into the proceedings of the East 
Jersey proprietors. The report is among the 
legislative documents of 1 882. His course in 
the Legislature naturally ai-oused great animos- 
ities and denunciation of a personal kind from 
persons whose interests were threatened. On 
the other hand, disinterested men who had 
oppoi-tunities to know, upheld him. The 
following testimony comes from men of 
both parties. The State Gazette, of Trenton, is 
a leading Republican paper in New Jersey ; one 
of its editors was reading clerk of the Senate in 
1879 and often present as reporter in 1880-81, 
and through that paper thus speaks : 

" Senator Beekmau, of Monmouth, lived up 
fully and faithfully to the platform of princi- 
ples on which he was elected. We watched his 
course attentively, and it affords us much satis- 
faction to say that he bore himself with honor- 
able fidelity to the expressed wishes of the con- 
vention which nominated him. He introduced 
measures carrying out those principles, earnestly 
supported them and secured the passage of sev- 
eral. Some were a little in advance of the con- 
servative temper of the times, as Monmouth 
County reform, as aroused by the peculiar con- 
dition of affairs in that county, has been disposed 
to be somewhat radical and thorough. Senator 
Beekman did not come here as a professed re- 
former of the demolishing sort, but simply as an 
honest and earnest citizen, anxious fairly to rep- 
resent those who sent him, and to promote the 



welfare of the State. He has done both in the 
most honorable and successful manner." 

The following testimony comes from two 
strong Democrats, and men known throughout 
New Jersey as truthful and able men. They, 
too, had every opportunity to know and judge, 
as one represented Burlington County in the 
Senate in 1879 and the other represented Hun- 
terdon County in 1880-81. 

Ex-Senator Kidgway, of Burlington County, 
writes, under date of September 13, 1881, as 
follows : 

" I have been spending the summer down in 
your county ; I hear you are accused of parti- 
sanship in your actions in the Senate, after 
having been elected as an independent Senator. 
Now I think this very unjust ; having had the 
pleasure of serving the State with you during 
your first term ; I know, to the contrary, that 
you were looked upon at that time by all your 
fellow colleagues as thoroughly independent ; 
you positively refused to go into any of the 
caucuses of the Democrats whatsoever; you 
did vote for the Hon. George C. Ludlow for 
president of the Senate, and if I remember 
rightly, without any of your friends knowing 
who was your choice for that position. I wish 
there were more men like you sent to the Sen- 
ate. It would redound to the credit of the 
State. I learn that you are not a candidate for 
re-election; but I, for one, think your county will 
lose a faithful representative ; but perhaps it may 
be your gain. Pardon my writing you in ref- 
ference to this matter, but I think it is my duty 
when you are being falsely accused, etc., etc. 
" Resp't'y yours, 

" C. G. ElDGWAY." 

Ex-Senator Bosenburg, of Hunterdon County, 
under date of September If!, 1881, writes : 

" I was glad to hear from you after spending 
two pleasant sessions with you in the Senate, 
and always finding you ready to defend any 
measure that you considered just and right, 
without regard to party ; and maintaining your 
independence, — not going into either D.emocratic 
or Republican caucus, — which was entirely con- 
sistent with your election. As you state you 
are not a candidate for re-election, I hope your 



THE BENCH AND BAE OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



303 



mantle may fall ou some one that will be as 
true to the interests of the .State as you have 
been — always ready to defend the right. Will 
always be pleased to hear from you, etc. 
" Yours truly, 

" E. BOSENBUEG." 

In addition to the testimony from both polit- 
ical parties, the non-partisan press of New Jer- 
sey were unanimous in their apjsroval of his 
course as Senator. 

Mr. Beekman has devoted time and labor to 
the local history of his county. The documents 
and records published by him in the Monmouth 
Democrat during the years of 1877-78 have 
rescued from oblivion many historical events 
and facts. This, with him, was purely a labor 
of love, as he did not receive or expect any 
pecuniary compensation. By his researches in 
this direction he accidentally discovered the 
missing link in President Lincoln's genealogy, 
and that he was connected with two of the old- 
est and most-respceted families of this county, — 
viz., the Bownes and Saltars, — Ijy ties of kin- 
ship. 

Mr. Beekmau belongs to the Masonic frater- 
nity, and has taken degrees as high as the 
Royal ^Vrch. He served four years as Wor- 
shipful Master of the Masonic lodge at Free- 
hold.i 

For many years he has been an earnest stu- 
dent of the Sacred Scriptures, and attributes to 
their teachings the present progress of the human 
race, the superiority of the Christian nations, 
and also the future hopes of mankind. 

Chilion Robbins, born Decemljer 31, 1842, 
in Allentown, Monmouth County, N. J., M'as 
a sou of Augustus and Lucy (Savidge) Bobbins, 
both natives of New Jersey. His father was a 
mason by trade, and the family has for many 
years been identified with Monmouth County. 
His mother is of English lineage, a descendant 
of the Leigh family of Great Britain. He 
Avas educated in the public schools of his 
district ; studied law in the office of Judge 
Scudder, of Trenton ; was licensed an attorney 
in 18(36 and a counselor-at-law in 1869; prac- 

1 History of Olive Branch Lodge, No. 16, F. and A. M. 



ticed in Allentown till 1872, when he was ap- 
pointed 2>residiug judge of the Court of Common 
Pleiis, of jNIonmouth County, to fill the unex- 
pired term of Judge Beekman ; judge from 
May 14, 1872, to April 1, 1874; delegate to 
Republican National Convention at Chicago in 
1880; an advocate of Blaine and member of 
Committee on Credentials for New Jersey ; Re- 
publican candidate for Third New Jersey Dis- 
trict the same year ; ran ahead of his ticket, but 
was defeated ; has always been an active Repub- 
lican in politics, and assisted his party on the 
stump and elsewhere ; a member of the State 
Executive Committee for five or six years and of 
the County Executive Committee for a longer 
time, and its chairman since 1877. 

Judge Robbins, as a magistrate, commanded 
the confidence of the public, and was regarded 
by the bar as a strictly impartial and upright 
judge. He administered the criminal laws 
mercifully and allowed no innocent man to be con- 
victed. In those cases where the need of a severe 
example was necessary he was firm, and did not 
hesitate in fully discharging his duty without fear 
of the powerful, or the jjressure of influence. He 
possesses a mind singularly adapted for the 
position of a judge. His knowledge of hu- 
man nature, and the absence of all prejudice in 
connection with his know'ledge of the law, and 
his untiring industry, gave promise of great 
usefulness if he had remained on the bench. 

As a lawyer he has been engaged in many 
important jury cases tried at Freehold and 
elsewhere. 

The New Jersey Law and Ecpiity Reports 
show many important causes which lie has 
argued before the highest courts of the State. 
For several years he has stood in the front 
rank of the members of the Monmouth bar. 

Judge Robbins is plain and unassuming in 
his manner, very zealous in whatever he under- 
takes, a good citizen, a true friend, an upright 
man and a conscientious adviser. He has the 
entire confidence of his clients and his party ; re- 
spected by the people and valued by his friends, 
if restored to health, he has an enviable career 
before him. 

Although his family originally belonged to 
the Society of Friends, the judge himself is 



304 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



an attendant of the Presbyterian Church, and 
contributes liberally to religious and benevolent 
purposes. 

Amzi C. McLean was born in lloss County, 
Ohio; entered Princeton College in 1835, in the 
freshman class, and graduated in 1839. He 
entered the office of Judge Veech, of Pittsburgh, 
Pa., as a law student, and was admitted to the 
bar in Pennsylvania in 1843. He then came to 
Freehold, intending to open an office, but the 
law required that he sliould study one year in 
New Jersey before he could get a license here ; 
he then entered the office of the late Judge 
Vredenburgii, and in 1 844 was admitted to the 
bar of New Jersey, and has since practiced his 
profession in this State. In 1 858 lie was appointed 
Prosecutor of the PI eas for Monmouth County, 
and at the end of five years was again reap- 
pointed for another five years, and served out 
his term. In 1874 he was appointed law judge 
for Monmouth County, and filled that office for 
five years. At the close of that time he resumed 
the practice of law, and is still engaged in the 
business of his profession. 

Alfbed Walling, Je. — Judge Walling is 
the grandson of Cornelius AValling, a resident 
of Middletown (then Raritan) township, Mon- 
mouth County, where he was a prosperous 
farmer. He married Elizabeth Murphy, a 
member of one of the oldest families of the 
county. The surviving children of this 
marriage are Alfred, Eusebius, Elizabeth 
(widow of Thomas V. Arrowsmith,of Keyport) 
and Amelia (wife of Thomas B. Stout, also of 
Keyport). Mr. Walling was an influential 
citizen of the county, having represented his 
district in the State Legislature and filled various 
offices of lesser imjjortance. His son, Alfred, 
whose birth occurred at the homestead in 
Raritan township, on the tenth of June 
1812, at a later period of his life removed to 
Keyport, where he resided until his death, 
having; l)een among its earliest citizens and 
largely identified with its development and 
progress. He was for years associated with 
Leonard Walling, Esq., as a merchant, and 
later adopted the profession of a land surveyor. 
His services were also much sought in the 
settlement of estates and the execution of im- 



portant trusts requiring not only financial 
ability but marked integrity. 

He was elected to the State Legislature in 
1844, and was especially active in affairs of a 
local character. His death occurred on the 
8th of November, 1875. Mr. Walling married 
Elizabeth, daughter of John Stout, whose 
surviving children are Matilda, wife of 
Jeremiah Hoff ; Eusebius, who died at the age 
of eighteen ; and Alfred Jr. The last named, 
Judge Alfred Walling, Jr., was born on the 
26th of October, 1845, at Keyport, Monmouth 
County, where, with the exception of two years 
sjjent in mercantile life in New York, he has 
since resided. He was educated in the public 
schools of his native place, and for ten years 
associated with his father as an engineer and 
surveyor, combining with this pursuit the busi- 
ness of conveyancing. Meanwhile, having 
begun the study of law, he was admitted to the 
bar in 1874, and at once became established in 
practice in Keyport. He continued the suc- 
cessful pursuit of his profession until 1879, the 
date of his appointment as law judge of Mon- 
mouth County by Governor McClellan, Avhich 
was continued for the year 1880 by the same 
official. On the election of Governor Abbett 
he enjoyed a similar distinction in 1885, which 
office he at present fills. Judge Walling 
manifested his jjatriotism at the age of sixteen 
by enlisting for the late civil war; but being a 
minor, his services were rejected. He has, how- 
ever, been identified with the State militia as 
captain of Company G, Third Regiment 
National Guards of New Jersey in 1869, and 
as major of the same regiment, which commis- 
sion was also received during that year. Judge 
Walling has been and is identified with the 
material, social and moral interests of Keyport, 
and has co-operated in various enterprises 
tending to advance the development of the 
place. He is a director of the First National 
Bank of Keyport, having formerly held the same 
relation to the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of 
Matawan. His political affiliations are with the 
Democracy, by which party he was once nomi- 
nated for a legislative position but he declined 
the honor. 

A prominent member of the bar of Mon- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



305 



raoiith County pays the following tribute to Judge 
Walling : "As a man he is niiitl ;ind unassum- 
ing in his manner, yet very rescilute and in- 
flexible when once convinced as to his proper 
course. He is courteous in his relations and 
honorable in his dealings, having established 
an envialile reputation both as a lawyer and judge. 
Since presiding on the bench he has examined 
with great care both the law and the facts in the 
various cases under his jurisdiction. Impartial 



training was chiefly obtained at Burlington, 
N. J., liut he completed his collegiate course 
and was graduated at llutgers College, 
in the class of 1854. He then entered his 
father's office as a law student, remaining there 
until his father retired from practice, and then 
completing his studies in the office of the Hon- 
orable Joseph D. Bedle, afterwards Governor 
of New Jersey. At the November term of the 
Supreme Court in 18o7 he was admitted as an 





in his dealings, he has commanded the unani- 
mous approval and respect of the Monmouth 
County bar." Judge Walling, on the 9th of 
January, 1867, married Henrietta, daughter 
of Rufus Ogden, of Keyport. Their living 
children are Alnetta and Rufus Ogden. 

Philip Johnston Ryall, youngest son of 
the Honorable Daniel B. Ryall, and for several 
years one of the most promising lawyers of 
Monmouth County, was born at Freehold on 
the 28th of June, 1836. His educational 

20 



attorney, and at the November term in 1860 
he became a counselor-at-law. 

He commenced the practice of his profession 
at Jersey City, where he at once became promi- 
nent, and where he remained about two years, 
until, having had serious premonitions that the 
atmosphere of that city was affecting his lungs 
injuriously, he removed thence to his native 
town of Freehold. Thei-e he quickly took a 
leading jiart in the litigation which came into 
the coiu-ts for settlement. His practice in- 



306 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



creased rapidly, and he soon became concerned 
in the most noted and important cases that were 
tried in the Monmoutli and Ocean County Cir- 
cuits, as well as in the controversies wiiicli arose 
from those counties to the Chancery and Su- 
preme Courts of the State. In the year 1865 
he formed a law partnership with William H. 
Vredenburgii, — the first partnership (if that 
nature ever formed in Monmouth County, — and 
continued in the closest application to his chosen 
profession, until a severe pulmonary attack 
warned him to desist. Reluctantly he did so, 
and retired from the practice of his profession. 
Soon afterwards he purchased a i)roperty at 
St. Augustine, Fla., where, during the re- 
mainder of his life, lie passed liis winters, in 
the hope that the mild climate of the South 
would re-establish his healtli. But the hope 
was a delusive one ; his disease was too deeply 
seated to be removed by climate or medical 
skill, and he died on his estate at St. Augustine, 
March 14, 1874. 

In the field of the law, jNIr. Ryall was par- 
ticularly distinguished for the care, energy and 
address he displayed in his eiforts to secure the 
fidlest rights of his clients, and for the remark- 
able success wliich followed tliose eiforts. He 
never deserted a client, and his exertions on 
their behalf never ceased wliile there was the 
remotest probal)ility that any step he could 
take would benefit them. He yielded only to 
the inevitable, and wlien nothing more could be 
accomplished by prolonging the struggle. At 
the same time his judgment was excellent, and 
he knew the right case and the best time for a 
compromise. 

Of the many exciting trials in Ocean County 
in whicii he was engaged, the case of Archer 
vs. Foulkes was perhaps most conspicuous. 
That trial established his reputation beyond all 
question as a jury lawyer in that county. In 
the Monmouth Circuit his skill in the manage- 
ment of trials and his other tliaracteristics, 
already mentioned, were shown in a marked 
degree in his successful defense of the negro, 
Charles Downing, for murder, and in his con- 
duct of the celebrated trial of Peter Slocum, 
for the murder of his wife. In the Downing 
case, his adroit management was shown in an 



amusing way. His first act was to select from 
among his own discarded clothes a black dress- 
coat and suit, whicli he soon substituted in place 
of the dilapidated garments whicli he found 
upon his poor client when assigned by the court 
to defend him. The transformation was a 
complete surprise to both the court and the 
prisoner, and went far in tlie minds of tlie jury 
towards proving the defendant's respectability. 
Afterwards, Mr. Ryall frequently laughed at 
the recollection of the proud look with which 
the poor negro faced the court and the jury 
when arraigned before tiiem for trial in his suit 
of fine broadcloth. 

In the social life of Philip J. Ryall, even all 
through his long and distressing siclcness, there 
was exhibited in him a clieerful disposition, a 
genial flow of spirits, a lively wit and a kindly 
hospitality which will live long in the memories 
of tliose with whom lie came in contact. His 
culture, his high and chivalrous sense of honor; 
his detestation of all double dealing, and of 
everything that partook of meanness or deceit: 
his faith in his friends, and his championship 
of their honor, whether present or absent ; his 
constancy toward them, which never wavered or 
faltered ; his constant observance of the gentle- 
manly instinct which made it impossible for 
him to violate the confidence reposed in him, — 
all these were qualities which marked his char- 
acter, and placed him on a high plane in the 
estimation of all who knew him. 

He was, in a remarkalile degree, the jjossessor 
of courage such as must always stamp the char- 
acter of so pronounced and perfect a gejitlonian 
as he. That courage never forsook him ; and 
in the supreme hour, even in his last moments, 
he contemplated his long-expected death with 
unshaken nerve and unfaltering firmness. 

In 1858, Mr. Ryall was married to Ella V., 
daughter of Dr. Arthur V. Conover. She, 
with their daughter, Juliet Scudder Ryall, sur- 
vived him, and are now living at Freehold. 

John StilwelL Applegate, of Red Bank, 
^^•as born in Middletown, Monmouth County, 
N. J., August 6, 18.37. He is a descend- 
ant of Bartholomew Applegate, of whom it 
is recorded, in the first volume of " the New 
Jersey Archives," that he applied to a council 




fc 



-BtioflryAM TOZcti'^ 





^i"^.JiiS. CiJ^^til/u^^ 




^^2^^^^ Q/ 0^^^!L/U^-^ 




THE BENCH AND BAK OF ATriv",^,-,, 



iihn Br, 



- of fare i 
II liuiniug \< 



1 1- jir-j'i 
r tnkrn 

1 wliich 
Lci- tuui' years' 8t 
r> Choosing th, ., 
<tiKlies for a tiai. 

■ iliice vi' Robert Allen, Jr., 

■ ii.,.. ,,a;,.,, ,,r tt,,,. u-;ii;... 

; iaAvyer and poii- 
isstuilics until hUp. ■■( ■ 

'i th'' r''-]1on = ililp pri. 



orncy, ii l.er, 186'. 

F('l>niai\ Willi of 

'-''I'll' '"'■ I'O^aJ!, .; 

d Bank 



loinali 



'"■"^ '^ -f-^i- 




>^^<t^ ' . o/ ^y, A -".^ ^:^^^5^ 



THE BENCH AND BAK OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



307 



assembled at Fort Willem Heudrick, in 1674, 
for permission to purchase laud from the In- 
dians, in ^liildk'town, " uear the Navesings," 
fit for a settlement of six or eisrht families. A 
patent was granted him for this land, located on 
the Raritan Bay, at what is now known as 
" Applegate's Lauding," a portion of which is 
now occupied by William Conover, whose vnk, 
Annie Cooper, is also a descendant of Bartholo- 
mew Applegate. His mother was a descendant 
of Rev. John Bray, a Baptist minister from 
England, who, about the year 1688, organized 
the first Baptist Church at Holmdel, and built 
the meeting-iiousc and parsonage at his own ex- 
pense, and gave the land, four and one-half acres, 
for that purpose. 

In the period of the Revolution his ancestors 
were active Whigs and soldiers in tliat heroic 
struggle. His parents, Joseph S. and Ann 
(Bray) Applegate followed agricultural pursuits, 
and their son grew up amid the quiet and health- 
giving surroundings of farm-life. His prelim- 
inary educational training was obtained in the 
neighboring scliools, where he made good use of 
his opportunities. Being destined for a learned 
profession, his pai-ents sent him to college, his 
course being taken at ^Madison Universitv, at 
Hamilton, X. Y., from which he graduated 
in 1858, after four \-ears' study, receiving the 
degree of A.B. Choosing the law for a career, 
he pursued his studies for a time at Red Bank, 
in the office of Robert Allen, Jr., and afterwards 
entered the office of Hon. William L. Da\i:on, at 
Trentou. Under the superintendence of that 
learned lawyer and polished advocate, he prose- 
cuted his studies until his preceptor was offered and 
accepted the responsible position of minister to 
the court of France. Then he removed to Jer- 
sey City, and completed his term of study with 
E. B. Walvcmau. In due time he received his 
license as an attorney, in November, 1861, and 
subse(|ueutly, at the February term of 1865, he 
was admitted as counselor. He began, and has 
always continued, practice at Red Bank, and 
is acknowledged to stand among the leaders 
of the bar in that section. His practice 
lies principally in the State and county 
courts. He is a man of large public spirit, and 
has always manifested an active and intelligent 



interest in all projects which, in his judgment, 
would tend to the atlvancement of his town. 
Additional banking facilities being a plain 
necessity of the locality, he initiated a move- 
ment which resulted in the organization, in 1875, 
of the Second National Bank of Red Bank. 
His executive ability and financial standing 
marked him out as eminently fitted for the suc- 
cessful conduct of the new enterprise, and he was 
accordingly elected the first president of the insti- 
tution. Thispost he has since continued tofill,and 
under his management the bank has secured an 
assured financial position and tlie high favor of 
the community. In jiolitics he is and has always 
been an earnest Republican, devoting himself at 
all times to the promotion of his party's success 
in the simple faith that the country's welfare is 
inseparably bound up in the supremacy of Re- 
publican principles. In 1862 he was com- 
missioned as president for Monmouth County of 
the Union League of America, and he organized 
a chapter of that patriotic organization in nearly 
every township of the county. Following that 
year he Mas four times elected superintendent of 
public schools of Shrewsbury township, over- 
coming at each election, a strong opposition put 
forth by his political opponents to defeat him. 
■ In 1871 some of his fellow-citizens, not pleased 
with the regular nomination for chief com- 
missioner of his town, organized a meeting which 
tendered him the independent nomination for 
that office, which he accepted, and was elected 
after a v/arm local contest. He was a member 
of the Republican State Executive Committee 
in 1865, and in that capacity rendered most 
efficient service to the cause. In 1881 he was 
nominated by his party with an enthusiastic 
unanimity for State Senator, to which office he 
was elected by a majority of nine hundred and 
ninety-three, being the first Republican Senator 
ever elected from Monmouth County. His 
services as a legislator have Ijeen important as 
well as conspicuous, his ability and influence 
having been exerted with marked effect in pro- 
moting good legislation and opposing bad. 
Among the important acts drawn by him and 
passed under the pressure of his influence was 
the act requiring the public printing to be 
a\varded to the lowest bidder, by which a saving 



308 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



to the Stivte was effected of $50,000 per annum ; 
the act extending the Mechanics' Lien Law to 
alterations of buildings, which was highly 
popular with the workingmen ; the actauthoi'- 
izing taxes on chancellor's mortgages to be de- 
ducted from the interest ; the act authorizing 
incorporated towns and boroughs to construct 
water-works. Under the last act his town con- 
structed its excellent and economical system of 
water-works, and he was chosen to serve for 
tliree years on the first board of water com- 
missioners. 

lie was married, in 1865, to Deborah Catha- 
rine, daughter of Charles G. Allen, of Red Bank, 
and his surviving children are Annie, John S. 
and Catharine Trafferd Applegate. 

Holmes "VV. Murphy is a son of Joseph 
Murphy, late of Freehold, in this county, 
who died on the 6th day of May, a.d. 
1884, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. 
Joseph Murphy was born at Bethany, in 
this county, near Keyport, January 1, 1797. 
His father, Timothy Murphy, was an emigrant 
from Ireland, who came to America about 1750, 
and served against the Tories in this county 
during the war of the Revolution. He was an 
educated man and a school-teacher, a justice of 
the peace and a judge of the Common Pleas. 
He also taught surveying and navigation. 
Among other prominent men of our county who 
were educated by him was Garret D. Wall, after- 
wards United States Senator. He married 
Mary Garrison, daughter of a Baptist clei-gy- 
man, and granddaughter of Richard Harts- 
home, one of the first settlers of the eastern 
part of the county, and the original owner of 
Sandy Hook. They had eight children, — four 
sons and four daughters, — who all lived to an 
advanced age, the youngest of whom was Joseph. 
Of the daughters, Anne married George Ingra- 
ham, of Dutchess County, N. Y., and their 
descendants are among the most honored citi- 
zens of that C( lunty ; and among tlie grand- 
children are Richard Ingraham and William 
M. Ingraham, well-known lawyers of Brooklyn, 
N. Y. Mary married Henry Greenwood, 
also of New York, and their descendants are 
also numerous and highly respected. Joseph 
M. Greenwood, a successful lawyer of Brooklyn, 



is one of their children. Elizabeth married 
Cornelius Walling, and among their children 
was the late Alfred Walling, the M'cU-known 
surveyor, and father of the Hon. Alfred Wal- 
ling, Jr., the present law judge of this county. 
Catharine, the other daughter, never married. 

Of the sons, AVilliam formerly lived in New 
York City, and was the builder of the second 
old John Street Methodist Episcopal Church. 
His son, Timothy Murphy, Esq., is still living 
in Keyport at an advanced age. John, at an 
early period in his life, moved to Brooklyn, 
N. Y., and grew up with the place. He filled 
many important positions in that city, and was 
the father of the late Hon. Henry C. Murphy, 
who was minister of the United States to the 
Hague, under President Buchanan's adminis- 
tration ; member of the House of Representa- 
tives, and for many years Senator of the State 
of New York. Francis always lived in this 
county, near Keyport, and was the father of 
a large family, some of whom are still living, 
highly respected and honored. He was for a 
great number of years a justice of the peace 
and a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Joseph, the youngest of the children 
and the father of the suljject of this sketch, re- 
moved to Freehold about the year 1819, and 
established a tannery nearly opposite the " Cowart 
Place," on the Keyj)ort road. On January 1, 
1820, he was married to Alice Holmes, daughter 
of Stout Holmes, then of Freehold, and former- 
ly of Middletown township. By this alliance he 
became connected with one of the most numer- 
ous and influential families in the county, whose 
members are prim'ipally found in Holmdel and 
Middletown townships. His wife's mother had 
previously been married to Samuel Bray, and 
their descendants also are numerous, and among 
our most respected citizens. His wife died 
July 10, 1880. They had nine children, — 
Timothy, the eldest, was accidentally drowned 
when a young child; Holmes W., the sub- 
ject of this sketch ; Mary, wife of Seth R. 
Robins, of Brooklyn, who died in 185.3; Louisa 
S., who married A. A. Wheeler, and who is 
still living ; Kate, wife of Alfred Walters, still 
living; Pliebe, uiunarried, who died in 1866; 
Joseph, who died unmarried in 1866; Anne, 



THE BENCH AND BAR OP MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



309 



who married Stokes J. Clark, and died in 1879; 
and William H., who died in infancy. 

Joseph Murphy subsequently engaged in the 
mercantile business in company with Isaac K. 
Lippiucott and William D. Davis, and after- 
wards with Richard Davis. During this latter 
partnership, about LS38, he purchased the farm 
adjoining the town of Freehold known as the 
"Murphy f:\rra," and about IS-jO abandoned 
the mercantile business and devoted his atten- 
tion entirely to his farm, and became one of the 



connected with tluit church at an earlv age, and 
remained active and devoted members during 
their lives. Judge INIurphy was the principal 
organizer of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
Freehold in 1833, and was president of the 
board of trustees from the organization of the 
church till his decease. 

Judge Murphy was a man widely known for 
his integrit)' of character and sound judgment. 
He was (juiet and undemonstrative in his man- 
ners, cautious in forming his opinions; but having 




/fO'^yp*~^e<y <yCC c^c^L^.<^<.^C/i<^ 



most successful practical farmers in this section. 
In 18(57 he sold his farm, and having acquired 
an ample competency, retired from business. 
He was for several years one of the judges of 
the Court of Common Pleas of this count}-, 
which position he filled with dignity and credit. 
Judge Murphy's father and mother were, per- 
haps, the oldest memliers of the ]\Iethiidist 
Episcopal Church in this county, and their 
house was for a long time a preaching-j)lace for 
that society. All of their children l)ecame 



definitely fixed them in his own mind, he firmly 
adhered to them. His attachments were not 
easily loosened, and his friendships were lasting. 
Holmes W. IMurphy, the sul)jeot of this 
sketch, was born at Freehold, in this county, 
November 28, 1822. In his early school-boy 
days there was no school in the village, except a 
small one kept by Miss Sally Throckmorton, 
and subsequently by other ladies, which he 
attended. He also was a pupil for a time of 
Samuel Throp, well known as a school-teacher, 



310 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



about a mile out of the village. He was one of 
the first ]nipilM entered at the Freehold Aeademy, i 
about 18;>2, under McBurney as teachei-. Gen- : 
eral Shields was for a time also a teacher in this 
.school. He early commenced at this academy 
the study of the languages, and under Mr. 
Hobart, one of its most successful teachers, 
became fitted for college, and in the year 1838 
entered the Wesleyan University, at Middle- 
town, Conn., a.s a freshman. In 1841 he left 
that institution, and entered for his senior year 
the senior class at the College of Xew Jersey, at 
Princeton, where he graduated in the class of 1842, 
being one of the speakers at conunencemeut, 
which in those days was considered one of the 
honors of the college. In due course he re- 
ceived from this college the degree of Master of 
Arts. After his graduation Mr. Murphy 
studied law with the Hon. Judge Dikcman, of 
Brooklyn, and was admitted an attoruey-at-law 
in the State of New York in 1840. He prac- 
ticed his profession in that city for about ten 
years, a part of which time he was also engaged 
as a searcher of real estate titles in the county 
clerk's office of Kings County during the 
terms of County Clerks John M. Hicks and 
F. B Stryker. As a commissioner of deeds in 
the city of Brooklyn, he was also largely en- 
gaged in conveyancing. About the year 1854 
he moved back to Freehold, his native town, 
and in February, 1856, was employed as assist- 
ant by Jehu Patterson, Esq., who had just been 
elected county clerk. Mr. Patterson died in 
the spring of 1858, and was succeeded by John 
W. Bartlesou, who was appointed clerk by the 
Goveruor to fill the vacancy. Mr. Murphy 
remained with Mr. Bartlesou in the office till 
November, 1858, at which time he became 
himself the clerk of the county, having been 
elected to that position by a very large majority 
of the electors. He held the office of county 
clerk till November, 18(J8, having been re- 
elected without opposition. During this time 
he was also clerk of the Board of Chosen Free- 
holders of the county, having held that office 
from May, 1858, to May, 1874. This was dur- 
ing the period of the stirring events of the 
civil war, and ISIr. Murphy, by reason of his 
position in the above-named offices, was actively 



engaged in assisting the county authorities to 
I raise money by the sale of its bonds for furnish- 
iug its quota of volunteers ; and by reason also 
of his position and the confidence reposed in 
him, he was appointed to pay out the State 
bounty to the wives and families of the volun- 
teers from Freehold township. ]Mr. Murphy 
ardently espoused the cause of the Union in the 
jiending struggle, and \yrote, over his o^vn signa- 
tui-e, and as editorials, many articles in favor of 
the war and its vigorous prosecution, in the 
Moiiiiionfh TJemoerat, which for a time he edited, 
while his lirother-in-law, ilajor James S. Yard, 
was at the front with the New Jersey volunteers. 

]\Ir. Murphy was also chief commissioner 
of the town of Freehold from the date of its 
incorporation, iu May, 1869, to May, 1872. 
During these first years of the incorporation of 
the town, sidewalks had to lie laid, lamps 
erected and grades established, and as the inter- 
ests of many were conflicting, much courage and 
firmness, as well as prudence, were needed to 
harmonize conflicting interests, and carry on the 
work to a successful issue. In this work I\Ir. 
Murjdiy and his fellow commissioners succeeded 
so well that they were re-elected each year by 
large majorities, till the work was comjileted. 

Mr. Murphy remained in the clerk's office 
after his term expired with his successor. Cap- 
tain Thomas V. Arrowsmith, during his first 
term, till November, 187:5. In the year 1874 
he was admitted to the 1)ar of this State, and 
formed a partnership with the Hon. Geoi-ge C. 
Beekman. As a law firm they had an exten- 
sive practice, and were engaged in mi>ny im- 
portant cases. Mr. ^Murphy was also elected a 
member of the General Assembly of this State 
in the fall of 1880, having been elected as a 
i Democrat by a majority of five hundred and 
ninety-three in the First Legislative District, 
which the year before had returned a Repub- 
lican. He served during the year 1881, and 
declined a re-election. He was a member of 
the Committee on Eevision of Laws and other 
important committees, and was selected by the 
Speaker and Governor as a member of the 
Constitutional Commission, which embraced 
some of the leading lawyers and most eminent 
citizens of the State. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



311 



At present Mr. ^lurpliy is deputy county 
clerk of tliis county, iKiviiig been appointed to 
that position by the present county clerk, Dr. 
Jame.s H. Patterson. 

Mr. ^lurphy was married, in the year 1861, 
to Lavinia C. Swift, of Lancaster County, Pa. 
She is a daughter of Daniel D. Swift and 
Lavinia C. Clark, both of whom are now deceased. 
Mr. Swift was descended from one of the 
oldest families in Pennsylvania, his ancestors 
having been prominent in business and political 
life in the city of Phihuielphia at a very early 
period in its history, and members of the same 
family are still prominent in its business and 
social circles. The first ancestor of Daniel D. 
Swift in this country was Josej)h Swift, who 
married Margaret McCall, in Philadelphia 
February 3, 1759. Mr. Swift was born June 
24, 17ol, and received a good education, partly 
in this country and partly in England. He 
was a successful merchant, becoming quite 
wealthy, a member of the Common Council, 
and subsecpiently alderman of the city. He 
died Decemlier 24, 18()(i. His wife dietl Decem- 
ber 19, 1804. They were both buried in 
Christ Church burial-ground, Philadelphia, of 
which church they had long been prominent 
mendjers. They had fourteen children, one of 
M-hom was Joseph Swift, the father of Daniel 
D. Swift. He was born in Philadelphia, 
December 14, 176o, and was engaged in mer 
cantile pursuits in that city, and lesided for 
some time on a farm in Little Britain (now 
Fulton) township, in Lancaster County, Pa , 
which was the birth-place of Robert Fulton, 
and is still called Fulton House, and is in pos- 
session of the Swift family. He had quite a 
large family, of which Daniel D. was the 
youngest. His wife, Lavinia Clark, was the 
daughter of Judge Thomas Clark, of the same 
county, and at one time ])roprietor of the large 
iron-works about five miles from Fulton House. 

There ha\e been born to ^L-. and ]\Irs. 
^Ln-phy eight children, — -^L Louise, Alice H., ! 
Emma S., Joseph, Lavinia S., Adaline S., 
Holmes W., Jr., and a son who lived but a few 
hours after his birth. Four of these children 
are still living, viz. : M. Louise, Lavinia S., 
Addie S. and Holmes W., Jr. 



Mr. ]\Lirphy has also been, and is yet, a 
proniint'nt member of the ]\Iasonic fraternity, 
having been made a Mason in Fortitude Lodge, 
No. 19, Brooklyn, X. Y., about 1844, and 
having filled the offices of Crand Junior War- 
den and Deputy Grand Master in the Grand 
Lodge of New Jersey. The latter office he 
filled from 1865 for several yeai-s. 

He has also been a member of the Indepen- 
dent Order of Odd- Fellows from about 1844 to 
the present time, and has filled the office of 
District Deputy Grand Master of the Grand 
Lodge of New Jersey. 
I Mr. IMurphy adhered to the faith of iiis 
fathers, and is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church of Freehold, and president 
i of its lioard of trustees. He has also been 
closely identified with the shore interests of the 
county, and has been a member of the Ocean 
Grove Camp-^Ieetiug Association of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church from 1874 to the present 
time, and has been for most of that time and 
is yet a member of its executive committee. 
He has al.so been a director of the Atlantic 
Highlands Association from its organization to 
the present time. 

AcTox Civil H.xhtsiiorxe, a prominent 
niemi)er of the Monmouth bar, and a resident 
of Freehold, was born October 12, 1843, on 
the old Hartshorne homestead farm (which he 
now owns), adjoining West Freehold, and about 
two miles we.«t of Freehold village. He re- 
ceived his primary education in the district 
school until the fall of 1857, from which time 
until the spring of 1859 he attended William 
W. Woodhull's private school, in Freehold. In 
.\^[n'il of that year he entered the employ of 
Holmes W. Murphy, Esq. (then clerk of Mon- 
mouth County), as a copyist, and remained in 
his employ until the spring of 1866, during 
the last five years of that time acting as deputy 
clerk and attending chiefly to searching and 
preparing abstracts of title. 

In 1866, Mr. Hartshorne entered the office of 
the Hon. Joel Parker, where he .served a regu- 
lar clerkship as student-at-law, and at the Feb- 
ruary term of 1870 was admitted to practice in 
the courts of the State as an attorney-at-law and 
solicitor in Chancerv. At the Februarv term 



312 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of 187G he was admitted as a coiinseloi--at-law. 
On the 1st of May, 1875, he formed a law 
partnershiii with the Hon. Chilion Robbins, 
ex-judge of the Court of Common Pleas of 
Monmouth County, under the name and style 
of Robbins & Hartshorne. Since that time the 
firm have had an extensive practii'e in all the 
courts of the State, and have been engaged in a 
large number of the most important cases. Mr. 
Hartshorne has been entrusted and honored with 



of ex-Governor and ex-United States Senator 
Bibb, of Alabama. After that time his southern 
trijjs were frequent, and on November 28, 1877, 
he was married to Georgie E. Bibb, daughter 
of the late George B. Bibb and his wife, Cath- 
arine Bibb, at Carlowville, Alabama. la the 
fall of 1871 he went abroad with Dr. D. 
McLean Forman, and remained nearly six 
months, traveling through England, France, 
Italy and Egypt, the Island of Sicily and Malta, 




all the appointments conferred l)y the respective 
<'ourts on members of the legal ])rofessi()n, in 
eluding that of special master and examiner in 
the Court of Chancery and that of Supreme 
Court commissioner. 

In his earlier years Mr. Hartshorne was a 
somewhat extensive traveler. He spent the win- 
ter of 1868-69 in traveling through all the 
Southern States, and while on that trip first met 
the lady who became his wife, — a granddaughter 



passing through the Suez Canal and climbing 
the Pyramid of Cheops. In the spring of 18(33 
he again went abroad in comjjany with the Hon. 
Hemy S. Little, Aaron Rhea Throckmorton, 
Dr. John Yought, Jonathan Longstreet, James 
Laird and Henry C. Pitney, remaining nearly 
four months visiting England, Ireland, Scotland, 
Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. 
He attended the World's Exposition at Vienna 
as a commissioner from New Jersey, appointeil 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



313 



liv tlie Gov^ernor, under an act of the Legis- 
lature. 

He is an active member of St. Petcr';^ P. E. 
Church, Freehold, and lias been one of its ves- 
trymen for several years past. 

Mr. Hartshorne's marked success as a lawyer 
is largely due to his unfailing energy, his love 
of hard work and careful attention to all the 
details of his business, but more than all to his 
steadfastness, fidelity and unwavering zeal for 
the interests of his clients. 

Acton C. Hartshornc is a descendant of Rich- 
ard Hartshornc, who came from England to New 
Jersey before the year 1670, and settled at the 
Highlands, in Middletown township. He was 
the first attorney in the county, and one of its 
most prominent men. Without tracing the sev- 
eral links in the chain of descent, it is sufficient 
to mention that some five or six generations 
down from Richard, the first American ances- 
tor, we find the grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, Richard Saltar Hartshornc, who was 
born on the Highlands estate of the family. He 
kept a general country store at Middletown vil- 
lage, and afterwards purchased a farm, store and 
mills aV)out one mile north of Freehold. Ou 
that farm he resided for several years prior to 
18ns. In that year he removed to ^Middletown 
I'oint (now Matawan), and remained there ten 
years, during which time he carried on a gen- 
eral country store, in partnership with Holmes 
Yan Mater, under the name of Van Mater & 
Hartshornc. They were also engaged in run- 
ning: small sailing-vessels between the Point and 
New York City, carrying passengers and 
freights, the regularity of their trips depending 
entirely upon wind and tide. This was then 
the most direct route of communication with 
New York for the |)eople of Monmouth and a 
part of ^Middlesex County. While living at 
]\Iiddletown Point, Mr. Hartshornc still re- 
mained the o\\ner of the projierty near Free- 
hold, and in ISlti he rebuilt the mill on that 
property. In digging the new foundation, the 
workmen struck a deposit of marl, the first that 
was discovered in this section of the county. 
Soon afterwards " Hartshorne's ]\Iarl Pits " 
were opened (as also others in the vicinity), and 
proved very remunerative. In LSI 8 he sold 



out his business at the Point and again took 
charge of his farm and mill, and continuc(l to 
live there until his death. 

Richard Saltar Hartshorne, Jr., son of the 
above-mentioned Richard S., and father of Ac- 
ton C Hartshorne, was born at the place now 
known as Matawan, January 6, 1814. He 
was married, November 22, 1837, to Eleanor 
Gavwood Morris, daughter of Isaac Morris, a 
prominent contractor and builder of New York 
City. He was then engaged in the oil business 
in New York with E. W. Yan Yoorhees, trad- 
ing under the name of Yan Yoorhees & Harts- 
horne, until the spring of 1M42, when he sold 
his interest in the business and purchased a farm 
about two miles Mest of Freehold. To that 
farm he removed with his family, and remained 
there until April 1, 1871, when he removed 
to Freehold, still carrying on his farming busi- 
ness. About July 1, 1872, while stowing 
away hay in his barn, he slipped and fell to the 
floor, a distance of nearly twenty feet, receiving 
very severe injuries, from the effects of which 
he never fully recovered, and he died July 29, 



187 



his widow and the followinof- 



named children surviving him : (1) Richard 
Morris Hartshorne, died March 24, 1885; 
(2) James Theodore Hartshorne, now a sales- 
man in New York City ; (."5) Acton C. Harts- 
horne, the subject of this biographical notice ; 
(4) George Sykes Hartshorne, farmer at Black'.s 
]\Iills; (o) Susie Ella Hartshorne, now the wife 
of William S. Throckmorton, attorney and coun- 
sellor-at-law, Freehold. 

Hexry M. Nevius, a member of the Mon- 
mouth bar of twelve years' jwactice, and now a 
resident of Red Bank, is a grandson of David 
Xevius, a brother of Judge James S. Nevius, 
who for vears ])resided in the courts of the 
Monmouth Circuit. James S. Nevius, nepliew 
of the judge of the siune name, and son of Da- 
vid Nevius, married Hannah Bowne, daughter 
of James Bowne, of Manalapan township, and 
they were the parents of Henry M. Nevius, the 
subject of this biography. The other sons of 
David Nevius were John S., now living in 
Kansas City, Mo. ; Martin, living in Somerset 
County, N. J. ; and William, now a resident of 
California. James S. Nevius the younger, died 



314 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



in Princeton at the age of sixty-four years ; his 
wife, the mother of Henry M. Nevius, is now j 
living at Freehold. The children of James S. ; 

o I 

and Hannah (Bowne) Nevius were (1) Henry j 
M., to whom this sketch has especial reference ; 

(2) James B., now living at Princeton, N. J. ; 

(3) Margaret (married John J. Woodhull, son 
of Dr. John T. Woodhull, of Freehold), now liv- 
ing at Newark ; (4) Mary A. ; (5) Julia ; (6) 



then breaking out, he soon after (in July of tiiat 
year) enlisted as a private soldier in a company 
then being raised in Grand Rapids, and which 
afterwards became Company K of the First 
New York Cavaliy (otherwise known in its or- 
ganization as the " Lincoln Cavalry "). He 
served in that regiment until January, 1S6;?, 
when he was promoted to second lieutenant of 
Company D Seventh INIichigan Cavalry, wliich 




Ellen ; (7) Kate T. ; (8) Frank, who died in 
childliood. 

Henry M. Nevius was born January 30, 
1841. He studied in the Freehold Institute, 
under Professor O. R. Willis, and in 1859 he 
removed to Grand Rapids, Mich., where he 
completed his education in the High School of 
that place. In April, 1861, he commenced the 
study of law in the office of E. Smith, Jr., of 
Grand Rapids, l)ut the War of the Rebellion 



regiment, with the First, Fifth and Sixth Michi- 
gan Ca\'alrv, formed the renowned cavalry bri- 
gade which fought under the leadership of (ien- 
eral George A. Custer through the campaigns of 
the Army of the Potomac. In the winter of 
1863-64 he resigned his commission and re- 
turned home, but in the following spring he en- 
listed as a private in the Twenty-fifth New 
York Cavalry, in which he was soon promoted 
to the grade of first lieutenant. In the en- 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



315 



gagenient of July 11, 18(54, iu front of Fort 
Stevens, on tlie investing lines at Petersburg, 
Va., he lost liis left arm (tliis being the third or 
fourth time he was wounded in the service). On 
the same day he was ])romoted to the grade of 
major. Tlie loss of his arm disabled him for 
active service in the field, but during the long 
time he was under treatment at the hospital in 
Washington, D. C, he was also serving on de- 
tached duty at that place, and so remained until 
July, I860, when he was mustered out of 
the service. He was obliged to submit to sev- 
eral surgical operations on the remaining part of 
his arm, which continued to give him serious 
troulile until the winter of 1868-69, when it 
finally healed. 

In 1866, Mr. Nevius was appointed assessor 
of internal revenue for the district embracing 
Monmouth County, and he was also at the same 
time engaged in the insurance business at Marl- 
borough. In 1868, having resigned the asses- 
sorship (but still continuing the insurance 
business), he entered the office of General Charles 
Haight as a law student, and continued until 
February, 1873, when he was admitted to prac- 
tice as an attorney. In February, 1876, he 
became a counselor-at-law. He first located in 
practice at Freehold, where he remained until 
May, 187-3, when he removed to Ked Bank, and 
formed a law partnership with the Hon. John 
S. Applegate. This continued for four years, 
after which time it was dissolved, and he com- 
menced a separate practice, iu which he has re- 
mained and prosecuted successfully to the pres- 
ent time. As a lawyer, he is zealous and ear- 
nest in promoting the interests of his clients, 
an indefatigable worker, and one of the most 
eloquent of the members of the Monmouth bar. 
He held the position of corporation counsel of 
Red Bank for three years, and during all his 
residence there has taken a very deep and ac- 
tive interest in everything tending to promote 
the growth, prosperity and good order of the 
town. 

In 1871 " Arrowsmith Post, Xo. 61," G. A. 
R., was formed at Red Bank, chiefly through 
the influence and efibrts of Mr. Nevius, who 
was elected its commander. This position he 
held until 1884, when he was elected comman- 



der of the Dejiartment of New Jersey, in which 
office he displayed such marked ability and en- 
ergy that in 1885 he was re-elected by accla- 
mation, — a thing unknown until that time. 

In politics, he is an earnest and uncompromi- 
sing Republican, but not an aspirant to office, 
as is evidenced by his refusal several times to 
accept the party nomination for member of the 
General Assembly, and once forthat of Senator. 
In the Presidential campaigns of 1880 and 1 884 
he was very active, and being an eloquent and 
convincing orator (though never abusive or of- 
fensive towards his political opponents), he was 
engaged nearly every night during the heat of 
the canvass in speaking at political or Grand 
Army meetings, making, in 1884 more than 
sixty G. A. R. speeches. It has been said of 
him that he is the best public speaker in the 
Grand Army Department of New Jersey. 

Mr. Nevius was married, December 27, 1871, 
to iMatilda H. Herbert, daughter of the late 
William W. Herbert, of Marlborough, and his 
wife, Gertrude (Schenck) Herbert. They have 
one cliild, Kate T. Nevius, born December 27, 
1874. 

Henry Simmons White, son of Isaac P. 
and Adaline White, was born at Red Bank, 
Monmouth County, N. J., on the 13th of July, 
1844, and is of the fifth generation born there. 
Receiving an academic education, he began the 
study of medicine at the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons in the city of New York, and 
graduated from that institution iu due course 
with the degree of M.D. After graduating, 
Mr. White began practicing medicine at his 
native place. Red Bank, and continued there 
for a period of about two yeai"s, when he quit 
his practice, went to the war and became an 
assistant surgeon in the army of the United 
States during the War of the Rebellion. 

Upon his return from the army he concluded 
that the study of law led to a wider field for his 
activities, as well as to a life more congenial to 
his tastes and habits, and at once entered Co- 
luml)ia Law School, in the city of New York, as 
a law student, whence he graduated, and was 
admitted fo the bar of that State in June, 1870. 
In that year he removed U> Jei'sey ( 'ity, and 
was admitted to the l)ar of the State of New 



316 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Jersey as an attoruey in November, 1872, and 
as a counselor of the Supreme Court at the 
November term, 1875. 

Upon his admission to the bar of this State 
lie opened an oifice in Jersey City. Soon after- 
wards he formed a jjartnership with Jolin A. 
Blair, Esq., of that city, wiiich lasted for some 
years, when he again opened an office by him- 
self, which continued until May, 1884, wlien he 
gave up his office in Jersey City and took an 
office in the city of New York, where he now 
practices, as well as in New Jersey. 

President Hayes appointed I\Ir. White assist- 
ant collector of the port of New York, which 
office he held for the term of four years. 

As one of the younger members of the bar of 
this State, Mr. White has taken a good position, 
and his genial manners and energy are rewarded 
by an increasing clientage. 

The case that brought him into the greatest 
notice was the suit of the Delaware, Lackawanna 
and A^'estern Railroad Company rs. The Hudson 
Tunnel Eailroad Company. The latter com- 
pany was organized for the purpose of con- 
structing a tunnel under the Hudson River, 
between Jersey City and New York, through 
"wliich tunnel railroad tracks were to be laid, so 
that trains could pass through to New York 
with their freight and pa.'^engers without stop- 
ping in Jersey City. It was contended that, 
under the provisions of the General Railroad 
Law, the company could not be legally organ- 
ized to make a tunnel, because, in that case, the 
tunnel would be the primary object, and the 
railroad would be only incidental thereto. It 
was also opposed on the ground that a company 
organized for the purpose of constructing a 
tunnel could not exercise the right of eminent 
domain in the acquisition of the required prop- 
erty for its use. These novel questions took 
various forms of litigation before they were 
finally determined in the Court of Chancery, in 
the Supreme Court and in the Court of Errors 
and Appeals, as well as in the United States 
Court, and lasted in all several years. Mr. 
White was successful in all the courts. Under 
the favorable decisions of the courts the 
Hudson Tunnel Company was enabled to go 
forward with its work, and about ten thousand 



feet of the tunnel was constructed, when finan- 
cial difficulties compelled a suspension of the 
work upon M'hat was hoped would prove as 
successful as it was a bold and novel project. 

Mr. White is a strong and ardent Republican, 
and takes an active part in local and State poli- 
tics, and is looked ujion as one of the rising men 
in the political field of New Jersey. He was 
married, on the 19th of November, 1878, to 
Annie H. McLean, daughter of the Hon. Amzi 
C. McLean, of Freehold. In 1884 he returned 
to reside in his native town. Red Bank, where 
he is now in practice as an active member of 
the Monmouth County bar. 

The following: is a list of counselors and at- 
torneys practicing in the Monmouth C'ounty 
courts from about the close of the Revolution 
to the present time. It is not given as being 
absolutely complete and perfect (though nearly 
so), and it contains the names of a few (chiefly 
among those of the earlier years) who were not 
residents of the county, though practicing in its 
courts : 

Counselors. 

NAMK. ADSIITTEP. 

James H. Imlay April, 1796 

Joseph Scudder 

Caleb Lloyd Nov., 1S04 

Corlies Lloyd Nov., 1804 

Garret D. Wall Sept., 1807 

Joseph R. Phillips 

Richard H. Stockton, Jr Feb., 1818 

Daniel B. Ryall Sept., 1825 

Joseph F. Randolph May, 1828 

Peter Vredenburgh Feb., 1832 

AViUiam L. Dayton May, 1833 

James M. Hartshorns Sept., 1836 

John C. Ten Eyck' May, 1838 

Joseph Combs Sept., 1839 

George S. Woodhull Feb., 1842 

Bennington F. Randolph .... Feb., 1842 

Aaron R. Throckmorton Oct., 1846 

Jehu Patterson, Jr Jan., 1847 

Joel Parker Oct., 1849 

Am/.i C. McLean Jan., 1850 

Asa Cottrell Jan., 1850 

Egbert H. Grandin Oct., 1850 

Charles A. Bennett July, 1851 

Henry S. Little July, 1851 

Edmund M. Throckmorton . . . Nov., 1852 

Robert Allen, Jr Feb., 1854 

L' Joseph D. Bedle June, 1856 

' A native of Freehold township, Monmouth County. 



THE BENCH AND BAR OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 



317 



NAMt. ADMITTED. 

Jonathan Longstreet Feb., 1857 

Philip J. Kyall Nov., 1860 

Peter Vredenburgh, .Ir Feb., 1862 

John S. Applegate Feb., 1865 

Charles Haight June, 1865 

William H. Vredenburgh .... June, 1865 

Samuel M. Schanck Nov., 1865 

Albert S. Cloke Feb., 1866 

George C. Beekman June, 1866 

William H. Conover, Jr June, 1866 

Charles Morgan Herbert .... Nov., 1866 

Henry Moffett Nov., 1867 

John J. Ely June, 1868 

Marcus B. Taylor June, 1868 

Chilion Bobbins Nov., 1869 

John E. Lanning Feb., 1871 

Charles H. Trafford Feb., 1872 

Henry S. White Nov., 1875 

Acton C. Hartshonie Feb., 1876 

Henry M. Nevius Feb., 1876 

Charles J. Parker Nov., 1876 

John W. Swartz Feb., 1877 

James Steen Nov., 1877 

Alfred Walling, Jr Nov., 1878 

Frank P. McDermott Nov., 1878 

Charles P. Dorrance June, 1879 

Daniel H. Applegate June, 1880 

J. Clarence Conover Nov., 1881 

Charles A. Bennett, Jr Nov., 1881 

William Pintard Nov., 1881 

Halsted H. Wainwright Nov., 1881 

Benjamin B. Ogden Feb., 1882 

Wilbur A. Heisler June, 1882 

Charles H. Butcher June, 1882 

J'rederick Parker June, 1882 

Attorneys. 

NAME. ADMITTED. 

Jonathan Ehea May, 1784 

Joseph Scudder 

Caleb Lloyd April, 1791 

Corlies Lloyd April, 1791 

James H. Imlay April, 1791 

Henry Hankinsou Nov., 1794 

Garret D. Wall May, 1804 

Joseph R. Phillips May, 1807 

Richard H. Stockton, Jr Nov., 1814 

Daniel B. Ryall Sept., 1820 

Henry D. Polhemus Nov., 1821 

Joseph F. Randolph May, 1825 

Peter Vredenburgh Feb., 1829 

William L. Dayton May, 1830 

Thomas C. Ryall Sept., 1830 

James M. Hartshorne Sept., 1833 

John C. Ten Eyck ' May, 1835 

Craig Moffett May, 1836 

1 Born in Freehold township. 



NAME. ADMITTED. 

Benjamin D. Smock Sept., 1836 

Joseph Combs Sept., 1836 

William A. Bowne May, 1838 

William L. Terbune Sept., 1838 

George S. Woodhull Nov., 1838 

Bennington F. Randolph .... Feb., 1839 
Aaron R. Throckmorton .... May, 1841 

Joel Parker Nov., 1842 

Henry I. Mills Nov., 1843 

Jehu Patterson, Jr Nov., 1843 

Amzi C. McLean May, 1844 

Caleb L. Ryall April, 1846 

Thomas Moffett April, 1846 

Asa Cottrell Jan., 1847 

Charles A. Bennett July, 1847 

Egbert H. Grandin Oct., 1847 

Henry S. Little April, 1848 

William Haight July, 1848 

Robert Allen. Jr July, 1848 

Edmund M. Throckmorton . . . Oct., 1848 

Gilbert Combs July, 1849 

Joseph D. Bedle June, 1853 

Jonathan Longstreet Feb., 1854 

Denise H. Smock Nov., 1855 

Philip S. Scovel Feb., 1857 

Philip J. Ryall Nov., 1857 

Joseph B. Coward Nov., 1858 

Peter Vredenburgh, Jr Feb., 1859 

Charles Morgan Herbert .... June, 1860 

Joseph J. Ely June, 1860 

D. V. Conover Nov., 1860 

Charles Haight June, 1861 

John S. Applegate Nov., 1861 

Albert S. Cloke Feb., 1862 

William T. Hoffman Feb., 1862 

William H. Vredenburgh . . . June, 1862 

Samuel M. Schank Nov., 1862 

George C. Beekman June, 1863 

William H. Conover, Jr June, 1863 

John E. Lanning June, 1863 

Henry Moffett Nov., 1864 

John J. Ely June, 1865 

Marcus B. Taylor June, 1865 

Harry G. Clayton Nov., 1865 

Elijah T. Paxton June, 1866 

William V. D. Perrine June, 1866 

Rensselaer W. Dayton Nov., 1866 

Chilion Robbins Nov., 1866 

John L. Howell Feb., 1867 

Ten Broeck S. Crawford .... Feb., 1868 

Charles H. Tafford Nov., 1868 

C. Ewing Patterson Feb., 1870 

Acton C. Hartshorne Feb., 1870 

John W. Swartz June, 1870 

Henry S. White Nov., 1872 

Henry M. Nevius Feb., 1873 

Charles J. Parker June, 1873 

Alfred Walling, Jr Nov., 1873 



318 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



NAME. ADMITTED. 

Holmes W. Murphy Feb., 1874 

John E. Schroedcr Tune, 1874 

fJeorge M. Troutman .fiine, 1874 

James Steen Xov., 1874 

David Harvey, Jr >Jov., 1874 

E. W. Arrowsmith Nov., 1874 

William H. Forman Feb., 1875 

Frank P. McDermott Nov., 1875 

Charles I. Gordon June, 1876 

J. Clarence Conover June, 1876 

Charles P. Dorrance June, 1876 

Daniel H. Applegate June, 1877 

Jehu P. Applegate June, 1877 

John B. Conover Feb., 1878 

Charles A. Bennett, Jr Nov., 1878 

William Pintard ' Nov., 1878 

E. Ten Brook Stout Nov., 1878 

Halsted H. Wainwright .... Nov., 1878 

Wilbur A. Heisler June, 1879 

William I. Chamberlain .... June, 1879 

Charles H. Butcher June, 1879 

Samuel C. Cowart June, 1879 

David S. Crater June, 1879 

Joseph McDermott Nov., 1879 

Frederick Parker June, 1879 

John T. Ro.sell Nov., 1879 

Benjamin B. Ogden Feb., 1879 

John L. Conover Feb., 1880 

William S. Throckmorton . . . June, 1880 

John F. Hawkins June, 1880 

John L. Wheeler Nov., 1880 

DelaucyW. Wilgns Nov., 1880 

Richard S. Bartine Feb., 1881 

William D. Campbell June, 1881 

Isaac C. Kennedy Nov., 1881 

Henry W. Longstreet Nov., 1881 

H. S. Bachman June, 1882 

Daniel S. Schank June, 1882 

Frank Durand June, 1882 

A. A. Chambers June, 1882 

Frederick W. Hope Nov., 1882 

Wesley B. Stout Feb., 188.3 

Benjamin B. Dorrance Feb., 1883 

Samuel A. Patterson Feb., 1883 

Jacob C. Lawrence June, 1883 

Alfred D. Bailey June, 1883 

Charles H. Ivins Feb., 1884 

Aaron E. Johnston Feb., 1884 

Present {Nov., 1884) Lawyers of Monmouth County. 

NAME. ADDRESS. 

Robert Allen, Jr Red Bank 

John S. Applegate Red Bank 

Daniel H. Applegate Red Bank 

Jehu P. Applegate Matawan 

E. W. Arrowsmith Freehold 

H. S. Bachman Ocean Beach 

Alfred D. Bailey Asbury Park 



NAME. ADDRESS. 

Richard S. Bartine A.sbury Park 

George C. Beekman Freehold 

Charles A. Bennett Freehold 

Charles A. Bennett, Jr .... Freehold 

Charles H. Butcher Freehold 

William D. Campbell Long Branch 

William I. Chamberlain .... Long Branch 

A. A. Chambers Freehold 

D. V. Conover Freehold 

J. Clarence Conover Freehold 

John L. Conover Freehold 

John B. Conover Freehold 

Samuel C. Cowart Freehold 

David S. Crater Freehold 

Rensselaer W. Dayton Matawan 

Benjamin B. Dorrance Freehold 

Frank Durand Long Branch 

John J. Ely Freehold 

William H. Forman Freehold 

Charles I. Gordon Red Bank 

Charles Haight Freehold 

Acton C. Hartshorne Freehold 

J. L. Howell Freehold 

David Harvey, Jr Asbury Park 

John F. Hawkins Asbury Park 

Wilbur A. Heisler Long Branch 

Frederick W. Hope Red Bank 

Charles H. Ivins Red Bank 

Aaron E. Johnston Freehold 

Isaac C. Kennedy Asbuiy Park 

John E. Lanning Long Branch 

Jacob C. Lawrence Freehold 

Henry S. Little Matawan 

Holmes W. Murphy Freehold 

Frank P. McDermott Freehold 

Joseph McDermott Freehold 

Amzi C. McLean Freehold 

Benjamin D. P. Morris Long Branch 

Henry M. Nevius Red Bank 

Benjamin B. Ogden Keyport 

Joel Parker Freehold 

Frederick Parker Freehold 

Charles J. Parker Mana.squan 

C. Ewing Patterson Freehold 

Samuel A. Patterson Asbury Park 

William Pintard Red Bank 

Chilion Robbius Freehold 

John T. Rosell Freehold 

Daniel S. Schanck Freehold 

John E. Schroeder Long Branch 

James Steen Eatontown 

Wesley B. Stout Asbury Park 

R. Ten Brook Stout Asbury Park 

John W. Schwartz Freehold 

Marcus B. Taylor Matawan 

William L. Terhune Matawan 

William S. Throckmorton . . . Freehold 
Charles H. Trafford Red Bank 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



319 



NA^IE. ADDRESS. 

George M. Troutmaii Long Branch 

Alfred Walling, Jr Keyport 

William H. Vredenbiirgh . . . Freehold 
Halstead H. Wainwright . . . Manasquan 
John L. Wheeler Red Bank- 
Henry S. White Red Bank 

Dclancy W. Wilgiis Red Bank 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE MEDICWL SOCIETY, BIBLE SOCIETY AXD 
AGRICULTURAL .SOCIETY OF ilOXJIOUTH 
COUNTY. 

MoxMOUTH IMedical Society.' — On tlie 
second Tuesday in May, LSI 6, the Medical So- 
ciety of Xew Jersey assembled at New Bruns- 
wick for the purpose of reorganizing it.self af- 
ter the distraction caused by the then recent war 
with Great Britain, and also for the purpose of 
effecting the establishment of district medical 
societies through the State, under authority of an 
act of iucorporafion by the Legislature, bearing 
date the 15th of the preceding February. On 
the 24th of July of the same year, Drs. Edward 
Taylor, William G. Eeynolds, Samuel Forman 
and Jacobus Hubbard, Jr., met at Freehold, in 
conformity with instructions from the parent 
society, for the purpose of forming a district so- 
ciety for the county of Monmouth. They or- 
ganized and framed a code of laws, no record 
of which is now in existence, but under which 
the society acted till the year 1820, prior to 
which time, however, the State Society made 
some alterations and amendments to their con- 
stitution, which required a revision and change 
of tliat of the Monmouth Society, for which 
purpo,se a committee was appointed at the an- 
nual meeting held June 7, 1819, the committee 
being composed of Drs. Reynolds, Woodhull 
and Forman. They reported an amended con- 
.stitution of twenty-five sections, which were 
passed separately, and the constitution adopted 
«ntire April 24, 1820. 



'This account of the Monmouth County District Medical 
Society is, to a great extent, basej on facts embodied in an 
address delivered by Dr. T. J. Thomason, in 1871. 



From 1820 to 18:18 two meetings of the 
society were held annually, viz.,— on the last 
Mondays in April and October, resj^iectively. 
lu 18.38 the fall meeting was discontinued. In 
! 18-59 thetimeof the spring meeting was chano-ed 
to the la,st Monday in May. Finally, in 18()7, 
the third IMouday in May was selected, in order 
that the convening of the district organization 
.should precede the meeting of the State Society. 
The ^lonmouth Society was scarcelvsix j'ears 
old when the members found that the .spring 
meeting was the one of paramount importance, 
as evinced by the large number of alxsentees 
from the autumnal gatherings. An attempt 
was made by their more punctual brethren to 
compel a better attendance, by a motion offered 
in the fall meeting of 1822, to change the pen- 
alty to one dollar for absence from any one of 
the regular meetings, instead of al)sence through 
the year. This motion, when brought to vote 
at the following spring meeting was lost, but 
by subsequent agitation the resolution finally 
prevailed, and' was in operation when the fall 
meetings were discontinued. 

The nucleus of a library was formed by the 
society's subscription for the Neiv Eiir/fand Jour- 
nal and for the Neio York Medical and Physi- 
cal Journal. In 1827 the Medico-Chirurgiccd 
Review was added. In 1830 the members were 
urgently requested to return all tlie numbers of 
the journals belonging to the society, in order 
that they might be bound ; which was done, so 
far as they came in. In 1832 a book-case was 
purchased. Tlte American Journal of 3Iedical 
Science was subscribed for, in addition to tho.se 
before mentioned, and a librarian was chosen, 
with in.structions to collect the missing volumes 
and numbers. The librarian reported that the 
library was scattered, and in a very unsatisfac- 
tory condition ; in consequence of which report 
a resolution was pas.sed, in 183.3, " that after the 
present subscriptions for the different jom-nals 
expire, they be not renewed " At the fall meet- 
ing in 183-5 it was resolved that all books in 
po.ssession of, and as many as could be collected, 
belonging to the society should be placed in the 
hands of a committee, who were to put them up 
in parcels, equal in number to that of the mem- 
bers of the society. This was done ; the parcels 



320 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



were exhibited at the next meeting and found 
to be satisfactorily arranged ; then each mem- 
bur present drew a parcel, by lot, for himself, 
and the secretary drew for those absent. The 
book-case was then sold at auction for one dol- 
lar, and so ended the library of the Monmouth 
District jSIedioal Society. 

The subject of temperance came up in the 
society as early as 1834. To put themselves 
plainly on the record as advocates of the tem- 
perance cause, a resolution was passed, and 
ordered to be printed in the Monmouth Inquirer 
and Ilonmouth Democrat, declaring that " ar- 
dent spirit is not needed in health ; that, on the 
contrary, it is not merely useless, but pernicious, 
productive of disease and death." And on the ' 
30th of April, 1835, it was by the society re- j 
solved " That hereafter no wine bills shall be 
paid out of the funds of the society." This be- 
ing done, there was at the same meeting an at 
tempt made to prohibit cigars also : but the 
weed did not share the fate of the wine, in- 
asmuch as the mover of the resolution expunging 
the latter from the bill of fare was an inveter- 
ate smoker, and voted " nay," so that cigars re- 
mained a luxury in which the majority might 
indulge at the society's expense. 

Until 1841 delegates to the State Society 
were appointed by the chair, after which they 
were chosen in alphabetical order, with the priv- 
ilege, if present, of declining, the next in or- 
der being then selected. In 1844 it was made 
the duty of the delegates to designate one of 
their number to give a synopsis of the proceed- 
ings of the parent society, and re])ort the same 
at the next following meeting of the county or- 
ganization. This society was brought into di- 
rect connection with the American Medical 
Association by appointing delegates in 1 853, since 
which time they have been annually nominated, 
and some of them usually in attendance. In 
1853 an officer called a reporter was appointed, 
the usefulness and importance of whose duties 
are too well known to need explanation. In 
1870 a new feature, interesting and instructive, 
was added, viz. : the requiring from each mem- 
ber, on the calling of his name from the alpha- 
betical roll, in the annual meeting, to give a 
written or verbal rejjort of the state of health 



during the preceding year in his practice, and 
to recount any interesting cases or novelties in 
treatment, and their results. 

The following is a list of members of the 
Medical Society of Monmouth from its organ- 
ization to 1884, with dates of admission, viz. : 



ADSIITTED. 



Edwd.Taylor.ofUpper Freehold May, 1816 

William G. Reynolds May, 1816 

Samuel Forman May, 1816 

Jacobus Hubbard, Jr May, 1816 

Edmuud W. Alleu 1817 

David Forman, Sr 1818 

Gilbert S. Woodhull 1819 

John P. Lewis April, 1820 

William Forman April, 1820 

James H. Baldwin ...... April, 1821 

D.avid Forman, Jr April, 1821 

William Davis April, 1822 

James English April, 1822 

James P. Kearne, April, 1824 

John B. Throckmorton .... April, 1824 

Robert W. Cooke Oct., 1824 

David C. English April, 1826 

John Morford April, 1826 

J. S. English April, 1827 

Edward Taylor, of Jliddletown . April, 1827 

Charles G. Patterson April, 1827 

Daniel Polhemus Oct., 1828 

Charles G. English April, 1829 

Arthur V. Conover April, 1829 

J. C. Thompson April, 1829 

C. C. Blauvelt April, 1831 

H. Green Oct., 1832 

A. B. Dayton April, 1841 

William A. Xewell April, 1842 

A. Bergen • ... April, 1844 

Grandin Lloyd April, 1844 

John T. Woodhull April, 1844 

John Gregg April, 1845 

William L. Debow April, 1845 

John Vought April, 1848 

De Witt W. Barclay April, 1848 

Robert Laird April, 1849 

Selah Gulick April, 1850 

W. H. Hubbard April, 1852 

A. T. Pettit April, 1852 

R. R. Conover April, 1853 

J. E. Arrowsmith April, 1854 

T. J. Thomasoii April, 18-55 

J. B. Goodenough April, 1855 

William C. Lewis April, 1855 

E. W. Owen April, 1855 

J. C. Thomps in April, 1856 

A. A. Howell April, 1858 

S. M. Disbrow April, 1858 

William D. Newel' May, 1859 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



321 



NAME. ADMITTED. 

Henry G. Cooke May, 1859 

Claudius E. Prall May, 1S.")9 

A. A. Higgins May, 1860 

John Cook May, 1868 

Charles E. Hall May, 1860 

AV. W. Palmer May, 1866 

I. S. Long May, 1867 

C. F. Deshler May, 1867 

William S. Combs May, 1868 

James S. Conover May, 1868 

John H. Forman May, 1869 

D. McLean Forman • May, 1869 

F. K. Travers May, 1871 

Francis A. Davis Jlay, 18~1 

Asher T. Applegate May, 1871 

P. B. Pumyea May, 1871 

S.H.Hunt May, 1871 

C. C. Vanderbeck May, 1872 

C. A. Conover May, 1873 

Samuel Johnson Mav, 1873 

J. A. Beegle Oct., 1873 

Charles A. Laird Oct., 1873 

George T. Welch May, 1874 

James Holmes May, 1875 

James E. Cooi>er May, 1875 

Wilmer Hodgson May, 1876 

W. R. Kinmonth May, 1876 

James H. Patterson May, 1876 

Edward Field May, 1877 

J. G. Shackleton May, 1877 

E.B. Laird May, 1878 

A. J. Jackson May, 1878 

Henry Hughes May, 1879 

N. J. Hepburn May, 1880 

AV. W. Palmer May, 1881 

C. D. W. Van Dyck May, 1881 

Harry Neafie May, 1881 

Henry Mitchell May, 1881 

H. G. Norton May, 1882 

S. A. Disbrow May, 1882 

V. M. Disbrow May, 1882 

Daniel D. Hendrickson .... May, 1883 

George H. Hutchinson .... May, 1883 

D. Edgar Roberts May, 1883 

Henry B. Costill May, 1883 

Charles H. Thompson May, 1883 

G. F. Wilbur :\Iay, 1884 

Following are given lists of the officers of the 
society from its organization : 

Presidents. 
1816. William G. Reynolds. 
1819-20. Edward Taylor, of Upper Freehold. 
1821. Samuel Forman. 
1822-23. Gilbert 8. Woodhull. 
1824-25. Edmund W. Allen. 
1826. James English. 
21 



1827-28. Jacobus Hubbard. 
1829-30. William Forman. 

1831. Edward Taylor, of Middletown. 

1832. Daniel Polhemus. 

1833. J. S. English. 

1834. C. C. Blauvelt. 

1835. H. Green. 

1836. A. V. Conover. 

1837. C. C. Blauvelt. 

1838. Robert W. Cooke. 

1839. J. S. English. 

1840. Edward Taylor, of Middletown. 

1841. A. V. Conover. 

1842. A. B. Dayton. 

1843. William A. Newell. 

1844. Robert W. Cooke. 

1845. Alfred Bergen. 

1846. Grandin Lloyd. 

1847. J. T. Woodhull. 

1848. William L. Debow. 

1849. D. W. Barclay. 

1850. John Vought. 

1851. Robert Laird. 

1852. J. P. Lewis. 

1853. R. R. Conover. 

1854. A. T. Petit. 

1855. William A. Hubbard. 

1856. J. E. Arrowsmith. 

1857. T. J. Thomason. 

1858. .Joseph B. Goodenough. 

1859. A. A. Howell. 

1860. Stephen M. Disbrow. 

1861. H. G. Cooke. 

1862. William D. Newell. 

1863. Alfred B. Dayton. 

1864. John Cook. 

1865. William D. Newell. 

1866. A. A. Higgins. 

1867. C. F. Deshler. 

1868. I. S. Long. 

1869. W. S. Combs. 

1870. James S. Conover. 

1871. D. McLean Forman. 

1872. F. K. Travers. 

1873. A. T. Applegate. 

1874. P. B. Pumyea. 

1875. S. H. Hunt. 

1876. Charles A. Conover. 

1877. Samuel Johnson. 

1878. George T. Welch. 

1879. James E. Cooper. 

1880. Wilmer Hodg.son. 

1881. William E. Kinmonth. 

1882. James H. Patterson. 

1883. Edward Field. 

1884. C. D. W. Van Dyck. 

Vice-Presiden fs. 
1816. Edward Taylor, of Upper Freehold. 



322 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1819. Edmund W. Allen. 

1820. Jacobus Hubbard, Jr. 

1821. Gilbert S. Woodhull. 
1822-23. Edmund W. Allen. 

1824. D. Forman, Sr. 

1825. James English. 

1826. Jacobus Hubbard. 

1827. James English. 

1828. Robert W. Cooke. 

1829. C. G. Patterson. 

1830. John Throckmorton. 

1831. Daniel Polhemus. 

1832. J. S. English. 

1833. C. C. Blauvelt. 

1834. Edward Taylor. 

1835. A. V. Conover. 

1836. C. C. Blauvelt. 

1837. Edward Taylor. 

1838. J. S. English. 

1839. Edward Taylor. 

1840. A. V. Conover. 

1841. A. B. Dayton. 

1842. William A. Newell. 

1843. Robert W. Cooke. 

1844. Alfred Bergen. 

1845. Grandin Lloyd. 
■ 1846. J. T. Woodhull. 

1847. William L. Debow. 

1848. D. W. Barclay. 

1849. John Vought. 

1850. Robert Laird. 

1851. D. W. Barclay. 

1852. R. R. Conover. 

1853. A. T. Petit. 

1854. William H. Hubbard. 

1855. J. E. Arrowsmith. 

1856. T. J. Thoraason. 

1857. Joseph B. Goodenough. 

1858. A. A. Howell. 

1859. Stephen M. Disbrow. 

1860. H. G. Cooke. 

1861. W. D. Newell. 

1862. Alfred B. Dayton. 

1863. John Cook. 

1864. W. D. NeweU. 

1865. D W. Barclay. 

1866. Charles E. Hall. 

1867. I. S. Long. 

1868. W. S. Combs. 

1869. James S. Conover. 

1870. D. McLean Forman. 

1871. Frank K. Travers. 

1872. A. T. Applegate. 

1873. P. B. Pumyea. 

1874. S. H. Hunt. 

1875. Charle.s A. Conover. 

1876. Samuel Johnson. 

1877. George T. Welch. 

1878. James E. Cooper. 



1879. Wilmer Hodgson. 

1880. William R. Kinmonth. 

1881. James H. Patterson. 

1882. Edward Field. 

1883. C. D. W. Van Dyck. 

1884. Henry Neafie. 

Secretaries. 
1816. Samuel Forman. 

1819. Jacobus Hubbard, Jr. 

1820. Samuel Forman. 

1821. Edmund W. Allen. 

1822. J. H. Baldwin. 
182.3-24. David Forman, Jr. 
1825-26. Robert W. Cooke. 
1827. E. W. Allen. 
1828-30. J. S. English. 

1831-35. Robert W. Cooke. I 

1836. Edward Taylor. * 

1837-52. Daniel Polhemus. 
1853-78. John Vought. 
1879-84. D. McLean Forman. 

Treasurers. 
1816. Jacobus Hubbard, Jr. < 

1819. Samuel Forman. 
1820-23. William G. Reynolds. 
1824. Samuel Forman. 
1825-30. G. S. Woodhull. 
1831-36. D. English. 
1837-39. A. V. Conover. 
1840. C. C. Blauvelt. 
1841-42. Robert W. Cooke. 
1843-69. Edward Taylor. 

1870-80. T. J. Thomason. ' 

1881-84. I. S. Long. 

William G. Reynolds, M. D., one of the 
founders of the Monmouth Society, was born in j 
Northampton County, Pa. Of his early history, 
nothing cau be ascertained bevond the fact that 
he had been connected with the navy, and had 
traveled extensively. He was settled at JNIiddle- 
town Point (now Matawan), where he practiced 
many years. He was much esteemed for his 
skill and ability, and he was preceptor to several 
who afterwards became prominent practitioners. 
Besides his own extensive practice, he had also 
a large consulting experience. In mind, he was 
unusually intellectual. A bachelor, remarkably 
temperate in his habits, systematic and in- 
dustrious. Apart from his profession, he 
possessed great mechanical skill. A lady 
in the county has a work-box of beautiful 
workmanship which he made and presented to 
her while she was his patient. On one occasion, 



II 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY.. 



323 



having been disappointed by his taih)r, he cut 
out and made a suit of clotlies for himself, and 
they fitted him admirably. He was the first 
president of the Monmouth Society, in 1816, 
and its treasurer from 1820 to 1824, about which 
last-mentioned year he left the State and estab- 
lished in a short time an excellent practice in 
the city of New York, where he remained until 
his death. 

Samuel Foemax, M.D., also one of the found- 
ers of the Monmouth Society, was born at Free- 
hold, August 3, 1764. He studied medicine 



cal Society in 1814, became one of the corpor- 
ators and the first secretary of the ilonmouth 
District Society in 1816, president in 1821, 
and treasurer in 1819 and 1824. In 1825 he 
signified his wish to withdraw from the society 
on account of the infirmities of increasing years; 
but the otliers members, unwilling to lose so 
valuable a man, appointed a committee to wait 
on liim and express this sentiment. At their 
urgent solicitation he withdrew his request 
to be allowed to retire, and so his presence 
and counsel were retained for several suc- 




DK. SAMUEL FORMAN. 



with Dr. Henderson, of Freehold, graduated 
at the University of Pennsylvania, and com- 
menced practice in that State, but remained 
there only a short time, after which (about 
1790) he returned to his native place, where he 
built up a large practice, which he pursued 
diligently for half a centuiy, until 1840. The 
infirmities of old age rendering it necessary for 
him to relinquish the active duties of his pro- 
fession, he retired to his farm, and there passed 
the remainder of his days. 

Dr. Forman was president of the State Medi- 



ceedino- vears 



In 18;32 he and Dr. Jacobus 
Hubbard, Jr., were made honorary members, 
they being the first who were thus complimented. 
Dr. Forman was a descendant of one of the 
oldest families of ]Moumouth County, — stanch 
patriots dui'ing the Revolutionary struggle. He 
was erect in figure, always well dressed, gentle- 
manly in manner, but never stooping to famil- 
iarity. He died in 1845, aged eighty-two years, 
and was buried in the old ground at the Tennent 
Church. 

Jacobus Hubbaed, Je., M. D., another of the 



324 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



corporators of the Medical Societv' of Monmouth, 
was born ou his father's f;irm, near Hohndel, 
April 3, 17G6. He studied in the office of Dr. 
Clark, graduated in the University of Penn- 
sylvania, was licensed in New Jersey, and, 
after pi-acticing with his father for a short time, 
removed tt) Gravesend, Long Island, where he 
remained for two or three years. At the solici- 
tation of friends he retiu-ned to Monmouth 
County, and settled in practice at Tinton Falls, 
where he was actively engaged in the duties of 
his profession for half a century, iiis ride ex- 
tending from Earitan Bay to Manahawkin, and 
Avest into adjacent comities. He was an active, 
energetic man, always at the post of duty, — a 
man whose kindness of heart led him to give 
as ready and cheerful attendance to the poor as 
to the rich. He was somewhat noted for his 
wit ; and humorous sayings and remarks, which 
he uttered without a smile, are quoted until the 
present day through the region of country in 
which he practiced. He was treasurer of the 
Monmouth Society in 1 8 1 6, secretary in 1 8 1 9, vice 
president in 1820, and president in 1827-28. 
In 1832 he was made an honorary member of 
the society. Dr. Samuel Forman receiv- 
ing the same compliment with him. Five 
gentlemen, who afterwards became well known 
physicians, were his pupils, viz., Drs. McKnight, 
Van Mater, Morford, Lefferts, and his nephew, 
William Hubbard. Although never connecting 
himself with any religious denomination, Dr. 
Hubbard was (when his professional duties 
would permit) a regular attendant at the Pres- 
byterian Church in Shrewsl)ury. He died 
February 25, 1847, in the eighty -second year of 
his age, and was buried on the farm where he was 
born. ]\Iore than twenty years afterwards his 
remains were removed, with those of other 
members of his family, to the beautiful Fairview 
Cemetery, near Red Bank. 

Edward Taylor, M. D., only son of Edward 
Taylor, was born in Upi^er Freehold township, 
Monmouth County, May 27, 1762. After grad- 
uating at Princeton College he studied medicine 
with Dr. James Xewell, of Allentown. During 
the winter season he attended lectures at the 
University of Pennsylvania and visited the 
war'ds of the hospital until he received his degree 



of M.D., March 25, 1786. He commenced prac- 
tice at Pemberton, Burlington County, X. J., 
but s<;ion after removed to his native jjlace, where, 
for many years, he engaged wath remarkable 
activity and usefulness in the labor and respon- 
sibilities incident to a large country practice, 
often extending from the Delawai'e liiver to the 
sea-coast, traveling on horseback by day and 
night, regardless of weather. Notwithstanding 
this life of intense mental and physical exertion, 
he, by temperate habits, j^reserved his medium- 
sized, compact frame in an unusually healthy 
condition until near the close of his life, which 
was terminated by a local disease after a short 
illness. 

Identified witli the formation and early history 
of the ^lonmouth Medical Society, Dr. Taylor 
was its vice-president in 1816 and president in 
1820, when he read a valuable address upon 
"The Causes and Treatment of Pneumonic In- 
flammation." In or about the y&xe 1823, under 
a conviction of duty, he accepted the position 
of superintendent of the Friends' Asylum, of 
Fraukford, Pa., which he ably filled for nine 
years, and then returned to his old home in New 
Jersey, wdiere he died on the 2d of May, 1835. 
" His end was peace." Few men have occupied 
a higher position in the estimation of those who 
knew him for morality and strict integrity, 
adorning by his life and conversation the doc- 
trines he professed, and rendering himself be- 
loved and honored by all, but more especiallv 
by the members of his own Society of Friends. 
In the old bur'ying-ground of that society, near 
Cox's Corner, tw^o adjoining mounds, thickly 
covered with myrtle, attract attention. They 
are the graves of Dr. Edward Taylor and his 
wife, Sarah, who preceded him to the land of 
spirits. At the head of each mound, just ap- 
pearing above tiie deep green, is a small brown 
stone, and by depressing the surrounding foliage 
there can be seen inscribed on one "S. T., 1832," 
and upon the other "E. T., 1835," as full an 
epitaph as was permitted by the usage of tlie 
society of wliich they were both members. 

David Foexiax, M. D., son of Dr. Samuel 
Forman, was born at Freehold in the year 17!Ni. 
He received a liberal educiition, studied medi- 
cine with his father, graduated at the University 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



325 



of Pennsylvania al>out the, year 1820 and was 
licensed, after- examination, by the board of 
censors of the Monmonth Medical Society. He 
was admitted a member of that society April 
30, 1821, and was its secretary in 1823-24. 
Associated with his father, he practiced with him 
during the remainder of his short life, acquiring 
the reputation of a successful physician and 
skillful surgeon, which, combined with his fine 
social qualities, made him exceedingly jJopular. 
He died in 1826, aged thirty years, and was 
buried in the old Tennent Church-yard. 

David Forman, Sr., ]\I. D., son of Jonathan 
and Hope Forman, died at IMiddletown De- 
cember 26, 1825, aged thirty-four years, and 
was buried at the Tennent Church. Dr. For- 
man studied medicine with his relative, Dr. 
Samuel Forman. He was licensed by the State 
INIedical Society and located at Middletown, 
where he practiced until his death. He because 
a member of the Monmouth Society in 1818, 
and was its vice-president in 1824. 

JOHX TeXXEXT WOODHILL, M. D., SOU of 

Kev. John Woodhull, forty years pastor of the 
Tennent Church, was born August 24, 17S6. 
He was educated at home, by his father, but 
received the degree of A.INI. from the College 
of Xew Jersey in 1812. His medical preceptor 
was Dr. Van Cleve, M'ho graduated at the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1806. Dr. 
Woodhull commenced practice in Manalapan 
township, where he continued until he relin- 
quished the business in favor of his younger 
brother, Gilbert. Afterwards, however, he re- 
moved to Freehold, and resumed practice. He 
became a member of the County Medical Society 
April 29, 1844; was its vice-president in 1846, 
and president in 1847. He was a member of 
the New .lersey Legislature for several years, 
and was also for some time a judge of the 
County Court. In 1866 he removed to Camden, 
where he resided with his eldest son until his 
death, which occurred on the 1 8th of Novem- 
ber, 1869. He was interred in the burial- 
ground of the old Tennent Church, of which lie 
had been a member for many years. Dr. Wood- 
hull was tall in person, of dignified and gentle- 
manly address ; precise and deliberate in man- 
ner and speech; a pleasant companion, and an 



entertaining and instructive conversationalist. 
Few men were better known or more respected 
than he in Monmouth County. 

GiLBEBT S. Woodhull, M. D., son of the 
Rev. John Woodhull, D.D., M^as born January 
11, 1794. His literary studies were pursued 
with his father, who was a successful teacher, 
as well as minister. His medical preceptors 
were Dr. John T. Woodhull (his brother) and 
Dr. Hosack, of New York. He graduated at 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and 
soon afterwards occupied the field of practice 
held previously by his Ijrother, Dr. John T., 
who declined in his favor. He acquired a very 
large practice in the townships of Freehold, 
Manalapan and Millstone, his business being 
said to be more extensive than that of any other 
physician in the county at that time. He was 
admitted a member of the District Medical 
Society of ^Monmouth in 1818, and was elected 
its president in 1822-23. In 182.5 he was 
elected president of the State Society. 

Dr. Woodhull was a man of fine personal 
appearance, prepossessing address, manners un- 
usually pleasing and magnetic, combining dig- 
nity with a genuine bonhomie. He was 
almost a centaur in his out-of-door life, always 
in the saddle, sitting on his horse with inimi- 



table ease and grace; 



riding at a "slashing 



gait"; shortening distances by crossing fields; 
jumping fences by merely throwing off the top 
rail ; a man of great endurance, and a stranger 
to fatigue. "The close of a morning's ride 
would frequently find him forty miles from his 



■•tarting-place.' 



Inheritino; considerable wealth 



from his father, he practiced rather from love 
of his profession than the desire of pecuniary 
gain. Eminently a pious man, he was chosen 
a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church at 
Perrineville, of which his nephew was the pas- 
tor. This brilliant man died in his thirty- 
seventh year, leaving a wife and three children. 
His fatal illness was congestive fever, l^rought 
on by exposure. He was interred in the burial- 
ground of the Presbyterian Church at Perrine- 
ville, where his grave is marked by a sulistan- 
tial monument inscribed with this Scriptural 
quotation : 

" I have fought a good fight; I have finished my 



326 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



course ; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crowu of rigliteousness, wliich the 
Lord, the righteous Judge, sliall give me at that day ; 
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love 
his appearing." 

Chaeles Gordon Patterson, M. D., second 
son of Judge Jehu Patterson, was born in Mid- 
dletown, ]Monmouth County, September 4, 
179G. He studied with Dr. Wilson, of Middle- 
town, and Dr. Lewis, of Eatontown, and grad- 
uated at the New York University. He com- 
menced practice in the spring of 1816, at Upper 
Squankum, but soon removed to Colt's Neck, 
and thence, in 1817, to New Egypt, where he 
established a reputation as an able and skillful 
physician and surgeon. He became a member 
of the Monmouth Society April '-iO, 1827, and 
was its vice-president in 182!l. He was quick 
iu his perceptions, possessed of versatile talent, 
and a good and ready writer. He died of 
phthisis pulmonalis, at Sykesville, Burlington 
County, February 18, 1835, in the thirty-ninth 
year of his age, leaving a widow and eight chil- 
dren, one of whom was born after his father's 
death, and received his name. 

John B. Throckmorton, M.D., son of James 
and Frances B. Throckmorton, was born at 
South Biver, ^Middlesex County, N. J., April 3, 
179(j. He was educated at Xew Brunswick : 
studied medicine one year with Dr. William G. 
Reynolds, then entered the office of Dr. David 
Hosack, of New York, attending lectures and 
graduating in the College of Piiysicians and 
Sm'geons. He was licensed, after examination 
by the board of censore of the Monmouth ]\Ied- 
ical Society, April 29, 1822 ; was admitted to 
membership iu the society in April, 1824, and 
elected its vice-president in 1830. In the year 
of his admission to the society he located in 
Freehold, and remained there in practice during 
the remainder of his life, earning a good repu- 
tation as a physician, and high esteem for his in- 
tegrity of character. He died at Freehold on 
the 19th of September, 1856, and was buried in 
the graveyard of the Episcopal Church, of which 
he was an exemplary member and warm sup- 
porter. 

James English, Jr., M.D., sou of Dr. James 
English, was born at Englishtown in the year 



1792. He studied medicine with his father, 
attended one course of lectures at the University 
of Pennsylvania, another at the College of Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons, in New York, and was 
licensed by the State Medical Society of New 
Jersey. He had a large practice, established by 
his father, and extended by himself. Hard work 
and exposure broke down his constitution, which 
was never robust, and he died at Englishtown, 
of consumption. May 7, 1834, in his forty-sec- 
ond year, and was buried beside his parents in 
the old Teunent Chiu'ch-yard. 

David C. English, M.D., another son of Dr. 
James English, Sr., was boru at Englishtown. 
After a course of study in the office of his brother 
James, he attended lectures in New York ; was 
licensed by the Medical Society of New Jersey, 
and became a member of the Monmouth Society 
April 24, 1826. He M'as associated with Dr. 
William G. Reynolds, at Matawan, for one year, 
and on the removal of Dr. Reynolds to New 
York, he purchased the office and practice, in 
which he continued for a time, but finding his 
health failing, he removetl to New Brunswick, 
and afterwards to Springfield, Union County, 
where he remained until his death, in 1860. 

Jeremiah Smith English, M.D. — Dr. 
English was born in Englishtown, Monmouth 
County, N. J., November 21, 1 798. He was the 
son of James R. and Alice English, and was 
the fourth iu a family of nine children, — six 
sons and three daughters. He studied medicine 
and graduated from the Medical Department of 
the University of Pennsylvania in May, 1825. 
He commenced the practice of medicine with 
Dr. Reynolds, at iNIatawan ; afterwards went 
to Amwell, in Somerset County, from whence 
he removed to Cranbury ; thence to Manalapan, 
Monmouth Countj-, forming a partnership Mith 
Dr. Gill)ert S. AA'oodhull, which continued until 
the death of the latter. Afterwards Dr. Eng- 
lish continued to practice in this neighborhood 
for many years. While living with Dr. Wood- 
hull he canvassed the county in the interest of 
the Bible Society. He attended and contrib- 
uted to the support of the old Tennent Church 
for many yeairs, until a church was established 
in his immediate neighborhood. In personal 
appearance Dr. English was of light complexion, 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



327 



strongly-marked features, slight in figure, though 
tall and prejwssessiug. His manner was dignified, 
but affable. His directions as to the management 
of his patients were given clearly and concisely, 
conveying the luimistakable impi-ession that he 
expected them carried out ; while at the same 
time his voice was particularly pleasing and 
gentle in the sick-room. His mental qualifica- 
tions were of a high order. He was exceed- 
ingly literary in his tastes ; a great I'eader, fond 
of poetry, which he readily quoted when ap- 
plicable ; of a retentive memory, with a mind 
stored with useful knowlege. His conversa- 
tional powers were remarkably deliberate and 
distinct of utterance, with language always 
choice and often elegant. He married in 1845. 
Of his two children, — both daughters, — one, 
Mrs. Thomas E. ]\Iorris, survives him. 

Dr. English joined the ]\Ionmouth County 
Medical Society April 30, 1827, and May 29, 
1865, was elected an honorary memlier. He 
was treasurer of the Xew Jersey State Medical 
Society from 1833 to 1865 continuously, and 
was afterwards made honorary member. He 
died October iJ, 1879, and M'as buried in Maua- 
lapan C'hurch Cemetery. 

James P. Kearney, M. D., was a pupil of 
Dr. Samuel Formau, at Freehold, and estab- 
lished himself in j)ractice at Keyport. He 
was licensed by censors in October, 1823, and 
admitted to membership in the ^lolmiouth 
Medical Society in April, 1824. He died at 
Keyport in early life, but the date of his death 
has not been ascertained. 

Robert Woodruff Cooke, ^I.D. — Dr. 
Robert AVoodruff Cooke was born in Newton, 
vSussex Coimty, X. J., on the 21st day of Janu- 
ary, 1797. His father. Dr. Ambrose Ellis 
Cooke, with whom he commenced the .study of 
medicme, was a physician of character and dis- 
tinction, whose professional life was mostly spent 
in Somerset County. Dr. Roliert Vt'. Cooke 
subsequently went to the city of New York, en- 
tered the office of Dr. Valentine Mott, and was 
graduated from the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, in that city. In July, 1820, he com- 
menced the practice of his profession in IMon- 
mouth County, .where he spent the remainder of 
his life. 



The most fitting tributes to his memory are 
taken from the address of the pastor of the de- 
ceased on the funeral occasion, and from those 
ex])ressed in the county papers. 

From the sermon : 

" His father and mother taught their children truth, 
virtue and the fear of God. Tliis Ls worthy of special 
mention as an important element in the formation of 
character not only, but of success in life. Dr. Cooke 
was a gentleman, both at home and abroad. With 
kindness and gentleness he ruled his own house, and 
he ruled it well. His hospitalities were generous and 
liberal, and dispensed with a freedom that made the 
stranger feel at home. 

" In his intercourse with the world he was modest, 
unassuming and de'ferential. Possessing great sim- 
plicity of character, he was accessible to all, and met 
every one with kindness and afl'ability. He never 
exulted in the pride of opinion, as though he would 
impress his views upon others, but as a man of taste 
and culture was satisfied to enjoy his own. 

" But it was in his profession — in that specialty to 
which he had devoted his life — that he stood at his full 
height ; to this he gave all his energies. It was not 
that he had no taste for literature, or art, or the abstract 
sciences, that he turned from them, for he had a taste 
delicate and refined, but a stronger bond held him and 
he made the sacrifice. All his reading and study had 
butone\'iew— the better to qualify him forthe discharge 
of his duty. With his books he conversed in his 
leisure hours and in hours when other men slept; so it 
was that he neversuffered himself to become antiquated 
in his profession, but kept himself fully abreastof all the 
advances made, and was sometimes able to anticipate 
them. But rising still higher than professional excel- 
lence, Dr. Cooke was a conscientious man. In his 
modes of thought on moral and religious subjects 
could be ])lainly seen the influence of early parental 
training. His views of moral obligation and duty 
were those inculcated in the Scriptures, and by these 
his aim was to regulate liis conduct. 

" He was a firm and fast friend of the church, always 
manifesting an interest in its prosperity, and con- 
tributing to that end. As a hearer of the Gospel he 
was earnest and attentive, always as constant as his 
professional duties would admit. 

"His closing illness was short. During this time, when 
a-sked whether he wa.s apprehensive of death, he re- 
plied that his race was almost run, and he had hope 
in Jesus Christ as his Saviour ; he also said that in 
his body he suffered, but his mind was in peace. 

" And so he passed away." 

From the Monmouth Democrat : 

" Dr. Kobert W. Cooke, one of the most able and ex- 
perienced physicians of this county, departed this life 
on Friday evening. The funeral services were held 



328 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



in the Reformed Church, Holmdel, Tuesday morning, 
December 31st. The day was extremely cold, but an 
immense gathering of the substantial citizens from 
every part of the county assembled at an early hour 
and filled the church to its utmost capacity. At 
twelve o'clock the mournful procession entered the 
church ; the remains were borne by six carriers, and 
attended by Drs. T. J. Thomason, Smith English, Al- 
fred B. Dayton and H. Longstreet, who acted as pall- 
bearers. The leading jiractitioners of medicine in our 
county were present, testifying their high esteem and 
affection for their esteemed friend. Rev. Dr. Reiley 
conducted the funeral services, assisted by Rev. Ralph 



careful teaching and an exemplary life ; he was a man 
of eminent worth as to his general influence and 
Christian bearing ; he was an earnest supporter of the 
church and all its institutions, and a kind friend to 
his pastor. In his last sickness he gave evidence of the 
most confident hope that, through the mercy of God, 
his future would be blessed. The sad and tender ser- 
vices closed, and the remains were carried to their last 
resting-place, in the family plot at Brick Church, Marl- 
borough. The funeral services of the Reformed Church 
were read at the grave by Dr. Reiley, and the honored, 
beloved physician was left to sleep with the kindred 
dust until the beautiful morning of the resurrection." 





'.^^.^^^^^ 



Willis and other clergymen who were present. A 
selection of Scripture was read from loth chapter of 
1st Corinthians. Prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Wil- 
son, pastor of the Baptist Church. Dr. Reiley an- 
nounced his text, Ps. xc. 1-5 — ' Make us glad according 
to the days wherein Thou hast afiiicted us,' etc. He 
alluded with much tenderness to the atflictions which 
the family had endured, and to the death, in the early 
part of the year, of the beloved and only daughter of 
Dr. Cooke, which sad event was still fresh in the 
memory of his hearers, and was considered an appro- 
priate eulogy of the departed. Dr. Cooke gave evi- 
dence of the principles of the Christian religion by 



"To the Editor of the Monmouth Democrat: 

" I expected to see, in last week's issue, a more ex- 
tended obituary notice of the death of Dr. Robert W. 
Cooke, long a prominent and leading physician of 
the county of Monmouth, for seldom have they been 
called upon to chronicle the death of a man of such 
marked character. 

" Dr. Cooke was suddenly and unexpectedly called 
alike from the field of his labors and the field of his 
triumphs. We are no less taught an impressive and 
instructive lesson in the death of such a man. As an 
act of justice to the distinguished character of the 
lamented dead, and in order that the living may profit 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



329 



by the example of his life and iufluenees, I may be 
permitted, through these columns of your paper, to 
briefly allude to some of the more prominent facts in 
his life, and at the same time pay the tribute of a 
friend to his memory. 

"I do not propose in this brief narrative to indulge in 
the language of eulogy. My respect for the dead and 
regard for the living would alike forbid the attempt. 

" Dr. Cooke breathed his last December 27, 1867, at 
his home in Holmdel, surrounded by the members of 
his family and affectionate friends ; it was evident for 
some hours previous to his decease, to those who were 
watching at his bedside, that he could not recover ; 
but all that science or affection could suggest was done 
to relieve his sufferings and gently smooth his path- 
way to the grave. 

"Dr. Cooke, while a young man, came to this county 
in the year 1820. Being endowed by nature with a 
keen perception and thrown upon his own energies, 
he soon realized and acted upon the fact that, under 
the laws of our country and the genius of our institu- 
tions, the road to wealth, to honor and fame is the re- 
■\vard of merit. After a few years of practice that was 
extremely flattering to a young man, he became 
acquainted with and married Miss Susan Gansevoort 
of Albany, N. Y., who survives, and, with three sons, 
mourns his loss. The whole country also deplores the sad 
event. Dr. Cooke had been assiduously devoted 
to the practice of his profession for over forty- 
seven years, and was eminently successful ; although 
having a very extensive practice, he was a close 
student; he kept himself thoroughly informed 
of the progress of the science of medicine, and 
the development of that noble science was the object, 
aim and ambition of his life. The confidence in his 
skill was unbounded, the estimation of his honor and 
candor never overrated. 

" Dr. Cooke was an enthusiast in his profession. He 
was never known to refuse a call ; the high or low, the 
rich or poor, were always met with the response, ' I 
will come.' I have heard it confessed on all sides 
that he was a marked man in his profession. In con- 
versation with a highly-esteemed and eminent physi- 
cian of this town (Freeliold), a long, warm and inti- 
mate friend of the deceased, and of whom Dr. Cooke 
entertained the utmost confidence and esteem, he re- 
marked, that he had never felt more sadly than when 
he stood by the side of his grave and heard the solemn 
and impressive words, ' Earth to earth, dust to dust 
ashes to ashes;' but he added, 'death has chosen for a 
victim a man by head and shoulders taller than all 
the rest of us ; and how can we but feel impressed with 
the fact that the glories of our mortal state are but 
shadows, and not substantial ?' 

"H." 

The graudfathor of the deceased, Dr. R. W. 
Cooke, Colonel Ellis Cooke, of Morris County, 
N. J., was a very prominent pnltlif man, and 



maintained the respect and confidence of a large 
constituency for many years. He was member 
of the Council for three years, and of the House 
of Assembly for fijurteen years. He Avas a 
delegate from jMorris County to the first Pro- 
vincial Cono-ress. 

John Morford, M.D., son of Thomas :Mor- 
ford, of Shrewsbury township, was born in 
18();5. His medical preceptor was Dr. Jacolnis 
Hubbard, Jr., of Tinton Falls. He was grad- 
uated at the University of Xew York, and 
licensed, after examination Ijy the censors of the 
Monmoutli Medical Society, in April, 1824. 
Two years afterwards he was admitted to mem- 
bership in the society. In 1825 he located at 
S([uan village, where he remained in practice 
until his death, in December, 1839, at the age 
of tliirty-six years. His practice was extensive, 
and lie was exceedingly popular as a physician, 
and respected and esteemed as a citizen. 

William Forman, M. D., was born in Mon- 
mouth County, near New Egypt, on the 17th 
of August, 1796. He studied medicine with 
Dr. Samuel Holcomb, of Alleutown, attended 
two courses of lectures at the University of 
Pennsylvania and graduated in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, in New York, in 1819. 
He was licensed by the board of censors April 
24, 1820, and admitted a member of the Men- 
mouth Society in the same year. He Avas its pres- 
ident in 1829 and president of the State Society 
in 18.3o. He occupied in succession several 
important fields of labor, commencing with 
New Egypt; removed thence to Spottswood, 
Middlesex County; thence to Eatontown, Mon- 
mouth County ; thence to Paradise, Lancaster 
County, Pa. ; thence to Allentown, Monmouth 
County, N. J. ; and thence to Princeton, where 
he died of typhoid fever February 22, 1848. 
He is mentioned as a man of remarkable talent, 
a fine scholar and a writer of much merit, and 
as a very skillful physician, having among his 
patrons some of the best families in Princeton. 

Arthur V. Cosover, M.D. — Dr. Artlmr 
V. Conover Mas born on the 30th of January, 
1809, in Manalapan townshij:), and remained 
until the age of fourteen under the paternal roof. 
He then became a pupil of the academy at Law- 
renceville, N. J., and at the expiration of the 



330 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



third year entered both the Classical and Medical 
Departments of Princeton College. One year 
later he became a student of medicine in the 
office of Dr. William Van Duzen, of New Brmis- 
wick, N. J., and graduated from the Duane 
Street Medical College, in New York, in 1829. 
He began the practice of his profession in jNIan- 
alapan township, which was continued with suc- 
cessful results for several years. A taste for 
public life influenced him, in 1837, to accept the 
nomination for Representative in the State I^eg- 



vid v., married, in 1863, to Miss Charlotte B. 
Read, whose children are Florence V. and Ar- 
thur v.; William A., of Hackettstown, N. J., 
a graduate of the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons, New York, married, in 1875, to Miss 
Laura M. Read, M-hose children are Madeline 
M., Carlton R. and William A., Jr ; Jacob C, 
who graduated from the Georgetown Medical 
College, Washington, D. C, and was married, in 
1877, to Miss Laura G. Abendroth, whose only 
daughter is Alice V. Dr. Conover, in 1866, 




islature, to which he was elected the same year 
by his Democratic constituents. He was, in 
1849, made surrogate of Monmouth County, 
which necessitated the abandonment of his prac- 
tice and his removal to Freehold, wliere he filled 
the latter office for a term of ten years. Dr. 
Conover was married, on the 6th of October, 
1831, to Miss Eliza A., daughter of David R. 
Van Derveer, of the same count}-. Their chil- 
dren are Ellen V., married, in 1859, to "Philip J. 
Ryall, whose only child is Juliet Scuddcr ; Da- 



having purchased a valuable property at Long 
Branch, made it his residence, meanwhile 
spending the winter months in Florida. In 
1877 he returned to Freehold, which has since 
been his liome. The doctor is a member of both 
Count V and State ]\Iedical Societies. He has 
also filled the office of bank director and been 
identified with other important enterprises, 
though since his retirement from professional 
and public life these responsibilities have been 
in a measure relinquished. 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



331 



The common ancestor of the Conover family 
in America was Wolfhert Gerretsen Van Cov- 
cnhoven, who emigrated from the province of 
Utrecht, in Holland, in 1630, and settled in Al- 
bany, N. Y. He later engaged in farming on 
Manhattan Island. He had three sons, — Gar- 
ret, Jacob and Peter, — of whom Garret settled as a 
farmer in Flatlands, and married Altje Cornelipe 
Cole. He had four children, of whom a sou 
William, born 16-36, married, for his second 



Catherine (Mrs. Joseph Ely), Helen (Mrs. Ho- 
ratio Ely), and Emma. 

Joseph C. Thompson, M.D., was born 
October 23, 1804, in tiie township of Manala- 
pan, the home of his youth. Here he pursued 
his early studies under exceptionally favorable 
circumstances, and later the classics and higher 
branches at the academy at Lawrenceville, 
N. J. On the completion of his course he 
entered the office of Dr. Gilbert S. Woodhull, 





(g^^^T^:^^/-^ , 




wife, Jannetje Montfoort, in 16(i5. In the di- 
rect line of descent was John I. Conover, grand- 
father of Dr. Arthur \^., a farmer in Manalapan 
township, -whose children Avere three sons, — 
John, Robert and William I.,— and two daugli- 
ters,— Leah (Mrs. William Ten Eyck), and 
Elizabeth (^[rs. James Robinson). William I., 
born on the homestead, married Jane, daughter 
of Tunis Van Derveer, and was the father of 
children, — Tunis, John, Arthur V., Jane, (Mrs. 
John Van Mater), Ann (Mrs. William Ely), 



^^'^^?l^j0l^-i<^ 



of the same township, as a student of medicine, 
continuing with the latter two and a half years, 
during which time he attended lectures at the 
medical college in Duane Street, New York, from 
which institution he was graduated in 1828. 
He at once engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession in Manalapan township, from whence, a 
few years later, he removed to Tom's River, 
Ocean County, N. J., then within the bound- 
aries of Monmouth County, and continued 
professionally occupied for six years. At the 



332 



HISTOKY OF MOiNMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



expiration of this period, having abandoned 
practice, he returned to Manalapan and pur- 
chased his present residence, near the homestead 
of his father and opposite the ground made 
historic as the field of the battle of Monmouth. 
Here he has since been actively engaged in 
farming', oivino; mucli attention to the breeding 
of Durham cattle and Southdown sheep. As 
advancing years admonished him to relinquish 
labor, tjie manasemeut of the farm has been 
relegated to his son. Dr. Thompson was, ou 
the 23d of February, 1834, married to Miss 
Elizabeth R., daughter of Elijah Combs, of 
Manalapan township. Their only son, William 
A., was born July 16, 1837, and is married to 
Lydia M., daughter of Robert H. Conover, of 
the same township, whose children are Adelaide 
C, born April 18,1872; Augusta R., born 
April 6, 1874 ; Joseph C, born Feljruary (j, 
1877. Their only daughter, Anna Elizabeth, 
born October 13, 1856, is the wife of Frank T. 
McDermott, whose children ai'e Frank and an 
infant. Dr. Thomjjson, though an ardent Re- 
publican in politics, has never been active as a 
politician. He is identified as director with 
the Freehold and Englishtown Turnpike Com- 
pany, and with other public enterprises in the 
county. He has been for many years connected 
M'ith the Monmouth County Med ieal Society, as 
also by membership) with the Monmouth 
Grange, No. 92. The doctor has been for 
thirty years a trustee and for more than forty 
years a member of the Old Tennent Church, 
in Manalapan township. The death of Mrs. 
Thompson occurred on the 26th of September, 
1S68. Joseph Thompson, the grandfather of 
Dr. Thompson, was born December 11, 1743, 
and married Sai-ah, daughter of Peter and 
Leah Conover. To this marriage were born 
nine children, of whom William I., whose birth 
occurred March 19, 1779, married Margaret, 
daughter of Denise Denise, whose children 
were six in number, inclusive of the subject of 
this biographical sketch. 

Geandix Lloyd, 'SI. D., was born October 
13, 1807, in Freehold, where, a little more than 
twenty years later, he became a medical student 
in the office of Dr. John B. Throckmorton. 
He attended lectures at the University of Penn- 



sylvania, was licensed by the Xcw Jersey 
Medical Society June 12, 1833, and located in 
Freehold, where he remained in practice luuil 
his death. May 30, 1852. He was a successful 
practitioner, enjoying the confidence of his 
patients to a very great extent, and his mem- 
ory is still cherished for his many good qualities, 
particularly for his kind and ready attention to 
the poor,, who never called on him in vain for 
attention and aid. He became a member of 
the Monmouth Society in April, 1844, was its 
vice-president in 1845 and president in the 
following year. 

C. C. Blauvelt, M. D., was a member of the 
Monmouth Society, though only a short time in 
practice within the county. He was born at 
New Brunswick, August 20, 1806, and educated 
at Rutgers College, after which he went to Vir- 
ginia as a school-teacher, and while there studied 
medicine in the University at Charlottesville. 
Returning to New Jersey, he was licensed by the 
State IMedical Society, and commenced practice 
at Holmdel, Monmouth County, where he mar- 
ried and remained for two years, during which 
time he became a member of the County Society. 
From Holmdel he removed to Hightstown, 
Mercer County, still retaining his connection 
with the Monmouth organization, of which he 
was elected vice-president in 1833, president in 
1834 and treasurer for 1840. In or about 1854 
he was elected president of the State Medical 
Society. He remained in practice in Hights- 
town until his death, March 28, 1855. Dr. 
Blauvelt was a man of fine personal appearance, 
being above the middle height, with a decidedly 
intellectual cast of face, and remarkal)ly easy 
and gentlemanly in manner. His deport- 
ment in the sick-room was singularly happy, 
iusj)iring love, respect and confidence. A 
good conversationalist and writer, a natural 
and cultivated musician, of social and obliging 
disposition, and lionorable as well as skillful 
in his profession, he could not fail to be, as he 
was, exceedingly popular as a physician and as 
a man. Few had more or warmer friends. 

Alfred B. Dayton, M.D., was born at 
Basking Ridge, Somerset County, N.J., Decem- 
ber 25, 1812. He came of that family, so 
distinguished in the history of the State, M'hich 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



333 



gave to its service and that of tlie uatiou the 
late Hon. "William L. Dayton, his brotlier; 
another is James B. Dayton, of Camden. 

He enjoyed educational advantages of a su- 
perior character, and completed his preparatory 
training at Princeton College. Having chosen 
the medical profession, he was accorded the most 
esteemed aids in his study, and was graduated 
from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
New York, in the spring of 18:35. After a 
short term of practice at Chester, Morris County, 
N. J., he scttleil at ^latawan (then ]\Iiddletowu- 
Point), where he opened an office in July, 18:55. 
In this location he continued in active practice 
tor thirty-five years, achieving large success, 
and enjoying the high esteem of a very wide 
circle of jjatients and friends. He became a 
member of the District ^ledical Society in April, 
1811, the same year was chosen its vice-presi- 
dent, and the following year its president. He 
was also a member of the State Medical Society, 
and in 1854 elected its president. Upon the 
roll of the National Medical Association his 
name was registered as a jjermanent member. 
Dr. Davton possessed oratorical and rlietorical 
powers of a high order, being a graceful speaker 
and a polished writer. To the medical press he 
contributed many papers, all of which com- 
manded the resjjectful attention of the profession. 
Auiong them may be specially mentioned the 
following : " Review of the Principles and 
Practice of Thompsonianism," " Mollities Os- 
sium," " Inversion of the Uterus, with Method 
of Reduction, and Case Illustrated," " Cerebro- 
spinal Meningitis," and " Dry Gangrene." A 
refined and cultivated gentleman, his deport- 
ment in all the relations of life was dignified 
and pleasing. To his medical brethren he was 
kind, com-teous and honorable, regarding the 
ethical rules regulating professional intercourse 
with scrupulous care. He died July 19, 1870. 
His wife was Elizabeth R. A'andcrveer, a native 
of Somerville, N. J. A son, Rensselaer "^^^ 
Dayton, was graduated at Princeton College in 
18():j, read law with Hon. Henry S. Little, of 
Matawan, and is practicing his profession at that 
place. 

John P. Lewis, M.D., was born at the Nave- 
sink Highlands, in Middletown township, Octo- 



ber 1, 1788. At seven years of age he was 
adopted by a maternal aunt, and removed with 
her to Shelburne, Nova Scotia, where he en- 
joyed the benefit of a classical school of high 
reputation. On the death of his aunt he re- 
turned to his native county, and continued his 
literary studies with the Rev. John Woodhull, 
D.D., pastor of the Tennent Church, imtil he 
was fitted to enter the office of Dr. Aaron I'it- 
ney as a medical student, at the same time at- 
tending lectures in the Medical Department of 
Columbia College, New York. He was a fel- 
low-student with Dr. Francis, whose confidence 
and friendship he enjoyed through life. He 
received his degree and was licensed by the 
State Society in 1810, and commenced practice 
at Squan ; but in 1811 removed to Eaton town, 
w^hcre he continued in practice until his death. 
He was admitted to membership in the ]\Ion- 
mouth Society in 1820, and was its president in 
185:3. His essay read on that occasion was 
much admired. 

I)r. Lewis was a very successful practitioner. 
In surgery he excelled, adding discretion to 
skill. For a time he was recognized as the sur- 
geon of the entire middle and eastern portions 
of the county. He was always a student in his 
profession, appropriating new discoveries in 
medical science and incorporating them in his 
practice. He was exceedingly mirthful and 
social, — given to practical jokes and humorous 
savings, many of which are traditional in the 
neiohborhood of Eatontown. His cheerful 
manner, combined with the rare faculty of at 
once gaining confidence, had a salutary effect on 
his patients. From his large fund of anei'dotes 
he M'as always sure to draw one applicable to 
the occasion. Once, on l)oing called in haste to 
see an old lady who had the reputation of being 
a scold, he found her with a dislocated jaw, and 
coolly remarked : " I never saw you when you 
were so quiet; better leave it so, I guess." He 
however reduced the dislocation, and her first 
remark, as he retreated, was, " Get out, you old 
fool ; vou come here to insult me." The doctor 
departed, laughing, and observing as he went, 
" It works just as well as ever, don't it ? You 
arc all right now." On another occasion a 
, phvsician, who had failed in his treatment of a 



334 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



case which Dr. Lewis had afterwards treated 
successfully, met the latter in a narrow road, 
and coming to a full stop, shouted : " I never 
turn out for quacks." To which Dr. Lewis 
replied, coolly and without hesitation, "I always 
do!" and rode on. Scores of similar incidents 
and sayings of his ai"e still remembered. He 
died on the 27th of February, 1861, and was 
interred in the Episcopal burial-ground at 
Shrewsbury, his funeral being attended by the 
Grand Lodge of New Jersey, F. and A. M., 
of which he was a Past Grand Master. 

Daniel Polhemos, JNI. D., was a medical 
student in the office of Dr. Gilbert S. Wood- 
hull, and graduated in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, in New York, in the spring of 
1828/ and was at that time twenty-t^^•o years 
of age. In April of the same year he was 
licensed by the censors of the Monmouth Medi- 
cal Society, and located in practice at English- 
town. In October of the same year he was 
admitted to memliership in the Society ; was 
elected its vice-president in 1831, and president 
in 1832. He filled the office of secretary dur- 
ing sixteen years. He was of delicate constitu- 
tion and sjmre frame, yet by care and regular 
habits was enabled to withstand for thirty years 
the exposure incident to a country practice, but 
finally succumbed to a disease which he had 
always feared would prove fatal to him. He died 
of pneumonia, after a short illness, at English- 
town, on the 1st of March, 1858, at the age of 
fifty-two years. He was buried in the old Ten- 
nent Churchyard, where a handsome monument 
marks his last resting-place. He was a man of 
irreproachable character, kind and gentle in 
manner, and he enjoyed in the highest degree 
the respect and esteem of the community among 
whom his professional life was jJassed. 

William L. Debow, M. D., was a native of 
Enarlishtown, born in 1845. He studied medi- 
cine with Dr. Daniel Polhemus, and graduated 
at the ^Massachusetts Medical College in 1836. 
He was attached to the Northern Dispensary 
of the City of New York for six years, as 
aj)othecary and physician. His health became 
impaired, and in 1840 he removed to English- 
town, where, for several years, he was associated 
with his brother-in-law. Dr. Polhemus. He 



became a member of the Monmouth Society 
April 28, 1845; was vice-president in 1847, 
and president in 1848. Not long after his re- 
turn to Englishtown his health improved and 
was afterwards fully restored, so that he was 
enal)led to perform the arduous duties of his 
profession, and he acquired an extensive prac- 
tice, enjoying an enviable reputation for skill as 
a physician and surgeon, both with the com- 
munity and the profession. He remained in 
practice at Englishtown until his death, which 
came suddenly and unexpected, on the 31st of 
of October, 1858, at the age of forty-three 
years, lea-ving a widow and a large circle of 
warm personal friends to mourn their loss. His 
remains were interred in the Tennent Church- 
yard. 

Edmund W. Allen, M. D., who practiced as 
a physician at Shrewsbury for fifty-five years, 
was a native of that township, born on the 14th 
of August, 1788. He studied medicine with 
Dr. Samuel Tenbrook ; attended lectures at the 
University of Pennsylvania ; was examined, 
April 11, 1810, by Drs. Tenbrook and Charles 
Smith, and received license on the same day at 
the liands of Andrew Kirkpatrick, chief justice, 
and William Russell, second justice of the State 
of New Jersey. Locating in practice at Shrews- 
bury village, he became a member of the INIon- 
mouth iMedical Society in or about the year 
1817; was its vice-president in 1822-23, 
president in 1824, secretary in 1821 and 1827. 
Constitutionally delicate, he was, nevertheless, by 
judicious care, enabled to preserve unbroken his 
professional labors through the long period 
above mentioned, with the excejition of a single 
interruption of two or three months in 1850, 
the result of an accident which nearly proved 
fatal. He mistook the condition of a draw- 
bridge at Eahway in the darkness of the night, 
and was precipitated into the river. Recovering 
from the effects of this accident, he finally fell a 
victim to catarrh, resulting in phthisis, from 
which he died May 17, 1867, after a confine- 
ment of two or three months to his room. His 
mind was bright and clear to the last. 

Dr. Allen was, both in liis professional and 
social life, a gentleman of tlic old school. He 
was friendly without familiarity ; always kind. 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



335 



yet dignified, and remarkaljly prudent in 
speech. First acquaintance with him always 
inspired esteem and confidence. To a strong 
will was added warm feelings, always, how- 
ever, under admirable control. His judgment 
was sound and his memory tenacious. Entirely 
devoted to his pi'ofessiou, all other claims were 
held subservient to its calls. Rich and poor 
received his attention alike. Firm and self- 
reliant, he was also singularly modest, never 
boasting of his attainments or his successes. In 



recommended for license by the board of cen- 
sors of the Monmouth Medical Society, April 
24, 1820, and admitted a member of the society 
April ;30, 1821. He was associated in practice 
with Dr. Woodhull for one year, then renxjved 
to Hopewell township, Mercer (then Hunter- 
don) County, where he acquired a good practice. 
Ho died in or about 1868, respected and regret- 
ted by the community in which he had lived 
and practiced for more than forty years. 

WiLi^iAM H. Hubbard, M.D. — Dr. Hub- 





liis years of health he had been a regular attend- 
ant at the services of the Episcopal Church, 
and during his final illness he became one of its 
communicants, and his remains were interred in 
its burial-ground, where his grave is marked by 
a beautiful monument. 

James H. Baldwin, M.D., was born near 
the " Burnt Tavern," in Millstone township, 
about the year 1807. He was an office student of 
Dr. Gilbert S. Woodhull; attended two courses of 
lectures at the University of Pennsylvania ; was 



bard is a descendant of Henry Hubbard and 
Margaret, his wife, who lived in the town of 
Langham, county of Rutland, England, the 
youngest of whose eleven children was James, 
familiarly known as " Sergeant James." The 
latter, together with six other families, accom- 
panied Lady Deborah Moody to the United 
States in 1643, and settled in New England. 
Religious intolerance influenced their removal 
again to Gravesend, Long Island, where Ser- 
geant James Hubbard was made a magistrate of 



336 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



the townforthe years 1650, 1651, 1653 and 1663, 
and represented the town in a convention held 
at New Amsterdam, November 26, 1653, " to 
devise and i-ecommeud measures for the public- 
security and put a stop to the piracies and rob- 
beries of one Thomas Baxter." He married, on 
the 31st of December, 1664, Elizabeth Bailies, 
and died prior to 1693. His son James was 
born December 10, 1665, and married Rachel 

. The other children of James and 

Elizabeth Hubbard were Rebecca, Elizabeth, 
John and Elias. James and Rachel had 
. among their children a son James, who married 
and had several children, one of whom was 
Jacobus, born May 23, 1714, and married to 
Rebecca Swart, of Monmouth County, N. J., 
on the 17th of November, 1765. Their chil- 
dren were Jacobus, Samuel, Tunis, Elias and 
John. Elias married Nelly Hendrickson, whose 
children are five sons and two daughters, — Wil- 
liam H. and James D. (twins), born September 
30, 1812, Tunis, John S., Rebecca Ann, Mary 
C. and Elias. William H. received an aca- 
demic education at the Baptisttown Academy, 
and in 1829 began the study of medicine with 
his uncle, Dr. Jacobus Hubbard, Jr., at Tinton 
Falls, N. J., and Dr. C. C. Blauvelt, at Holm- 
del, the former of whom was a successful prac- 
titioner for over half a century. He (William 
H.) was graduated in 1834, and at once became 
associated with his uncle and preceptor in the 
profession. On the retirement of the latter, he 
continued in practice tor twenty years at Tinton 
Falls. Dr. Hubbard was married, October 10, 
1836, to Miss Ellen, daughter of John and 
Mary Cook, their three children being Charles, 
Mary Ellen (Mrs. Stephen S. Williamson) and 
Eliza, who died in 1882. The doctor, in 1856, 
removed to Gravesend during an epidemic of 
yellow fever, and remaining until 1862, returned 
to IMonmouth County, making Red Bank his 
residence, where he engaged in active practice. 
His labors in this field have been arduous, ex- 
tending over a vast area of territory and reciuiring 
long rides and unceasing industry. Dr. Hub- 
bard has recently relini]uished his practice, 
advancing years rendering it no longer ex- 
pedient to undergo the fatigue and constant 
activity necessary to gratify his many patients. 



He is a member of the Monmouth County 
Medical Society, and was on one occasion 
delegate to the meeting of the State Medical 
Society. He has for years been connected with 
the Masonic and the Odd-Fellows' fraternities. 

JoHX R. CoxoVER, M.D., was born near 
Freehold in the year 1813. Having received a 
liberal education, he studied medicine with Dr. 
Howell, of Princeton, and attended lectures at 
Fairfield Medicid College, in the State of New 
York, and afterwards at the University Medi- 
cal College, in New York City, where he re- 
ceived his diploma. He first located at Red 
Bank, M'here he built up a large practice. In 
1841 he was elected to the State Legislature,, 
where he served three terms. In 1856 he was 
elected surrogate of Monmouth County, which 
office he held for two consecutive terms. In 
the spring following his first election as surro- 
gate he removed to Freehold, where ho again 
entered upon the practice of his profession, 
which he pursued until his death, March 26,. 
1871. Throughout his professional life he was 
a successful practitioner, and possessed the con- 
fidence, to a high degree, of those who entrusted 
themselves to his care. He became a member , 
of the Monmouth Medical Society in 1852. 

RoBEKT R. CoxovEK, M.D., was born in 
Freehold township, Monmouth County, on the 
3d of October, 1824. His father, Colonel 
Robert Conover, who died in 1826, was a na- 
tive of the same township, and followed agri- 
cultural pursuits, having served with ability 
and distinction in the War of 1812. The mother 
of Robert R. Conover was Gertrude Sutphen,. 
also of Monmouth County, and granddaugh- 
ter of David Sutphen, one of the Revolu- 
tionary patriots who fought in the battles of 
which olil Monmouth was the scene Dr. 
Conover's early education was chiefly obtained 
in a boarding-school and academy at Mt. Holly. 
Being destined for the medical profession, he 
commenced hisstudiesin 1843 under the tuition 
of his brother, the late Dr. John R. Conover, 
then of Red Bank. After two years of diligent 
study he mati'iculated at the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons in New York, where he 
attended the winter course of 1845—46. The 
next course he took at tlie Universitv of New 




d^-p—i:' 



II 






MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



337 



York, from which he was graduated iu the 
spring of 1847, receiving therefrom his degree 
of M.D. During this session he was also an 
attendant at the celebrated private school of 
medicine of Dr. William Detmold. Tjocating- 
at Red Bank, he, from 1847 until his death on 
the 28th of August, 1884, was engaged inactive 
practice, being associate<l with his brother until 
that gentleman's removal to Freehold, in 1858. 
During the long period in which Dr. Conover 
-practiced in Monmouth County he was exclu- 
'sively devoted to his profession, securing a very 
extensive patronage, enjoying the entire confi- 
dence of his numerous patients, as well as the 
community at large, and commanding the respect 
of the most distinguished of his jirofessional 
brethren. He was for many years member of 
the Monmouth County Medical Society, and 
for one year its president, as also several times 
delegate to the Xew Jersey State Medical 
Society. Dr. Conover was, on the 25th of No- 
vember, l<S(j;5, married to Anna Maria, daughter 
of Edmund Throckmorton, of Red Bank. 
Their only daughter is Anna T. Conover. 

Dp: ^VITT ^^'. Barclay, M. D., was born 
at Cranbury, ^Middlesex County, on the 8th of 
February, 1818. His preliminary education was 
received at the academy of his native place. He 
pursued his medical studies in the office of 
Dr. Grandin Lloyd, of Freehold, antl at the 
Crosby Street Medical College, in New York, 
where he graduated in 1S47. Being licensed 
by the State Society in the same year, he com- 
menced practice iu partnership with his precep- 
tor, locating himself at Turkey, Monmouth 
County, where he acquired an extensive jiractice, 
to which he assiduously devoted himself for 
several years, until his health failed, when he 
jjurchased a farm and removed to it. Into his 
agricultural pursuits he carried the same energy 
which characterized his medical career. After 
a few years, thinking his health re-established, 
he sold his farm and returned to his former 
location and jiracticc; but thelaborand exposure 
incident to an active professional lifesoon revived 
the old disease, and after many attacks (with inter- 
vals of comparative health), he died, of phthisis 
pulmonalis, March 20, 1867. Dr. Barclay was 
a man of small stature, exceedingly well formed, 
22 



with a quick, nervous movement, a handsome 
face, a remarkably fine expressive eye, and of gen- 
erous, impulsive feeling and temperament. He 
was admitted to membership in the Monmouth 
Society April 24, 1848 ; was made its vice-presi- 
dent in the following year, and president in 1850. 

Thomas James Thomason, M.D., has an 
enviable place in the recollection and regard 
of Monmouth County people. He livfid at 
Perrineville, and practiced medicine there and 
in the surrounding region from 1854 until his 
death, in 1880, a period of twenty-six years, 
including the whole of his mature and active 
life. Both professionally and socially, as the 
skilled physician and the high-minded, honor- 
able man, he was esteemed and loved by a 
wide circle of acquaintances. Of a quiet, un- 
demonstrative nature, and taking no active part 
in public aifairs, he was not generally known 
beyond the region in which his life of labor 
was spent, but among his professional brethren 
his fame extended throughout the State and 
even beyond, and such eminent physicians as 
Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, and the late Dr. S. W. 
Gross, of Philadelphia, and other equally 
prominent practitioners in New York and else- 
where were his warm friends and admirers. 

Dr. Thomason was of English descent. His 
father, Rev. Denny Ray Thomason, was born in 
Thaxted, Essex County, England, January 9, 
ll'M), graduated from Highbury College, near 
Loudon. Married, October 16, 1828, Eliza- 
beth, daughter of William White, banker, of 
Deal, Kent County, England (born June 16, 
1803), and in 1830 immigrated with her to 
America, soon thereafter locating in Phila- 
delphia. He was a Presbyterian clergyman, 
and occupied the puli)its of several leading 
churches of that denomination very satisfactorily 
until 1841, when a bronchial affection incapac- 
itated him for public speaking. He was a deep 
classical scholar, and the remainder of his life was 
devoted to literary pursuits. He left many fruits 
of his labors in the form of commentaries upon 
the Gospels and Epistles, some of which have 
been published, while others exist only in manu- 
script. His death occurred Sei^tember 16, 1879, 
while he was visiting at his son's house, in Per- 
rineville, preceded by his wife's, July 24, 1875. 



338 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Thoimis James Thoraason was the fourtli in 
the family of seven children, the tirst three of 
whom died in infancy, and the three who were 
his juniors being William White, Henry 
Frederick Priestly and Mary Eveline Gurney, 
of whom only the first-named is now living. 
Thomas James was born October 11, 18.3.3, in 
Philadelphia, where his youth was passed and 
his literary and professional education received. 
He had a predilection for medicine, studied it 



sided in Philadelphia. As has already been 
indicated, he obtained prominence and popu- 
larity. The esteem in which he was held by 
his professional brethren is, in some measure, 
attested by the fact that he was made the presi- 
dent of the State Medical Society of New Jer- 
sey and occupied that station during 1873-74, 
while he was a prominent member and official of 
the County Society, and held the position of its 
treasurer at the time of his death. He was gener- 





:^__.. 




assiduously and graduated with honor from the 
Medical Department of the Pennsylvania Col- 
lege in the spring of 1854, before he was twenty- 
one years of age. Very shortly afterward, and 
in the same year, he came to Monmouth Count}', 
and selecting Perrineville as a favorable loca- 
tion for the practice of his profession, settled 
there. Prior to this time, upon December 22, 
1852, he had married, in his native city, Anna 
M. Gaston, a lady of education and refinement, 
who survives him, and since his death has re- 



ally conceded to have stood at the head of his pro- 
fession in the county. As to his sterling 
qualities as a physician but little need be said, 
they being so well and widely known. He 
was a man wrapped up in his profession, giv- 
ing all his time, energy and great ability to it, 
and many a past sufferer, now living, can bear 
testimony to his skill. In the midst of his 
hurried and laborious cares he always was 
ready with a courteous and kindly word for 
those who came in his way, and he always 



I 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



339 



found time and took care to keep apace with 
all that was new in the world of science, letters 
and art. His last days strongly evinced his 
characteristic, calm fortitude and moral bravery. 
The disease which ended his career was a can- 
cerous affection of the tongue. He had been 
a successful surgeon as well as a physician, and 
his skill had frequently relieved others of the 
evil which was fatal in his own ciise. For 
over a year no one but himself, not even his 
most intimate friends, knew that his life w^as 
threatened ; when surgical operation proved 
unavailing, none knew better than he what 
must be the final result of the disease, but he 
smiled and lost none of his accustduied cheer- 
fulness when speaking of it to the surgeon, and 
no change in his bearing or the demeanor of 
his daily life was observable. And so he ' 
passed calmly and without fear to his death, 
which, after much suffering, came upon the 2()th 
of August, 1880. He was not a member of 
any religious organization, but was a very regu- 
lar attendant and liberal supporter of the 
Presbyterian Church, and his life and death 
were a sufficient earnest that he was strong in 
the essential spirit of the faith. 

Joseph E. Arrowsmith, M.D., of Keyport, 
was born in Middletown, Monmouth County, 
N. J., January 20, 182;}. He is descended 
from a family that has distinguished itself in 
the service of the State. His father, Hon. 
Thomas Arrowsmith, was for many years 
one of the judges of the Court of Errors, and 
at an earlier period worthily held the office of 
State treasurer. His mother, Emma Van 
Brakle, a native of New Jersey, was a daugh- 
ter of Matthias Van Brakle, a substantial and 
much respected farmer, who represented his dis- 
trict in the State Legislature, where his sterling 
qualities won the gratitude of his constituents. 
Dr. Arrowsmith obtained his early education in 
the academy at Flatbush, Long Island, then 
presided over by Professor Campbell, the accom- 
plished scholar and eminent teacher, who subse- 
quently was the honored president of Rutgers 
College, New Brunswick. Evincing a taste for 
medicine, he began his studies in the fall of 
1838, with Dr. Edwai'd Taylor, an old and suc- 
cessful practitioner in his native town, and sub- 



sequently he read medicine with Dr. Valentine 
Mott, of New York, where he attended lectures 
at the University from which he was graduated 
in 1S42. After serving fir a short time at the 
lidsjiital on Blackwell's Island, he, in March, 
1S4'), settled in Keyport, N. J., where he 
has since continued the practice of his profes- 
sion, and won a foremost place among his medi- 
cal brethren. He is an old member of the 
County Medical Society, and was at one time 
its president. In 1864 he represented his sec- 
tion in the American Medical Association. 

Stephen Morgan Dihbrow, M.D., was 
born October 2, 1812, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and 
in childhood removed with his parents to Mata- 
wan, N. J., the climate of that portion of New- 
Jersey being regarded as more favorable to the 
lad, then in delicate health. At the age of 
twelve he returned to the city of his birth and 
pursued his rudimentary and classical studies, 
e\'entually entering the office of Dr. John C". 
Fanning, of Brooklyn, as a student of medicine. 
He meanwhile attended lectures, and after an 
interval of practice became a student of the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, at which 
he was graduated. In 1832 he received the 
appointment of superintendent and interne of 
the Brooklyn Cholera Hospital, and continued 
thus to act during the ejiidemic, meeting Math 
much success in the treatment known as " trans- 
fusing with saline fluids." Dr. Disbrow la- 
bored with unceasing ardor during this critical 
period, and was forced by impaired health, as a 
consequence of his devotion, to tender his re- 
signation, on which occasion a donation was 
voted and paid him by the Brooklyn Board ot 
Health for his services. In the spring of 1834 
he settled in Howell township, where, with the 
exception of some unimjxirtant change of lo- 
cality, he h;is since resided, his present home 
being the village of Farmingdale, where his 
practice has been extended and his labors ardu- 
ous. He was one of the earliest members of 
the American Medical Association, and is an 
honorary member of the Monmouth Countv 
Medical Society, as also president of the Board 
of Health and health inspector of Howell 
township. Though often solicited by his Demo- 
cratic constituents to hold office, he has invari- 



340 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ably declined such honors. Dr. Disbrow was, 
in 1832, married to Anna, daughter of Jacob 
and Elizabeth Bennett, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Theu- children are Elizabeth M. (Mrs. J. M. 
Wainright), deceased ; Rem Leiferts, a practicing 
physician at Tom's River, N. J.; Andrew Jack- 
son, deceased, a physician formerly in practice 
at Spottswood, Middlesex County, N. J.; Ste- 
phen Adolphus, associated with his father in 
practice at Farmingdale; Mary Alathea; Anna 
Augusta, deceased ; Edwin Clarence, a practic- 



hoef, and his wife, Phoebe Hunn. Their 
children are Mary (Mrs. John Denyse, deceased), 
Stephen Morgan, Andrew Jackson, John N., 
Delia Anna (Mrs. Charles Fardon), Catharine L. 
(Mrs. Richard Van Brackle), William W., Ed- 
win Clarence and Peter C 

William Dunham Newell, M. D.,' fifth 
and youngest son of James H. and Eliza D. 
Newell, was born at Black's Mills, Monmouth 
County, on the 20th of February, 1823, and died 
at Imlaystown on the 22d of November. 1869, 




ing physician at Tom's River; Phebe Eliza; 
A^au Derhoef Morgan, a physician in Farming- 
dale ; and an infant, deceased. The Disbrow 
family are of English extraction, the grand- 
father of the doctor having been John Disbrow 
who resided in South Amboy, N. J., where he 
followed the employments of a farmer. He 
married Susannah, daughter of General Mor- 
gan, of the latter place. Their son, Nicholas 
Morgan Disbrow, a citizen of Brooklyn, mar- 
ried Mary, daughter of Cornelius P. Van Der- 



iu the forty-seventh year of his age. He re- 
ceived a classical education at New Brunswick, 
studied medicine with his brothers, Azariah D. 
Newell, M.D., and William A. Newell, M.D. ; 
graduated at the Medical College of the District 
of Columbia in 1844, and began the practice of 
his profession at Imhwstown, where he continued 
to reside until the time of his death. 



' This sketch of Dr. Newell was furnished by his brother, 
Dr. William A. Newell, to Dr. T. J. Thomason in 1871. 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



341 



During the War of the Rebellion he enlisted 
as a private in the Union army, but was soon 
after appointed surgeon of the Twenty-eighth 
Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, a position 
which he filled with great skill and acceptance 
until the expiration of his term of service. 
He was present at the first and second battles 
of Fredericksburg, at that of Chancellorsville, 
and also in several minor engagements; was 
repeatedly exposed to the fire of the enemy, but 
always performed his duties on the field with 
coolness and courage, never shrinking from 
danger. His life was devoted exclusively to 
his professional business, and he had at all 
times a large and lucrative practice. His 
thorough knowledge of disease, extensive ex- 
perience, keen perception, sound judgment and 
close application combined to render hiiu 
eminently successful as a practitioner, and 
gained for him a widespread and well-deserved 
reputation as a physician, not only with the 
people, but also with his medical brethren, 
with whom his relations were most friendly 
and intimate. He was possessed of extraordinary 
delicacy of touch and mechanical talent, and 
was a dextrous manipulator. These qualities 
rendered him a successful siugeon, so tiiat in 
tlie adjustment of wounds, luxations, fractures, 
applications of splints and bandages, and in the 
management of such other surgical cases as 
came in his practice he had no superior. He 
was a constant reader, keeping pace with the 
most advanced ideas and improvements in the 
medical profession ; was a close student of 
history, familiar with the best poetry of the 
languase, and was thoroushlv versed in current 
literature. He was an accomplished musician, 
performing well upon almost every variety of 
instrument. As a delineator and j)ainter he 
especially excelled, and many of his off-hand 
productions challenged the admiration of masters. 
He was large-hearted and liberal, and never 
turned the poor emjity away. He was a vigor- 
ous and athletic gymnast, rapid as a flash, and 
of unerring aim. In person he was dignified 
and imposing, and in mien and manner carried 
tiie attributes of a true gentleman. During 
his term of service in the army the exposure to 
which he was subjected induced several severe 



attacks of pneumonia, which, together with a 
violent injury received at the first battle of 
Fredericksburg, undermined his health, and 
resulted in his death. He died where lie had 
lived during all the years of his manhood, be- 
loved l)y the people, and at peace with God 
and all mankind. His remains were interred 
in the cemetery attached to the Presbyterian 
Church at Allentown, attended to their final 
home bv a multitude of loving: and sorrowing 
friends. 

Henry G. Cooke, M.D., the son of Dr. 
Robert ^Y. Cooke, of Holmdel, was born on the 
'.id of February, 183."), on the homestead in 
Holmdel. He enjoyed superior advantages 
of instruction under William Woodhull at 
Freehold, and in 18o() entered Rutgers Col- 
lege, New Brunswick, from which institution he 
was graduated in ISo-'J. His inclinations led to 
the choice of his father's profession, and begin- 
ning his studies under his direction, he later be- 
came a student of Dr. AVillard Parker, of New 
York. He was graduated from the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, in 
1857, and at once entered upon the practice of 
medicine at Holmdel, sliaring with his father 
his extensive practice. In 18(52, Dr. Cooke en- 
tered the armv during the late civil war, assur- 
geon of the Twenty-ninth New Jersey Regiment 
Volunteers, serving nine months and partici- 
pating with the Army of the Potomac in the en- 
gagements at Fredericksburg and Chancellors- 
ville. He subsequently responded to the call of 
the Governor of New Jersey for volunteer surg- 
eons, and shared in the conflicts at the Wilderness 
and Cold Harbor. On returning, he resumed 
the 2'ractice of his profession at Holmdel, where 
he has since resided and been actively engaged. 
The doctor's practice is among the largest in the 
county, and may be spoken of as moi-e than 
ordinarily successful, — the result of a thorough 
and careful training, combined with those gifts 
which are absolutely essential to the skillful and 
successful practitioner. In the demand made 
upon his services and the strong hold he has 
upon the affections of the community, the man- 
tle of his honored father may be justly said to 
have fallen upon him. The doctor is a member of 
the INIonmouth County Medical Association, of 



342 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



which he has been president, of the New Jersey 
State Medical Society andof the American Medi- 
cal Society. In connection with his professional 
labors, he finds leisure to devote to the cultiva- 
tion of a fine farm, upon which he resides. He 
is a member and elder of the Reformed (Dutch) 
Church of Holnidel. Dr. Cooke was, in 187(j, 
married to Maria B., daughter of the late Peter 
A. Cowdrey, Esc|., of New York. Their chi Idren 
are Sara, ^laria, Robert and Susan. 



born in Princeton, the 29th day of September, 
1827. 

At the age of thirteen years young Higgins 
commenced his preparatory course at the Pen- 
ington Seminary, in JNIoroer County, N. J. He 
was among the first to enter that new institution, 
which openetl in summer of 1840, under the 
professorship of Howard Bishop, A.M., having 
but three scholars, including himself. But the 
school rose in public estimation and became an 




Archibald Alexander Higgins, M.D., 
was a son of Henry Higgins, of Princeton, 
Mercer County, N. J., a gentleman well-known 
in his day throughout the counties of Monmouth, 
Burlington, Somerset, Middlesex and Mercer 
as the general agent of the Mercer County 
Mutual Fire Insurance Comjiany, the office of 
which was located at Pennington. He gave to 
that institution life and popularity, as he was a 
man highly esteemed and respected by all who 
knew him. 

His sou, Archibald Alexander Higgins, was 



important seat of learning, which it continues to 
be at the jiresent dav. 

He remained at that institution until the 
summer of 1844, when he completed his studies 
and graduated with high honor, being selected 
to deliver tlie validictory address on that 
occasion. 

In the autumn of 1844 he entered the junior 
class in the College of New Jersey, and grad- 
uated at the commencement of 184G. 

In the fall of that year he opened a school in 
the village of Yincentown, Burlington County, 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



343 



N. J., aud taught for five years with much 
success, the regrets being many when he closed 
bis school for other labors more suited to his 
taste. 

Having a great desire to enter tlie medical 
profession, he commenced the study of medicine, 
in 1851, with Dr. J. S. Schenck, of Princeton, 
and soon after removed to Philadelphia to pur- 
sue his studies in the oilices of tlioso eminent 
physicians, Dr. John Xeal and John B. Biddle, 
attending lectures at the University of Penn- 
-vlvania, aud, in addition to his medical studies 
in the office, eujoyiug the advantage to be de- 
rived from attendance at the various city hos- 
pitals during the winter and summer. 

After spending three years in the pursuit of 
his .studies in Philadelphia, he graduated with 
honor in 18o4, receiving his diploma of M.D. 
from that old aud distinguished medical in- 
stitution, the University of Penn.sylvania. 

Soon after graduating, in the fliU of 1854, he 
located at Srpiau village ^Monmouth County, 
N. J., and commenced the practice of medicine, 
of which 2)rofession he is still a re^jresentative at 
tliis place. 

On March 17, 1858, he married Miss Eliza 
A., daughter of Josiah H. Sage, Esip, of Litch- 
field County, Conn. Their children are Henry 
H. (decea.sed), born August 9, 1860, aud Archi- 
bald 8., whose birth occurred February 9, 1867. 
Dr. Higgins has taken a prominent and 
active part in advancing the cause of education 
in the vicinity of his adopted home. Soon after 
his settlement he was elected a trustee of the 
village school, and succeeded in having a new 
school-house built in 1855. He held the 
position of school trustee for ten years, the 
duties of which were performed with ability 
and entire satisfaction. He was elected one of 
the trustees of the Presbyterian Church in 
Squan village, which position he held for 
fifteen years. 

He was one of the first promoters aud active 
workers in projecting the Building and Loan 
Association of Sipian Village. Upnu its organi- 
zation (in 1874) he was elected president of the 
association, which office he still continues to hold. 
He aided very materially in securing the extension 
of the Long Branch turnpike from Deal to 



Squan village. The road is an excellent one, and 
vastly improves the section of country through 
which it pa.sses. 

But the great aim of Dr. Higgins' life has 
been to secure for the citizens of his adopted 
home cheap and speedy railroad communication 
with New York (•*«. Long Branch. He labored 
for years with the Pennsylvania Company to ex- 
tend their road from Sijuan to Long Branch, and 
and at one time the project looked very encour- 
aging, but it was finallv abandoned. He then 
endejivored to prevail upon the New Jersey 
Southern to extend a branch of their road to 
Squan. More than once the project appeared 
to be successful, but it also failed, as that road 
was not in a position to undertake so expensive 
an enterprise, although seemingly a profitable 
investment. 

At length the project of the New York and 
Long Branch Railroad began to assume a reality. 
Dr. Higgins and the citizens of Scjuan were 
again encouraged and hopeful that, if the road 
should be built, their long-desired wish would 
be gratified. It was completetl, and the wiiole 
section of country, from Squan to Long Branch, 
and to New York, now enjoys superior railroad 
facilities, not excelled by any in New Jersey. 
Although strong in his political faith, and 
inclined to Democratic principles, Dr. Higgins 
has never been an office-seeker; consequently we 
do not find him holding any political positions. 
' He is unassuming and retired in his manner, 
and ill no way boastfid of any good he may 
have accomplished. The citizens of his adopted 
home honor and appreciate his merits. 

Isaac S. Long, M.D. — Dr. Long is of Eng- 
lish parentage, his grandfather having been 
Judge William Long, of Diu-ham, Bucks 
County, Pa., Vvdio married Jane Smith, and had 
children, — Samuel, Thomas, James M., Justice 
K., Charles, Madison, Jane (wife of Hiram A. 
William.s), Mary (married to James R. Boileau) 
and Rachel (wife of Abnim Houpt). James M. 
was born in Durham, Bucks County, Pa., 
September 30, 1804, and studied civil engineer- 
ing, in which he became proficient. He mar- 
ried Salome M., daughter of Henry Stover, of 
Bucks County, Pa., whose children are Henry 
W., Isaac S., Jennie (wife of Dr. C. Shepherd, 



Ui 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of Trentou), Harriet M. and Barbara (married to 
Wateon F. Shepherd, of Pottsville, Pa). In 
1834, Mr. Long having removed to Hughesville, 
Warren County, N. J., erected an extensive 
flouring-mill, which was operated in connection 
with a farm he cultivated. He was for some 
years associated with George Law, of New 
York, in the construction of canal-locks, hav- 
ing employed the latter as a journeyman, and 
later admitted him to a partnership. Mr. 



with the labor of the farm, and at the age of 
eighteen began the employment of a teacher, 
which was continued for five years at Hughes- 
ville. In 1863 he entered the office of Dr. C 
Shepherd, of Trenton, as a student of medicine, 
and was graduated from the University of Penn- 
sylvania in March, 186(). Dr. Long the same 
year began his professional career at Eng- 
lishtown, N. J., and in the spring of 1872 
removed to Freehold, where his ability was 




Long's death occurred Mareli 17, 18(i5, at his 
home in Warren C'ounty, and that of his wife 
in Monmouth County on the loth of Septem- 
ber, 1883, in her seventy-second year. Their 
son, Isaac S., was born June 28, 1839, at 
Hughesville, Warren County, N. J. His edu- 
cation was received at the neighboring public 
school, where he pursued the study of Latin 
and the higher mathematics, and later at 
Easton, Pa. He meanwhile became familiar 



speedily recognized. His practice, which is 
general rather than special, is both extended and 
successful. He has been president and is now 
treasurer of the Monmouth District Medical 
Society, and is a member of the State Medical 
Society and the American Medical Association. 
Dr. I^ong, on the 12th of June, 1872, married 
Jennie E., daughter of Malford and Esther 
Drummond, of Monmouth County. The doc- 
tor's arduous professional labors have precluded 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



345 



an active interest in political matters. In 
religion he is a Presbyterian and a member of 
the Presbyterian Church at Freehold, as also 
is his w ife. 

Frank K. Traveks, M. D., was born in 
Dorciiester Coimty, Md., about eight miles from 
Cambridge, tlie county seat, in June, 1840. At 
an early age he manifested a fondness for the 
science of medicine, and after completing his 
educational course he commenced the study of 
it, and graduated at the Maryland University, 
Baltimore, in the session of 1800. After re- 
ceiving his diploma he practiced for a time in 
Baltimore, then removed to Seaford, Del., where 
he remained until invited to become a partner 
with Dr. A. B. Dayton, of Matawan, N. J., in 
the winter of 18(59-70. In this partnership he 
continued mitil the death of Dr. Dayton, in 
July, 1870, after which he remained in charge 
of the practice. Up totiie fall of 1872 he was 
in possession of apparently good health ; but his 
labors weighed upon his constitution, and devel- 
oped a rapid hereditary consumption. For 
more than six months he was unable to attend 
to biLsiness, and he died on the 24th of July, 
1873. 

As a physician and surgeon. Dr. Travers gave 
evidence of ability and love for the profession. 
In his personal relations he Mas friendly and 
courteous, just and upright in his dealings, and 
a firm advocate of professional etiquette. He 
was lield in high esteem by his professional 
bretiireu, and by a large circle of sympathizing 
friends and patrons. 

James Holmes IM.D., was a native of Allen- 
t(nvn, Monmouth County, a sou of Edward T. 
Holmes, and by his maternal side a great-graud- 
son of General John Beatty, who was the first 
president of the New Jersey State Medical So- 
ciety after its interregnum, occasioned by the 
Revolutionary War James Holmes received 
his preliminary education cliiefly at Tenncnt 
School, Hartsvillc, Pa., under the direction of 
the Rev. Mr. Long. From tiiat institution he 
entered the United States Naval Academy at 
Newport, R. I., in July, 18(5;3. He resigned 
his position there in 1865, and studied medicine 
with his uncle. Dr. A. A. Howell, of Allentown, 
and graduated at Jefrers(ju Medical College, 



Philadelphia, in 18(38, having pursued a three 
years' course. 

Dr. Holmes' first .settlement in the practice of 
his profession was at Belle Plaine, Minn., 
but the severity of that climate, and an attack of 
hemorrhage of the lungs, compelled him to re- 
turn to New Jersey, where he engaged in medi- 
cal practice in connection with a drug-store, 
which lousiness he jtursued until his death, 
which occurred at Allentown, June 2(j, 1878. 

The readiness of Dr. Holmes in diagnosis 
rendered him a skillful and successful practi- 
tioner, MJiile by his genial disposition and ur- 
banity of manners he became a general favorite 
among a large cii'cle of friends and acquaint- 
ances. By a strict upriglitness in business 
transactions he won the respect and confidence 
of his numerous patrons. 

John Yought, M.D., died of heart-disease at 
his residence in Freehold, on Sunday, May 21, 
1882, at tiie age of sixty-six years. He was 
born at Duanesburg, Schenectady County, 
N. Y., in tiie year 1816. Christopher Yought, 
his father, was a farmer and owned an extensive 
tract of land in that section. Dr. Vought's 
mother was Maiy Johnson Throckmorton, 
daughter of James Throckmorton, of Colt's 
Neck, and sister of Judge Thomas C. Throck- 
morton and Dr. .John B. Throckmorton, both 
of Frecliold. His granduiotlier was Mary, 
daughter of John Grandin, who owned and 
resided on a farm in tlie immediate vicinity of 
Freehold before the Revolutionary A\'ar. James 
and William Lloyd, of Freehold, are sons of 
Rachel, a sister of Mary Grandin. Thus it will 
be seen tiiat Dr. Yought was connected with 
some of the oldest and most estimable families 
of Monmouth County. His early life was spent 
on his father's farm. While still a mere boy 
he entered tlie drug-store of his uncle. Dr. John 
G. Yought, in New York City. There he re- 
mained until his uncle's deatli from cliolera, in 
1832, wiien he returned home. His experience 
in his uncle's drug-store had awakened in him 
a fondness for the medical art, and he soon 
determined to make the practice of medicine 
his profession in life. In 1835, at the age of 
nineteen years, he came to Freehold and com- 
menced studying medicine in the office of Dr. 



346 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Grandin Lloyd and Dr. John B. Throckmorton 
(his uncle), who were in partnership. He at- 
tended a course of" medical lectures at Pittsfield, 
Mass., and subsequently became a student at 
the Albany jNIedical College, from which insti- 
tution he was graduated in 1839. He returned 
to Freehold, and the partnership of Lloyd & 
Throckmorton having been dissolved, he entered 
into partnership with his uncle, Dr. Throck- 
morton, about the year 1841. This partnership 
continued until the death of Dr. Throckmorton, 
in 1856. 

Dr. Vought was admitted to membership in 
the Moumoutli Medical Society in 1848 ; was 
its vice-president in 1840, president in 1850, 
and secretary from 1853 to 1878. For forty- 
one years, and until a very short time prior to 
his death, he prosecuted his professional duties 
with untiring zeal and fiiithful ness. So wrapped 
up in his profession was he that it is said he did 
not, for fifteen years or more, go away from the 
immediate vicinity of his labors. His health 
liaving isomewhat declined, in 1873 he, accom- 
panied by a nunilier of Freeiidld ladies and gen- 
tlemen, went on a tourtd the ( )ld World. Just 
before taking this tour, adopting the advice of a 
friend, he visited Philadelphia, a city which he 
had never before seen. 

In his devotion to iiis profession he would 
never accept or run for any office which would 
interfere with his duties, although solicited on 
several difFereut occasions to run as candidate 
for State Senator and for Congi'ess. He, how- 
ever, filled sevei-al important positions of trust 
and honor. He was a member of the board of 
managers of the Geological Survey of New Jer- 
sev, a mauaoer of the State Lunatic Asvlum at 
Trenton ; a director of the Fi'eehold National 
Banking Company, county jihysician for many 
years, a member of Governor Bedle's staff, and 
for a long time vestryman of St. Peter's Epis- 
copal Cliurch, Fi'eehold. In the practice of his 
j)rofession he, at one time and another, visited 
nearly every home in the vicinity of Freehold, 
and his l)right smile and cheer}' voice brought 
the sunshine of hope to many a despairing 
patient upon a weary couch of pain. 

Dr. Vought's abilities as a physician were of 
a high order, and there were instances where 



physicians who had gained a world-wide repu- 
tation approved and praised his trejitment of 
certain cases which they were called in to con- 
sult upon. His almost incessant professional 
labors prevented him from enjojang, to any 
great extent, the amenities of social life, but 
whenever he did devote any time to them, his 
friendly disposition and frank, good-natured 
manners favorably imjiressed those with whom 
he associated. He was not a comnuuiicant of 
St. Peter's Cliurch, but always took an active 
interest in the church's work, and was one of its 
most faithful supporters. 

Hugh S. Kixmonth, M.D., was born on the 
31st of January, 1848, in Kortright, Delaware 
County, N. Y., where the early years of his life 
were j^assed. At the age of sixteen he entered 
the army during the War of the Rebellion 
and served two years as a bugler boy in 
Company I of the Thirteenth New York 
Cavalry, until the close of the conflict. 
Eesuming his studies on his return, at the 
Andes Academy, in his native county, he sub- 
sequently engaged in teaching. In 1867 he 
began the study of medic-ine with Drs. Fitch 
& Buckley, of Delhi, N. Y., and attended Icc- 
tui'es at the College of Physicians and Surgeon-, 
New York City, from which he graduated in 
the spring of 1870. In 1872 he became a 
i-esident of Asbury Park, where for a while he 
was the only physician. He has from that 
time been actively engaged in professional work 
and has a large and lucrative practice. He 
wa.s the founder of the Shore Press, and its 
editor for two years. 

Dr. Kinmonth was married, in 1876, to M. 
Adele Kenuey (daughter of the Rev. Edward 
J. Kenney, of Philadelphia), whose death oc- 
curred January 31, 1882. She was a lady of 
rare mental endowments, and was prominent in 
literary work. She took an active ])art iu or- 
ganizing the Ladies' Literary Society of Asbury 
Park, and was its first president ; she was also 
identified with Christian work in the com- 
munity. 

The doctor has from the first been identified 
with the interests of the Park, where he is 
the owner of considerable real estate. In po- 
litics he is a Democrat, and though not active 




-^^ .^byAKSzcchie 




I 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



347 



as a worker in the party, was prominently men- | 
tioned for Congressional honors in the fall of 
1884. He is a member of St. Andrew's Lodge, 
F. & A. M., of Hobart, N. Y. Dr. Kinmouth 
is of Scotch descent, his grandfather, Joliii Kin- 
niontli, having emigrated from Dundee, Scot- 
land, in 1823. He married Ann Taylor, 
whose children were Sandy, Hugh, John, Jean- 
nette, Mary, Isabel and Catharine. Hugh, the 
father of the doctor, was born in Scotland in 



1853, and Mr. Kinmonth was again married, to 
.TcannetteLawson, whose children were Margaret 
H. (ilecea-sed), Mary R. and James Ena (de- 
ceased). The death of ^Ir. Kinmonth occurred 
on the 3()th of May, 1876. 

Sylvester H. Hunt, A.M., M.D., face- 
tiously remarks that nothing remarkable has 
occurred in his life except that, like David 
Copperfield, " he was born when he was very 
voung," and that event took place in the city of 




1803, and emigrated with his parents to the 
United States about 1835, settling in Kortriglit, 
Delaware County, N. Y., where lie engaged in 
farming. He married Elizabeth Lyle, daugii- 
ter of David Lyle, of Forrest, Scotland. They 
had eigiit children — John T., Maiy Amelia (de- 
ceased), AnnaB., David Lyle (deceased), Hugh 
S., Elizabeth J., Marv Amelia (deceased) and 
William L. 

Mrs. Kinmonth's death occurred October 20, 



Tniy, Rensselaer County, X. Y., June 21, 1837. 
He furtlicr added, concerning his ancestors, that 
lie might say, as did old Samuel Jolmson, when 
speaking of his pedigree to his intended wife : 
" That he was of humble extraction, and while 
he never had any relativ^es hung, there were 
several who ought to have been." His father, 
Henry Hunt, kept at the time a wholesale drug 
house, and his companion, who siu-vives him, 
was Mrs. Ann Eliza Marston, one of the nianv 



348 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



I 



of that name honored and respected in New- 
burg, Orange County, N. Y. Many of her men- 
tal characteristics were impressed for all time 
upon the subject of this sketch, who, like most 
men, blesses her memory for her wise counsels 
and judicious guidance during this formative 
period of life. His early educational advan- 
tages were of the best. At twelve years he was 
promoted from the graded school to the Lan- 
singburgh Academy (then a home for many 
Trojans) to study the classics. At fourteen years 
of age, through the failure of his father, phys- 
ically and financially, he was thrown on his 
own resources. Two years of an apprentice- 
ship were faithfully served and his studies kept 
up by attending night-school, when he entered 
the Charlotteville Seminary, and prepared in a 
year and a half to enter the sopliomore class 
of Union College. A combination of circum- 
stances thwarted this purpose, and when eighteen 
years of age he came to Freehold, an entire 
stranger, to teach school. He taugiit here 
.several years, his last charge being the Freehold 
Academy. Professor Lockwood says of him : 
" In the three very necessary qualifications of a 
true instructor, IMr. Hunt's reputation wns liigh. 
He was a good disciplinarian, a thorough teac^lier, 
and sustained a high moral character." In the 
fall and M'inter of 1862 he attended lectures 
at tiie College of Physicians and Surgeons, in 
New York, In the spring of 1863 he was 
examined for medical cadet. United States army, 
and appointed to Haddington Army Hospital for 
one year, and attending during the winter lectures 
at Jeflerson Medical College, he received 
the degree of M.D. In the spring he was re- 
examined and made assistant surgeon, being 
appointed to the Fifth United States Veteran 
Volunteers First Corps, commanded by Gene- 
ral W. S. Hancock, and remained in tlie ser- 
vice one year after tlie war, principally on 
detailed duty. During the winter of 1865-66 
he was medical officer in charge of tlie 
Battery Barracks, New York City, where 
he found time to complete his third course 
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 
The following spring he resigned his com- 
mission in the army and located at Eaton- 
town, N. J., where he remained fifteen years 



and built up a large practice. In the fall 
of 1881 the doctor removed to Long Branch, 
where he now resides. He has strongly advo- 
cated that place as a winter health resort. 

While he has had a limited number almost 
continuously in his own family under treatment, 
his busy life as a general practitioner occupies 
most of his time and attention. In 1870 he 
was married to Miss Elizabeth S. Parker, a lady 
of culture and refinement. Two daughters, 
aged six and eleven years, died of diphtheria, 
and only one sou remains, death thus despoiling 
an otherwise happy household. Tiie doctor has 
been an active member of the Monmouth 
County Medical Society, and has occasionally 
written for medical journals. The honorary 
degree of A.M. was conferred on him several 
years ago by Claflin University. He is also a 
member of the New Jersey State ^ledical So- 
ciety and of the New Jersey Microscopical 
Society, trustee of Monmouth Monument 
Association, etc. As President of Long Branch 
Board of Health, he has been untiring in his 
eiforts to secure M'hat the place has long needed 
a proper system of sewage, and its completion 
is now anticipated. From a thin, spare figure 
he has grown in stature, and weighs three hun- 
dred ])Ounds, being one of the heavy-weights 
of the profession. 

James H. Patterson, M.D. — Dr. Patterson 
was born on the 1st of May, 1835, in Middle- 
town, Monmouth County, and until seventeen 
years of age remained under the parental i-oof. 
He then became a pupil of the Freehold 
Academy, pursuing for four years his studios at 
this point, and subsequently entering the office 
of Dr. Zebulon "NV. Scriven, at Long Branch, as 
a student of medicine. He remained three 
years under the precepiorship of the latter, 
meanwhile entering the Fourteenth Street 
Medical College, New York, from which he 
was graduated in 1855. His first field of ]iro- 
fessional ial)or was Long Branch, where lie re- 
mained one year, and then removed to Tinton 
Falls. Finding this a limited field of operation 
for a practitioner who combined thorough 
medical training with skill and quick percep- 
tion faculties, he became a resident of Red 
Bank, in the same county, and was for five 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



349 



years engaged in practice at this point. In 1863 
lu' removed to Shrewsbury, where, from that 
time to the present, he has been active in the 
])ursuit of his j)i"ofession and acquired an ex- 
tended practice, whicli in its results was pro- 
portionately successful. Desiring some relief 
from the daily routine of duty, at all times 
laborious and fraught with great responsibility, 
the doctor embarked in the iield of politics, to 
which he had for years given more or less at- 



Priest. He has also served as Junior Grand 
Warden of the State. Plis religions associations 
are with the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
though educated in the Baptist faith. Dr. 
Patterson was, on the 5th of February, 1863, 
married to Georgianna, daughter of George 
Hance, of Shrewsbuiy, and has two daughters, 
Mary Emma and Cleora Abbett. The Patter- 
son family are of Scotch-Irish antecedents. 
Jehu Patterson, the grandfather of the doctor 





^'t^l^n-<^ 




^i^2'-^f-£7^ 



.£^(<i^iju^ 



^ 



tention. He was never ambitious for pf)litical 
honors, though in 1883 the successful candidate 
of the Democracy for the office of county clerk, 
to which he was elected by a flattering majority 
during a closely-contested canvass. He is an in- 
fluential member of the IMasonic fraternity and 
connected with Mystic Brotherhood Lodge, No. 
21, Red Bank, of which he was for seven years 
Master, and of Hiram Chapter, No. 1, Eaton- 
town, of which he was for seven years High 



resided in Middletown township, Monmouth 
County, where he was an extensive farmer and 
an influential citizen, having been for many 
years judge of the County Court and filled 
other positions of trust. He married a Miss 
Gordon, whose children were James, Charles, 
Catharine, Rachel, Rebecca (Mrs. James 
Cooper), Ann (Mrs. William Applegate) and 
jNIary (Mrs. Richard Stout). James, the father 
of the doctor, was also a native of Middletown, 



350 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



where he was born in 1798, and, like his father, 
early developed a taste for agriculture. He 
was a man of much public spirit and of superior 
executive ability, having been for twenty years 
freeholder of his township, member of the State 
Council, and for two terms member of the State 
Legislature. He was twice married, his iirst 
wife having been Deborah Traftord, wiiose 
children were Jehu (an attorney, clerk of the 
county and a prominent citi/eii), Hannah (^Irs. 



(an attorney), Harriet, Joseph, Lydia (Mi"s. 
Samuel Frost), — of whom seven survive. 

AsHER Tunis Applegate, M.D., was 
born September 17, 1846, in the township of 
jNIonroe, Middlesex County, N. J. His early 
studies were pursued at home, his father 
having employed, as instructor for the jjurpose 
nameil, John Loyd, a native of South Carolina. 
The election of the father of the doctor, in 
18.")!), to the office of sheriff of the county 




^. y. ^ 




John J. Hopping), Margaret (^Irs. Joseph 
Applegate) and Ann. To his second wife, 
Lydia, daughter of John Hopping, were Iioru 
thirteen children, — John H. (sheriff of Mon- 
mouth County, and for two years doorkeeper of i 
the House of Representatives of the I^^nited j 
States), James H., Mary Emma (Mrs. Joseph 
Burrows), Samuel H. (for several years free- 
holder of Middletown township), Andrew, 
Charles G., Rebecca (wife of ex-Senator William 
H. Hendrickson), Allen, Henry, Charles Ewiug 



necessitated his removal to i*^ew Brunswick, the 
county seat, with his family. Here his son 
entered the grammar school connected with 
Rutgers College, and remained until his subse- 
quent connection as a pupil with the preparatory 
school of John C. Schenck, at Princeton. In 
18G4 he became a student of the freshmen 
class of Princeton College, and continued his 
studies until the sophomore year. In the 
Spring of 18fi6, having decided upon the pro- 
fession of medicine, he entered the office of 



MONMOUTH MEDICAL SOCIETY. 



351 



Dr. Thomas J. TlioiiiasDu, of Perrineville, and 
continued his medical studies for three years at 
the Universitj' of Pennsylvania, from which he 
was graduated in IMareh, 1869. In October of 
the same vear he began practice at Hamilton 
Square, Mei'cer County, and remained thus 
located until October of the following year. In 
April, 1871, he entered upon the practice of his 
profession at Euglislitowu, Monmoutli County, 
and has since that date continued a very active 
and successful career as a practitioner. He is a 



father and his father's preceptor, James Thoni- 
asou. The doctor is the son of .James Apple- 
gate, wlio married Dena Dey, and the grandson 
of Stephen and Catherine Applegate. His 
maternal grandparents were -John B. and Han- 
nah Dey. He has two sisters, — Mrs. Achstdi 
Amelia Van Doren and Mrs. Hannah Ely. 

Otis Eusseli. Freeman si.d. was born at 
Hanover, N. H., on December 30, 1809. Long 
before America's struggle for independence his 
forefathers were among the early pioneers who 




member of the Monmouth County Medical 
Societv and of the New .Tersey State 'Medical So- 
ciety. He is also examiner for the Mutual Life 
and the LTnited States Life Insurance Companies. 
He is a Free and Accepted Mason, identified 

■\yith Lodge, No. 16, and with Columbia 

Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He is likewise a 
member of the Board of Health. Dr. A]>ple- 
o-ate, in 187.3, married Miss .Jennie C. Wilson, 
daughter of Robert K. and Helena Wilson, to 
whom was born a son, named after his grand- 



dwelt amid the rugged hills of New England. 
His mother, INIary Russell, daughter of Thomas 
Russell, of Salem, Mass., was of English blood, 
while liis paternal ancestiy is traced back 
to that sturdy class of prosperous and intelligent 
yeomanry of England, who, having forsaken 
the British Isles on account of their Puritan 
principles, sought freedom on American soil, 
and founded the colonies of Massachusetts and 
Connecticut. 

Prior to 1760 his great-grandfather secured 



352 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



a charter for Hauover township, in New Hamp- 
shire, within whose l)ounds Dr. EleazarWheelock, 
with whom Dr. Freeman's grandfather had sub- 
sequently emigrated from Connecticut, founded 
Dartmouth College, and became its first presi- 
dent in 1769. 

At Hanover his immediate ancestry resided 
for nearly a century, holding prominent places 
of trust and honor in State and local govern- 
ment, and influential positions in church and 
society. Both iiis father and grandfather were 
at different times elected selectmen of the town- 
ship, justices of the peace and members of the 
State Legislature, while his f\ither, for forty 
consecutive years, was annually elected to fill 
the office of clerk of the township. 

In 1835 be married Abbie Willard, daughter 
of Dr. Samuel Aldeu, a lineal descendant of 
John Alden, who landed on Plymouth Rock 
two and a half centuries ago. 

Having received an academical education, the 
subject of this sketch began the study of medi- 
cine and surgery in the Medical Department of 
Dartmouth College, under Dr. E. D. Mussey, 
with whom were associated those eminent pro- 
fessors, Daniel Oliver and Benjamin Hale. 
After attending three courses of lectures he re- 
ceived his medical degree from that institution, 
the fourth medical school established in America. 
In the vicinitv of his native town he prac- 
ticed medicine for several years, and in 1847 
i-emoved to Perrineville, this county, where his 
early advantages and natural qualities soon won 
for him a large practice in the upper section of 
the county. In 1852 a more central opening 
presented itself, and he removed to Freehold, 
there to resume his profession until the civil 
war. In April, 1 862, he received from Governor 
Olden his commission as surgeon, and took 
charge of the Tenth Eegiment, New Jersey 
Volunteers. His patriotic impulses were stronger 
than self-interest, stronger than paternal affec- 
tion, stronger than the ties of home, — a home 
which was to be made desolate by the silent 
hand of death, while the battle raged fiercely 
on the field. A detailed account of his army 
life would exceed the bounds of this sketch. 
The first year was spent with his regiment doing 
provost duty in Wasliington, where his duties 



were not confined to the care of his soldiers 
alone, but extended to other matters requiring 
ingenuity and skill in hygienic problems. In 
April, 1863, during the siege of Suffolk, Va., 
by the Confederate army, under Peck's division, 
he was chief of brigade on Corcoran's staff, 
and for a time was acting medical director. 

In July, with his regiment, he was transferred 
to Philadelphia to quell the anticipated draft 
riots, and during the fall and winter of the same 
year was in charge of the troops in the Penn- 
sylvania coal-mines. In the spring of 1864 he 
joined the Army of the Potomac, and was at- 
tached to the First Division, First Brigade, 
Sixth Army Corps. He remained in the service 
until July, 1865, being at the close of the war 
chief of the First Division. 

AVith his regiment he participated in more 
than twenty engagements, including that of the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-house, Hanover 
Court-house, before Petersburg, captm-e of 
Petersburg, Winchester, Cedar Creek, Cold 
Harbor and Lee's surrender. These were years 
of toil and hardship, of care and anxiety, and 
yet, withal, years whose experience went far to 
perfect him in the science and practice of his 
profession. 

Returning to Freehold in the early dawn of 
peace, he soon regained his old practice. Since 
then his entire tiine and attention have been 
devoted to his work. A practice extending be- 
yond the limits of Monmouth, an unfailing suc- 
cess in operations requiring the hand of a master- 
surgeon, an unceasing devotion to his profession, 
and, with all, a kind and i^haritable heart in 
distress and poverty, have made his name a 
household word throughout the county. 

In Christianity and politics his Presbyterian- 
ism and Republicanism are equally firm and 
consistent. 

He lias two children living, — Samuel Alden 
Freeman, a Presbyterian clergyman, and Mrs. 
Abbie W. Raiguel. 

Charles A. Conover, M.D., died of phthisis 
at his residence in IMarlborough, Monmouth 
Co., November 2, 1882, in the forty-first year 
of his age. He graduated in medicine at the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, in the City 
of New York, in the spring of 1865. He 



MONMOUTH COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 



353 



served in the army for a short time as assistant 
surgeon on the volunteer staff, and subsequently 
commenced the practice of medicine in his na- 
tive county. He was a member of the District 
Medical Society, and always took an active part 
in its meetings. He held the office of president 
a short time previous to his death. 

He was held in higli esteem by his profes- 
sional brethren, his intercourse with them being 
strictly honorable and courteous. Always faith- 
ful in the discharge of his duties, he enjoyed 
the confidence of the community he so well 
served. At his funeral a large concourse of 
relatives and friends met to pay their last trib- 
ute of esteem.' 

MoxMouTH County Bible Society. — 
On the 8tli day of September, 1817, a meeting 
was called at the cuurt-house in Freehold 
"for the purpose of taking into consideration 
the expediency of forming a Bible Society for 
the county of Monmouth." The Rev. John 
Woodhull, D.D., Mas appointed chairman, and 
Corlies Llo3-d, secretary. On motion of 
Thomas Henderson, the resolution to form such 
a society unanimously prevailed. A constitu- 
tion was adopted ; the society was made aux- 
iliary to the New Jersey Bible Society, and the 
price of membership was fixed at one dollar 
per }'ear. A board of managers, consisting of 
twenty-five, was then appointed as follows: 

Thomas Henderson, Caleb Lloyd, Joseph 
Scudder, Tunis Forman, Captain Dennis For- 
mau, Dr. Samuel Forman, John J. Ely, Na- 
tlianiel S. WikofiF, William Lloyd, John Mc- 
Chesney, Dr. John T. Woodhull, AVilliam 
Davies, Jacob Wykotf, William Little, Cor- 
lies Lloyd, Robert Little, Colonel Elias Cono- 
ver, Joseph Philips, Garret P. Wykofi", Hugh 
McChesney, Abraham Osborn, Robert Conover, 
Woolsey Baldwin, Lewis Gordon, Denice I. 
Forman. 

The board then met and elected for officers 
of the society : 

Rev. Dr. John Woodhull, president ; Thomas 
Henderson, Esq., vice-president; William 
Lloyd, Esq., second vice-president ; Dr. Samuel 
Forman, third vice-president; Colonel Elias 

' By Heury Cooke, M. D. 



Conover, fourth vice-president; Nathaniel S. 
Wikoif, secretary ; Caleb Lloyd, treasurer. 

In addition to the names already mentioned, 
there are entered on the treasurer's book, under 
the same date, as subscribing members, whose 
names are also worthy of mention this day 
as jiioneers in this work, the following: 

Alex. Lowe, Francis M. De Klyn, Thomas 
C. Throckmorton, James Lloyd, David Sut- 
phen, AVilliam I. Thompson, Joseph Coven- 
hoveu, Jjevi Solomon, Nathaniel S. Rue, Wil- 
liam Johnston, William Covenhoveu, Dr. Gil- 
bert S. Woodhull, David Craig, James H. Bald- 
win. Whether these persons were all present 
at that first meeting that came together sixty- 
seven years ago to establish this society, and 
how many others were present whose names do 
not appear, thei'e are no means of ascertaining. 
By one who \\'as present it was described as a 
"very interesting and well-attended meeting, 
especially by the ladies, and gave much encour- 
agement to the friends of the Bible cause." 

This may, to some, have the appearance of a 
mere local or church organization, seeing that 
there was only one Christian minister present 
and participating. It may throw .some light 
on the early operations of this society to observe 
that ministers in this country were at that time 
scarce, and of organized churches there were 
but few. The minister of the congregation 
nearest to Dr. AVoodhnll, and wiiicli, with it, 
occupied, for the most part, the territory for 
many miles around Freehold as a centre, was 
about being released from his duties on account 
of his age and infirmities, and his successor had 
not yet been inducted into office. While it is 
true that Dr. Woodhull and the people of his 
charge were largely instrumental in effecting 
the organization, j-et it is also true that among 
the laymen participating on that occasion were 
those representing at least three, if not four or 
more. Christian denominations ; and the first 
■M't of the society was to manifest its catholie 
character by organizing all the townships in 
the county, and appointing agents in them to 
collect funds and carry on the work. 

We have here the first phase of the society 
in its organization. It was the first steji in the 
beginning of a great work. Benevolent indi- 



354 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



viduals may have beeu found willing to give 
copies of the Bible to poor persons under cer- 
tain circumstances ; but uow a combined eifort 
is inaugurated wliich is to secure the Bible to 
all. Though this may appear to have beeu a 
" day of small things," it was a day when men's 
faith wrought and was tried. The whole field 
of operaticjns was then new and unexplored, and 
paths which are now plain had to be searched 
out and pursued. The}' began by showing us 
what to do, and afterwai'ds how to do it. 

At the first anniversary, in 1818, the treas- 
urer reported in hand thirty-six dollars and 
fitly cents. Fifty Bibles had been purchased, at 
sixty -two cents each, of which twenty-five had 
been given away, and the rest were on hand. 
Tlie next year (1819) fifty dollars was appro- 
priated for Bibles and ten for Testaments, twenty 
of which were to be given to the " Sunday- 
school of the Methodist Meeting-house in 
Howell." 

At the annual meeting in 1820 the president 
reported the purchase of the books before or- 
dered, and the society again appropriated fifty 
dollars for Bibles and Testaments. Five dol- 
lars of this money was to go to purchase Testa- 
ments for " William Rogers' school," and five 
dollars in the same way for the "school at 
Hquan Neck," and the remaining forty dollars 
was to be exj)ended in Bibles. At the uext 
annual meeting in 1821, the sum of twenty-five 
dollars was added to the former appropriation 
f,)r Bibles. 

In the minutes of the board of managers 
dated June, 1822, this record appears, —" Isaac 
K. Lip])encott was unauimously chosen Treas- 
urer to fill the vacanc}' occasioned by the death 
of our worthy aud lamented brother-member, 
Caleb Llo)d, Esq." The active members of 
much later times will remember Mr. Lippen- 
cott, who for so many years served his society 
with great care and fidelity in the position to 
which he was chosen at this early day. 

To this meeting a prisoner in the jail sent up 
a respectful petition, to be presented with a 
Bible, as he had no religious book to read and 
was too poor to buy one, when the board, in 
response, presented a copy of the Scriptures 
to the jailor for the use of the prisoners. 



At the anniversary meeting in 1822, fifty -one 
dollars were reported in the treasury, of which 
thirty were appropriated for Bibles and ten for 
Testaments. 

In June, 1823, the board of managers met. 
A committee consisting of the Rev. Eli F. 
Cooley, Thomas Henderson and William Lloyd 
reported amendments to the constitution ; a cir- 
cular was issued to the " ministers, congrega- 
tions aud friends of the Bible " in the county, 
when the board adjourned for the anniversary 
meeting of the society on the second Tuesday 
of November following. Of this meeting there 
is no record, nor are there any minutes from 
this time till 1832. Meetings were held during 
this time, but how often, there are no means of 
determining. That the meeting was held in 
Xovember, 1823, is as certain as indirect evi- 
dence can make it. The treasurer's book, 
which at that time was kept with great care, was 
footed up to date of Xovemlier 13th, as though 
in immediate preparation for the annual meet- 
ing, and a balance indicated of forty-nine dol- 
lars and fifty cents as donations received. It is, 
however, likely that this was the last meeting 
for some time, as the treasurer's book show no 
trace of further operations. Rev. Dr. Wood- 
hull was, up to this time, president of the 
society, and appears to have been its chief execu- 
tive officer, and his death occurring soon after the 
meeting in 1823 may mark the point where the 
regular meetings were suspended. The secretaries 
of the society during these years were Nathaniel 
S. Wikofl", Isaac K. Lippencott and Dr. Gilbert 
S. Woodhull. Besides these, the minutes of the 
society show that they had good and faithful 
workers among them; they did a good work 
and the blessing of the Master was ujion it. 
From 1817 to 1823 there was collected, accord- 
ing to the records, $267.50, for which one hun- 
dred and fifty-six Bibles and ninety Testaments 
were purchased aud put in the way of doing 
good. With regard to the missing record, the 
vacancy would be a sad one were the lalioi's of f 
the next ten years to be forever lost to knowl- 
edge. A great work was before the society, I 
and had she been certain that she was making i 
historj', she would no doubt have been careful 
to preserve the record. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 



355 



It is kuowu, however, tliat as tliis society 
entered upon its second ten years' life, a new 
movement was made that developed a new 
phase in its workings. It then entered upon 
the regular, thorough and systematic distribution 
of the Bible. The information on this subject 
is derived mainly from a report made to this 
.society, at its annual meeting in 1847, by the 
Rev. Dr. ]McLean, the secretary. 

The report says that " in June, 1S27, Luther 
Halsey, Sr., — a soldier and officer of the Revo- 
lution, — a warm and decided friend of the 
Bil)]e, deeply impressed with the conviction 
that in places distant from Bible depositories 
there would be fiumd a great destitution of the 
word of God, determined to spend some time in 
the county, exploring the destitution and en- 
deavoring to supply it. He soon found that a 
far greater number were without the Bible than 
he had even supposed, and that combined and 
systematic effort on the part of the friends of 
the Bil)le were greatly needed in this work of 
lo\-e and mercy." So strong and earnest were 
the representations that he made to many of 
the jiious and benevolent of the county that it 
was determined to resuscitate the County Bible 
Society. 

" Accordingly, on the 23d day of July, 1827, a pub- 
lic meeting of the former members of the Bible So- 
ciety and friends of the Bible was held in the Court- 
House in Freehold, and after the representations 
then made iu regard to the deplorable destitution of 
the Scri])tures in the county, so great wa.s the convic- 
tion of inexcusable neglect of duty, and so deep was 
the impression on the minds of many present in re- 
gard to the necessity of immediate, great and com- 
bined effort to supply the destitute, that the following 
resolution was otiered by the Rev. Job F. Halsey, 
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Freehold, 
viz. : Resolved, in reliance upon Divine aid, that be- 
fore a year has passed every destitute family in the 
county shall be furnished with a copy of the Holy 
Scriptures." 

An eye-witness and participant iu the meeting 
describes the discussion of the resolution as most 
animated and exciting. The proposition was to 
some not only new and unheard of, but wild and 
visionary. Others felt that while the object 
proposed was a good one, it contemplated more 
than could be accomplished, and so was to be 
approached with caution, while the friends of 



the measure felt strong in their purpose and 
confident of success. It was proposed to meet 
the case by having depositories of Bibles in 
different parts of the county, to which the 
people in want could have access ; to which ]\Ir. 
Halsey Sr., replied : " The people are not hungry 
for the bread of life ; we must take it to thcni, and 
oi)en their mouths, and then they will not eat 
it." The resolution, it seems, was first offered 
iu this f )rm, " Resolved, that we will supply 
every destitute family," etc. The cautious ones, 
however, wanted some saving clause behind 
which to shield themselves in case of the antici- 
pated failure ; and one wanted " We will en- 
deavor," another, " We propose," others, " With 
the help of God." This last was sharply con- 
tended against. The sanguine men did not 
want to have that iu. They said " We will do 
it." The resolution Mas adopted. 
The report continues, — 

" A subscription was opened on the spot and about 
$77 was subscribed, whicli was increased in a few 
days to upwards of $.300 by the exertions of Mr. 
Halsey and Dr. John T. Woodhull, and it is but jus- 
tice to say that no one was more active or exerted 
greater influence than Mr. Halsey. 

" Though a number of Bible Societies had existed 
in diflerent parts of the country for six or eight years, 
and had done much to circulate the Scriptures among 
the destitute, and though a society in the county of 
Monroe, New York, had resolved to supply the desti- 
tute within their bounds, and had, during the jirevi- 
ous year, in a good degree carried out their resolu- 
tion, still this movement of the Monmouth County 
Bible Society was, in its consequences, decidedly the 
most important movement that had ever been made 
in the Bible cause. It roused the whole State of New 
Jersey from apathy to duty in seeking out and sup- 
[)lying the destitute with the bread of life, and the 
influence of our movement was speedily felt through- 
out our whole land, and even in foreign and distant 
lands. Just one week after this society adopted the 
above resolution the Nassau Hall Bible Society, in 
Princeton whose original organization preceded ours 
only four years, held its anniversary meeting. The 
Rev. Job F. Halsey and Dr. John T. Woodhull at- 
tended as delegates from the Monmouth County 
Bible Society. 

" With strong faith and ardent zeal, the Rev. Mr. 
Halsey proposed at that meeting that the Nassau 
Hall Bible Society, with the co-operation of the other 
Bible Societies of the State, should resolve to supply, 
within one year, every destitute family in the State 
of New Jersey with a Bible ! This resolution was 



350 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



most warmly and eloquently advocated by Mr. Hal- 
sey and a few others, while it was warmly opposed 
as wild and impracticable by a number of others." 

The report iutbrms us that utter a long dis- 
cussion the resolution, slightly modified by K,ev. 
Dr. Alexander, was adopted. 

The report continues, — 

"This eflfort of New Jersey, which owed its origin 
to the resolution of our society and the active zeal of 
one of its members, disclosed such astonishing facts 
in regard to the destitution of the Bible that other 
counties and States in a short time undertook the 
same work; and the American Bible Society, two 
years after, viz. : in 1829, resolved to supply the whole 
United States ; and scarcely had this been done, when 
the New Jersey Bible Society resolved to supply the 
Sandwich Islanders with such parts of the sacred 
oracles as were then translated iut(j the language of 
these Islands ; and next the American Bible Society, 
in 1833, passed resolutions looking to the supply of 
the whole accessible population of the globe within a 
given period." 

The report then speaks of the movement that 
had been made in promoting the interest of 
Sabbath and day-schools, and traces them to 
the influence which this same meeting had ex- 
erted iu bringing to light the existing igno- 
rance and destitution of the word of God. It 
then proceeds : 

"Immediately after the society had adopted the 
resolution to supply the county, the board of mana- 
gers resolved that they would supply the townships 
in which they resided, and that those townships in 
which no managers lived should be supplied by such 
agents as the New Jersey Bible Society should send. 
Between the 1st of August, 1827, and the 1st of 
January, 1828, one thousand Bibles were ordered, at a 
cost of S729.82, and most nobly was the resolution of 
the society redeemed before the expiration of the 
year. Dr. John T. Woodhull and Dr. J. S. English 
explored and supplied the township of Stafford, the 
most remote part of the county of Monmouth (now 
Ocean). Shrewsbury, Dover and Howell were sup- 
plied by young men from one of the institutions at 
Princeton ; and Freehold, Middletown and Upper 
Freehold by the managers, assisted by the young men 
from Princeton. About one thousand families were 
found destitute of the Bible. Five hundred and 
thirty dollars was collected and paid for Bibles, leav- 
ing the society in debt, when the supply was com- 
pleted, $199.55." 

After this, as before stated, there are no re- 
cords till 1832, and it is almost certain that no 



meeting was held after the one in 1827 up to 
this time, when, on the 5th of June, the society 
convened with Dr. John T. Woodhull in the 
chair, and the Eev. J. R. Converse as secretary. 
The only item of its business recorded was a 
report on the state of the debt. This was now 
reduced to $136.50. 

In October, 1833, the society again met, Dr. 
J. T. Woodhull in the chair, and Rev. D. V. 
McLean secretary. At this meeting delegates 
were appointed to a State Convention of the 
friends of the Bible, then in process of being 
called by the executive committee of the State 
Society. From this time there are no minutes, 
and jt is conceded that there was no meeting of 
the .society till 1837. 

A meeting was held at the court-house in 
Freehold on the tith day of March, 1.S37, 
when the Rev. Joseph L. Schafer presided, and 
Rev. D. V. McLean was secretary. The pro- 
ceedings of this meeting premised that there 
had been no meeting "for near fqur years," 
and a resolution was passed to reorganize the 
society and assume the debts of the former one. 
A new constitution was adopted, making the 
societv auxiliary to the American Bible Society. 
The following persons were elected officers: 
Rev. James Otterson, president ; William Lit- 
tle, Dr. John T. Woodhull and Rev. Wesley 
Robinson, vice-presidents; Rev. D. V. McLean, 
secretary ; Isaac K. Lippincott, treasurer; Wil- 
liam Lloyd, Jr., depository; directors, B. F. 
Randolph, Esq., J. C. Whitlock, Joseph Mur- 
phy, J. F. T. Formau, Rev. J. T. B. Beekman, 
Rev. Levi S. Bebee. ^Ir. McLean offered a 
set of resolutions, which were adopted. The 
society then adjourned to meet at the court-house 
" on Wednesday morning succeeding the fourth 
Tuesday in January, 1838." The board of 
managers met immediately after the adjourn- 
ment, " and chose the following executive com- 
mittee to meet iu this place on Saturday next, 
at 3 o'clock, p. M., and afterwards on their 
own adjournment, viz. : Rev. D. V. McLean, 
B. Du Bois Smock, Esii., Dr. J. T. Woodhull, 



Jose]Ji Murphy, I. K. Lippincott." 

With the new organization the decree went 
out that the " Monmouth County Bible So- 
ciety " should live; and to perpetuate its life, a 



MONMOUTH COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 



357 



greater aiuoiiiit of cliort was called tor during 
the decade upon which it had now entered than 
at any other period of its history. As the 
hand of active and influential lavnien that had 
gathered around the Rev. Dr. Woodhull at the 
foundation of the society had, for the most part, 
passed away or withdrawn their co-operation, 
and as during the last decade the society, having 
had but little more than a mere nominal exist- 
ence, had failed to create an influence in its 
favor or raise up helpers to the clause, the l>nr- 
den of sustaining it, increased as it was by this 
want of a popular sympathy in its liehalf, 
came upon comparatiNel}' but ft'w. Thev ac- 
cepted tiie service and assumed the burden. 
They dared not shrink from it, for the year of 
grace was past when the religious interests of 
Monmouth County could afford to do without 
an efficient Bible .Society. It was was maintained, 
and from that time, has never failed to have its 
annual meeting, and its annual rej^ort from the 
executive committee ; and in no year has it 
failed to do something for the Bible cause. And 
it is prof)er to add, in this connection, that dur- 
ing that critical ]>eriod tlirough which the society 
was then passing much was due to the energetic 
and persistent efforts of the secretary for the re- 
sults which have been ultimately reached. 

At this meeting it was " Resolved, that in re- 
liance upon Divine aid, and the co-operation of 
our fellow-citizens, we will use our best en- 
deavors to supply eveiy destitute family in the 
county of Monmouth with a copy of the Bible, 
and eveiy child under the age of fifteen years, 
that is destitute, with a copy of the New Testa- 
ment, before the 1st of July next." Another 
resolution welcomed the agent of the State So- 
•■iety to aid in the work. 

At the next anniversar}^, held January 24, 
1838, a report was made showing the results of 
the effort determined on at the previous meet- 
ing. Rev. J. J. Aiken, the State agent, had been 
employed to visit the different churches and con- 
gregations in the county, to collect funds from 
auxiliary societies and to engage suitable persons 
to distribute the Scriptures. This report shows 
that even after the great work performed ten 
years before, there were found destitute of the 
Scriptures in the township of Shrewsbury, one 



hundred and thirty-three families; Middletowu, 
ninety-five families ; Freehold, seventy-seven 
families ; Stafford, sixty-two families ; Howell, 
eighty-one families ; Dover, forty-eight families. 

In Upper Freehold nothing was done, for the 
reason that the society was anticipated in its 
work by an agent of the State Society. Leaving 
out this township, it will appear that four 
hundred and ninety-six families were found des- 
titute of the Scriptures. Four hundred and 
fifty Bibles and eleven hundred Testaments 
were distributed by sale or gift. The receipts 
into the treasury w-ere $477.36, but it is not 
known what part of this was in donations. 

In the next year the only thing remarkable 
is that, after such a great work as had been j^er- 
formed the year before, the receipts should 
amount to no more than $52.25. The next year 
they amounted to §128.68, and in the year fol- 
lowing, ending with March, 1841, one hundred 
and one Bibles and twelve Testaments were pro- 
cured and distributed, while the receipts were 
§1)8.75. 

At the anniversary held in March, 1841, the 
following resolution was passed by the society : 
" That, with the blessing of God and the co- 
operation of the ministers and oflfieers of the 
churches, professors of religion and all other 
friends of the Bible, we will endeavor to sell or 
give a Bible to every family in Monmouth 
County, and to every youth and child that can 
read, a copy of the Holy Sciptures." 

The resolution contemplated a new feature in 
the work of Bible distribution, — not only to se- 
cure a Bible to every family, but to every child 
that could read. The executive committee, when 
they came to act upon it, felt that the work be- 
fore them would cost more than either prudence 
or piety would warrant, and that the spirit of 
the resolution would be measurably carried out 
by giving additional Bibles to large finnilies 
when sales could not be affected, so that every 
child that could read might have access to the 
word of God. They therefore determined to 
give a Bible to every destitute family that was 
not able to buy, and in families where a num- 
ber of the inmates could read, and where there 
was but one Bible, to sell, if possible, as many 
copies as would supply them all ; and failing to 



358 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sell any, to give one or two cheap Bibles, accord- 
ing as the number of persons able to read wa? 
le-is or greater. Cheap Bibles were also to be 
given to domestics or apprentices, when those 
employing them refused to purchase for them. 
According to this scale, the society has continued 
its operations ever since. 

With this view of their duty the committee 
entered on the work assigned them, meeting, as 
the supply progressed in different parts of the 
field, as often as once a mouth, enlisting laborers 
as they went. The ministers of the churches 
took an active part in the work in their vicinities. 
For the southern towushii)S, young men from the 
institutions at Princeton wei-e employed, and so 
the work was completed throughout the county. 

This was a great work aud was thoroughlv 
done. Of the results, uniform statistics were 
not furnished, aud so no intelligent compilation 
could be made of the details of the work. Two 
thousand two hundred and eighty-two Bibles 
and ninety Testaments were procured, of which 
one thousaud and forty were put in circulation, 
leaving the remainder on hand for future opera- 
tions. A debt was incurred to the parent 
society for $920. The donations this year were 
about §275, while in the year after they 
amounted to only §64.75. 

This is a fact of the same nature as had been 
witnessed on previous occasions. When a great 
work has been accomplished the efforts of the 
society have been relaxed , sometimes even to abso- 
lute suspension. The churches had responded 
to loud calls when a great work was to be 
done, but they failed to realize that in the Bible 
cause a good work was to be done every year. 
Their benevolence had its channels all marked 
out, and the Bible Society, as a new purveyor 
of their gifts, was a long time in getting its 
proper place aud share among them. 

At the anniversary in 1844, Isaac K. Lippin- 
cott resigned the otiice of treasurer, which he 
had held for twenty-two years. The society 
reluctantly accepted his resignation, with a 
cordial vote of thanks for his long and faithful 
services. The Rev. D. A". !McI can was elected 
to fill Ills place, who, from this time, united in 
hini-elf both the offices of secretarv aud treas- 



j In the year closing with the annual meeting 
in 1846 considerable efforts were again made in 
circulating the Scriptures, though no general 
exploration was undertaken. One hundred and 
twenty-three families were found without the 
Scriptures. Two hundred Bibles and one hun- 
dred Testaments were distributed. 

In the same year and the year after, ]\Ir. 
Williani C. Patterson, a coliwrteur of the 
American Tract Society, was employed to search 
out and supply the destitute in the southern 
portions of the county in connection with his 
own appropriate work. In this way, as appears 
from the treasurer's Ixioks, he put iu circulation 
three hundred and sixty-five Bibles and one 
hundred and forty-five Testaments. 

Entering on this period of the society's life, 
aud coming up to the anniversary of 1847, it 
must be recognized as a permanent institution. 
It had stood during the last ten years without a 
single lapse, and was strengthened by the effort. 
It had outgrown the spasmodic habits of former 
years, and had found that there is neither grace 
nor logic iu relaxing effort because the county 
is well supplied, ^^hen such vast regions lay 
beyond it calling for help. 

The society, according to the already quoted 
report of this year, \\as free from debt, and had 
a balance in the treasury of §147.61. It had 
also .SI 75.28 credited on the books of the parent 
society, awaiting ordei's for Bibles, making 
.§275.3.96 remitted for Bibles since 18-37, when 
it became auxiliary ; to which add §1020.50, 
the sum expended before that time, and we have 
§3,774.46, or over eleven hundred dollars more 
than had been remitted for Bibles by any other 
Bible Society in the State. 

In 1849 a resolution was again passed to 
supply the county, it having been eight years 
since the last general supply was made. 

At the anniversary of 1850 the Rev. Dr. D. 
V. McLean resigned the offices of secretary and 
treasurer, the former of which he had held for 
seventeen years and the latter six. His resigna- 
tion was accepted with great reluctance by the 
society, and a vote of thanks, recounting jiis 
long, faithful and efficient services, was adopted. 

The Rev. John ISI. Rogers was chosen secre- 
tary and the Rev. Harvey D. Ganse treasurer. 



MONMOUTH COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 



359 



The re-supply of the county, which was 
ordered in 1849, was found not to have been 
completed this year, but ran through subse- 
quent years till the anniversary of 1853, 
when the final report was made. Periiaps a 
more interesting report was never before made 
to this society. Certainly there has never been 
anything like it in the way of statistics, whether 
we regard the volume of the figures or the min- 
uteness and uniformity of the details. The re- 
ports of two whole townships and two parts of 
townships were lost before they were put on rec- 
ord ; and with the exception of these and the 
statistics of the part of Upper Freehold embraced 
in Allentown and vicinity, of which uo report 
was made to the executive committee, the fig- 
ures foot up : Families, 0.304 ; destitute, 305 — 
or more than one in eleven ; Bibles circulated, 
1100; Testaments, 664. This was in Mon- 
mouth County, diminished by the erection of 
the county of Ocean in 1850. 

The results would seem to sho\v more thor- 
ough work than had ever been made before in 
the county. 

At this meeting Bennington F. Riindolph, 
Esq., was chosen secretary, in place of Rev. 
•Joiui M. Rogei-s, resigned. 

At the annual meeting in 1856, the Rev. Ezra 
W. Collier \vas appointed treasurer in jjlace of 
Rev. H. D. Ganse, who had removed from the 
county. 

AVitii the opening of the fifth decade of the 
' society's existence a new phase of life and ac- 
tivity is noticed. The time had come for action 
on its long-cherished purpose of aiding the pa- 
rent society in the world-wide diffusion of its 
beneficent work. Up to the year 1850 only 
?86.36 had been contributed in all the years of 
this society to the Bil)le cause beyond its own 
particular field. In 1857 this sum had increased 
to $2169. The annual collections for the last 
four years had averaged 8470.13 per year, com- 
pared with S187.83 a.s the average of the four 
ending with 1847. 

At the anniversary of 1857 it was resolved 
to make another effort to supply the county with 
the Scriptures. The executive committee was 
autiiorized to employ agents for such parts of 
the work as could not otherwise be performed, 



so as, if possible, to complete the supjily within 
the year. 

At this meeting Bennington F. Randolph, 
Esq., asked to be relieved from further service 
as secretary, an office which he had held for 
four years ; whereupon the society reluctantly 
consented, in a resolution highly appreciative of 
his services in behalf of the Bible cause. 

Gilbert H. Van ^Slater was then appointed 
secretary, and held the office uj) to 1868. 

At the annual meeting in 1858, the exec- 
utive committee reported tlie work on the can- 
vass and supply of the county completed in six 
townships and parts of three others. Tliree 
townships were supplied by an agent, the rest 
by voluntary labor. 

The next annual rejiort showed all the town- 
ships supplied except Shrewsbury, Atlantic and 
Raritan. The executive committee exerted 
themselves to secure the supply of these during 
the next yeai', but with limited success. Tiiough 
this sup[)ly was by no means equal to the last 
in thoroughness and efficiency, yet a good work 
was done. In the townships of Howell, Wall 
and Ocean, supplied by the agent, ninety-nine 
families were found destitute, and one hun- 
dred and eighty-nine Bibles were circulated. 
A general summarv of the whole cannot be 
given, for the reason that in the other town- 
ships the statistics are not full and uni- 
form. 

From this time there is nothing worthy of 
note in the operations of the society till the an- 
nual meeting of 1861, wiieu the attention of the 
friends of the Bible was directed to the soldiers 
in tiie army. The following resolutions were 
passed at this meeting : 

" Eesoh'ed, That considerations of patriotism, and a 
regard to the spiritual wants of those who, by their 
services in the army, are removed from their religious 
privileges, urge on us the duty of distributing the 
Scriptures as far as possible among the soldiers, and 
having learned with great satisfaction of the efforts of 
the American Bible Society for this end, we pledge 
our co-operation to the extent of our ability. 

" Resolved, That this Society approve of the work 
which has been done in Trenton, in supplying the sol- 
diers of our county with the New Testament, and do 
direct that the work be continued as begun." 

( )n this subject, the Rev. Dr. George Sheldon, 



360 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



agent of the American Bible Society of this 
State, said, — 

"Among us the distribution of the Scriptures in 
that portion of tlie army composed of our own troops 
was conducted under a plan peculiar to this State, 
and seems to have given general satisfaction. 

"While in camp, before leaving the State, the men 
were supplied with handsome copies of jwcket New 
Testaments, in the name of the Bible Societies of the 
several counties from which they had come, and so 
went forth equipped with the Sword of the Spirit, 
which is tlie Word of God. Additional supplies were 
also sent to chaplains, to replace such copies as were 
lost. In this, as well as in other ways, our men were 
continually reminded of God and of their Christian 
friends at home. 

"The aggregate expense was apjxirtioned among 
the several County Bible Societies, on the basis of the 
rolls kejit in the adjutant-general's othce at Trenton. 
The part belonging to Monmouth County was about 
$704, and the number of volumes distributed among 
Monmouth County soldiers was about 2500 ; the ac- 
tual number was probably in excess of this." 

The niinutes of this society in continuation 
show that «hen bills were presented, from time to 
time, for Testaments given to soldiers from this 
county, such bills were passed by a vote of the 
.society at the next annual meeting, and orders 
given to the American Bible Society to ciiarge 
the same to this society, against funds kept con- 
stantly on deposit there for the purchase of 
Bibles when wanted. 

At the anniversary of 1863 notice was taken 
of the death of the Rev. Charles Webster, who 
liad died during the year. He was a life director 
in the American Bible Society, — a life-long 
worker in the good cause, — of which tweuty-tliree 
years were spent in co-operation Mith tliis 
organization. 

The year ending with tlie annual meeting of 
I860 was remarkable as exhibitins; a larger 
amount of donations than had been made in any 
year of the society's history. They amounted 
to $886.48, of which $243.22 were contributed 
by the Methodist Episcojjal Churches in the 
county. Arrangements Mere made at this meet- 
ing for celebrating the jubilee of the Americ^an 
Bible Society by liolding Bible meetings in 
different parts of the county, by soliciting 
larger contributions to the funds of the society, 
and by making a fresh canvass and re-supply 



of the county, all of which were but imper- 
fectly carried out. 

At the anniversary of 1866 the Rev. Ezra 
W. Collier, the treasurer of the society, having 
removed out of the county, after surrendering 
his trust to the executive committee, William 
Statesir, Esq., was chosen to till his place. The 
resolution to re-supply the county was renewed, 
and arrangements Mere made for a celebration 
of the jubilee or fiftieth anniversary of the 
society, which was duly held September 11, 
1866, and of which the following report is taken 
from the Monmouth Democrat, under date of 
September 1 9th, having been reported for that 
paper by the editor : 

" The fiftieth anniversary of the Monmouth 
County Bible Society was celebrated on A\\'tl- 
nesday last, the 11th inst., at the Presbyterian 
Church in Freehold. There was a very large 
attendance of the friends of the cause from all 
parts of the county and h-om. other parts of the 
State. The exercises were of a highly interest- 
ing character, and the occasion was one long to 
be remembered by all who were present. 

" The meeting was called to order at half-past 
ten o'clock, a.m. by Rev. Ralph AVillis, of 
Marlboro', president of the society. After sing- 
ing by the choir, a fervent prayer was ottered 
by Rev. Donald McLaren. Next in order was 
the reading of the Scriptures by Rev. L. II. 
Van Doreu, who selected tiie 19th Psalm and 
2d chapter of Proverbs, and accompanied the 
reading M'ith an interesting practical comment- ■ 
ary upon the text. Mr. Willis then made a 
brief address. He said the occasion was one of 
unusual interest and should be one of thankful- 
ness; it also demanded an enthusiasm, and that 
if there was any cause more than another that 
demanded our hearty support, it was the Bible 
cause. In conclusion, he congratulated the soci- i 
ety on the arrival of its semi-centennial anni- 
versary. As he had been instructed to limit 
the speakers to fifteen minutes each, he, himself, 
would not occupy the time. He then read let- 
ters from Rev. Job Halsey, D.D., and B. F. 
Randolph, Esq., acknowledging invitations and 
making excuses for not being present. 

"The choir then sang the 119tli P.salm, sec- 
ond part. Rev. H. C. Westwood, D.D., of the 



MONMOUTH COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 



361 



Metliodist Episco]ial Church, Princeton, was in- 
troduced and delivered an able sermon from the 
text Rev. xxii. 18, 19. 

" The sermon was followed by prayer. Next 
in order was an address of the representative of 
the American Bible Society. Rev. Dr. Sheldon 
was called upon to respond. He announced that 
Rev. Dr. Taylor, one of the secretaries of the 
])areut society, who had engaged to fill the 
])lace, would soon be present. The choir sang 
19th Psalm, fifth part, and during the singing 
Dr. Taylor arrived. He gave a heai-ty greet- 
ing to this .society upon the occasion of its meet- 
ing, and then with stirring eloquence repre- 
sented the blessed fruits of the Bible work, 
and gave a brief statement of the aims and 
scope of the labors of the American Bible 
Society. 

"The president then announced that the ladies 
of the several churches in Freehold had pre- 
pared a collation under the trees on the grounds 
of the 'Young I^adies' Seminary,' which had 
been kindly tendered by Professor A. Richardson, 
and invited all present to partake of it. After 
the benediction the meeting adjourned to two 
o'clock P.M. 

"At two o'clock the meeting reassembled, and 
commenced their exercises by singing the ?)7Sth 
hymn. Rev. William Reiley, D.I)., of Holm- 
del, then delivered, according to appointment, 
the historical address. Brief addresses from 
friends of the society and former laborers within 
the countv beina: then in order, Rev. Harvev 
I). Ganse, D.D., of New York, was called upon. 
He came forward and said it gave him great 
pleasure to be present. He wished to express 
his thanks to Dr. Westwood for his sermon, to 
Dr. Reiley for his lucid history. He paid a 
tribute to the labors of Dr. iMcLean, so often 
alluded to in the historical address. He cami' 
here to see the faces of dear friends with 
M'hom he had labored in past years. He went 
on to relate a number of interesting incidents 
<'oimected with the operations of this society in 
this section in years long past, of which he was 
personally cognizant. In conclusion, he alluded 
to the pleasant social gatherings of this hour, 
and of his enjoyment in the occasion, and re- 
minded his hearers that time was passing, and 



feelingly and im passionately warned them to 
prepare for eternity. 

"Rev. L. H. Van Dorcn was then called 
upon. He cordially reciprocated the kindly 
remarks of Dr. Ganse. For seventeen years 
he had been pastor of a church that gave as 
much, if not more, than any other church in the 
county, and had been personally active in the 
Bible cause. He had himself carried the I>ibles 
in a wheelbarrow and distributed them to the 
destitute of his township. He felt solemn, in 
connection with the joy of this occasion, when 
he reflected how little had been done, — if men' 
would give in this county as the Lord had pros- 
pered them, they would give by thousands in- 
stead of hundreds. He gave some interesting 
reminiscences of past times. Among others, he 
mentioned the labors of I^uther Halsey, who 
not only carried Bibles to the people, but took 
with him, in his carriage, food for himself and 
horse, and spectacles to enalile the aged to read 
the Bibles when they got them, — all a free gift. 
In conclusion, he said he would soon pass away, 
but before meeting the present generation in 
eternity he wanted to do something for them. 
At the present rate people were born faster than 
the Bible Society could produce Bibles. He 
wished this society to sustain him in recom- 
mending the publication and distribution of 
God's word in separate books as God gave it to 
us, and offered a resolution to the effect that the 
,\_merican Bible Society be recpiested, when un- 
able to furnish the whole Bible, to furnish one 
of the books of the same. The president stated 
that the resolution could not be entertained for 
discussion at this meeting, but would be referred 
to the regular business meeting of the society. 

Representiitives of other countv Bible Socie- 
ties were called for, when the following reported : 
Rev. H. C. Westwood, D.D., and Prof. J. F. 
Schenck, special delegates from the Princeton 
Society; Rev. J. H. Van Doren, special dele- 
gate from Morris County Society. 

Rev. F. Chandler announced that Dr. John 
T. Woodhull, one of the members of the first 
board of directors of this society, was in the 
house and would like to address the meeting ; 
but his voice was too tecble to be heard. He 
also stated that Judge Thomas C. Throckmor- 



362 



HISTORY OF MOxNfMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ton, also one of the founders of the society, and 
believed to be the only other one now living, 
was in a ripe old age, among us, having his 
residence in this village, respected and beloved 
by all who knew him. 

Rev. D. Y. McLean, D. D., was called for. 
He thanked Drs. Keiley and Ganse for the 
kind notice they had given of his labors in this 
society years ago. He continued in a pleasant 
vein of reminiscences of the early history of 
the society, with which he had been actively 
identified, and read a biographical sketch of 
the life of Rev. Dr. John Woodhull, the first 
president of this society, which embraced notices 
of his sons, — Gilbert S. Woodhull, one of the 
sixteen founders of the American Bible Society, 
and Dr. John T. Woodhull, one of the first 
directors of this society. He also read sketches 
of Dr. Samuel Forman, Dr. Tiiomas Hender- 
son, Joseph Scudder, AVilliam, James, Caleb 
and Corlies Lloyd, and referred to others who 
had taken an active part in the work of this 
society. 

Dr. Sheldon, the State agent of the Ameri- 
can Bible Society, expressed his gratificatiim 
with the exercises on this occasion and with tlie 
great number of persons present. 

Dr. Reiley said that it had been stated that 
but two of the original members of this society 
were yet alive; he had just been informed that 
there was another survivor, — Dr. James H. 
Baldwin, of Blawenberg, Somerset County. 

Rev. Donald JNIcLareu, Chaplain of the 
United States navy, recently from the frigate 
"Powhattau," said that during the la.st two 
years he had had opportunity to observe the 
effects of distributing the Bible. On board a 
ship it was a great auxiliary tt) the preacher's 
work. Men of various nations were here gath- 
ered together, and could not be reached except 
by the Bible in their own language. To see it 
in the familiar characters of their youtli had a 
powerful influence upon them. In this coiuiec- 
tion he related some interesting incidents which 
had come under his own observation. 

At the close of his remarks he said he had 
greetings to bring from an unexpected quarter, 
— from the Bil)le Society of Peru. At Lima 
he had been permitted to assist in the formation 



of a Bible society, — it was small, but it was an 
earnest one ; and he asked for it the pi'ayers of 
this society. The government and the prevail- 
ing religion were opposed to it, and the people 
had to make their applications for the Bible 
jjrivately. The history he gave of tliis society 
was one of the most interesting features of the 
meeting. 

It was now drawing well on to the close of 
the day, and yet the audience showed no abate- 
ment of interest in the proceedings; it was time 
to close ; President Willis made some remarks 
to that effect, and called upon Rev. J. L. Ke- 
hoe, of Manchester, to offer prayer. 

It was then announced that the ladies had 
again spread the tallies under the trees, and all 
present were invited to take lea before sepa- 
rating for their homes. TheDoxology Mas then 
sung, the benediction pronounced, and the jubi- 
lee meeting ended. 

At the conclusion of the Rev. Dr. Reiley 's 
historical address, mentioned in the above re- 
port of the jubilee (and from which address the 
preceding historical sketch of the society has 
been chiefly taken), the speaker said : 

" So far, the duty allotted to us has been performed. 
We have briefly traversed the history of the society 
from its feeble beginning ; we have scanned the past 
and have brought ourselves to the present time — the 
end of fifty years of responsibilities, of duties and of 
labor. Wiiile some would venture to say that this 
society has done all it might and could have done, 
and while few would deny that there is abundant 
reason for humiliation that so many opportunities of 
doing good have been suffered to pass unimproved, 
all may rejoice in the good hand of the Lord that has 
been upon the society, prospering His own cause, 
and enabling it, in the midst of the untoward circum- 
stances surrounding it, to attain to its present power ,, 
and efficiency for good. It is true, we can see but I 
little more than bare facts and figures, but we may 
well hope that higher results have been reached than 
appear to human vision. No one can tell this day 
how much the Monmouth County Bible Society has 
done to raise the standard of intelligence and morals 
in the county. There is no educator like the Bible, 
no reformer so efficient, while more than all is its in- 
fluence on the hearts and hopes of men as subjects 
of the Divine will, and as travelers to an eternal 
world. 

" This much, however, we can all see in the work 
of the last fifty years, starting from the ' day of small 
things,' and reaching forward. This society has put 



MONMOUTH COUx\TY BIBLE SOCIETY. 



363 



in circulation in the county of Monmouth 10,151 
Bibles and 5817 Testaments, besides the 2500 and up- 
wards of Testaments furnished to the soldiers in the 
army, at an aggregate cost of $6036.45, less $882.93 
standing to the credit of this society on the 1st of 
April last, on the books of the parent society, and 
which is now being drawn on for the supply of the 
county. There has been paid, in donations, to the 
American Bible Society, for its general work, 
$5670.85, and the contributions to the treasury have 
averaged $768.88 per annum for the last four years. 
If this sum shall seem less than might be expected, 
it is so much above the average of years in the past 
as to be highly encouraging ; and in connection with 
the donations made to the parent society is highly 
suggestive. The duty realized of sending the Bible 
to all the world creates the willing mind to give. As 
the Monmouth County Bible Society became con- 
scious of having a share in the spiritual advancement 
and eternal destiny of all the nations, the volume of 
her beneficence began to expand, and under the in- 
fluence of the Blessed Spirit, as we humbly trust, will 
continue to increase till all nations shall receive the 
Word of Life." 

FoUowiug is a list of the ofBcers of the society 
since the commencemeut of the second half-cen- 
tury of its existence, viz. : 

1868. 

President : Asbury Fountain. 

Vice-Presidents : Rev. F. Slater, Eev. George Sei- 
bert, Rev. Thaddeus Wilson, D. H. Wyckoff. 

Secretary : Amzi C. McLean, Freehold. 

Treasurer : William Statesir, Freehold. 

Executive Committee : Rev. Frank Chandler, Eev. 
William Reiley, D.D., Rev. William M. Motlat, 
Rev. J. L. Kehoe, John Baird, Horatio Ely. 

1869. 

President : Hon. William Spader. 

Vice-Presidents: Eev. William D. Hires, Rev. J. B. 
Wilson. Nathaniel S. Rue, D. B. Strong. 

Secretary: Eev. Frank Chandler. 

Treasurer: AVilliam Statesir. 

Executive Committee: Eev. John L. Kehoe, Eev. 
William Eeiley, D.D., Rev. M. Relyea, John 
Baird, John Dorrance, Gordon D. White. 

1870. 

President : John Dorrance, Freehold. 

Vice-Presidents: Eev. J. B. Ketcham, Eev. H. Belt- 
ing, Hon. William P. Forman, A. T. Vanderveer. 

Secretary: Rev. George Swain, Marlboro'. 

Treasurer : William Statesir, Freehold. 

Executive Committee : Rev. Frank Chandler, Free- 
hold ; Rev. William Reiley, D.D., Holmdel ; 
Rev. Edward Hewitt, Raritan ; Hon. N. S. Rue, 
Upper Freehold ; D. B. Strong, Matawan ; J. F. 
T. Forman, Freehold. 



1871. 

President: Hon. William P. Forman, Manalapan. 

Vice-Presidents : Rev. W. D. Hyers, Rev. A. A. Za- 
briskie, William R. Mapes, Amzi C. McLean. 

Secretary : Rev. George Swain, Marlboro'. 

Treasurer : William Statesir, Freehold. 

Executive Committee : Rev. Frank Chandler, Free- 
hold; Rev. William Reiley, D.D., Holmdel; 
Rufus Ogden, Raritan ; Hon. N. S. Rue, Upper 
Freehold; D. B. Strong, Matawan; Tunis T. 
Conover, Freehold. 

1872. 

President : Holmes W. Murphy, Freehold. 

Vice-Presidents: Rev. J. L. Kehoe, Rev. J. B. Dob- 
bins, D.D., John Baird, Henry Seabrook. 

Treasurer : William Statesir, Freehold. 

Secretary: George Swain, Marlboro'. 

Executive Committee : Rev. Frank Chandler, Free- 
hold ; Rev. William Reiley, D.D., Holmdel; 
Rufus Ogden, Raritan ; Hon. N. S. Rue, Upper 
Freehold; D. B. Strong, Matawan; James J. 
Conover, Freehold. 

1873. 

President : G. H. Van Mater, Holmdel. 
Vice-Presidents: Eev. E. J. Andrews, Eev. James B. 

Wilson, Eev. Frank Chandler, William Ely. 
Treasurer : William Statesir. 
Secretary : Eev. George Swain. 
Executive Committee: Eev. William Reiley, D.D., 

Holmdel ; Holmes W. :Murphy, Freehold ; Eev. 

C. H. Hageman, P.D., Freehold; Gordon D. 

White, Matawan ; Eev. J. L. Kehoe, Manalapan ; 

Eufus Ogden, Keyport. 

1.874. 

President: John Van Doren. 

Vice-Presidents : Eev. A. C. Millspaugh, Rev. J. E. 
Adams, Rev. Frank Chandler, John E. Johnston. 

Treasurer : William Statesir. 

Secretary: Aaron C. Hart. 

Executive Committee: Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 
Rev. C. S. Hageman, D.D., Rev. James Bolton, 
James S. Yard, Charles Meirs, Daniel D. Hunt. 

1875. 

President : James S. Y'ard, Freehold. 

Vice-Presidents: Rev. T. W. Wells, Marlborough; 
Rev. George Reed, Branchburg; A. T. Vander- 
veer, Long Branch; Daniel B. Strong, Mata- 
wan. 

Treasurer: William Statesir, Freehold. 

Secretary : Aaron C. Hart, Freehold. 

Executive Committee : Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 
Rev. C. S. Hageman, D.D., Rev. Frank Chand- 
ler, C. V. Golden, Charles Meirs, Daniel D 
Hunt. 



364 



HISTORY OF MONxMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1876. 

President : Rev. A. C. Millspaugh, Marlborough. 

Vice-Presidents : Rev. J. M. Anderson, Matawan ; 
Gilbert H. Van Mater, Holmdel ; Holmes W. 
Murphy, Freehold. 

Treasurer: William Statesir,,Freehold. 

Secretary : Aaron C. Hart, Freehold. 

Executive Committee: Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 
Holmdel; Rev. C. S. Hageman, D.D., Freehold; 
Rev. Frank Chandler, Freehold; Rev. A. Law- 
rence, Freehold ; C. W. Fountain, Matawan ; 
Charles Meirs, Upper Freehold. 

1877. 

President : Hon. N. S. Rue, Cream Ridge. 

Vice-Presidents: Rev. W. H. Pearne, Freehold ; John 
Dorrance, Freehold; Hon. William Spader, Mata- 
wan. 

Treasurer: William Statesir, Freehold. 

Secretary : A. C. Hart, Freehold. 

Executive Committee : Rev. William Reiley, Holm- 
del ; Rev. C. S. Hageman, Freehold ; Rev. Frank 
Chandler, Freehold ; Rev. Dr. Stokes, Ocean 
Grove; Charles W. Fountahi, Matawan ; Charles 
Wilson, Upper Freehold. 

1878. 

President : George W. Bell. 

Vice-Presidents : Rev. C. S. Hageman, D.D., G. H. 
Van Mater, N. S. Rue. 

Treasurer: William Statesir. 

Secretary : Rev. J. M. Anderson. 

Executive Committee : Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 
Rev. Frank Chandler, D.U., Rev. T. W. Wells, 
William Spader, D. B. Strong, Rufus Ogden. 

1879. 

President: William L. Terhune. 

Vice-Presidents: Rev. George Swain, D.D., Hon. W. 
P. Forman, John Statesir, Jr. 

Treasurer : William Statesir. 

Secretary : Rev. James M. Anderson. 

Executive Committee: Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 
Rev. Frank Chandler, D.D., Rev. George C. Mad- 
dock, Charles W. Fountain, James J. Conover, 
Joseph W. Hulse. 

1880. 

President: Hon. Amzi C. McLean, Freehold. 
Vice-Presidents: Horatio Ely, Rev. H. A. Hendrick- 

son. Holmes W. IMurphy. 
Treasurer: William Statesir, Freehold. 
Secretary : Rev. J. M. Anderson, Matawan. 
Exective Committee: Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 

Rev. Frank Chandler, J. J. Conover, J. W. 

Hulse, Rev. G. C. Maddock, Rev. T. S. Griffith, 

William L. Terhune. 



1881. 

President : William R. Maps. 

Vice-Presidents: G. H. Van Mater, A. H. Harris, D. 
B. Strong, Daniel H. Wyckoft'. 

Treasurer : William Statesir. 

Secretary : J. M. Anderson. 

Executive Committee : Rev. I. P. Brokaw, Rev. Frank 
Chandler, James S. Yard, Rev. T. W. Wells, 
James J. Conover, Andrew Perrine, Alfred Wal- 
ters. 

1882. 

President : Hon. Amzi C. McLean, Freehold. 
Vice-Presidents : G. H. Van Mater, Holmdel ; A. H. 

Harris, D. B. Strong, Matawan ; D. H. Wyckoff, 

Asbury Park. 
Treasurer: William Statesir. 
Secretary : James J. Conover, Freehold. 
Executive Committee : Rev. L P. Brokaw, Rev. Frank 

Chandler, James S. Y''ard, Rev. Theodore AV. 

Wells, Andrew Perrine, Rev. G. C. Maddock, A. 

Walters. 

1883. 

President : Rev. G. C. Maddock, Freehold. 
Vice-Presidents: Peter Rue, Freehold; John Baw- 

den, Freehold; Lafayette Schenck, Holmdel; 

John H. Heyer, Holmdel. 
Treasurer: William Statesir. 

Recording Secretary : James J. Conover, Freehold. 
Executive Committee: Rev. Frank Chandler, D.D,, 

Rev. I. P. Brokaw, Rev. William Reiley, D.D., 

Rev. Theodore W. Wells, Benjamin Griggs, 

James S. Yard, Andrew Perrine. 

1884. 

President : Rev. Theodore W. Wells, Marlboro'. 

Vice-Presidents: John Statesir, Jr., Colt's Neck ; La- 
fayette Schenck, Holmdel ; G. H. Van Mater, 
Red Bank ; John Baird, Marlboro'. 

Treasurer : William Statesir. 

Recording Secretary : John B. Conover, Freehold. 

Executive Committee : Rev. I. P. Brokaw, Freehold ; 
Rev. Frank Chandler, D.D., Freehold; Rev. 
George Swain, D.D., AUentown ; James S. Yard, 
Freehold ; Andrew Perrine, Freehold ; D. D. 
Hunt, Colt's Neck ; William Spader, Matawan. 

1885. 

President : Rev. George W. Swain. 

Vice-Presidents : John Statesir, G. H. Van Mater, 

Lafayette Schenck, John Baird. 
Treasurer : William Statesir. 
Recording Secretary : John B. Conover. 
Executive Committee : Rev. L P. Brokaw, James S. 

Y'ard, Andrew Perrine, William Spader, Rev. G. 

W. Labaw. 



THE MONMOUTH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



36a 



The Monmouth County Agricultural 
Society ' commenced its existence in December, 
1853. Earlier in the fall of that year, while a 
large number of gentlemen of Monmouth County 
were traveling by railroad to attend the annual 
fair of the Agricultural Society at Jamesburg, 
Middlesex County, one of their number (Hon. 
Joel Parker) remarked to some of the others that 
the people of Monmouth ought to have an agricul- 
tural society and annual fair of their own, 
instead of traveling many miles to attend those 
of the less important (agriculturally) county of 
Middlesex. The idea met the approval of those 
present; the proposition was made and concurred 
in, that such a society be formed in JNIonmouth 
County, and a committee was informally ap- 
pointed to make the preliminary arrangements to 
carry the project into execution. That committee, 
composed of James S. Lawrence, of Upper Free- 
hold ; Joel Parkei', of Freehold ; Andrew Simp- 
son, of Howell ; James Thompson, of Marlboro' ; 
Hendrick Wikotf, of Raritan ; Samuel W. 
Jones, of Atlantic ; and George A. Corlies, of 
Ocean township, attended to the duty with 
which they were charged, and on the 26th of 
November issued the following notice, which 
was published in the Democrat and Inquirer, of 
Freehold, and the Neiu Jersey Standard, of 
Middletowu Point, viz. : 

" MOXMOUTH COUXTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY — 

Notice. — A meeting will be held at the house of N. 
S. Rue, iu the village of Freehold, on Saturday, the 
17th of December next, at 12 o'clock M., for the pur- 
pose of organizing an Agricultural Society for the 
County of Monmouth. A Constitution will then be 
reported, and the officers of the Society elected. 

"The Committee, who were requested at a former 
meeting to give the above notice, deem it a duty to 
urge upon the citizens of the county to attend at the 
above time and place. A general attendance of the 
Farmers, Mechanics and others interested in the ob- 
ject of the meeting will insure the success of the 
Society." 



'"The Monmouth Agricultural Society" was organ- 
ized at a meeting held for the purpose, at Freehold, on the 
26th of April, 1838, — William I. Bowne, secretary. This 
is learned from the newspapers of that time ; but beyond 
this, and the fact that a special meeting was held February 
2.5, 1839, with regard to the annual dues of members, 
nothing has been ascertained of the history of that old so- 
ciety, which was, doubtless, of very short duration. 



The meeting was held at the appointed time 
and place, and although the day was stormy, a 
large number of people from various parts of the 
county were in attendance. James S. Lawrence, 
of Upper Freehold, was called to the chair, and 
Charles Sears, of Atlantic, was apjjoiuted secre- 
tary of the meeting. An adjournment was had 
to the court-house, where the Hon. Joel Parker 
made a brief statement of the circumstances 
which originated the project to organize a county 
society for the promotion of agriculture and 
kindred interests, and presented the value and 
advantage of such an organization. He referred 
to the action of the committee, and offered, as 
the result of their labors, the draft of a consti- 
tution and by-laws, which were adopted unani- 
mously, and the blanks filled by a vote of the 
meeting. The constitution then adopted de- 
clared that the object of the society should be 
" the advancement of agriculture, horticulture 
and manufactures ; " that " each resident or con- 
tributing member shall pay the sum of one 
dollar per year ; and the payment of ten dollars 
at any one time sliall constitute a member for 
life, without any further contribution ; " that 
the annual meeting of the society should l)c held 
on the third Saturday in January, and <(uarterly 
meetings on the third Saturdays of April, .July 
and October, together with many other pro- 
visions, embracing, in all, fourteen sections. 

A committee of five, composed of ]\Iichael 
Taylor, I). P. Van Dorn, Tunis Hubbard, 
James I. Conover and Joel Parker, were ap- 
pointed to report nominations for officers of 
the society, to hold their respective offices until 
the annual meeting of 1855. The committee 
reported the following-named persons, who were 
all elected, without opposition, as the first 
officers of the Monmouth County Agricultural 
Society, viz. : 

President : William Henry Hendrickson, of Rari- 
tan. 

Vice-Presidents : James S. Lawrence, of Upper 
Freehold ; Thomas Baird, of Millstone, John M. Per- 
rine, of Maualapan ; Jobn S. Denise, of Freehold; 
Andrew Simpson, of Howell; Colonel Abram Os- 
borne, of Wall; John W. Ely, of Marlborough ; Samuel 
W. Jones, of Atlantic; Pierson Hendrickson, of 
Shrewsbury; Benjamin W. Corlies, of Ocean ; Robert 
Allen, of Middletown ; Peter Smock, of Raritan. 



366 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Recording Secretary : Bennington F. Randolph. 

Corresponding Secretary : Joseph Combs. v 

Treasurer : Henry Bennett. 

The organization being effected, and a series 
of resolutions passed, the presiding officer, 
Yice-President James S. Lawrence (President 
Hendrickson being absent) appointed the fol- 
lowing-named pei-sous a committee of ways 
and means, viz. : 

Charles Meire, James I. Conover, Upper Freehold ; 
Thomas M. Perrine, James M. Smith, Millstone; 
Joseph Ely, James A. Perrine, Manalapan ; William 
H. Conover, John H. Vanderveer, Freehold ; Charles 
Butcher, James Cooper, Howell; Thomas Lafetra, 
Robert Laird, Wall; Joseph H. Vanderveer, Daniel 
Schencli, Marlborough ; James I. Taylor, Henry Buck, 
Atlantic ; Michael Taylor, Henry H. Conover, Shrews- 
bury; Jordan Wooley, Francis Corlies, Ocean; 
Thomas S. Field, William V. Conover, Middletown ; 
John S. Hendrickson, Tunis Hubbard, Raritan. 

At this first meeting thirteen gentlemen be- 
came life membens of the society by payment 
of ten dollars each, viz. : Daniel B. Ryall, Joel 
Parker, Daniel D. Denise, William T. Sutphin, 
of Freehokl ; James S. Lawrence, of Upper 
Freehold ; Benjamin B. Hance, of Shrewsbury ; 
Samuel W. Jones, of Atlantic ; John W. Ely, 
of ^Marlborough ; Andrew Simpson, of Howell ; 
Peter S. Conover, of Raritan ; and Dr. Joseph 
C Thompson, of Manalapan. And the follow- 
ing named became members, by payment of 
one dollar each: Michael Taylor, Asher Hance, 
Joseph B. Lewis, of Shrewsbury ; Dr. John T. 
T. Woodhull, J. F. T. Forman, John Bowne, 
Orrin Pharo and Daniel W. Ellis, of Freehold; 
Jacob S. Jones, William L. Jones, James J. 
Tavlor, James C. Taylor, Charles Sears, John 
B. Angell and John French, of Atlantic; Tunis 
Hubbard, Daniel B. Strong and Henry INIor- 
ford, of Raritan ; Hendrick Conover and Henry 
D. Ely, of ^Marlborough ; Edward J. Clayton, 
of Millstone ; and Robert Dye, of Manalapan. 
After the adjournment of the meeting several 
others became members of the society. At the 
first annual meeting, held at the court-house, 
on the 17th of January following, the number 
of life members, reported was thirty-three ; an- 
nual members three hundred and twenty-three, 
— total membership, three hundred and fifty- 
six. 



At a special meeting held at the court-house, 
May 12, 1854, the followiug communication 
from citizens of Freehold was received : 

" To the Monmouth County Agricultural Society : 

"Believing that the citizens of Freehold should 
furnish the ground for the Fairs, free of charge to the 
Society, and understanding that Hudson Bennett 
will rent a lot of land of about ten acres, situated on 
the east side of his new street, for §50, for the use of 
the Fair the coming fall, we, the undersigned, do 
agree to furnish the said lot for that purpose, and 
hereby tender the use of it to the Society for the 
next Fair, free of charge. 

"Aaron R. Combs, A. T. Manning, U. Smalley, J. 
H. Russell, William Middleton, J. R. Patterson, 
Henry Bennett, Applegate & Woodhull, R. Hulse, 
Joseph Combs, Elias Hart, Joel Parker, D. C. Cono- 
ver, A. H. Reed, W. A. Walton, William D. Davis, 
R. A. Ellis, William H. Conover, on behalf of them- 
selves and others. 
'■May, 1854." 

The meeting resolved to accept this tender of 
grounds for the fair of 1854, and also to pay 
the owner " any reasonable damage that may be 
done to the fencing on the day of the exhibi- 
tion." The committee of arrangements then 
appointed was composed of Xathaniel S. Rue, 
Daniel D. Denise, B. F. Randolph, Jacob M. 
Rue, Joel Parker, Joseph H. Rossell, William 
H. Conover, Henry Bennett, Daniel P. Van 
Dorn. The committee of reception of dele- 
gates from other societies was composed of 
Daniel B. Ryall, Colonel William D. Davis, 
John A. Morford, Dr. John B. Throckmorton 
and Henry Morford. The fair was held ou the 
21st of September on ]Mr. Bennett's land (near 
where now stands the buildings of the Freehold 
and New York Railroad), and was a very suc- 
cessful exhibition. 

At the second annual meeting of the society, 
held at the court-house, Januaiy 20, 1855, it 
was resolved to rent the .same grounds for the 
fair of that year, at a sum not exceeding one 
hundred dollars, the citizens of Freehokl agree- 
ing to contribute a generous proportion of the 
expense. At a meeting held on the 19th of j 
ISIav following it was " Resolved, that the Com- 
mittee procure a tent, not to exceed in cost two 
hundred and fifty dollars ; and, if they deem it 
expedient, rent stands on the fair-grounds. 
. . . That the trial of reaping and mowing- 



THE MONMOUTH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



367 



Diafliines be liekl in tlie vicinity of Eaton- 
town." 

The fair of 185-") was held on the "iTth of 
September on the same ground that was used 
in the preceding year. The financial success 
attending the fair of 1855 was shown by the 
report made at the annual meeting, held Janu- 
ary 19, 185(3, viz.: Amount of receipts during 
past year, $1473.49 ; expenses, including pre- 
miums ($554), tent and printing, $1187.4.3; 
leaving a balance of $286.06 in the hands of 
the treasurer. 

In 185(3 the fair of the society was held on 
the 24th and 25th of September on land of 
Andrew Perrine. 

At the annual meeting, held on the 17th of 
January, 1857, it was voted to procure an act 
•of incorporation and reorganize the society as a 
.stock company. The incorporation was effected 
by an act of the Legislature, approved March 
-5,1857, providing that "Samuel W. Jones, 
Horatio Ely, John C. Smock, Andrew Simp- 
son, James I. Conover and Ezra A. Osborne, 
of the county of Monmouth, and their asso- 
ciates and successors, shall be, and they are 
hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate, 
l)v the name of ' The Monmouth County Agri- 
cultural Society.' . . . That the said corporation 
may purchase, use, hold, possess and enjoy such 
real estate as shall be necessary to promote the 
objects of the society. Provided, that such 
real estate shall at no time exceed in value the 
sum of ten thousand dollars. ..." Under 
this act the society was reorganized at a meeting 
held in the court-house, June 13, 1857, and 
formed into a stock company, with a capital 
stock of four thousand eight hundred dollars, 
in three hundred shares at sixteen dollai^ each ; 
the officers of the company, to be a president, 
two vice-presidents, a secretary, treasurer, and a 
board of twenty managers, to include the presi- 
dent and vice-presidents ; the annual meetings 
of the society to be held on the third Saturday 
of January in each year at Freehold. The 
fifteenth section of the new by-laws (adopted at 
the meeting of June 13th) provided that " The 
moneys and propeity of the Monmouth County 
Agricultural Society, heretofore existing, shall 
be transferred and become the property of this 



incorporation, and the life members of said 
society shall be entitled to shares in this by 
reason of such transfer and the payment of eight 
dollars additional on one share, and if any more 
shares are taken, to pay the .same as others." 
At the meeting held in January, 1857, tiie 
committee on grounds reported that a lot of 
t\\enty acres of land could be purchased of 
Colonel AV. D. Davis, at $150 per acre, and the 
meeting "Resolved, That not less than fifteen 
acres be purchased ; " and '' Bc.soh-rd, That the 
society accept Colonel Davis' jjroposition for his 
land." At a meeting held on the 13th of June 
following, the committee reported "that they 
had rented grounds of Mr. Henry Brinkerhoff 
for sixty dollars, provided the society does not 
purchase any." The society did not purchase 
at that time, and the fair of 1857 was held on 
Wednesday, September 23d, on Mr. Brinker- 
hoff's land, south of the \illage. 

On the 20th of March, 1858, the society re- 
solved to purchase the tract offered by Colonel 
Davis, and to fit it up as a fair-ground. The 
purchase was made in accordance with the reso- 
lution, and on these, the society's fair-grounds 
(lying just outside the town of Freehold, 
towards the southwest), the yearly fairs have 
been held to the present time. Since the first 
purchase, an additional one of five acres has 
been made, which, however, is nearly balanced 
by a sale of four and four-tenths acres, leaving 
the crrounds about the same in area as at first. 

In 1875 the fair-grounds were improved by 
the society at an expense of $983.79. A race 
track (half-mile) ^vas laid out and graded, and 
in the summer of 1877 a grand stand was 
erected at a cost of $1650. In 1881 the tr?ck 
was improved to its present excellent condition. 
The track and the horse department are the 
leading features of the annual fairs, the trials 
of sj)eed being under the rules of the National 
Trotting As.sociation, with which the Monmouth 
Aa-ricultural Society is in connection and mem- 
bership. 

The fair of 1884 was held on the 9th, 10th, 
11th and 12th of September, and was the most 
successful one in the history of this society. 
In its report of this fair the Monmouth Demo- 
crat said, — 



368 



. HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUiNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



"In the whole history of the society we venture to 
say that there never was a fair which was conducted 
in a more orderly, judicious and successful manner 
than this one of 1884. President Spader, Secretary 
Ward, Treasurer Butcher and their fellow-directors 
had spared uo pains in preparing for the event. 

" The grounds were placed in excellent order. The 
track was in fine condition. The fencing and build- 
ings were in good repair, and were bright with paint and 
whitewash. A neat new building for the art and 
fancy-work department was an attractive feature, and 
a much-needed improvement. Heretofore the speci- 
mens of art and ladies' work have been exhibited in 
the main building, where they were not only subjected 
to a miserable light, but were also liable to damage 
from exposure to dust and dampness. In addition 
to these improvements, we noticed that the rules and 
regulations which had been adopted for the manage- 
ment of the fair were faithfully enforced, not with 
harshness, but with a gentlemanly firmness which 
commanded respect. This was noticeable particularly 
in the conduct of the trotting and racing. The 
judges applied the rules strictly, yet impartially, so 
that there was no unseemly disorder in the vicinity of 
the judges' stand. The utmost good order prevailed 
also on every other portion of the grounds, which 
were under the surveillance of a corps of special 
policeman, with l\Iarshal John Neafle as chief." 

The followiug-iiamed persous have served as 
president of Monmouth County Agricultural 
Society from its commencement to the present 
time, viz. : 

1854. William Henry Hendrickson. 

1855. James S. Lawrence. 

1856. Horatio Ely. 

1857. Samuel W. Jones. 
1858-59. William P. Forman. 

1860. Peter S. Conover. 

1861. Charles Butcher. 
1862-63. William H. Conover. 
1864-65. Gilbert H. Van Mater. 
1866-67. Tunis V. Du Bois. 
1868-69. Eichard A. Leonard. 
1870. Peter L. Cortelyou. 
1871-72. Michael Tayhu-. 
1873-74. Dr. J. C. Thompson. 
1875-81. Nath. S. Rue. 
1882-84. William Spader. 

For the years 1883 and 1884 the entire list of 
officers of the society is given below, viz. : 

1883. 

President: Hon. William Spader, Matawan. 
Vice-Presidents: Hon. George W. Brown, Ocean; 
Hon. Charles D. Hendrick-son, Middletown. 



Board of Managers : William Spader, Nath. S. Rue^ 
W. H. Davis, L. F. Conover, J. V. N. Willis, 
Edward Martin, John H. Denise, Henry Camp- 
bell, W. C. Taylor, John R. Du Bois, John B. 
Conover, Hal Allaire, Azariah Conover, Charles 
D. Hendrickson, Samuel T. Hendrickson, Charles 
H. Butcher, George W. Brown, Thomas E. 
Morris, George F. Ward, Edgar Schenck. 

Treasurer: Hon. Charles A. Bennett, Freehold. 

Recording Secretary: George F. Ward, Freehold. 

Corresponding Secretary: James J. Conover, Free- 
hold. 

General Superintendent : Tunis Denise. 

1884. 

President : Hon. William Spader, Matawan. 

Vice-Presidents: Hon. George W. Brown, Long 
Branch ; Col. Charles D. Hendrickson, Keyport. 

Board of Directors: William Spader, N. S. Rue,. 
George W. Brown, L. F. Conover, Azariah Con- 
over, John W. Parker. Edwarc^ Martin, John H. 
Denise, J. V. N. Willis, Thomas E. Morris, C. D. 
Hendrickson, Hal Allaire, Cornelius Ackersoii, 
C. H. Butcher, G. F. Ward, C. D. B. Forman, 
James H. Butcher, W. H. Davis, Theodore 
Aumack, Sherman B. Oviatt. 

Recording and Corresponding Secretary: George F. 
Ward, Freehold. 

Treasurer: Charles H. Butcher, Freehold. 

David Demaeest Denise, son of Jolm 
S. and Catharine Thompson Denise, was born 
on the •2.3d of September, 1840, on the home- 
stead in Freehold township, his youth having 
been spent in the pursuit of his studies, first at 
the school in the immediate neighborhood of his 
home, and later at the Freehold Institute. He 
had meanwhile removed with his parents to 
Freehold, and become interested in the calling 
of a farmer, which has since that time, to a 
greater or less extent, engaged his attention. He 
was married, on the 20th of January, 1864, to- 
Miss Jidia P., daughter of Abel R. Taylor, of 
Mercer County, K. J., whose only child, Edith 
Taylor, born October 11, LSTti, died August 31, 
1879. Mr. Deni-se, in 18()4, again made the 
township of Freehold his residence, and for 
eight years devoted his energies exclusively 
to farming, after which he returned to the 
town, which is his present home. He has made 
agriculture the study of his life and been largely 
identified with every movement, both in the 
county and State, having for its purpose the 
advancement of the agricultural interests of the- 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



369 



county. He is a director of the Monmouth 
County Agricultural Society, and was one of the 
leading spii'its in the Grange movement, which 
resulted in the organization of the INIunmouth 
Grange, No. 92, of which he was the fii'st secre- 
tary, and in which he has held various other 
offices. He is the secretaiy of the JMonmouth 
County Board of Agriculture, and holds the ap- 
pointment of delegate from the county to the 
State Board of Agriculture, as also agricultural 
statistical reporter for the government. Mr. 



CHAPTER XV. 

INTERXAL IMPROVEMENTS POPULATION. 

In all coinitries and regions where the first 
settlers are of the Anglo-Saxon race their 
earliest labors are directed to the securing of 
practicable routes of travel, and the opening 
of these, however rude and primitive they may 
be, is the first step in the direction of public 
internal improvement. In interior regions, 




Denise is largely interested in religious and 
church work, having held the offices of both 
deacon and elder and acted as superintendent of 
the Sabbath-school of the Second Reformed 
(Dutch) Church of Freehold. 



remote from navigable waters, the immigrant 
must bestow some labor — be it more or less — 
to open a route or road to the place where he 
proposes to make his home in the new country ; 
but in localities more favored by nature, — such 
as the early settlers found within the territory 
that is now the county of INIonraouth, — where a 
vast area of eligible land is rendered accessible 
by reason of the numerous creeks and deep 
rivers that flow through it, they were not im- 



24 



I 



370 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



mediately compelled to expend their labor in 
the opening of roads, for they had highways 
ready for their use, over the boatable waters 
eommimieating with the bays and the ocean. 

Most of the early settlers in Monmouth 
County were from Long Island, from West- 
chester County, N. Y., and from New England, 
and for fully forty years from the time when the 
first of them came to make their homes in the 
Navesink region, sloops and other small sailing- 
vessels made frequent trips, during the favorable 
seasons of the year, from Wakake and other 
landinafs on the rivers and bavs of Monmouth 
to Xew York, to Gravesend, L. I., and to Rhode 
Island, forming a comparatively easy com- 
munication between the Monmouth settlei's and 
the relatives and friends who remained on the 
homestead from which the farmer had emigrated. 
Fi'om Gravesend a highway ran across Long 
Island to the Sound, opposite Throgg's Neck, 
where the crossing was made into Westchester 
County, N. Y., whence travelers reached the 
great jjublic road running from New York into 
the New England colonies. 

In the period extending from about 1668 to 
1690, Christopher AUmy, who came from 
Rhode Island and settled in Monmouth County, 
made occasional trips in the summer season, in 
a sloop, sailing from Shrewsbury River to the 
Rhode Island ports, carrying passengers, and 
also peltries and other articles of freight, and 
bringing back settlers, with their movables, 
and such goods as could be procured in New 
England, which were in demand in the New 
Jersey setttement. After a time, Allmy re- 
turned to live in his old home in Rhode Island, 
and it is not known that the sloop-line between 
that colony and ]\Ionmouth was continued by 
any other person. As the old settlers died, and 
the ties of consanguinity or early friendship 
became weakened by time, the intercourse be- 
tween the Monmouth people and those of the 
parent settlements in New England and Long 
Island gradually grew less frequent, and was 
finally almost entirely discontinued. 

The first land highways used by the Mon- 
mouth settlers were the Indian paths, which 
generally ran o\-er high ground, avoiding steep 
hills, ravines, swamps, bogs, dcej) streams, and 



also shallow ones where they were bordered by 
miiy meadows or liable to be rendered impassa- 
ble by freshets. Of these paths there were two 
principal ones traversing the county, — the 
Minisiuk Path, running from the Navesink 
Highlands and River to the Raritau, three 
miles above Perth Am boy, and thence to ]\Iini- 
sink Island in the Delaware, and the Burling- 
ton Path, running from the Delaware at 
Burlington, by way of Cross^\•icks and the site 
of the town of Freehold, to the Minisink Path, 
near jNIiddletown, thence to Clay Pit Creek and 
the Highlands, and also a branch forking be- 
tween Freehold and iliddletown and running 
to Tinton Falls and Navarumsunk (now called 
Rumson). There were also other paths, among 
which were the " Fish Path " and " Cedar 
Path," traversing the county, and along several 
of which, roads were afterwards laid out. 

A road (and jierhaps more than one) had 
been laid out liy the Navesink settlers prior to 
June 4, 1668, at which time a " General As- 
sembly," then convened at Portland Point (the 
Highlands), "Ordered that upon proposition and 
debate for another highway in Shrewsbury, on 
Narumsunk, the bi-eadth of the said highway to 
be two rods and not under ; the bi-eadth over it 
left at the discretion of the townsmen ; likewise, 
that those fences which are now made, which 
shall be found standiua; in the highwav, are to 
remain in that place until they be . . . And 
this hiffhwav to be understood and meant the 
common passage highway and street which goes 
from one end of the town to the other." 

In 1677, William Edmundson, traveling 
southward from New York, went by sloop to 
Wakake, and thence to Middletown, from 
which place he attempted, with an Indian guide, 
to cross the countiy to the Delaware ; but, after 
wandering in the woods for a day or more, was 
compelled to abandon that route and to go back 
to and up the Raritau River to " a small landing 
from New York" (probably Inian's Feriy, 
where New Bi-unswick now is), and thence to < 
the Falls of Delaware (Trenton), over a track 
which had been partially opened to that place, , 
but wholly to the west of the limits of Mon- 
mouth County. On this journey he "saw no « 
tame animals in all the way." 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



371 



At that time, and for at least a quarter of a 
century afterwards, the usual route for travelers 
to the Monmouth settlements was by sloop across 
the bay to the Wakake Landing, then by the 
road to !Middletown, from which place the usual 
way to Shrewsbury was by the road leading 
through Balm Hollow, bv what was afterwards 
the John Golden farm to Ogden's Corner, by the 
John Bowne-Crawford farm; then through Mor- 
risville, past the old Hubbard house ; then, turn- 
ing easterl_y, over, through or near the Middle- | 
town Episcopal Church farm, and from there to 
Swimming River,' at or near the present bridge 
on Leedsville road, and then the general coui-se 
of the present road to Tinton Falls, and from 
thence to Shrewsbury. This road avoiiled all 
the steep i-aviues and high hills to the south of 
INIiddletown, and all meadows, bogs and streams, 
except Swimming River. 

In 1682 the Proprietors' Assembly passed 
" An Act for making and Settling Highways, 
Passages, Landings, Bridges and Ferries within 
this Province," and appointing commissioners 
for the purpose. For Muumouth the commis- 
sioners were the surveyor-general. Colonel 
Lewis ]SIorris, Captain John Bowne, Richard 
Hartshorue, James Hauce, Joseph Parker and 
Lewis Morris, Jr. In 1686, John TJirock- 
mortou, John Slocum and Nicholas Brown were 
appointed commissioners, in place of Colonel 
Lewis Morris, John Bowne and Joseph Parker. 
In the next succeeding year the commissioners 
laid out a number of roads in the county, as 
shown by the record, which is here given entire, 

' It is said that this name was given it because a certain 
traveler, who attempted to cross it during a spring freshet. 
found himself obliged to swim his horse to reach the other 
side. A bridge was built across this stream more than two 
centuries ago, as is shown by the following entry found in 
Book A of Monmouth Deeds, viz. : 

"Att a Court of Sessions held at Shrewsbury, at y' 
house of Nicholas Browne, j' 2d, 3d, 4th of September, 
1679. Present, Capt. .John Bowne, Mr. Joseph Parker, 
Justices of the Peace ; Mr. Eicliard Gibbons, Mr. Jonatlian 
Holmes, Assistants. . . . This Court also directs the 
bridge over Swimming River to be made new, at equal 
charge of the towns of Middletown and Shrewsbury and 
Tinton Manor ; and appoint, as overseers, Richard Gard- 
ner, of Tinton Manor; James Grover, Jr., of Middletown ; 
and John Slocum, of Shrewsbury." This shows that a 
bridge had been built across this stream at a time early 
enough for it to liave become old and out of repair in 1G7'.). 



because of the numerous references to the people 
then living at various points along the several 
routes mentioned : 

" Records off y highwaj's in y^ counties of Jlon- 
mouth laid outt y* second day of March, Anno Dom. 
one thousand six hundred and eighty-seven. 

'' From Shrewsbury Falls to Swimming River 
Bridge, as the road now lieth, to two wliite oaks 
girdled on y" south side of y'' same, at John Ruckman's 
hill ; then by stakes to the barrs near his house, all 
along y" King's highway, six rods broad' through 
Middletown Street, as y" road now lieth, to y" bridge, a 
little easterly from John Stout's house and into 
a drift way three rotls, following y' old way through 
y" Poplar Field, and out by James Grover's to the 
lott that was Jonathan Holmes' ; thence following y° 
cart-way that now is to y" east side of y* lott which 
belonged to James Ashton ; thence following y" old 
way laid out by James Grover to the most easterly 
side of Stephen Arnold's poplar lott ; and thence 
keeping y'' old path to William Layton's, and thence 
up the hill along the path that goes toward Portland 
Point, and so along that way till it comes to Poor- 
man's Plain ; thence from the head of Poormau's 
Plain along through said Plain by now mark't trees, 
till it come to y" way that goes over y' Stony Runn, 
and so along y= way as it now goes to Richard Davis' 
most easterly lines, and then to turn down by now 
mark't trees, to the mouth of * *' Creek at * * River, 
and again from Richard Davis' most easterly lines, as 
the way now goes, to * * * * Samuel * ■* * lauds. So 
along Jeremiah Bennett's land as the * * * went, and 
so through Richard Hartshorne's lands, as the way 
now goes, to his house; and thence to the most 
northerly part of Sandy Hook Point. 

" A drift way, three rods wide, running from John 
Stout's bridge, and beginning at the way by William 
Layton's, as the road now lyeth, to James Grover's . 
Mill, and Mill brook and bog, at y'= south of Stephen 
Arnold's lott, so called as the way now goeth, to y' 
head of y' old Spring and* * line that parts James 
Ashton's land and Job Throckmorton's, and so along 
mark't trees till it comes to Thomas Harbert's Path, 
and thence, as ye way now goeth, to y' Bay side. 

"A Highway, beginning at y" Pond, by Richard 
Gardner's meadow, and so through Thomas Harbert's 
path and house, as y*^ way goeth, to Benjamin Devill's 
[Deuill's] house, and so through Benjamin Devill's 
land, by mark't tree.s, till it comes in the way in Poor- 
man's Plain to y" grave. 

2" The front foundation walls of the tavern on one side, 
and the front foundation walls of Dr. Taylor's house on 
the other side ; mark the original bounds of the road. 
These, and the corner of Charles Dubois' lot, are now the 
only landmarks to fix it." — Hon. G. C. Beekman. 

'These omissions are where the words are illegible in 
the record. 



I 



372 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JERSEY. 



"And beginning att Thomas Morford's, on Nave- 
sinks River, going along as tlie way now goes, to tlie 
Middletown road, by John Stout's Bridge. 

" And beginning at the Ijing's highway in Middle- 
town by the Indian [Path ?] thirtie chains in length, 
the breadth of the way * * Rod, lying betwixt Rich- 
ard Hartshorne's lott and Sarah Reape's, and thence 
as the way now goes, a drift path to William Comp- 
ton's. 

" It is a king's highway from James Grover's to the 
mouth of VVaykick Creek, as the way now goeth, being 
six rods wide. It is a drift way from Thomas Whit- 
lock's, as the way now lyes, to the King's highway in 
Middletown, and a passage for people over Waykick 
meadow to cart their hay, as the way now lieth, into 
the King's highw-ay. 

"And beginning att the King's highway in Middle- 
town, by the Frisson, on the west by Robert Hamil- 
ton's lott, and east by Mary Pedler's or Thomas Cox's 
lott, in length "■ * chains and in breadth eighteen rods, 
and thence a drift way to Swimming River Bridge, as 
the way lyeth,^ it beginning in y' north side of y° 
Frisson, running northerly two chains broad and 
twenty chains long, bounded west by Robert Hamil- 
ton's, east by Samuel Spicer's ; and it is to be noted 
that these three highways above-mentioned are not to 
be hemed in. First, that six rods broad and thirteen 
chains long, lying betwixt Richard Hartshorne's land 
and Sarah Reape's, their lott. The second, that of 
eighteen rods broad and thirteen chains long, bounded 
west by Robert Hamilton's lott and east by Thomas 
Cox, lying from the Frisson south. And the third, 
eight rods broad and twenty chains long, bounded 
west by Robert Hamilton's and east by Samuel Spicer's, 
running from the highway over against the Frisson 
north. And it is to be noted that from y" King's 
highway east of the Leonard's, a drift way is to go to 
ye Leonard's Saw-mill, and thence as the cartway 
goeth to Peter Tilton's cartway to Hop River, round- 
ing the bank as the cartway goeth, and so westward of 
William Leeds' new house, and so along, as the old 
way now goeth, to the King's highway. 

" And Burlington Path, being the King's highway 
from Crosswicks Creek, by George Keith's Plantation, 
to John Hampton's, as y* way now goeth, and so to 
the Leonard's [Saw-mill], and thence to the Falls, as 
the way now goeth ; but it is to be made more straight 
at the Leonard's and some other places betwixt that 
and tlie Falls. 

"And from John Hampton's plantation, the path 
being the King's highway, is to go as the path now 
goeth to Hop River, at the usual crossing westerly of 
William Lawrence's field, and so northerly by mark't 
trees through John Bray's land, and Eleazer Cottrell's, 
till it comes to a gullie, and thence along the said 
guUie bounding the said Cottrell's, and thence by 

' Road from Middletown to Nut Swamp. 



inark't trees, to goe betwixt Eleazer Cottrell's and 
Jonathan Holmes', their bound lines that bound be- 
twixt them, and so to the brook of Cheeseman's, and 
thence crossing the brook at the usual place, by mark't 
trees betwixt Cheeseman's and Morford's land, till it 
comes to the old path to Middletown. 

" And from Middletown, a King's highway is to 
goe by the side of John Ruckman's hill,- as aforesaid, 
to old Richard Stout's, as the way now lieth, and from 
thence, to the AVidow Bound's, and so along, as the way 
now lieth, to the head of Cheesequakes,^ and thence to 
the ferry over against Perth Amboy. 

"And a way is to goe from Shrewsbury Falls, as the 
way now goeth, to Richard Stout's, the younger, his 
plantation. 

" And from the crossing of Hop River at Burling- 
ton Path, a way is to goe as it now goeth by mark't 
trees, to John Reid's, and thence, as the way goeth, to 
the King's highway betwixt Middletown and Cheese- 
quakes. 

"And a drift way is to goe from a marked tree, a 
black oak standing by Burlington pathway, on the 
east side, betwixt John Hampton and Hop River, on 
a ridge of land by mark't trees (the which ridge lieth 
betwixt the heads and branches of Hop River, east- 
erly, and South River westerly), into the King's high- 
waj' at Wickatoung,* by mark't trees till it comes to a 
black oak by the south side of the highway, marked 
on four sides; thence by mark't trees to the east side 
of Baker's fence at Wickatoung, and along the hill by 
the old way that goeth to the landing-place at Matte- 
awan Creek, on the south side. 

In 169.") the commissioners laid out a large 
nimiber of roads (priui-ijjally King's highways), 
of which the records sho^v the following returns : 

"Road laid out * * * From the King's High- 
way that crosseth the brook — the bounds betwixt 
John Slocum and his brother Nathaniel. The breadth 
of the way lying eastward the King's Highway is to 
run by the east side of the brook, the breadth of the 
Highway lying easterly, to a mark't tree at the head 
of the brook, and then crossing the Highway to the 
head of Thomas Huett's land, the breadth of the 
highway running westerly, then to a white oak mark't, ! 
that is Henry Cbamberlin's southwesterly corner Tree, 
that is on the King's Highway; thence along the 
King's highway formerly laid out to a white oak tree 
mark't, standing by the Whale Pond Brook. And 
from Thomas Eaton's southeast corner to a black oak 
mark't, the King's Highway to run, as the road lyetb, 

2 Residence of the late Rev. J. Ten Broeck Beekman is on 
the hill here named. 

3 This was the road from Jliddletown to Holland, and 
thence by the residence of the late William H. Crawford, 
to Cheescquakes, now Jacksonville. 

*Wicalunk. near the present village of Marlborough. 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



373 



to the Whale Pond Bridge, as Sam. White'.s way goes 
to his House; the highway to run over his brook, 
westerly of his house ; then to the Highway running 
southerly of his house to Horse Pound, standing by 
the sea, by his Little Water Pond; and it is to be 
noted that the people of Dale [Deal] are to have a 
passage-way through Francis Jeffrey's land and Jolin 
Tucker's land to their meadows. And a King's 
Highway is to run from Adam Channelhouse, his 
house, to the AVhale Pond Bridge. And from John 
Williams' said corner to a white oak, being his most 
northerly and westerly corner, a King's Highway to 
run, as John Williams' line runs, to Nathaniel 
Comock's south and westerly corner; thence to the 
King's highway that goes to Whale Pond Bridge, the 
breadth of the highway lying westerly. And from 
Henry Chamberlin's south and westerly corner, the 
King's Highway to run, as his line runs, to the sea, 
the breadth of tlie highway being southerly. 

"And beginning at a mark't tree, a white oak, at 
the King's highway westerly of Thomas Eaton's 
Jlill; thence running by mark't trees, as the way now 
goes, to the Falls of Shrewsbury, to a small red oak 
mark't, lying northeast of Coll. Morris' house, the 
breadth of the way lying southerly. And from Nich- 
olas Browne's said northwesterly corner, the King's 
Highway, by mark't trees to Edmund LatFetra's north 
and westerly corner; thence running by new mark't 
trees to the Falls, to the small red oak aforesaid, the 
breadth of the highway all lying northerly. 

"It is to be noted that a King's Highway runs be- 
twixt John Lippincott's great lot and Judah Allen to 
Navesincks River, and another King's highway to 
run from the King's highway that goes through 
Shrewsbury Town, betwixt Bryan Blackman and 
Peter Parker, to Navesincks River. And another 
King's highway, running along by William Stout's 
line, to Giassmaker's Landing, the breadth of the 
highway lying westerly. And another King's high- 
way, to run betwixt Robert West and Stephen West 
to the King's Highway that runs through Shrewsbury 
Neck. And another King's Highway to run to James 
Grover's Landing, beginning at a little walnut tree 
mark't, that goes through the town on Coll. Morris' 
land." 

None of tlie roads eml)rare<I in tlie above 
return of 169.3 were opened at tliat time nor 
for .several years afterwards. In 1(394 the A.s- 
.seuibly ajij^ointed tlie following-named commi.s- 
siouers of highways for Monmouth County: 
Lewis ]\Iorris (of Tinton), Lewis Morris (of Pas- 
sage Point), John Hance, John Stout, Nicholas 
Brown, William Lawrence, Sr., Benjamin Bor- 
den, John Slocum, Richard Hartshorne and 
Thomas Boel ; the.se being in addition to the 
Governor and the .surveyor-general, M'ho were 



members of the highway board in everv county 
of the province. In 1 705 the following roads 
were laid out by the Monmouth connni.'^sioncrs, 
and returned on the 27tli of September in tliat 
year, viz. : 

" A Highway, beginning below John Leonard, at 
the Landing known by the name of Cherry Tree 
Landing; thence along the south side of the house, 
as the road goes, to Remembrance Lipiiincott's cor- 
ner, of his fence ; thence upon a straight line to the 
Pear Tree in William Worth's field ; thence on the 
north side of the Pear Tree to the Brook; thence 
along the south side of the highway at the south end 
of Richard Lippincott's corner ; thence, as the road 
lies, to Fr.ancis Borden's corner tree by the highway 
(y" tree to stand in y= middle of y" Road) ; thence 
upon a straight line to the Brook by Bickley's; thence 
as the road lies to the corner of William Asten's or- 
chard ; thence to a white oak tree standing a little to 
the eastward of John Lippincott's, Jr. ; thence, as the 
Path is, to the old Road ; thence along the Road to 
the corner of Joseph Parker's land ; thence turning 
the corner up the path, as the old road did lye, to the 
corner of Nicholas Brown's fence by the Meeting- 
House; thence as the road now lyes to near Wood- 
mancy's house, to go the most direct and convenient 
way to the place where Lewis Morris made a bridge 
on the Fall run a little above the Landing known by 
the name of the Fall Landing; so over that place the 
most direct and convenient way, along the north side 
of the said Lewis Morris' cleared field to a place 
called Little Falls, in the old way to Freehold ' and 
Amboy, and thence the most direct and convenient 
way to the north corner of Morris' wheat field, and 
thence along the north side of said field the most 
direct way to Hoping Bridge; thence to Peter 
Tilton's ; thence along the new mark't trees on Stony 
Brook to the old road ; thence along the mark't trees 
on the south side of the path till they come into the 
path again; thence by Job Throckmorton's; thence 
as the road lyes to Combs' Broi:)k ; thence as the road 
lyes to the gully between Thomas Forman's and the 
Scoole House ; thence, as the old road was laid out, to 
David Clayton's gully by his fence; thence [illegible] 
road within his fence so into the path ; then along the 
old road as it was laid out tlvit bound the tract of 
land, till it comes to Coales' Path; thence along the 
ridge between the two paths to Coales' Bridge ; thence 
along the new mark't trees to the same path to a black 
oak tree mark't on two sides ; thence turning out on 
the north side of the road, running along the new 
mark't trees till it comes to Holman's road, against 



'The "Freehold" here meant was "Old Freehold," 
a little village marked on the map of 1769, as standing on 
or very near the site of the present village of Holmdel, 
and nearly on a direct line from Tinton Falls to Amboy. 



374 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTy. NEW JERSEY. 



Thomas Estill's ; so along the road till it comes to a 
black oak tree mark't on two sides ; thence turning 
out on the south side of the path, along the new 
mark't trees till it comes to Moses Bobbin's corner 
tree, standing under Cunny Hillside ; thence running 
along Cunny Hillside ; thence along the new mark't 
trees till it comes to Robert Hutcheson's corner tree ; 
thence to two white oaks mark't on both sides, stand- 
ing in the Post Road, and all roads to be four rods in 
breadth. 

"Another highway beginning at the Falls River 
Bridge above the landing aforesaid; then in the most 
direct and most convenient way to the old Swimming 
River bridge in the road to Middleton ; thence, as the 
road went, to Jumping Brook ; thence to Crooked 
Run as the road formerly went to Xutswamp ; thence 
to Mordecai Gibbons', his fence; thence along the 
fence, by the path as it now is, to the middle of the 
road, and so along the path, as it now goes, to Poriaca, 
the most convenient way over ; thence, as the road 
now lies, till it comes to Moses Lippett's new wheat 
field ; thence across the field to the fence at the head 
of the gully, so along to a small walnut tree standing 
in Wilkins' wheat field, so to the road down the hill 
and over the brook along as the path now goes to the 
corner of Wilkins' fence, so up the line between Wil- 
kins and Hartshorne (the line to be in the middle of 
the road) till it comes over the gully ; thence all into 
the highway; so along AVilkins' fence till it comes 
into the street, which is to remain four rods wide." 

March 21, 1705-6. "Record of a highway from 
Middletown to y° county line towards Amboy : Be- 
ginning at James Grover's ; thence along Waycake 
path to a red oak marked; thence to the brook called 
Cochowdes Brook to a marked tree ; thence to William 
Hendricks' Mill; thence to the bottom of James 
Dorsett's bog; thence to Benet's old house; thence 
to Wigwam Point; thence to Freehold Bridge by y' 
Rocks ; thence the most convenient way to the bot- 
tom of Mohwhingson bog; thence to y* brook at the 
Pound, so direct to the Point where the Indian Path 
went, down below Thomas Smith's; thence crossing 
y^ brook so to Amboy Path ; thence y' directest and 
best way to the County line. 

" Elisha Lawrence, 
"John Hebroji, 
"Obadiah Bowxe, 

" Commissioners." 

"A Record of a driftway by Thomas Boels, ^larcli 
y' 14th, 1705-6. — Layd out a driftway in Freehold, 
beginning at Samuel Redford's fence by the highway, 
then running as y' mark't trees goes cross y' lots of 
Augustus Gordon and Thomas Boell, allowing to 
said Boell two gates upon y" said way, to y' head of 
a gully upon y* north side of y* said Boell's lot ; thence 
cross a branch of Holman's Bog to the bridge that 
lays by Looechyell's lot, so cross Looechyell's lot as 
ye way goes through the brook by Thomas Boell's 



Barn, so along y>: path to Stone Hill, and to Thomas 
Hankinson's land, along as the road goes, till it comes 
where y^ old road went into y^ field; thence where the 
old road went till it comes out of the field at the head 
of the Spring by Hankinson's house; thence as the 
road now goes, till it comes to Amboy road, allowing 
swinging gates upon this road, which are not to be 
hung within y"= space often years, but to lye open." 

"April 2, 1706. — Then laid out a highway of three 
rods, beginning at Wm. Hendrick's mill, thence, as 
direct as sircumstances will admit of, to Cowder's 
Brook,' where Walter Wall's path went over ; thence 
over along the path till it comes to Ruckman's path 
that goes to Waycake ; thence cross the bog that 
comes from John Smith ; thence direct, crossing a 
brook to Stout's Bridge, so over y° swamp ; thence 
along y* mark't trees to Raile Bridge ; thence direct 
cross y" corner of John Jobs' field to a dead white 
oak tree standing between y' fence and y' brook ; 
thence along y° old marked trees till it comes to the 
path that goes to John Jobs' from John Bowne's ; 
thence along the marked trees till it comes to y" path ; 
thence along y'^ path till it comes to y' fence of 
Samuel Culver's ; so, cross the corner of Samuel 
Culver's field, to the Brook that parts Culver's land 
from Hartshorne's land. Also another road from 
the mouth of James Bowne's Creek ; thence along 
y' marked trees and path, as it now goes, till it comes to 
Henry Mashes [Marsh's] ; thence along y° path till it 
comes to y^ Brook below John Stout's, to be two rods 
wide. Also another road from Waycake along y' new 
path till it runs to y' path that goes to John Smith's ; 
thence direct to the bog that comes from John Smith's 
where y' path comes from * * * bridge. To be two 

rods wide. 

" Obadiah Bowxe, 
" Elisha Lawkexce, 
" Bexjamix Bordex, 

" Commissioners. 
" Entered April 2'J, Anno Dom. 1706." 

Records of the proceedings of the conimis- 
siouers appointed for the laying out of high- 
ways in Monmouth Count)' in 1708 and the 
succeedino; si.\ vears are found as follows : 

"September 22d, 1708. — Then laid out a road two 
rods wide, beginning att Swimming River Bridge; 
thence along y^ old road on y' northeast side of 
y' orchard, by y' path to y' house that formerly Wil- 
liam Hunt dwelt in ; thence turning y' corner, 
as y' road now lies, to y* bridge that now goes over 
[illegible] River, a road laid out by us beginning in 

' This brook rises among the Middletown hills at Cocowder 

Spring, which the Indians and early settlers believed to pos- 
sess medicinal properties. John lUickman. Sr., settled on 
and owned the lands around this spring, and there he 
spent the remainder of his life and was buried near it. 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



375 



y" road at Jumping Brook ; thence as y' path now 
goetli to the road by Skank's Hill. 

" September y" 22nd, 1708. — Also a road laid out, of 
two rods wide, beginning in y' road by James Gro- 
ver's, in Middletown ; thence along y° road as it goes 
to Shole Harbour, until it comes to y'-bogge meadow ; 
thence up y" barren hill, the most direct and conven- 
ient way along y' way as now marked, along y" east 
side of Jonathan Ruckman's field till it comes to the 
old path. 

" Laid out a road of two rods wide, beginning in y" 
road by David Johnston's house ; thence along y' 
path to y" old school-house ; thence along the parti- 
tion line of Holmes (Jonathan) and Cottrell (Eleazar), 
at y'' pathway, in y^ pathway marked, to Cheeseman 
Brook ; thence, as y' road now lyes, to Middletown. 
Given under our hands this 22d day of September, 
1708. 

" Obadiah Bowxe, 
" John Leoxaed, 
" Elisha Lawrence, 

" Commissioners." 

"Also, a road laid out in Freehold, beginning by 
Richard James', att y' Indian Path, and along y'' s'* 
path to y" Pine bridge ; thence, as y"' old Indian Path 
goes, to y° west side of David Stout's field ; thence 
along y° marked trees to y" division line of y' Prov- 
ince ; to lye and remain of y'^ breadth of two rods 
wide, allowing to David Stout one swinging gate, to 
ilarmaduke Horsman one swinging gate, to John 
Kirby one swinging gate and to Anthony Woodward 
two swinging gates. Laid out by us this twenty- 
seventh day of October, Anno Domini 1708. 
"Obadiah Bowxe, 
" Elisha Lawrexce, 

" Commissioners." 

"The highway to run from the rear of Richard 
Hartshorne's west * * '^ to John Havens' land, 
two chains and a half to the southward of his house ; 
thence the most direct course to Rack Pond, above 
head of y" lott. Also, a driftway to go partly on 
Richard Stout's land and partly on John Lawrence's 
land from y" aforesaid highway. Also, a highway 
from y" highway that goeth along y'^ rear of Joseph 
Lawrence's land, as y" way now goeth, to Hockocson 
Swamp; then to y" line that parts Morris and 
Thomas Leonard's; thence along y' said line to 
y' brook ; thence down y* brook to y" bridge ; from 
thence to y' place where y* bridge was made over, 
below y" Saw-mill ; thence, as y° way goeth, to 
William Lawrence's Mill. 

"Also, a highway to go from y"' rear of Joseph Law- 
rence's land, where y"^ other ways meet, as y' way is 
now marked. Also, a highway from y*" way that runs 
along y= rear of y' lott along y' line that parts Good- 
body's land and Brindley's land ; thence along Brind- 
ley's line till it comes into y= aforesaid way to go 



* * * Also, another highway laid out four rods 
broad, beginning at y' west side of y' Meeting-House 
in Shrewsbury, betwixt Judah Allen and Restore 
Lippincott's lines, as it was formerly laid out to 
y' North River." Dated March 1, 170'J, and signed 
by Obadiah Bowne, John Leonard, Elisha Lawrence 
and John Woolley, commissioners. 

"This 7th day of May, Anno Dora. 1709, laid 
out a bye-way for Captain Anderson, Thomas Malt- 
age, Mattison, from their plantations, to fall 

into y' Landing Road. 'Tis to cross Manalapan 
River at Joseph Allen's old bridge, a little below 
y' mouth of Clear Brook ; y" said way to run from 
y' Walnut tree to y" point of upland, and is to cross 
Clear Brook to y' said point at y' maple tree in 
y' brook, by a fallen old great tree, and so along 
y° marked trees to Manalapan Brook, where Ben 
Allen built a bridge ; thence following y" mark't trees 
until it falls into y" Landing Road before it comes at 
William Davison's bridge. 

" JoHX Reid, 
"JoHX Hebrox, 

" Commissioners." 

" Also another drift-way or road laid out by, and 
beginning upon the top of y'' hill where y' path now 
goes, up over y^ part of Swimming River that leads 
Up to Henry Leonard's saw-mill, where y" road that 
comes from William Lawrence's to Shrewsbury 
crosses said river: thence running southwest to a 
small black oak tree, being y" corner tree of Johan- 
nes Polhemus and Ouka LefTers; and thence along 
y"^ line of y* said Polhemus' and Leffers, to lie and 
remain upon Polhemus' land until it comes to where 
y'^ aforesaid road crosses said Polhemus and Leflers' 
land or line; to lie and remain y' breadth of one rod, 
allowing one swinging gate nearest to the aforesaid 
corner tree, and another at or near to the west end of 
Polhemus' new cleared land." Signed by Obadiah 
Bowne and Elisha Lawrence, commissioners, and 
dated .lune 13, 1710. 

"Laid out in Shrewsbury a highway of two rods 
wide, beginning at a white oak tree, a corner between 
y" land of John Eaton and that of William Hull by 
the highway that goes by y' meeting-house and Long 
Branch, and running south sixty-five degrees west 
fifty chains, to into y' way by Henry Allen's N. E. 
corner; thence, as y* way goes, south eighty-three 
degrees west twenty-three chains; thence south 
eighty-six degrees west fourteen chains ; thence south 
sixty-one degrees west seventeen chains ; thence west 
fifty -two chains and one rod, to y' road that comes 
from Manasquan to y' Falls.' ..." 

An entry of the laying out of roads in 
Monmouth County, dated October 13, 1713, 

' Signed by John Reid and John Leonard, commission- 
ers, without date. 



376 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and signed by John Ried, Obadiah Bowne and 
John Hebi'on, commissioners, is as follows : 

'■ Then laid out several drift-ways in Middletown 
bounds : (First) that part of the way from Middle- 
town to Chiuquerors [near Keyport], beginning at a 
white-oak tree on the east side of Daniel Tilton's 
mill-dam; thence to the east end of the dam, and 
then over along ujjon the dam to the other side 
thereof, and then along the way to Chinquerors ; to 
be tW'O rods wide, except on the dam, where 'tis to be 
of a convenient bredth for strength and substance. 
Also another way of a rod and a half wide from Chin- 
querors' road by the corners of the fences of James 
Hubbard and Cornelius Covenhoven, and running 
along by Dr. Hubbard's house and thence to the 
bridge on Hop Brook; and thence over the brook 
along the line between Benjamin Stout and Hendrick 
Hendrickson to a valley near the end of it ; then to 
Joseph Golden's southwest corner of his new field, 
and following his and Obadiah Bowne's line to the 
gully ; then rounding the hill to Mahoras Run, where 
the path from Daniel to Hendrick Hendrickson's 
passes, and following the path to Daniers line, and 
then through his field, as he shall appoint, to the line 
between him and .John Wall, and along between 'em 
over the swamp and along by Wall's fence and path 
to the line between Thomas Smith and Cornelius 
Dorn, and then the best way to the mill-dam of 
Thomas Tilton, and over along the dam to the path 
that goes to Wakick Landing,' and following the 
same path to the said landing. Also another way 
from the old path at the line between Daniel Hen- 
drickson and Peter Wyckoff, and following the line 
between 'em and to the old ford of Mahoras Brook ; 
and then along the south side of Andrew Wilson's to 
Samuel Buckman's, and between him and Wilson 
to John Buckman's, and along between John and 
Samuel Buckman's to Middletown." 

In 1714 the commissioners of roads for Mon- 
mouth County were John Reid, Obadiah Bowne, 
Elislia Lawrence, John Hepburn, John Wool- 
ley, Richard Stout and Stoffel Longstreet.' The 

' Afterwards Tanner's Landing. 

*In Book D of Monmouth County Deeds, page 211, is 
found the following: "Memorandum. — This seventh of 
March, 1714, We, the under Subscribers, .Surviving 
Commissioners appointed by the Act of tlie Gener.il As- 
sembly for laying out highways in ye County of Mon- 
mouth, do appoint Capt. Richard Stout and Stoffel Long- 
street in place of Benjamin Borden, who is removed out 
of said county above a year, and Capt. John Leonard, 
deceased, above a year. 

".JoHX Reed, 
"Obadiah Bowxe, 
" Elisha Lawrence, 
"John Hepburn, 
"John Woollet." 



records show the following entries of roads 
laid out in the county in that year, viz. : 

" Laid out a highway from Henry Leonard's saw- 
mill to Barnegate ; that is, from said saw-mill along 
John Hawkins' path to Haypath ; then to y' head 
of Sarah Reape's meadow, and down y° side of y* said 
meadow as y" line of mark't trees to y" Fish Path ; 
thence as that goes, to Manasquan ; thence along 
y° Fish Path to the Cedar Path, and along the Cedar 
Path as the marked trees that lead toMetetecunk, and 
following the mark't trees to Goose Creek, called 
Tom's Eiver, and over said river by marked trees to 
the line of land late of Thomas Hart. 

" Laid out a drift-way from Burlington Road to 
Thomas Melag's mill ; beginning at a black oak tree 
marked by y= road which goes from Shrewsbury to 
Burlington about ten chains eastward from Cornelius 
Thompson's house, and following y' line of marked 
trees to the said mill. This third day of April, 
Anno Dom'n 1714. Tis two rods wide." 

"Memorandum, this 29th day of November, 1714: 
Laid out a part of a drift-way from y' way which 
crosses y' brook and dam of Daniel Tilton's, begin- 
ning at a chain westward of s* Tilton's Mill-House, 
and running down on y" tops of y° bank about four 
chains to a small red oak tree on y" top of y* bank ; 
thence right across the brook and the best and shortest 
way into y' way again, which was formerly laid out." 

The preceding extracts from the minutes of 
the laying out of roads by the ^loumouth com- 
missioners extend down to the time when the 
county seat was ei?tal)li,*hed in what is now the 
town of Freeh(jld, but then, and for almost a 
century afterwards, known only as " Mon- 
mouth Court-Honse." With reference to the 
route of travel at that time from Middle- 
town to the court-house, the Honorable G. 
C. Beekraan, who has made a careful study 
of the matter, says that the highway, as 
actually used in those early years, " followed 
the road to Shrewsbury as far as the old Hub- 
bard house, lately owned by R. P. Smock ; 
thence turning southwesterly, crossing the 
stream near the brick house built by David 
Williamson; then following nearly the same di- 
rection as the present road by the Barnes Smock 
farm ; then across Hop Brook at the present 
bridge, and up the hill by the old Van ^Nletcr 
race-track ; then over to the road running tu 
Phalanx ; thence turning southwesterly on the 
present course of the road past S. W. Jone-' 
house ; thence by a road (now closed) to tlie 
south of Edinburgh ; and so over to the old 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



377 



Barreutowii road, now called Moutrose ; thence 
follo\\ino- the general coui-se of the present 
road and Dutch Lane to Freehold. This road 
avoided all streams of any size except Hop 
Brook and the brook near ^Vil]iamson's brick 
house, and nearly all hill,'?, ravines and mead- 
ows, and was for the most part sandy, and, there- 
fore, better in winter than in summer. There 
was an important highway, and one greatly 
used until about 17;](), running from Middle- 
town over to Holland, by the old Luyster house 
and Hendrickson house, to the Crawford neigh- 
borhood ; from thence to what is now Jackson- 
ville,' in iliddlesex County, and from there a 
patli ran to the Indian Ford, on the Raritan, 
three miles above its mouth, and also a road 
down to the mouth of the river, near where the 
railroad docks are now located. This road from 
Raritan River to ^liddletown was what was 
called a ' King's Highway,' that is, six rods 
wide, without swinging gates, and free for all 
to travel without molestation. In early times it 
was deemed a very serious oifense to offer violence 
or indignity to a person on a King's Highway." 

During the first century of the existence of 
the county many roads which appear on there- 
cords as having been laid out were never ac- 
tually opened and made passable, or were par- 
tially opened, and then, from want of use, grew 
up again with trees. Othere, again, degenerated 
into mere drift-roads, winding through the 
woods, and were frequently changed by indi- 
viduals without legal authority as clearings Mere 
made and new farms and settlements came into 
existence. 

On an ancient map of Xew Jersey, ' from sur- 

' Formerly Clieesequakes. 

-The title and remarks printed on this map, are as fol- 
lows : 

" The Province of New .Jersey. Divided into East and 
West, commonly called the .Jerseys." 

■'Engraved and Pnblished by William Faden, Charing 
Cross [London], December 1, 17V7. 

" This Map has been drawn from the Survey made in 
1769, by order of the Commissioners appointed to settle 
Partition Line between the Provinces of New York and 
New Jersey, by Bernard Ratzer, Lieutenant in the Sixtieth 
Regiment, and from another large Survey of the Northern 
Parts, in possession of the Ear! of Dunmore, by Gerard 
Bancker. The whole regulated and ascertained by Astro- 
nomical Observations." 



veys made in the year 17(j9, and purporting to 
show the principal roads of the province at that 
time there appear only the following described 
roads within the county of Monmouth, viz : 

1. .\. road running from Bordentown, by way 
of Crosswicks, to ^lonraouth Court-House ; 
thence to a little village located where Holm- 
del now is, and laid down on the map as " Free- 
hold ;" thence by way of Middletown to the 
Highlands. 

2. A road running from Black Point by way 
of Shrewsbury to the "Freehold" village, there 
crossing the first-mentioned road, and con- 
tinuing thence to a point a little east of Cran- 
bury, Middlesex County where it intei'sected the 
"lower road "from Long Ferry (Amboy) to 
Burlington. From a point on the road between 
Shrewsbury and old " Freehold " a branch road 
ran to Tinton Falls, and thence to the sea-shore 
in the vicinity of Long Branch. 

3. A road from ]\Iiddletown to the west 
boundary of the coimty, and thence continuing 

to Spottswood. 

4. A road from Shrewsbury, by way of ]\Iid- 
dletown, to Ivoug Ferry, at (Amboy). 

5. A road from Shrewsbury to Tinton Falls 
and to a point a mile or two south of the Falls, 
where it ended abru])tly. 

This short piece of road soutli of the falls is 
supposed to have been constructed for the haul- 
ing of ore for Lewis Morris' Tinton Iron- 
Works. 

6. A road from ^Monmouth Court House run- 
ning north-westerly into ^Middlesex county, by 
way of Englishtown. 

Projects for the building of plank-roads were 
much agitated from about 1847 to 18.56, and 
several were incorporated, to be constructed 
wholly or in part in ilonmouth Coimty. Only 
three of these, however, were built. The first 
was the INIonmouth County Plank-road, from 
Freehold to Keyport, by way of ]Matawau. 
The next was the Freehold aud Howell plaidv- 
road, constructed chiefly for the transportation 
of marl, which required the use of a great num- 
ber of wagons. Another plank-road was laid 
from Middletown village, through Chanceville 
(now Xew Monmouth), to Port Monmouth, as 
that point on Shoal Harbor Mas then called for 



378 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tlie first time. The company was incorporated 
in 18-54, with the followiug-named corporators; 
William Morford, David Luyster, Samuel I. 
Taylor, Charles Morford and George C. Murray. 
At Port Monmouth the transportation com- 
pany built a long pier, which was the northern 
terminus of the plank-road, and from which the 
steamer " Eagle" made regular trips to NewYork. 
The plank-road enterprises proved unsatisfac- 
tory and unprofitable, and were abandoned after 
a few years' use. 

The construction of turnpike roads in ^Ion- 
mouth County was commenced at a compara- 
tively recent date. In 1857 two companies were 
incorporated for the Iniilding of turnpikes, one 
from Shrewsbury town, by way of Tinton Falls, 
to Colt's Neck, and the other from Red Bank to 
Shrewsbury town. The latter was built and 
proved to be a great advantage to travel between 
the points named. A number of other turn- 
pike charters have been obtained, and under 
these charters turnpike roads have been con- 
structed (in most cases over the old road-ways) 
between all the most important jinints in the 
county. 

The first i-ailroad line constructed within the 
county of jMt)nmouth Avas that running fi-om 
Freehold to Jamesburg, which was first defi- 
nitely projected in 1849, and was put in success- 
ful operation four years later. 

The discovery and use of marl, and the con- 
sequent increase of agricultural products, popu- 
tion and business of all kinds, had created a 
pressing demand in the central parts of i\Ion- 
mouth County for an easier mode of communi- 
cation than then existed with the markets of 
the great cities. Before the construction of the 
railroad, travelers and freight had to be trans- 
ported a long distance in carriages and wagons 
to the sea-coast, Raritan Bay or the Delaware 
River, which was both tedious and expensive; 
and many articles of produce that arc now re- 
munerative would then have perished and be- 
come worthless while on the way to market. 

The project of building a railroad from Free- 
hold to some point of daily conuuunication with 
the great cities was talked of for several years 
before any action was taken. There seemed to 



be a general belief that such a road would be 
built, and an advertisement is found (dated five 
years before the road was actually commenced) 
of real estate for sale in Freehold, with a posi- 
tive statement, as an inducement to purchasers, 
to the effect that a railroad would be in opera- 
tion within five years from that time. In the 
mean time public attention was directed to the 
subject through the j^ress and by public meet- 
ings, and the necessity for such a mode of con- 
veyance became more and more apparent the 
more it was discussed. At one of the meetings, 
]Mr. Richardson, principal of the Young Ladies' 
Seminary, related his difiiculties in making his 
first visit to Freehold. He was in Xew York 
City and could fiud no one there who CDuld give 
him any information about getting to Freehold, 
so he went by railroad to Philadelphia, where 
he found a person who was able to give him the 
desired information. 

Jamesburg being the nearest point on the 
line of the Camden and Amboy line, many peo- 
ple advocated the building of a railroad tu that 
place. For the purpose of bringing it into 
notice, IVIr. James Buckalew, of Jamesburg, and 
Mr. Nathaniel S. Rue, of Freehold, on the 21st 
of July, 1845, commenced running stages be- 
tween the two \illagi,'s, carrying passengers and 
connecting with the Camden and Amboy Rail- 
road. To their surprise, the stage-line soon 
pro\'ed a profitable enterprise, and in June of 
the following year they commenced running, in 
connection with their stages, a line of baggage- 
wagons for the purpose of carrying freight. 

The subject of procuring a charter for a com- 
pany to build the proposed road from Freehold 
to Jamesburg was agitated for several years 
before any action was taken towards that end, 
the friends of the project urging that it was the 
only feasible route, being the shortest and cheap- 
est one to build, and affording equal facilities for 
New York and Philadeljjhia travel. On the 
2d of January', 1849, the Hon. James M. Red- 
mond, of ^Mercer County, chairman of the Cora- ■ 
mittee on Corporations in the General ^Isserably, 
reported a bill to incorporate the Freehold and 
Jamesburg Railroad, liut this bill was defeated 
by a vote of twenty-eight to twenty -seven. On 
the loth of February, 1850, the Hon. John A. 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



379 



jMorford, theu Senator from Monmouth, intro- 
duced the same bill in the Senate, where it was 
passed unanimously on the 21st of the same 
month, but it was defeated in the House of As- 
sembly, on the 1st of March following, by a vote 
of thirty-two to twenty-three, some of tlie mem- 
bers from JMonmouth and all of those from 
Middlesex Countv votino- aoainst it. One of 
the reasons given for this opposition was that it 
was thought to be a measure that would further 
the interests of the Camden and Amlioy Com- 
pany, but probably the most powerful influence 
which defeated it was the opposition of the 
people of Hightstown, who wished that place to 
be made the terminus of the proposed road. 

When the result in the Legislature became 
kno-mi, the citizens of Freehold held an indig- 
nation meeting with reference to the matter, on 
which occasion a numl)er of speeches were made, 
and one of the most prominent men of the vil- 
lage took the ground that the Legislature had 
no right to refuse a charter for the reason that 
the Camden and Amboy Company woukl be 
interested and help build the road; on the con- 
trary, he thought the company should be com- 
pelled to build roads to all places where the 
interests of the people demanded it, in consider- 
ation of the exclusive privileges that company 
had received from the j)e<)ple of the State. At 
this meeting a large delegation of citizens was 
appointed to go to Trenton and endeavor to 
impress on the Legislature the claims of the 
people of Freehold to a charter for the road. 
The delegation so appointed was almost as large 
in numbers as the Legislature itself, and was 
largely composed of leading farmers of the cen 
tral portion of the county. On their arrival at 
Ti-enton they were met by delegations of citizens 
of Hightstown and Middletown Point, who op- 
posed the bill so vigorously that the Legislature 
again refused to pass it. 

The friends of the project, though twice de- 
feated, were not discouraged. They again made 
application in the session of 1851, and tJiis time 
they were successful. A bill was passed ]March 
21st, incorporating "The Freehold and James- 
burg Agricultural Railroad Company," appoint- 
ing John C. Cox, Henry Bennett, Joseph Combs, 
Aaron Gulick and Richard JIcDowell commis- 



sioners to receive subscriptions to the cajiital 
stock, and authorizing the company, when or- 
ganized, "to survey, lay out and construct a 
railroad from some suitable point at or near the 
village of Freehold to the railroad running from 
New Brunswick to Trenton, at or near the depot 
at Dean's Pond, crossing the Camden and Am- 
boy Railroad at or near Jamesburg." 

The commissioners opened the books for sub- 
scriptions to the stock at the hotel of Nathaniel 
S. Rue, in Freehold, on the 19th of May, 1851 ; 
on the 20th they sat at Englishtown; on the 
21st, at Jamesburg ; on the 22d, at Kingston ; 
and again at Freehold on the 26th, at which 
time about thirty thousand dollars had been 
subscribed. The l)(>oks were kept open at the 
office of Joseph Combs, but only about ten 
thousand dollars more were subscribed during 
the year. It being thus evident that the neces- 
sary amount could not Ije raised by individual 
subscription, the friends of the enterprise applied 
to the Camden and Amboy Company for assist- 
ance, which was promptly promised, jjrovided 
the necessary authority could be obtained from 
the Legislature. Application was accordingly 
made in the session of 1852, and an act was 
passed authorizing a subscription of one hundred 
thousand dollars by the company. 

The way now being open for the construction 
of the road, a meeting of the stockholders was 
held at Jamesburg on the 29th of June, 1852, 
for the purpose of electing directors. At this 
meeting Aaron Gulick was chairman and Henry 
Bennett secretary, and the following-named 
persons were elected directors of the company, 
viz.: Edwin A. Stevens, John R. Thom- 
son, Jolin P. Stockton, Peter Vredenburgh, 
Joseph Combs, William D. Davis, Daniel H. 
Ellis, Aaron Gulick and James Buckalew. 
The commissioners appointed the first meeting 
of the directors to be held at Bordentown on 
the 12th of July, following. They met as ap- 
pointed at Raster's Hotel, and organized the 
board, electing Colonel William D. Davis 
president, and John P. Stockton secretary and 
treasurer. General William Cook was chosen 
chief engineer, and Peter Vredenburgh, Aaron 
Gulick and James Buckalew appointed a com- 
mittee to nrocure additional contracts for rio-ht 



380 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of way. Mr. Amos Richardson presented a 
resolution, adopted at a meeting of citizens of 
Freehold, relative to the location of the depot, 
a warm discussion having been had upon this 
subject, which was finally settled by referring 
the matter to the company, with the simple 
request that it be located as near the centre of 
the village as possible. 

The preliminary surveys were commenced on 
the 8th of September, 1851, by 'Sir. Isaac S. 
Buokalew, afterwards superintendent of the 
road. The first line was run north of the vil- 
lage of Englishtowu, and the surveys were con- 
tinued at intervals through the remainder of 
that year. At a meeting of the board of di- 
rectors, held on the 27th of July, 1852, the 
"southern route" was adopted, it being found 
to be easier of grade and cheaper of construction 
than the northern route, though about a half- 
mile longer. 

On the 1st of September following, the en- 
gineer was authorized to advertise for proposals 
to grade the road. Various proposals ^vere 
received, and on the 1 1 th of Octoljer the direc- 
tors awarded the contracts as follows : Sections 
1, 2 and 5, to James Buckalew ; Section 3, to 
Forman & Van Wickle; 4, to McShaue & 
Smith; 6, to Andrew Hague; 7 and 8, to 
Thomas O'Brien; and 9 and 10, to A. Nelson; 
the work to be completed by the 1st of April, 
1853. 

The work of grading was commenced on the 
19th of October, on Section 1, by James Buck- 
alew. The work of laying the track was com- 
menced April 4, 1853, and on the 16th of June 
of the same year the first locomotive rolled over 
the soil of Monmouth County. The track was 
so far completed on the 5th of July following 
that a train of passenger cars ran to Mrs. Koy's 
residence, within three miles of Freehold, to 
which place the track was finished on the 14th 
of the same month; and on the 18th passenger 
trains commenced running regularly from Free- 
hold to Jamesburg. The cost of the road, 
eleven and one-half miles in length, Mas $220,- 
666, leaving the company in debt to the amount 
of §90,000 over the amount of stock subscribed 
and paid in. On the 12th of February, 1855, 
the company purchased the locomotive "Wash- 



ington and three passenger cars, the necessary 
rolling-stock having previously been furnished 
by the Camden and Amboy Compau}'. 

The Earita:s^ and Delawake Bay Rail- 
road Company was incorporated by an act 
passed on the 3d of March, 1854, the corpora- 
tors being William Haight and Samuel W. 
Jones, of Monmouth ; Washington McKean and 
William Torrey, of Ocean ; Thomas H. Rich- 
ards and George !McHenrv, of Burlington ; Jon- 
athan Pitney and Edward Taylor, of Atlantic ; 
and Edmund L. B. Wales and Samuel S. Marcy, 
of Cape iSIay County. The capital stock of the 
company, as authorized by the act of incorpora- 
tion, was one million five hundred thousand dol- 
lars. The amount necessary for organization 
(three hundred thousand dollars) having been 
subscribed, the comjjany organized at IMay's 
Landing in July, 1855, with the following- 
named board of directors, viz. : Fi-ancis B. 
Chetwood, of Es.sex; William H. Bruere, and 
B. F. Randolph, of Monmouth; William Torrey, 
of Ocean ; Thomas H. Richards, of Burling- 
ton ; Edward Taylor and Judge Walker, of 
Atlantic ; Thomas Williams and W. B. Miller, 
of Cape May ; Samuel Branson and Clayton 
Allen, of Philadelphia. The board elected 
Francis B. Chetwood president, AMlliam A. 
Torrey secretary, B. F. Randolph treasurer, and 
Israel Pemberton chief engineer. 

The company was authorized to build its road 
from a point on Raritan Bay, eti.stward of Key- 
port, to the village of Tom's River, in Ocean 
County, thence to May's Landing, in Atlantic 
County, and thence, through the counties of At- 
lantic and Cape ^lay, to Cape Island, on the 
Atlantic Ocean. The northern terminas of the 
road, on Raritan Bay, was fixed at Port !Mon- 
mouth, where a pier of great length (nearly five 
thousand feet) was built for the accommodation of 
its business. Southward from this terminus the 
route of the railway through jNIonmoiith County 
is through Middletown township, passing a little 
east of Heddin's Corners, to and across the river 
at Red Bank, thence to Eatontown and Farm- 
ingdale, and thence, through Howell township, 
to the county line and Bricksburg. 

The commencement of the work of construc- 
tion on the Raritan and Delaware Bav road 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



381 



was celebrated by festivities at Port ^Monmouth, 
oil the 20tli of iMay, 1856. The work progressed 
but slowly to its comjjletion from Port Mon- 
mouth to Eatontowii, and on the iSth of June, 
1800, a branch road was opened for travel from 
the latter jjlace to Long Branch. The road was 
completed and opened from Port Monmouth to 
Squankum (Farmingdale) in February, 1861, 
and soon afterwards from thence to Bricksburg. 

In 1870 an act was passed changing the 
name of the Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad 
Company to that of the New Jersey Southern 
Railroad Company. The old company had 
become financially involved beyond recovery, 
and the road was placed in the control of a re- 
ceiver, by whom it was reopened in February, 
1874. Finally, the line passed to the control of 
the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com- 
pany, by which corporation it is now operated. 
It has never been a very prosperous road, but 
its construction and opening has been of great 
advantage to that part of Monmouth County 
through which it runs. 

The Squankum Railroad and Marl 
Company was incorporated by an act of the 
Legislature approved ^larch 22, 18G6, the 
following being the names of the incorporators : 
John D. Buckalew, Charles Butcher, Francis 
H. Holmes, Peter Cortclyou, Samuel T. ^\'il- 
liams, Joel Parker and Robert F. Stockton, Jr. 
The capital stock was one hundred thousand 
dollars, with power to increase to two hundred 
thousand dollars. The company was invested 
with the right and power " to survey, lay out, 
locate and construct, maintain and operate a 
railroad from some point in the county of Mon- 
mouth, at or near Freehold, to some point at or 
near Farmingdale, in said county, with the 
privilege of connecting with the Freehold and 
Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad, or the Rari- 
tan and Delaware Bay Railroad, or both." In 
1808 an act was passed, approved February I8th, i 
incorporating the Squankum and Freehold 
jNIarl Comjxuiy, with a capital of one hundred I 
thousand dolhu's, with power to increase to five 
hundred thousand dollars. The corporators i 
were John D. Buckalew, John P. Stockton, 
Robert F. Stockton, John G. Stevens, Richard ; 
F. Stevens and Isaac S. Buckalew. This com- 



pany M-as authorized " to purchase, take, have, 
hold, occupy and convey such and so many 
marl-beds as the)' may deem proper, situate in 
the county of Monmouth, and to open and 
work the same," and also " to lay out and con- 
struct a railroad in the county of Monmouth to 
run from some convenient point on the line of 
the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Rail- 
road, at or near the village of Freehold, to their 
said marl-beds at or near the village of Farm- 
ingdale, with such branches as may be deemed 
proper, not exceeding three miles in length. 
. . ." The road from Freehold to the marl- 
beds at Farmingdale was completed and opened 
in 1861, and on the 1st of April in that year an 
act was passed declaring " That it shall and 
may be lawful for tlie Freehold and Jamesburg 
Agricultural Railroad Company to run their 
engines and cars over the railroad of the Squan- 
kum and Freehold Marl Company for the con- 
veyance of passengers and merchandise, and to 
charge reasonable fares and freights therefor," 
the assent of the last-mentioned company being 
first obtained. 

The Farmingdale and Squan Village 
Railroad Comi'any was incorporated by an 
act approved A])ril 3, 1867, with power "to 
survey, lay out, locate and construct, maintain 
and operate a railroad from some point in the 
township of Howell, in the county of Mon- 
mouth, at or near the village of Farmingdale, 
to some point in the township of Wall, in said 
county, at or near Squan village, with the 
privilege of connecting the said road with any 
road or roads of the Squankum Railroad and 
^larl Company, or with the Raritan and Dela- 
M'are Bay Railroad Company, or both." The 
corporators named in the act were Osborn 
Curtis, Pitney Curtis, James M. Allen, James 
L. Allgor, John Remson, Grandin G. Vannote, 
Thomas J. Branin, Benjamin D. Pearce, John 
E. Tilton, .J. B. Gilford, Samuel Williams and 
Brittain Hurley. By the construction and o im- 
pletion of this road a continuous railway line 
was furnished from the sea-coast at Squan 
village, by way of Farmingdale and Freehold, 
to the old Camden and Aniboy road at James- 
burg. 

On the 24th of April, 1879, the three cor- 



382 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



porations composing the al)ove-meutioued line 
from Jamesburg to the sea, — viz., the Freeliold 
and James;burg Agricultural Railroad Com- 
pany, the Squankum an<l Freehold Marl 
C'(impany and the Farmingdale and Squan 
Village Railroad Company — were, in accordance 
with the provisions of acts of the Legislature, 
approved March 10, 1874, and March 7, 1878, 
merged and consolidated into one, as the Free- 
hold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad 
Company. The directors of the three corpora- 
tions signing this consolidation agreement were, 
— Of the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural 
Railroad Company : Benjamin Fish, Lewis 
Perrine, G. B. Roberts, Strickland Kneass, J. 
X. Du Barry, Joel Parker, Charles A. Bennett, 
I. S. Buckalew, R. S. Couover. Of the Squan- 
kum and Freehold ]SIarl Company : John G. 
Stevens, Richard F. Stevens, F. W. Stevens, 
John D. Buckalew, J. L. Buckalew, I. S. 
Buckalew. Of the Farmingdale and Squan 
Village Railroad Company : Strickland Kneass, 
J. N. Du Barry, A. J. Cassatt, I. S. Buckalew, 
S. B. Oviatt, A. A. Higgins, Hal Allaire, 
Albert Hewson, Edmund Smith. 

The road from Jamesburg to Squan village 
has since been leased to the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road Company, and now forms a link in the 
lines operated by that company. 

The Freehold and New York Railway, 
now in successful operation, is the successor of 
the old Freehold and Keyport Railroad project, 
which, from a time commencing about forty 
years ago, was a favorite project of the citizens of 
Monmouth. Year after year the farmers resid- 
ing in the interior of the eouuty had carted their 
produce to boats at ]\Iiddletowu Point and Key- 
port, in order that it might be transported di- 
rectly to New York. The wearisome journey, 
the wear and tear on wagon and team, the loss 
of much valuable time was a convincing argu- 
ment, showing that a railroad directly to Key- 
port would prove an important factor in devel- 
oping the resources of the county. At last, in 
1841 the Freehold and Keyport Railroad was 
chartered ; but the determined and persistent op- 
position and hostility of people living along tlie 
proposed line, and the conse([uent diHiculty of 
obtaining funds to carry through the enterprise, 



caused it to be finally abandoned by its project- 
ors. The charter was owned principally, or en- 
tirely, by Judge Peter Vredeuburgh, who, after 
the definite abandonment of the project, was of- 
fered one thousand dollars for it, but refused 
the offer, because he doubted the good faith and 
honesty of jjurpose of the parties who made it. 

All hope of building the road at that time be- 
ing relinquished, the old routine of carting ten, 
fifteen, twenty, or even more miles still went on 
year after year, until some enterprising citizens 
began again to agitate the matter of building a 
railroad. Leading business men and farmers 
now took a more practical, prououuced interest 
in the enterprise. Meetings were held in the 
interest of the proposed road, and finally the 
Legislature of the State was petitioned to charter 
a railroad to run " from some point in or near 
the village of Freehold, in the county of ]Mon- 
mouth, and thence through the said county of 
Monmouth, by way of the village of ]Matawan, 
to some suitable point at the village of Key- 
port." On the 5th of April, 1867, the Legisla- 
ture passed an act to incorporate the " Monmouth 
County Agricultural Railroad," the names of the 
incorporators ])eing Joseph D. Hoff", David ]M. 
Rue, Samuel Conover, Thomas V. Arrowsmith. 
Henry S. Little, T. V. Du Bois, Richard S. 
Hartshorne, William Sjjjader, Charles Haight, 
John INIcLelland, John W. Herbert, Christian 
D. Emson, Alfred Walling, Lafayette Conover, 
Joseph T. Laird, Amzi C. ]\IcLean, Hendrick 
S. Conover, Jacob Herbert and Joseph H. Ro- 
sell. The announcement of this fact was hailed 
with delight by tlie farmers and business men of 
Monmouth County, for they believed it to be 
the harbinger of better times. The route was 
laid out, two-thirds of the gi-ading was done, 
most of the cross-ties were procured, and the 
road bridges were constructed (D, C. Jackson, 
of ]\Iiddletown, N. Y., being the contractor), 
when, in 1875, the company became bankrujjt, 
and by order of the Court of Chancery the road 
was placed in the hands of S. M. Dickinson, 
Esq., as receiver. ]Mr. Dickinson, in March, 
1876, sold the road to James P. Lowi-ey, Esq., 
of the law firm of Clarkson N. Potter and .Tames 
P. Lowrey, New York City. The languishing 
enterprise was resuscitated under jMr. Lowrey's 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



383 



energetic mauageinent, and the name of tlie road 
was changed for tlie one which it now bears, 
riie contract for the completion of tlie road as 
tiir as Freehold Junction was given to M. S. 
Coleman <t Brother, of ^Madison, N. J. On tlie 
2")tli of May, 1877, work was recommenced, 
and was pushed forward with such despatch that 
on the 2nd of July following (only a little over 
a month), the road was finished as far as the 
Junction, and the first train was run from Free- 
hold. Work on the remainder of the route was 
suspended until 1879, when it was resumed, and 
was completed in August, 1880. It noM- forms 
a part of the lines leased and oj^erated by the 
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. 
The Xew York axd Loxg Bkaxch 
Railroad Cojipaxy ^\as incorporated by an 
act of the Legislature passed April 8, 181)8, 
with power and authority " to survey, lay out 
and construct a railroad from any point at or 
near the village of South Amboy, in the county 
of Middlesex, to any point on the line of the 
Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad north of 
Eatontown, with the privilege of extending the 
.same to Long Branch, in the county of Mon- 
mouth ; said road to run by the way of the 
villages of Matawan and Red Bank." The 
corporators were iSamiiel Barrows, Charles 
Gould, Jacob Herbert, E. Boudiuot Colt, John 
Travers, Robert Rennie, Anthony Reckless, 
James H. Peters, William H. Hendrickson, 
Henry S. Little, Henry VC. Johnson, Aaron 
Longstreet, Richard S. Conover, Robert Allen, 
Jr. and William L. Terhune. Capital stock, 
three hundred thousand dollars, "with libertv 
to increase the same to six hundred thousand 
dollars." In 1869 an act was passed author- 
izing the extension of this road northward, to 
cross the Raritan River from South .Vmlioy, by 
ferry or bridge, with a draw of not less than 
one huudred feet in width, and to connect with 
Woodln-idge and Perth .\.mboy Railroad, or 
any otiier road which might be built to intersect 
its route. Under an act of incorporation ap- 
proved ^larch 30, 1869, the road was extended 
northward from Perth Amboy to Elizabethport, 
there joining the main line of the Xew Jersey 
Central Railroad Company, which became the 
lessee of the whole line from Elizabethport to 



Long Branch. The road is now operated by 
the Philadelphia and Reading and the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Company, both of which 
corporations run their traius over its tracks to 
Long Branch. 

The first section of the line of railway which 
now extends along the entire sea coast of Mon- 
mouth County is that which was built under an 
act passed in 1856, incoqiorating the Long 
Branch and Sandy Hook Railroad Comixmy. 
Its northern terminus was — as at present — at 
the " Horse Shoe," on the inside of the Sandv 
Hook peninsula, from which point the " Plvm- 
outh Rock" and other steamers made the 
connection with Xew York, carrying nearly all 
the passengers Ijetween the city and Long 
Branch, until the route was in a great measure 
superseded liy the opening of the all-rail lines. 

The Long Branch and Sea-Shore Rail- 
road Company was incorporated under an act 
of the Legislature, approved ^larch 20, 1863, 
with a capital stock of $300,000, and authority 
to increase the same to $800,000 ; the road to 
run from " a point on Sandy Hook, in the 
county of ^lonmoutii, at or near the Horse 
Shoe, running through Long Branch ; thence, 
through or near Squau village, to a point on 
Tom's River, at or near Tom's River village, 
in the county of Ocean ; thence to Tuckerton, 
in the county of Burlington ; " the construction 
of the road to be commenced within three years, 
and to be completed within seven j-ears from 
the 4th of July next ensuing. By a su2)ple- 
meutary act, dated February 16, 1870, this 
company and the Xew Jersey Southern Railroad 
Company were authorized, by and with the 
consent of two-thirds of the stockholders of said 
companies, to consolidate, and the roads to be 
united l)y a branch or branches of either road, 
at or near the village of Long Branch. This 
road was completed and opened to the Jlana- 
squan River in 1876, and thence, soon after- 
wards, to Pemberton. In 1878 the mortgase 

^ DO 

was foreclosed, and Isaac S. Buckalew, Esq., was 
appointed receiver. In May, 1879, it was sold 
by him, and afterwards reorganized and became 
a part of the system of the United Railroads 
of Xew Jei"sey. The southern jiart of the line is 
now operated exclusively by the Pennsylvania 



384 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Railroad Company, but iu Monmouth County 
it is also used by the trains of the Philadelphia 
and Reading Company. 

The Pembertox and Hightstown Rail- 
KOAD Company was incorporated by an act of 
the Legislature, passal March 24, 18G4. The 
capital stock was §500,000, with autliority 
to increase it to 8,1,000,000 ;. the road to run 
from the town of Pemberton, Burlington 
County, to Hightstown, in Mercer County, con- 
necting at Pemberton with the Burlington 
County Railroad, and at Higiitstowii with the 
old Camden and Amlwy line, passing by the 
villages of Wrightstown, New Egypt, Homers- 
town, Fillmore and Imlaystown ; the construc- 
tion of the road to be commenced within three 
years, and to be completed within six years from 
the 4th day of July next ensuing. By the com- 
pletion of this road and its opening, in 1867, 
the people of the southwestern part of Mon- 
mouth County for the first time enjoyed the ad- 
vantages of railroad communication. The road 
passed under the control of the United Railroads 
of New Jersey, and was finally included in the 
lease of the united lines to the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company, by which it is now operated. 

POPULATIOX. 

The earliest statement which ha.s been found 
relative to the number of inhabitants in Mon- 
mouth County was made in the year 1726, in a 
letter written by Governor William Burnet to 
the Lords of Trade, in London. In that com- 
munication the Governor gave the population 
of the several counties of New Jersey, of which 
Monmouth was then tlie most populous. The 
figures given were : ^Monmouth, 4879 ; Essex, 
4,200; Burlington, 4129; Middlesex, 4000; 
Salem, 3967; Hunterdon, 3377; Gloucester, 
3229; Bergen, 2673; Somerset, 2271; Cape 
May, 668. 

In 1737 the population of Monmouth County 
was 6086; in 1745, 8627. By the first United 
States census, taken in 1790, the population of 
the county was 16,918. In 18u0 (second cen- 
sus) it was 19,872; in 1810, 22,1-50; in 1820, 
25,038; in 18.30,29,233; in 1840,32,909; in 
1850 (the territory of Ocean County having 
been taken from Monmouth), 30,313; in 1860, 



39,346. In 1865 (State census) it was 42,- 
868; in 1870, 46,195. The census of 1875 
gave a population of 48,500, and that of 1880 
(the last enumeration by the United States), 
55,538. The population of the several town- 
ships and some of the principal villages of the 
county, in 1870, 1875 and 1880 is here given, 
viz. : 



Township or Village. 



1870. 



Atlantic township ' 1,713 

Allentown village 

Asbury Park village 

Eatontown township 

Eatontown village 

Fai'mingdale village 

Freehold township 4,231 

Freehold town 

Holmdel township 1,115 

Howell township 3,371 

Long Branch district i 

Manalapan township | 2,286 

Marlborough township 2,231 

Matawan township 2,839 

Matawan village 

Middletown township 4,639 

Millstone township ' 2,087 

Neptune township 

Ocean township 6,189 

Ocean Grove village 

Raritan township 3,443 

Bed Bank town 

Shrewsbury townsliip 5,440 

Upper Freehold township, 3,(140 

Wall township 2,G71 



1875. : 1880. 



1,653 



2,573 



3,571 



1,338 
3,300 



2,094 

2,274 
2,875 



4,517 
2,091 



6,109 



3,564 



6,330 
3,598 
2,613 



1,743 
1,010 
],G40 
2,842 
523 
882 
4,302' 
2 432 
l!o75 
3,374 
3,833 
2,175 
2,193 
2,69» 
1,437 
5,0)9 
2,080 
4,187 
6.027 
620 
3,891 
2,t;84 
ti.o'JCi 
3,23i; 
3.829 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE TOWX AND TOAVNSHIP OF FREEHOED. 

The town or village of Freehold dates its 
history back to the yetir 1715, when, by the 
location and erection of the first court-house of 
the county, it became, as it has since continued 
for a peri(id of nearly a century and three- 
quarters, the comity-seat of Monmouth. 

For almost fifty years prior to the time men- 
tioned, the courts of the county had been held 
at Portland Point (the Highlands) and iu the 
"meeting houses" of Middletown and Shrews- 
bury; but the population had iu that time in- 
creased, and had become spread out and ex- 
tended so much towards the south and south- 

' Including village. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



385 



west, that when in 1713, it was decided that a 
court-hoiise should be erected, they demanded 
that it should be located "in Freehold [town- 
ship], somewhere near John Okeson's, the 
nearest of all to the middle of the good land 
and whole inhabitants of the county." An act 
of Assembly was passed at the session of 1713, 
fixing the location in accordance with this 
demand, and on the site established, (the land 
having been conveyed to the county for the 
purpose by John Reid, August 26, 1714), the 
court-house was built, as will be more fully 
mentioned elsewhere in this history. 

The act referred to, shows that John Okeson 
was an inhabitant of the immediate vicinity of 
the court-house site; and it is also certaiu, from 
the description given in the deed by which 
John Reid conveyed the lot, that his dwelling 
stood within three or four rods (westerly) of 
the jjreseut court-house. In that deed (a copy 
of which is given in full elsewhere) he recites 
that the land had been conveyed to him, with 
other tracts, in ^March of the same year, by 
Thomas Combs ; and by reference to the 
Combs deed it is found that the tract mentioned 
as having been conveyed Ijy him to Reid (in- 
cluding the court-house site) is described there 
as beginning at the head of Spottswood Middle 
Brook, near the Burlington Path, and running 
along the path southwesterly twenty-one chains ; 
thence running liack from the path northerly 
and westerlv bv various courses to the starting;- 
point. The Burlington Path at this point was 
along what is now the main street of Freehold, 
and it is therefore clear that in 1714, John 
Reid was the owner of that jiai't of the site of 
the present village which lies on the north- 
westerly side of the main street, from about 
where the railroad track now crosses it north- 
easterly to the ravine (then much deeper and 
more clearly marked than now), from the 
northern end of which, at the gas-works, flows 
the tiny stream which is one of the head-waters 
of Spottswood Middle Brook. 

Nothing has beeu found iu the ancient 
records or elsewhere to show that any other 
dwelliugs than those of John Reid and John 
Okeson were standing, in 1714, on the lands 
now embraced in the corporate limits of Free- 
2.5 



hold, though it is by no means improbable that 
there may have been other inhabitants then 
living there, and among them the Thomas 
Combs from whom Reid purchased his land on 
the Burlington Path. 

The references to " the house of John Oke.son 
of Freehold " (township), found in the act re- 
ferred to, and in the records of the county, 
induce the belief that his was a public-house or 
tavern, such as in early days were frequently 
found, remote from villages, on the principal 
routes of travel. Such a route was tiie Bur- 
lington Path, which is found mentioned in tlie 
road records of the county before the year 1700 
as a " King's Highway," running from Cross- 
wicks, " by way of ye Leonards," to Tinton Falls. 
Whether Okeson's was a tiivern or not, it 
must have been located on the southeast side of 
what is now the main street of Freehold, as 
the lands on the other side, as far each way 
from the court-hou.se as the business part of the 
town extends to-day, were owned by Reid. 

This Jolin Reid, the grantor, who is styled 
in his deed of conveyance as " yeoman," and 
" son of James Reid, deceased," was doubtless a 
nephew or other relative of the John Reid, 
Esq., to whom and otiiers named he conveyed 
the court-house lot, as trustees, for the county 
of ilonmouth ; the last-uamed John Reid be- 
ing the same one who came over from Scotland, 
about 1683, as an employe of the Scotch pro- 
prietors, and who, after residing a few years at 
Perth Amboy, removetl to a lafge tract of land 
called " Hortensia," located on Hop Brook, in 
jMonraouth County, where he lived during the 
remainder of his life, and became a prominent 
and influential man, holding various important 
offices, amcing which was that of surveyor- gen- 
eral of the province. The John Reid, "yeo- 
man," who conveyed the court-house site, and 
whose dwelling adjoined it, was evidently quite 
an enterprising man, as is shown by the fact 
that withiu a few weeks after the passage of the 
act determining the place where the court-house 
should be located he bought from Thomas 
Combs (in March, 1714) the large tract of land 
lying on the Burlington Path, a pai-t of which, 
only five months later, he, in fact, donated to the 
county (the nominal consideration being only 



386 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



thirty shillings) as the court-liouse lot, for the 
purpose of increasing tiie value of his lands by 
reason of the location of the county-seat and the 
growth of a prospective village around it. Thus 
it seems proper to mention John Reid, the son 
of James, as the founder of the village of 
Freehold. 

What adtlitional settlers, if any, came to 
locate around ISIonmouth Court-House within 
the first few years after its erection, cannot be 
told ; and there is very little now known con- 
cerning the few inhabitants of the place during 
the first sixty years of its existence as the 
county-seat. The first name found as that of a 
resident (other than those ah-eady mentioned) 
anywhere in the vicinity is that of Cornelius 
Thomson, who, as early as 1702, built the 
stone house now occupied by Mrs. Achsah Hen- 
drickson, about four miles southwest of Free- 
hold village, on the Mount Holly road, at which 
house a " private term " of court was held in 
January, 1722-2:5. At that time "William 
Nichols, Esq., (otherwise named in the records 
as " Docf Nichols, Esq."), was high sheriiF of 
the county, and afterwards (if not at that time) 
had his residence in or near the little hamlet, as 
it is found that in January, 1728, a few weeks 
after the destruction of the court-house by fire, 
the court met on the spot M'here the building 
had stood, and immediately adjourned to the 
house of William Nichols, where the business of 
the term was transacted. 

In 1733 one of the residents in the vicinity 
of the court-house was Jacob Scudder, whose 
son. Dr. Nathaniel Scudder,^ was born here in 
that year. 

iDr. Nathaniel Scudder, born in Freehold township on 
the 10th of May, 1733, graduated at Princeton College in 
1751, and was afterwards one of the board of trustees of 
that college. He became a physician and settled at Mon- 
mouth Court-house. He was an ardent patriot, and wrote 
many articles, which were published in the public prints of 
that day, against the tyranny of the mother-country, and 
which served to arouse his countrymen to engage in the 
conflict of the Revolution. When the war began he gave up 
a lucrative professional business and went to the field. 
The Legislature at once appointed him lieutenant-colonel 
of the First Regiment of Monmouth, and he soon became 
the colonel of that regiment. He was also a member of 
the Committee of Safety. He was a member of the Legis- 
lature for several years, and in 1776 was Speaker of tl^ 



Soon after the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury the place that is now the town of Free- 
hold, had gained some little importance, as is 
indicatetl by the removal to it of St. Peter's 
Episcopal Church, which had previously been 
located at Topanemus. The date of its erection 



House. In 1777 he was chosen a member of Congress and 
served for two years. He signed the Articles of Confeder- 
ation. In June, 1778, Congress had a short recess, during 
which Colonel Scudder came home .and was present at the 
battle of Monmouth. In a letter to John Hart, then Speaker 
of the House, in July, 1778, he alludes to the battle and the 
destruction of property by the British army, as follows ; 
" I congratulate you upon the signal success of our arms in 
this neighbourhood on the 2Sth of June. Great plunder 
and devastation have been committed among my friends in 
this quarter, but, through the distinguishing goodness of 
Providence, my family and property escaped, and that in 
.almost a miraculous manner." 

.\fter his term in Congress expired, Colonel Scudder, 
with General David Forman, was engaged in repelling fre- 
quent incursions of the enemy. On the 10th of October, 
1781, at Black Point, near Shrewsbury, while operating 
ag.ainst a large force of the British, Colonel Scudder was in- 
stantly killed by a shot from the enemy. 

Colonel Scudder was much more than an ordinary man. 
He stood very high in his profession, and was a fine classical 
scholar. He was a devoted Christian, elder for a long 
time in Tennent Church, and a man of great influence, 
both in church and state. He was buried with the honors 
of war in the Tennent Churchyard. His funeral sermon 
was preached by Rev. John Woodhull, D.D. 

The wife of Colonel Scudder was Isabella .\nderson, 
daughter of Colonel Kenneth Anderson, who was a son of 
John Anderson, who was Acting Governor of the province 
of Xew Jersey for a short time, and who died in 173G, and 
was buried in the old Topanemus burying-ground, near 
Marlborough. 

One of Colonel Scudder' s sons was Dr. John Anderson 
Scudder, who removed to Kentucky ; another was Joseph 
Scudder, who became a lawyer at Freehold. He was the 
father of Daniel B. Ryall's second wife, and grandfather 
of Mrs. Louisa Vought, who recently died at Freehold ; 
and also of Thomas W. Ryall, of Colt's Neck. Ex-Gover- 
nor Joel Parker is connected with the Scudder family on 
his mother's side. Mrs. Sarah Scudder Coward, the 
mother of Governor Parker, was a daughter of Captain 
Joseph Coward, of Upper Freehold, who was a soldier in 
the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. Captain 
Coward was the son of Lucretia Scudder, the sister of 
Colonel Scudder. 

Joseph Scudder was the father of John Scudder, com- 
monly called " Missionary John," because he was the pio- 
neer of missionaries in India early iu the present century. 
John was born at Freehold. He had eight sons, all of 
whom were in the ministry, and seven of them mission- 
aries. His two daughters were also missionaries until 
their marriage. 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



387 



is not known, but the fact that it was still at 
Topanemus in 1751 is proved by tlie journal of 
the Rev. Thomas Thompson, missionary ; and 
that it was erected near the court-house prior to 
1763 is clearly shown in the history of the 
church, elsewhere given. This old church edi- 
fice, which stood through all the years of tlie 
great struggle between America and Britain, and 
was at different times occupied by troops of the 
Royal and patriot armies, is now the oldest build- 
iug in Freehold village. 

Alter an existence of more than sixty years 
as the county-seat, the little settlement at Mon- 
mouth Court-House was still but an insignifi- 
cant hamlet, containing less than a hundred 
inhabitants of both sexes and all ages, at the 
opening of the Revolution ; but during the 
progress of that great conflict its relative impor- 
tance was considerably increased, and it received 
some additions to its population, though it is 
impossible, at the present day, to name more 
than a very few of its inhabitants at that time. 
Among them, besides Dr. Scudder and Dr. 
Thomas Henderson, were two cousins, both 
named David Forman. Both of them, how- 
ever, as also Dr. Henderson, lived a short dis- 
tance outside the present corporation limits ; 
the residence of "Black David," who became 
the general (already mentioned in the Revolu- 
tionary history), being the house now owned 
and occupied by Mr. Henry Brinkerhoff, and 
that of " Sheriff David " being located on the 
Jonathan T. Forman farm, a little more than a 
mile southeast of the court-house. 

Tunis Forman, a son of Sheriff David For- 
man, was the hero of a Revolutionary adven- 
ture which made him famous. In May, 1780, 
while the family were at breakfast, a soldier 
entered the room in great haste, and informed 
the sheriff that he (the soldier) and a comrade 
had that morninor been sent as a guard to con- 
duct two prisoners' from Colt's Neck to Free- 

^ These prisoners had been taken the night before by 
John Statesir, then a youth of about eighteen years of 
age, who belonged to a company or detachment of soldiers 
who were quartei-ed in Jacob Fleming's barn, one and a 
half miles below Colt's Neck. At the time referred to he 
was on his way to join liis detachment at the barn, and 
seeing two men approaching, he advanced his musket and 
demanded the countersign. They could not give it, and 



hold, but that on tlie way the prisoners had 
knocked his comrade down, seized his musket 
and escaped. The sheriff at once mounted his 
horse and galloped to the court-house to order 
out the guard stationed there to pursue the 
fugitives. Meanwhile, young Tunis Foi-man, 
then only seventeen years old, seized his gmi 
(which was only loaded with small shot for 
blackbirds) and started out alone on the pursuit. 
He soon overtook the two men, sitting on a 
fence, and having with them the musket taken 
from the soldier. On seeing him, they took to 
a swamp, but the boy followed, and finally 
found them perched in a tree top. One of them 
fired on him, but missed. Tunis then presented 
his piece, and ordered the man to throw down 
his empty gun, or he would certainly shoot 
him. The order was obeyed. The boy then 
loaded the gun, and forced the two desperadoes 
to come down from the tree, and march in 
front of him to the coiu-t-house, where he de- 
livered them to the guard. While on his way 
to the court-house, driving the captured men 
before him, young Forman heard his father, 
with a mounted posse, pass in the other direc- 
tion on a road near him, but out of sight, and he 
shouted to him, but the noise of the horses' 
hoofs prevented his voice from being heard, and 
he was obliged to proceed alone with his pris- 
oners. They proved to be John and Robert 
Smith, two desperadoes who had recently 
robbed and murdered ^Ir. Boyd, the collector of 
Chester County, Pa. Sheriff Forman and his son 
Tunis took them to Philadelphia, for delivery to 
the officers there. On their arrival in the city, 
when the cLrcumstances of the capture became 
known, Tunis Forman became the hero of the 
dav, and the soldiers stationed there carried 
him in triumph through the streets on their 

as they also acted in a suspicious manner, he took them 
prisoners, they being unarmed, and marched them before 
him to the barn, where he delivered them to the oiScer in 
command. Each one had a bridle with him, and it was 
evident that they were out on a horse-stealing expedition. 
They were kept at the barn till morning, then placed in 
charge of two soldiers, named respectively Buck and Lake, 
to be taken to the jail at Freehold, and on the way they 
escaped, as narrated. The musket wliich young Statesir 
carried on thai night is now in possession of his son, Wil- 
liam Statesir, president of the Freehold Banking Company. 



388 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



shoulders. He lived to an advanced age, resid- 
ing ou the old Fornian farm, southeast of the 
court-house. Another son of Sheriff David 
Formau was Dr. Samuel Fornian, who, at the 
opening of the Eevolution, was a lad of eleven 
years of age. A more extended mention of 
him will be found in the history of the Mon- 
mouth Medical Society and elsewhere in this 
chapter. 

Jacob WikoiF (son of William Wikoff, of 
Shrewsbury) was also a resident in the vicinity 
(if the village in the time of the Revolution, and 
his house was one of those burned by the 
British troops during their occupation of the 
place, from the 26th to the 28th of June, 1778. 
It is i-elated of the burning of this house, that 
" as the lurid flames swept high and fierce, " a 
voice was heard above the rest, shouting "Oh, do 
save brother John ! " upon which the efforts 
were redoubled, and resulted in the saving of 
" Brother John," which was no more nor less 
than an excellent portrait, executed by the 
famed painter, Benjamin West. The owner of 
the house, Jacob AMkofF, served creditably in 
the war, and lived nearly thirty years after its 
close, dying iu 1812. His son, William, was 
also a soldier in the Revolution, and was pres- 
ent in the battle of June 28, 1778. Peter Wi- 
koff, brother of Jacob, served under Washing- 
ton, and was one of the guides of the commander- 
in-chief at the battle of Monmouth. 

James Wall was the keeper of a tavern at 
Monmouth Court-House in 1778, and William 
Snyder was an inn-keeper there in the following 
year. The house of Captain .James Green, 
M'hich stood in the immediate vicinity of the 
court-house, is found frequently mentioned in 
records and elsewhere, in a way that shows it to 
have been, at one time during the Revolution, 
one of the princijial places where meetings were 
held for the transaction of public business. A 
number of trials were held there, notably of 
cases in Admiralty, to try claims ou prizes cap- 
tm-ed by the American privateers. One of these 
trials was held at Green's house, a week before 
the final capture of Captain Joshua Huddy, at 
the Tom's River block-house. It was held by 
Abiel Akin, Esq., of Tom's River, to try the 
claims for the prize " Lucy," of which William 



Dillon had been master. Dillon was one of the 
eight men in Freehold jail under sentence of 
death to whom the Rev. Abel ISIorgan preached 
iu June, 1778, but he somehow escaped death. 
The next week after Esquire Akin had the ex- 
amination at Captain Green's house, at Free- 
hold, for claims against this vessel, Dillou 
piloted the British expedition into Tom's River, 
which destroyed the black-house, captured 
Huddy and others and burned the village, and 
Esquire Akiu's house among the rest. Less 
than three weeks afterwards the corpse of Cap- 
tain Huddy was brought from the place where 
he had lieen murdered by Captain Lippincott 
and his Refugee followers, and laid in the house 
of Captain Green, preparatory to the funeral, 
which was held in the court-house, where the 
Rev. John Woodhull preached the funeral .ser- 
mon to a very large audience of people, who had 
gatheral there from all parts of the county. 

It is not shown, however, that Captain Green 
was an inn-keeper, at that time, but it appears 
probable that he was not, from the fact that in 
some of the notices of meetings, sales and courts 
held at his residence, it is mentioned as " the 
dwelling-house of James Green." It appears 
likely that he had been or was a seafaring man, 
as it is found that at one time, in a Court of Ad- 
miralty, he was prosecuting a prize claim on a 
captured vessel called the " Betty." His subse- 
quent career is not known. 

In 1780 certain sales of property were ad- 
vertised to be held at the house of Daniel Ran- 
dolph, at Freehold. It is supposed that this 
was the same Daniel Randolph, Esq., who was 
captured two yenrs later with Captain Huddy. 
A very promineut man at Tom's River in the 
early jJart of the war was James Randolph, 
extensivelv ens:ao;ed in saw-mills and other 
business. He died about 1781, and Daniel Ran- 
dolph's appearance then at Tom's River sug- 
gests he might have gone there to mauage tiie 
estate. Tiie place where he lived iu Freehold 
in 1780, cannot now be designated. 

In 1788 John Anderson and Samuel P. For- 
mau (the last named of whom became sheriff of 
the county in 1799) were inn-keej^ers at Mon- 
mouth Court-House village. In May of that 
vear the Board of Freeholders met at Ander- 



THE TUWX OF FREEHOLD. 



389 



son's, and adjourned t(i meet at Forman's in the 
following June. The location of their houses 
is not known, but it is supposed that they were 
the stands since known as the " Washiug-tou " 
and " Union." Lewis McKnight was an inn- 
keeper at ^lonmouth village in 1789. jNIeet- 
ings of the freeholders were held at his house 
ill that year. 

There can be no doubt that there were stores 
and country merchants at Monmouth Court- 
Hiiuse many years before the Revolution, for 
although the village itself is insignificant, yet 
the surrounding country had become tolerably 
well settled and prosperous, and its natural 
trading-point would be the county-seat, located, 
as it was, on a jiriucipal highway from Burling- 
ton to Raritan Bay. Yet the writer has been 
unable to learn the name of any merchant or 
the location of any store in the village jji'ior to 
the year 1793, when AVilliam Lloyd, who had 
been a soldier in the Revolution,^ and who, 

'In an affidavit made by William Lloyd, in 1832, for the 
purpose of obtaining a pension, he said, — 

"... That his first service rendered iv.as at an early 
period of the Kevolution. and thinks at the second monthly 
call of the Monmouth militia, but cannot recollect the pre- 
cise time. He distinctly remembers serving in the Foot, 
four monthly tours of duty at dififerent times in the vil- 
lage of Freehold, at Monmouth Court-House, and one 
month in the vicinity thereof as a. light-horseman, but 
cannot recollect the company officers sufficiently certain 
to make oath to ; the first he believes and feels sure was 
under the command of Colonel Samuel Forman, and the 
latter under the immediate command of General David 
Forman, who kept his headquarters in said village, and 
had also the command of some companies of enlisted 
soldiers. He performed one month's service at .Shoal Har- 
bour, in Jliddletown, under Captain Xath^miel Polhemus, 
Lieutenants John Conover and Jonathan Pitman ; also 
served three monthly tours of service in the township of 
Shrewsbury, the frontier of the county at different times, 
under command of the following officers : one under Cap- 
tain Baird (subalterns not recollected) : that he com- 
menced another monthly tour at Freehold while the British 
army lay in Brunswick, and was ordered to march to 
General Washington's headquarters after a few d.iys' ser- 
vice : that he marched with the militia then on. duty at 
Freehold to Princeton ; from there to Sourland Mountain ; 
there met with General Sullivan, and marched under his 
command nearly all night to Steel's Mountain, the head- 
quarters of General Washington ; that after being a few 
days there I turned out as a volunteer with a considerable 
body of men, said to be commanded by General Heard, to 
reconnoitre the enemy, who had retired from Somerset 
Court-House, and was on their reti-eat to Amboy ; . . . I 



having succeeded Elisha "Walton as sheriff of 
the county, came from Upper Freehold to the 
court-house, and opened a small merchandising 
business in a low wooden liuilding that stood on 
the northwest side of the main street, near the 
place now occupied by the store of E. B. Bedle. 
From this humble building he afterwards re- 
moveil to a store on the same side of the street, 
on or near the site of the present iJost-ofSce, 
where, with his brothers, Corlies and James 
Lloyd, he carried on a very large and profitaijle 
business for a few years, but was ruined finan- 

was also on duty at Freehold about a week before the bat- 
tle of Trenton ; the whole on duty were discharged by 
Colonel Oke [Auke] Wikoff, who commanded at the time 
on the apprehension that British and Refugees would make 
an attack on us. On the march of the British army from 
Philadelphia, in the year 1778, I went as a volunteer to 
General Maxwell's headquarters at Crosswicks ; went with 
a reconnoitering party under Major David Rhea, near to 
a place called the Clark house, in Burlington County ; 
next day I took a letter from General ilaxwell to Colonel 
Nelson, who commanded the Middlesex militia at Allen ; 
attached myself to Captain Alexander Montgomery's com- 
pany of horse and did service ; was sent to procure wag- 
ons for the army ; continued doing what I could till the 
battle of Monmouth ; was in the midst of the same, and 
at the first retreat of the enemy, after their commander, 
Colonel Monckton fell, pursued and collected as many of 
the enemy's guns (with bayonets fixed on them) as I 
could conveniently carry on my horse, and gave them all 
to the soldiers of the regular army as they stood in rank 
on the field of battle ; this service occupied the day. I 
performed about a week's service under Major Elisha 
Lawrence by marching to Egg Harbour, a distance of 
sixty miles, as a volunteer, with about a hundred others, 
to protect the inhabitants of that place from the ravages 
of two or three companies of Refugees. I would further 
remark that I never missed going out when called upon, 
to my knowledge (except once; that was the time of the 
battle of Germ.antown or Brandywine, I do not recollect 
which, and then I was confined to my bed with sickness), 
during the war from 1776 to the end of the war. During 
the period of my services I was never drafted ; served 
when called upon by regular calls ; my services were con- 
fined to the county of Monmouth, except when called to 
headqu.arters. as above stated, and services rendered in 
the county of Burlington previous to the battle of Mon- 
mouth. 1 was acquainted with many of the militia officers 
during the war, namely. General David Forman, Captain 
David Hay, Captain James Brewer, Captain Nathaniel 
Polhemus, Captain David Baird, Colonel Asher Holmes, 
Colonel Oke [.iuke] Wikoff, Colonel Samuel Forman, Colo- 
nel John Smock and a great many others ; and served with 
a number of them at different times. When I entered the 
service I lived in Upper Freehold : was born there in 
April, 1757, and served there during the war." 



390 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



cially by the operation of the embargo act. He 
purchased a farm lying south of what is now 
McLean Avenue, and on the southeasterly side 
of the Burlington Path, which, at a point a lit- 
tle above where ex -Governor Parker's residence 
now stands, deflected considerably to the south- 
ward of the line of the present main street of 
Freehold. The farm was of about two hundred 
acres, and included the ground on M'hich now 
stand the Roman Catholic Church, the Free- 
hold Institute and a great number of dwellings 
in the same vicinity. It M'as then called the 
" Factory Farm," from the ftict that a hat-factory 
had previously been in operation on it. The 
residence of Mr. Lloyd on this farm, was an old- 
fashioned Dutch house of good size, which stood 
east of the Path, about thirty rods back of the 
site of the parsonage of the Reformed Church, 
and between it and where the institute now 
stands. 

Caleb Lloyd and Corlies Lloyd, l^oth lawyers, 
came to locate in the village al)out two years 
earlier than their brother William. James 
Lloyd, another brother, came a little later. 
James Lloyd succeeded his l)rother William as 
.sheriif in 1796, and was again elected in 1805, 
and still again in 1820. Caleb Lloyd was 
surrogate from 1797 to 1804, county clerk 
from 1812 to 1817, and again surrogate from 
1817 to 1822. Corlies Lloyd was prosecutor of 
the pleas from 1828 to 1833. Richard Lloyd, 
a Revolutionary officer of some prominence, 
succeeded his brother James as sheriff in 1823. 
Dr. Robert Laird, in writing of Freehold 
village as it was between 1820 and 1830, says: 
" At that early day the family of Lloyd — Wil- 
liam, James, Caleb and Corlies — held all the im- 
portant offices in the county. William Lloyd 
was judge of the court; James, the high sheriff; 
Caleb, the clerk and surrogate; Corlies, the dis- 
trict attorney. No business of a legal char- 
acter could be done excepting through this 
family." 

Joseph Scudder, son of Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, 
and afterwards one of the most prominent 
lawyers of IMonmouth County, was a resident of 
Freehold in 1794, being appointed surrogate of 
the county in that year, and was elected clerk 
in 1798. His residence was where Dr. D. M. 



Forman now lives. The date of the erection of 
the old mansion is not precisely known. 

As early as 1785 the village around the 
court-house began to be called simply " Mon- 
mouth." This is the name by which it is 
designated in various entries made in the years 
1785-86, 1791 and 1795, in the journal of the 
Rev. Francis Asbury, who was then making- 
preaching tours through this part of the State. 
And in an entry of the last-mentioned year he 
gives an uncomplimentary notice of the shire 
town in an account of a scene he witnessed 
there, as follows : 

" Octobei' 28, 1795. — We came to Monmouth; we 
would have gone to Shrewsbury, but time and our 
horses failed uis. ... I was shocked at the brutality 
of some men who were fighting; one gouged out the 
other's eye ; the father and son then both beset him 
again, cut oft" his ears and nose, and beat him almost 
to death. The father and son were tried for a breach 
of the peace, and roundly fined ; and now the man 
that has lost his nose is come upon them for damage. 
I have often thought that there are some things prac- 
tised in the Jersies which are more brutish and 
diabolical than in any other of the States ; there is 
nothing of this kind in New England — They learn 
civility there at least." 

On the 1st of January, in the year (1795) of 
the occurrence narrated as above by .Vsbury, the 
post-office of the village was established, and 
designated on the department records as " Mon- 
mouth." The first postmaster was Samuel 
McKinstry, who held the office but three 
months, and was succeeded on the 1st of April 
following by Samuel McConkey. Whether 
these gentlemen were merchants of the village 
or not has not been ascertained ; nor is it known 
where the post-office was kept at that time. 

The public-houses of ^Major James Craig and 
Samuel Coward are found mentioned in the 
records of 1797, 1798 and 1799, and meetings 
of tiie Board of Freeholders were held at both 
during tliat period. Craig's stand ^yas the same 
as is now called the Washington Hotel, and 
Coward's was on the site of the present Union 
(or Taylor's) Hotel. 

In April, 1798, John A. Laird was appointed 
postmaster of jMonmouth village, but w-as suc- 
ceeded in that office, in July of the same year, 
by David Craig, who held it for seven years. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



391 



John A. Laird was the eldest of four brothers, of 
whom the othei-s were Benjamin, Samuel and 
Elisha Laird, all of whom were well-known and 
prominent citizens of ^lon mouth County in the 
early jjart of the present century. Benjamin, 
who was widely known as a hotel-keeper, was 
the father of Dr. Robert Laird, now of Mana- 
sqnan ; and Samuel was the father of Joseph T. 
Laird, now president of the First National Bank 
of Freehold. 

In 1801 (.January 1st) the name "Mon- 
mouth," which had been given to the post-office 
on its establishment, six years before, was changed 
to " Freehold;" but the old name still clung to 
the village, and for more than a quarter of a 
century afterwards it remained in more fi-equent 
and common use than that by which it was 
superseded. As late as the year 1836 (on the 
31st of December) a public meeting of citizens 
was held " to take into consideration the pro- 
priety of changing the name of the village of 
Freehold to that of Monmouth," and the prop- 
osition lacked little of the support necessary to 
secure adoption. 

Mr. William Lloyd (son of the William 
Lloyd who served in the Revolution, as before 
mentioned), who was born in the year 1800, 
and who is now (November, 1884) living in 
Freehold, with a good memory, which reaches 
farther back in the history of the village than 
tliat of any person known, relates the following 
with regard to the inhabitants, dwellings and 
Inisiness jjlaces of Freehold at the time of his 
earliest recollection — ^about 1810 to 1812 — viz.: 
Commencing at the northeastern end of the 
village, and proceeding up the main street on its 
southeastern side, the first dwelling was that of 
William H. Bennett — an old-fashioned red 
house, which stood on or very near the site of 
the present residence of Mrs. William V. Ward. 
William H. Bennett (who was the father of 
Henr}', Charles A. and Hudson Bennett) came 
from " Sandy New " to Freehold early in the 
year 1801, and located at the place mentioned. 
Near the old red house, and farther l)ack from 
the street, was an old bark-mill ; Ijut it does not 
appear that the business of tanning was ever 
carried on by ^Ir. Bennett, who was a black- 
smith, and had a shop near his hoase and on the 



same side of the road ; but it was removed (or 
another one built by him), a few years later, on 
the opposite side. He was the contractor for the 
iron-work of the court-house and jail luiilding, 
which was completed in 1808. He afterwards 
liuilt and removed to another house, standing on 
the spot now occupied by the residence of his 
son, Hudson Bennett. He made two purchases 
of laud, contiguous to his first location, from 
Major James Craig, in 1805 and in 1812. 

Next above the red house of Mr. Bennett 
was the hatter's shop of John Bowne, which 
stood partly on the site of the present American 
Hotel. 

The old "Red Tavern" of Major James 
Craig M'as the next building above Bowne's 
hatter's shop. This tavern, which had then 
been kept by ^lajor Craig for at least fifteen 
years (and probaljly much longer), was the same 
which was afterwards known as the Wa.shington 
Hotel, the oldest tavern-stand in Freehold. 
Above the tavern, ]\Iajor Craig owned the land 
up to the road, which is now South Street. On 
it stood his stables and behind them was an 
orchard extending: back a long; distance on the 
road.' 

On the south corner of the road and the main 
street of the town, the site of the Union Hotel 
of later years, was the tavern of Samuel Coward, 
who had then kept it several years, as mention is 
found in the records of this, as well as Craig's 
tavern, in ] 797. Coward's tavern was a small, 
two-story wooden building, which now forms a 
part of Taylor's Hotel. To the rear of this 
tavern, on what is now South Street, the 
old court-house of the Revolution Avas re- 
moved in the year 1809, soon after the comple- 
tion of the new one. It was fitted up as a 
dwelling-house and was then, or a few years 
later, occupied by Joseph Thompson. It was 
also the publication office of the JIonmoHth 
Star newspaper for a short time. 

The next building above Coward's inn was 

1 Reference to certain old deeds from .James Craig and 
Jolin Craig (among tliem being the deeds to William H. 
Bennett, before referred to) shows that about the year 1800, 
James and John Craig had owned all the land on the south 
side of Main Street, from South Street northeasterly to the 
present limits of the town. 



392 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



the dwelling-house of Caleb Lloyd, an old- 
fashioned wooden building, which is still stand- 
ing, and now occupied by his nephew, jNIr. Wil- 
liam Lloj'd, on whose recollection this description 
of Freehold, three-fourths of a century ago, is 
based. 

Samuel Throckmorton's residence was the 
next south west of Caleb Lloyd's ; it was a wooden 
building, and (with some changes and additions) 
is still standing and in use as the office of Dr. 
O. R. Freeman. The widow of Samuel Throck- 
morton became afterwards the wife of Joseph 
Phillips, Esq. 

Passing on beyond where the railroad track 
now crosses the main street, there stood a small 
M'ooden building, owned and occupied by Re- 
becca Forman (familiarly known as " Aunt 
Becky"), who met a terrible death by falling 
into the lire. The site is the lot now occuj)ied 
by B. White's tin-shop and stove-store, and a 
part of the ancient building is still standing. 

Next above the last named was the house of 
William Clark, tailor. It was afterwards re- 
built by him, and the house still stands, the 
next northeast of the residence of Dr. I. S. 
Long. 

The house of Alexander Low, a Scotchman, 
and by trade a cabinet-maker and joiner, was 
next above Clark's, standing where now is the 
residence of ex-Governor Parker, whose father, 
Charles Parker, afterwards purcliased the Low 
property. The old Low house was moved back 
and is still standing in the rear part of the 
ex-Governor's house. 

Above Alexander Low, the next house was 
that of John Morford, a Revolutionary soldier, 
and by trade a saddler and harness-maker. The 
house, then occupied by him, was afterwards 
moved across the street by Tylec Cottrell, and 
on its first site now stands the parsonage of the 
Reformed Church. Back of the Morford house 
(as before mentioned) was the house of William 
Lloyd, on the " Factory Farm." 

Beyond the IMorford house there was then no 
other on the south side of the main street 
within the present corporation limits ; but a short 
distance outside lived James Lloyd, in the house 
now occupied by Henry Brinckerhoffi Very 
soon afterwards James Lloyd removed from 



that place, and it was then occupied by Judge 
John Quay until about ] 820, when it came into 
possession of the Brinckerhoif family, and Quay 
moved down the main street to the small house 
that stood on the site of the present residence of 
Mr. Elihu B. Bedle. 

Near James Lloyd's, on the same side, was 
the house (still standing) which was occupied 
by AVilliam Conover in the time of the Revo- 
lution, and now known as the " Murjjhy house," 
because owned and occupied at one time by 
Judge Joseph Murphy. At this house Sir 
Henry Clinton had his headij^uarters during the 
two days preceding the battle of Monmouth. 

Returning on the northwest side of the street 
there were but two dwellings west of where the 
railroad track now crosses, one of these being 
the residence of Joseph Sciidder, Esq., and the 
other that of Benjamin Campbell, who at that 
time owned the land along the street, on the 
noi-th side, from Manalapan .Vvenue to the 
present residence of Major James S. Yard. 
The old house in which jNIr. Campbell lived 
stood a considerable distance back from the 
highway and nearly in the rear of the site of 
the present house of Charles T. Fleming. After 
Mr. Campbell, it was owned and occuj)ied b}- 
Daniel Stillwell, and was usually known as the 
Stillwell house. 

Proceeding northeast from the Scudder house 
(now Dr. D. ]\I. Forman's residence) and passing 
the EjDiscopal Church, Mhich was the same edi- 
fice that now occujiies the same site, the next 
building was the store which had been opened 
by Corlies Lloyd very soon after the year 1800, 
and which was then occupied by him and his 
brothers, William and James. It was in this 
store that they did the extensive business and 
sustained the heavy losses which have already 
been mentioned as resulting from the Embargo 
Act. Its location was on or very near the spot 
where the post-office now is. The old l)uil(ling 
was at one time used for academy purposes. 

Next, below, was the house and store of John 
Throckmorton. The store was afterwards occu- 
pied by William I. Bowne' and, later, by the 

' William I. Bowne waa born in Monmouth County in 
1792, and, being left an or)ihan at an early age, was 
placed under tlie guardianship of Judge Hull, of Freehold, 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



393 



JMomuoiith Bank. The Tliroekmorton house I which M'as afterwards for many years the prop- 



stood a little distance back from the street, and 
Judge Bovvue built in front of it anotlier and 
larger house, which (having been repaired and 
improved) stood uutil destroyed by the great 
fire of October, 1873. 

The next house northeast of John Throck- 
morton's, was that of Aaron Forman Walker,^ 



He obtained a good preparatory education in the schools of 
Trenton and elsewhere, and entered as a law student in the 
office of Joseph Phillips, Esq., in Freehold. About 1822 
he was elected a member of the Legislatiye Council of New 
Jersey, and was, not long afterwards, appointed judge of 
tlie Common Pleas of Monmouth County, which office he 
lield for several years. " His associates were Judges 
Patterson, Hull and Hopping, during whose term of office 
the Court of Common Pleas in Jlonmouth County was 
raised to a higli standard, and came to he regarded by the 
bar and the community as the most efficient, judicious and 
impartial tribunal of the kind in the State." Afterwards, 
Judge Bowne retired to the farm now owned by the heirs 
of Daniel S. Shancli, adjoining Freehold, and between 1840 
and 18.50 removed to a fine property owned by him near 
Lawrenceville, Mercer County, where he died April IG, 
18.58. 

'Aaron Forman Walker was a soldier of the Revolution, 
first entering the patriot service as a drummer, as is 
shown by the Revolutionary rolls. In connection with his 
name, and with the fact of his residence at (he place 
mentioned, the following notice of the recent death of a 
very aged colored woman is given here, as extracted from 
the Monmouth Democrat of September 18, 1884 : 

" Mary Vincent, colored, died at the Freehold town- 
house on Tuesday afternoon. Her death was occasioned 
by a cancerous affection of the breast. She was in good 
health until about a year ago. Her age is estimated at 
from 110 to 120 years. Some old people remember her 
as a ' gray-haired old woman ' when they were children. 
She was a slave, and was originally owned by a man 
named Walker, a resident of this township. Afterwards 
she became the property of the Solomon family, at West 
Freehold. When she married she was given her freedom. 
Her husband and two children died many years ago. For 
the past fifteen years she 'has been cared for by the town- 
ship. In conversation with her, Mary told Mr. Rarkalow, 
the overseer of the poor, that when the county buildings 
were erected she was employed in carrying brick to be 
used in their erection, and that at that time she was a 
'likely young woman.' The clerk's and surrogate's 
offices were first erected in 1800 to 1802, and in 1806 
the erection of the court-house was commenced. She 
was also employed on the Latter building.'' 

The fact that Aaron Forman Walker lived within a few 
rods of the court-house and public offices at the time of 
their erection renders it more than probable that he was 
the " man named Walker" referred to as the owner of 
the slave woman, Mary Vincent. The old Revolutionary 
court-house was quite thoroughly repaired in 1791, at 



erty of Judge Thomas C. Throckmorton. Its 
site was nearly the same that is now occujiied 
by the stores of E. B. Bcdle and J. B. Havi- 
land. Next below the "Walker dwellino- and 
very near the clerk's office, (Court Street not 
having then been opened), wa.s a small house 
occupied by William Low, the jailor. Next 
was the clerk's office and the new court-house, 
which was completed in December, 1808, as 
elsewliere noticed. 

Beyond the court-house, going northeast, was 
the two-story frame dwelling of John Craig, 
who was familiarly known as " Poor Johnny," 
though it is not now known how he obttuned that 
sobrujuet. His house was in existence in the time 
of the Revolution, and there is a tradition (no 
doubt correct) that it Mas used as a hospital 
after the battle of Monmouth. There is also 
reason for believing that it was the same house 
^^•hich was occupied by Captain James Green 
in 1782, and to which the body of Captain 
Joshua Huddy was brought, as before men- 
tioned. This, however, can only be mentioned 
as a probability. The building, which at the 
time referred to ^vas occupied by Craig as a 
dwelling-house, afterwards became the Mon- 
mouth Hotel, and (with the addition of a third 
story and some other enlargements and remodel- 
ing) is still standing, occupied by stores and 
lawyers' offices. 

On the easterly end of John Craig's house, 
and attached to it, was a small frame wins or 
addition, in which, in the years 1814-15, was 
published the first newspaper of Freehold, 
called the Spirit of Washington. From Craig's 
dwelling, on the same side of the street, a line 
of Lombardy jjoplars extended along the fence 
to or beyond where Walker's drug-store now 
stands. Beyond, there was no otlier house 
within the jji-esent town limits; but a little 
further out on the Keyport road, where B. 
Huemann now lives, was the residence of 
Richard Throckmorton, M'ho was then surrogate 



which time (under the supposition that she was one hun- 
dred and ten years old at her death ) she would have been 
seventeen years of age,— a " likely young woman," as she 
described herself as being at the time she was put to the 
hard work of carrying bricks. 



394 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and pastmaster. and kept both offices in the 
same (juarters, an arrangement which credited 
some dissatisfaction among the townspeople. 

For many years from the time above referred 
to, Freehold made but very slow progress in 
improvement, and increased comparatively little 
in pojHilatiou. Dr. Robert Laird, born in 1811, 
now in practice at Manasquan, gives the follow- 
ing as his earliest recollection of the village 
and its peojjle, having reference to the period 
about the years 1820 to 1825 : Beginning at 
the lower end of the main street, on the south- 
east side, as before, William H. Bennett's old 
red house was still standing, but he liad re- 
moved to and was then occupying a new house, 
which he had built on the land purchased by 
him from Major Craig, in 1812, the new house 
referred to being the one standing, as before 
mentioned, whei'e Hudson Bennett now lives. 
Next southwest of this, on a part of the site 
of the American Hotel, was a store-house occu- 
pied by Robert Wardell. Next above it was 
a building in which Francis ]M. Deklya 
carried on a grocery and bakery.' In an old 
Iniilding adjoining this, tlie MonmoHth Star 
newspajx'r (started l\y West Deklyn in 1819) 



'The "shop" part of the Deklyn building had been 
owned prior to 181G by William H. Bennett. It stood on 
his land above the old red house, and had been used as a hat- 
factory. In that year it was purchased by Deklyn and 
moved to the site mentioned, where he used it as a store 
and bakery for eight years. He then sold the property 
to Peter Yanderhoof and .James Ten Eyck, and removed 
to the State of N'ew York. The building was then le.ased 
by Charles C. Higgins, who occupied it three years, during 
which time he carried on the business of a silversmith. 
In 1827 it came into possession of Elias Hart, who built 
an addition to it, and occupied it for more than thirty- 
live years as a confectionery store and eating-house; it 
being then the only one of that specialty in Freehold. It 
was a very popular resort in its eai-ly dsiys, and was well 
patronized by judges, lawyers, doctors tind the leading citi- 
zens of the community in general. " Many private 
political conferences were held in the room adjoining the 
shop, and the oyster supper which Colonel W. D. Davis 
always gave on the night of election to his ' chosen twelve' 
was looked forw.ard to with great pleasure.' " Jlr. Hart 
owned the place until 1868, when he sold it to Charles H. 
Wolcott. It was then occupied for a time by J. Singer as 
a tobacco and cigar-store. Afterwards it was sold to 
Stewart Brown, who had the old building demolished in 
May, 1874, and erected the fine brick and brown-stone 
building which now stands on its site. 



had been pruned a short time atter the re- 
moval of its office from the old court-house, 
on South Street. 

The Washington Tavern, which had been kept 
for many years by Major James Craig, was, 
at the time referred to by Dr. Laird, kept by 
^Yilliam Craig, and on the Craig land, at the 
corner of what is now South Street (previously 
occupied only by the tavern stables), was a small 
building, then in use as a market-house. 

The old tavern on the other corner of South 
Street had passed from the proprietorship of 
Stimuel Coward, and was kept by Charles Burk. 
Dr. Laird says, — " I well remember a ball given 
at tliis hotel February 22, 182-5, when Colonel 
Teu Eyck, Benjamin Laird, John I. Thompson 
and Charles Burk opened the dance." 

Passing tlie house of Caleb Lloyd (who still 
occupied it until his death, in 1822), the next 
was the house of Joseph Phillips, in a part of 
which was then a millinery or fancy-goods store. 
Phillips had married the widow of Samuel 
Throckmorton, the previous owner of the prop- 
erty. Afterwards it was owned by Colonel 
William Ten Eyck. 

At what is now the south corner of Throclv- 
morton Avenue and Main Street, Miss Sally 
Throcliuiorton kept a school. Afterwards the 
premises were occupied by Isaac K. Lippincott. 
Adjoining this was the residence of Benjamin 
Laird, who came to Freehold in 1810 or 1811 
and opened a small store. Afterwards he be- 
came widely known as a hotel-keeper. Next, 
beyond this place, was that of Alexander IjOW, 
the Scotch cabinet-maker before mentioned. 
Above Low's (where E. B. Bedle now lives) 
was the house of Judge John Quay, who had 
moved there from the Brinckerhoff farm. Next 
was the house of John Bowue, hatter, who had 
previously carried on the same business on or 
near the site of the American Hotel. Beyond 
!Mr. Bowne's, John Morford, saddler, still occu- 
pied the house where the Reformed Church 
parsonage stands, and his was still the last liouse 
on this side of the street within the village 
limits. 

On the north side of the street, down to the 
present railroad crossing, there were yet no 
dwellings, except the Stillwell house and the 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



395 



residence of Joseph Scudder, as before men- 
tioned. East of the Euglishtowu road (Throck- 
morton Street), and above the Episcojial Church, 
an old lady, called "Aunty Conover," lived in 
a very small house, where she sold cakes and 
beer. This was tlie only dwelling-house in the 
village on that road. Corlies Lloyd still occu- 
pied the residence liefore mentioned. Next to 
this was the boot and shoe-stoi'c of Benjamin 
Laird, and, next, the residence, previously of 
John Throckmorton, but then of William I. 
Bowne, manager and cashier of the old Mon- 
mouth Bank, which was chartered in 1824. 
Between Bowne's and the coiui-house lived 
Judge Thomas C. Throckmorton, in the house 
which had been the residence of Aaron Forman 
Walker. In the west part of this house was a 
small store, kept by Miss Lydia Walker. This 
house was removed afterwards to Court Street, 
and is still used as a dwelling. 

Next east of tlie court-house, John Craig 
was still living in the same house which he had 
occupied for nearly or quite a quarter of a cen- 
tury, and in which he continued to reside until 
about 1830, when he removed to the farm 
property which afterwards passed to the owner- 
ship of Enoch L. Cowart. Eastward from the 
Craig house there was no dwelling between it 
and the old house which was the residence of 
William Davis, father of Colonel William D. 
Davis, and his brother Richard, where Andrew 
Perriue now lives. 

With regard to the general appearance of the 
village at about this time, a writer in the Mon- 
mouth Democrat of August 24, 1854, said : 
"The INIonmouth Court-House of thirty years 
ago was very different from the Freeliold of to- 
day. Then it was rare to see a strange face on 
the main road, — it could not then be called 
street. It seemed to be a well-preserved Revo- 
lutionary relic, and the old houses reminded 
one of the red-coats who had used them for 
quarters, and left abundant marks, yet fresh 
and unpainted, of their bayonets, the butts of 
their guns and destructive missiles." 

In January, 1828, Asa S. Colton ojjened a 
classical school, which he continued until Octo- 
ber of the same vear, in the Corlies Llovd 
house, which has been mentioned as standing 



on or a little beyond the site of the present post- 
office. In 1829 this house was the residence 
of Isiiac K. Lippincott, who, three years before, 
had opened a store on the spot where Emrich's 
clothing-store now is. In the year named, D. 
C. Perrine (now one of the leading merchants 
of Freehold) came to work as a clerk in Lip- 
pincott's store, and he has a clear recollection 
of the appearance of the village at the time of 
his arrival. From the account which he gives 
of it the following particulars are noted, as 
additional to \vhat has already been mentioned 
of the inhabitants and business of the place a 
few years earlier. 

At the time referred to (1829) Elias Hart 
was keeping his ef>nfeetionery store and eating- 
house in the old building afterward purchased 
and demolished liy Stewart Brown. Between 
John Casler's tavern and South Street was the 
shop of Amos Haviland. Charles Burk was 
keeping the tavern which afterwards I)ecame 
the Union Hotel, and his stable was the old 
court-house building on South Street. Where 
now is the store of D. C. Perrine there was 
then a one and a half story wooden building, 
occujjied as a store by John Bowne, and in the 
rear of it was his hat-shop and store. Next 
above the Caleb Lloyd house was the residence 
of Judge Joseph F. Randolph. Just below 
the Alexander Low house (where ex-Governor 
Parker now lives) was the residence of John H. 
Outcalt, undertaker. The ^VoodhuU house 
(previously William Lloyd's) was occupied by 
William Campliell, farmer. Ou the northwest 
side of the street there had been as yet no 
dwellings erected above the Scudder house, and 
the old Episcopal Church was still the only 
house of worship in the village. The only 
newspaper was the ^Monmouth Inquirer, which 
was published weekly l)y John W. Bartleson. 
Its office — located on the spot now occupied 
by the Freehold Banking Com])any — was 
burned in the following year. The old Mon- 
mouth Bank had tiien a nomiual existence, its 
safe and few fixtures being kept at the house of 
William I. Bowne, cashier and manager, and 
soon afterwai'ds assignee. At the house of 
Judge Thomas C. Throckmorton was a mil- 
linery shop and store, kept by Miss Craig, who 



396 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



afterwards became Mrs. Amos Havilaud. 
Passing the court-house and the dwelling of 
John Craig, the next building ou the northwest 
side was the jewelry and watch-maker's shop of 
Walter Hart, and beyond this there was, within 
the village bounds, only the slated building used 
by William H. Bennett as a blacksmith-shop. 

Freehold village as it was in 1834 is described 
in " Gordon's Gazetteer," published in that year. 
It calls the place "Freehold, or [Monmouth, " 
and after giving its location as thirty-six miles 
southeast from Trenton, says : " The town, 
though long .stationary, is now thriving, and 
contains from thirty-five to forty dwellings, 
a court-house, prison and pul)lic offices ; an 
Episcopal, a Metliodist, a Presbyterian, Dutch 
Reformed and a Bajitist Church ; three taverns, 
five or six stores, four practicing attorneys, 
two physicians, an academy and a printing- 
office." There were, however, two printing- 
oftices, — those of the ^Monmouth Inquirer and 
Monmouth Democrat, which last named made 
its first appearance April 12, lS.j4. In the 
firet issue of that paper is found an advertise- 
ment of a stage-line running from Freehold to 
Hightstown, and there connecting with trains 
of the Camden and Araboy Railroad. Propri- 
etors of the line, B. Hendriekson, Freehold, 
and Smith & !Mount, Hightstown.' On the 
6th of October, in the same year, a new line of 



1 Under date of December 1, 1836, R. M. Smith, of 
Hightstown, and B. Hendriekson, of Freehohl, announce 
that they "have commenced running a line of stages from 
Freehold, intersecting the Camdeu & Amboy Rail Road at 
Hightstown. Every day leaving Freehold at 8 o'clock, 
A. M., and Hightstown upon the arrival of the Rail Road 
Cars. By this arrangement, passengers leaving Freehold 
will be enabled to reach Philadelphia or New Yoi-k at 3 
o'clock P.M. of the same day. Fare to New York, $1.50 ; 
to Philadelphia, $2 ; to Trenton, §1,50 ; to New Brunswick, 
$1.50; to Princeton, §1.50. 

In April, 1837, Benjamin Laird and Aaron Casler an- 
nounce their " Spring arrangement of the Freehold and 
Middletown Point Stage," in connection with the steam- 
boat " Monmouth." " Will leave the house of Benjamin 
Laird, innkeeper in Freehold, on every Monday, Wednes- 
day and Friday, via Marlborough, and arrive at Middle- 
town Point in time to take the boat for New York. Return- 
ing, will leave Middletown Point on Tuesdixys, Thursdays 
and Saturdays." Fare from Freehold to New York. JJ1.25. 
" Coaches will be furnished at Freehold, for any part of 
Monmouth County, upon the arrival of the stage. For 



stages is announced, to run from Freehold to 
Amboy, by way of Colt's Xeck and Eatoutown. 
Samuel Laird, Thomas Shearman and Joseph 
Doty, proprietors. 

In 1833 all the land on the north side of Main 
Street, from the Scudder house to ]\Ianalapan 
Avenue, was owned by Daniel H.Ellis, who laid 
it out into building lots, which he sold at two 
hundred dollars each, purchasers casting lots 
for choice of location. When Mr. Ellis pur- 
chased this land it was an old, worn-out field, 
on which, as he said, he could not raise a crop 
larger than the amount of seed sown or planted. 
Under these circumstances he commenced the 
use of marl upon it, and soon afterwards he 
raised thirty bushels of good wheat to the acre. 

Daniel Hendricksox Ellis was a great- 
grand.son of Rowland Ellis, who cameto Burling- 
ton, N. J., in 1714, being sent from England as a 
teacher by the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts. He was assistant minis- 
ter and teacher under Rev. John Talbot, the first 
rector of the Ejiiscojjal Church in Burlington, 
and his name is closely identified with the early 
history of the church, school and city. He was 



seats, apply to B. Laird." The proprietors also announce 
that they have good horses, comfortable stages and sober 
drivers. 

On the 4th of October, 1841, a stage-line commenced 
running from F>eehold to Tuckertown. Proprietors, C. C. 
Higgins, of Freehold, and others. At the same time, 
CO. Higgins was running a line from Freehold to Hights- 
town, connecting with the Camden and Amboy Railroad. 

On the 30th of December, 1852, D. C. Conover, J. A. 
Hyers, U. Norcross and E. Bruen announce by advertise- 
ment that they " have commenced running a daily line of 
stages between Freehold and Tom's River, and three times 
a week (Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays) to Tuckerton, 
returning on alternate days (Mondays, Wednesdays and 
Fridays). The stages will leave Tom's River at six o'clock 
every morning, and arrive at Freehold in time to connect 
with stages for Jamesburg and Keyport. Returning, 
leave Freehold on arrival of stages from Jamesburg and 
Keyport." The fare from Freehold to Blue Ball was 
12J cents; to Bergen Iron-Works, 50 cents; to Tom's 
River, 75 cents ; to Cedar Creek, §1.00; to Forked River, 
?1.12i; to Waretown, $1.25; to Barnegat, $1..50; to 
Manahawkin, S1.50; to West Creek, §1.75; and to Tucker- 
ton, 52.00. 

In 1855 a line of stages was started from Freehold to 
Long Branch by Welsh & Carson, of Freehold. In 
1856 a line was started between Freehold and Squan vil- 
lage by Elias R. Haight. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



397 



clerk of the city for forty years. His son 
Daniel, born February 5, 1727, was an influen- 
tial citizen, and spent his life chiefly as a loublic 
man connected with the city and county, having 
been for thirty-five years clerk of the city, as 
also surveyor-general, sheriff and judge. 
Charles, the son of Daniel, born Februarv 12 
1767, also resided in Burlington, N. J., durino- 
his life, and although not identified so largelv 
with its local and jjublic affairs, was a citizen of 
much influence. He was appointed Indian 



Jacob, in 1811. Daniel H. Ellis, a native of 
Burlington, N. J., spent his growing years in 
the city of his birth, and at the age of fourteen 
entered a store at Bristol as clerk. He soon 
after removed with his employer to New 
Brunswick, and on the expiration of his second 
year entered the establishment of one of the 
principal dry-goods firms of Philadelphia. Two 
years later, in company with Joseph Hendrick- 
son, he established at ^Middletown Point (now 
JNfatawan) a store for the sale of general mer- 




vC 



^^M^ 



commissioner to treat with the Indians, and 
held various public offices at home, being on 
several occasions a member of the Board of 
Chosen Freeholders. He married, on the 4th 
of December, 1794, Mary, daughter of Jacob 
and Elizabeth Hendrickson, of Upper Free- 
hold, whose birth occurred October 9 1772. 
Their children were Hannah, born in 1793 • 
Elizabeth, born in 1795 ; Daniel H., born May 
7, 1797 ; Charles, in 1801 ; Marv (:\Irs. Wil- 
liam R. Allen), in 1803; Elizabeth (second 
wife of Rev. George Young), in ISOG; and 



chaudise. In 1823, having disposed of his 
interest in this business, ]\Ir. Ellis purchased a 
farm near Freehold, to which he removed. He 
was, in 1829 and 1830, a luember of the State 
Legislature. In 1831 he was appointed by the 
Legislature, county clerk of Monmouth County, 
and reapjjointed the following term, making a 
continuous period of service of ten years. He 
resumed the occupation of a farmer, and re- 
mained thus employed until 1851, the date of 
his return to Freehold, where he embarked in 
the coal and lumber business, under the firm- 



398 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



name of Allen Combs & Co., later retiring 
from this business couuection and forming a 
new firm, of which his son John H. Ellis is the 
successor. j\Ir. Ellis was a considerable dealer 
in real estate, and at one time controlled much 
valuable property now embraced in the borough 
of Freehold. He was 2)ublic spirited aud 
liberal, giving generously to all public improve- 
ments, as also to benevolent causes. He was 
for many years president of the Freehold Gas- 
Light Company, director of the Freehold and 
Jamesburg Railroad, and personally interested 
in other enterprises, whose success was in a 
measure the result of his business tact and 
forethought. Throughout his life he mani- 
fested an active intei'est as a Democrat in the 
political questions of the day, sujiporting both 
the candidates and measures of his party with 
unswerving fidelity. Naturally a jjartisau, he 
rarely, even in local matters, assumed a neutral 
position, and frequently, by his wisdom and 
practical sense, directed local political contests. 
JNIr. Ellis was not connected by membership 
with any religious denomination, though a wor- 
shiper at the Reformed Church iu Freehold, (of 
which his family are members), and a liberal 
contributor to its support. He was a man of 
tender sensibilities, charitable to the poor, warm 
in his friendships and earnest in his antago- 
nisms. Daniel H. Ellis, in 1S18, married 
Catharine A., daughter of John S. Holmes, of 
Holmdel. Their surviving children are C. 
Holmes, John H., Elizabeth (widow of the late 
A. R. Throckmorton), Sarah, Mary (widow of 
the late C. D. Throckmorton), Ellen H., Emma 
T. (widow of the late Dr. Addison Woodhull) 
and Kate A. The death of Mr. ElKs occurred 
at his home iu Freehold on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, 1883. 

In 1835 the Rev. D. V. McLean and John 
W. Bartleson purchased a tract of laud on the 
south side of Main Street, and divided a large por- 
tion of it into building lots, extending along that 
side of the street southwest from McLean Avenue. 

In the decade next preceding the year 1837 
the merchants of Freehold were Lippincott & 
Davis, Cyrus Bruen and John Bowne. Davis 
& INIurphy opened business where now is the 



residence and bakery of W*^. H. Butcher, and in 
1837 opened their store in a part of the build- 
ing now Taylor's Hotel. Among the advertise- 
ments found in the Monmouth Democrat of 
April 27th, iu that year, is that of John Bowne, 
M'ho there announces that, "having been for a 
long time engaged in business in this place, aud 
now about to retire from mercantile pursuits,'' 
he will sell his entire stock of dry-goods, gro- 
ceries, etc., "at prices which will meet the views 
of my customers and friends who wish to pur- 
chase, many of whom I have had dealings with 
for more than twenty years ;" aud in antither 
part of the same jjaper he advertises that his 
stock of goods, " comprising in the whole the 
largest assortment of country store goods ever 
offered in the county at auction," will be dis- 
posed of at public sale, commencing on Monday, 
the loth of May, uext following. 

In the same paper appears a report of " a 
meeting of the Bench and the Bar attending the 
present term of the ^Monmouth Courts, held (on 
the adjournment of the Court) at Hendrickson's 
Hotel, in Freehold, on the 2oth of April, 1834, 
for the purpose of adopting suitalile measures of 
respect for the memories of the Hon. William 
Lloyd ^ and the Hon. James Hopping, two of the 
Judges of the Monmouth Pleas." Jehu Patter- 
son acted as chairman, and J. F. Randolph as 
secretary. " On motion, Jehu Patterson, John 
Hull, William I. Bowne, Daniel B. Ryall, Wil- 
liam L. Dayton and J. F. Randolph, Esquires, 
were appointed a committee to prepare resolu- 
tions appropriate to the occasion." The eijm- 
mittee subsecjueutly reported resolutions, which 
were adopted, aud the meeting adjourned. 

The public buildings of the county of ]\lon- 
mouth are here noticed in connection with the 
history of Freehold town, for the reason that 
the four court-houses of the county have all 
been located at the present county-seat, though 
the first county jail was built at Middletown, 
and for a time the early courts were held 
there and at another point in the northeast 
part of the county, at a distance from the 
present shire-town. 



1 Mr. Lloyd died on the 21st of April, 1837. 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



399 



The "Monmouth Patent," granted by Gover- 
nor Xicolls, in 1665, to William Goulding and 
others, who established the first settlements in 
Monmouth County, as before mentioned, con- 
ferred the power to hold courts for the trial of 
causes and the punisliment of criuiiuals ; and 
under that authority such courts were held at 
Middlctown and Shrewsbury. In 1682 the 
government of the twenty-four proprietors was 
established, and under it, in 168:3, an act was 
passed,' requiring each county of the province to 
build a common jail. 

There was no court-house at Middletown or 
iShrewsbury. At those places the courts were 
held, according to the requirements of the law, 
in the " public meeting-house " in each town. 
There was a jail at Middletown, but none at 
Shrewsbury. In Middletown the jail stood at 
the intersection of the road from Swimminp; 

o 

Eiver with the King's highway, now the Main 
Street of the town, on the west side of the 
Swimming liiver road, where the Episcopal 
Church now stands. On this spot a block-house 
was built about 1670 to protect the inhabitants 
li-om the Indians.^ Subsequently it was for a 
short time used as a jail. The first jail of the 
county was built there in 1684, in accordance 
with the requirements of the act of the previous 
year. In the Middletown street, in front of 
the jail, stood the stocks. Several murderers 
were executed there. The date of building the 
first jail of Monmouth County is ascertained by 
reference to the following extracts from the 
minutes of the court, viz. : 

" Sessions at Middletown, March 25th and 2Gth, 1684, 
—Ordered by this present Court, that John Throck- 
morton and the Higli Sheriff' are the men appointed 
to agree with a Carpenter for to build a County Jail 
at Middletown ; and what agreement the said two 
men shall make with any such Carpenter, the Court 
engages to stand by. 

" Sessions at Middletown,September,1684,— Ordered 
that there be a rate made for building the Prison, and 
that Remembrance Lippinoott, for Shrewsbury, and 



' Learning and Spicer. 

^Thebuililing of this fort or block-house was the result 
of the general panic which spread through all the northern 
and eastern provinces on account of the Indian troubles 
in New England, known as King Philip's War. The In- 
dians in this section, however, were never troublesome to 
•the English settlers. 



J.ames Bowne, for Middletown, are the men ap- 
pointed to make the Rates ; and that all Persons give 
in an account of their Estates to Remembrance Lip- 
pincott, for Shrewsbury, and to Thomas Reushall, for 
Middletown ; the accounts are to be given in by the 
15th of October ne.xt, and the Rates to be made by 
the 25th ditto, and if any one .shall neglect bringing 
in an account of their Estates to the persons above, 
at the time appointed, they are to be rated double as 
much as the rate-makers adjudge their Estates to be; 
the pay to be brought in by the 10th of Xovember next| 
to John Throckmorton, f(_)r Jliddletown, and Eliakim 
Warden, of Shrewsbury, and in case any one shall be 
remiss in bringing in their pay by the time af'^, dis- 
traint to be made by the Constable, with the Charges 
arising thereupon. Good winter wheat to be paid 
at 3.S. M. per bushel. Butter at 4^. per pound." 

The jail built at this time must have lieen 
insecure, for in a very few years ('omplaint was 
made to the court and the grand jury that the 
gaol was insufficient, as appears by the follow- 
ing, viz. : 

" Sessions at Shrewsbury, December, 1692. — Colonel 
Andrew Hamilton present. A bill was presented to 
the Grand Jury by the Sub-Sheriff, William Leeds, 
for the want of a pair of Stocks in each Town in this 
County, which Bill was found by the said Jury ; also 
a Bill was presented to the Grand Jury concerning 
the insufficiency of the County Gaol, which bill was 
allowed. 

" Sessionsat Middletown, September, 1693,— Where- 
as a complaint was made unto the Court that the 
County Prison was insufficient to keep .any Prisoners 
in, either for debt or felony. The Court taking it 
into their consideration, made a choice of Mr. John 
Stout and John Bowne, both of Middletown, to agree 
with any workmen they should think fit, for the en- 
largement and repairing of the said prison, and that it 
shall be according as the said John Stout and John 
Bowne shall direct ; .also that a warrant be issued out 
for the said John Stout and John Bowne, for the 
doing of the same. 

" Sessions, Middletown, March, 1696.— The Grand 
Jurors present Samuel Forman, High Sheriff of the 
County of Monmouth, for letting a Negro, Jeremy, 
being a Murderer, make his escape out of the county 
Gaol, some time in February, 1695. 

" Evidence Sworn in Court, that some time after 
the Negro was brought to the Gaol, the said negroes 
feet w.as only keyed with two or three shingle nails ; 
Eleazer Cottrell upon oath says, that the said Sheriff 
took him to secure the negro in gaol, and that with 
an axe, hammer and gimblet did what they could 
with those tools, and that the Sheriff thrust a long 
piece of iron through the end of the bolt, but did not 
ribbit it, upon which the said Cottrell told him he did 
not think it sufficient, but the Sheriff thought it would 



400 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



do. Lewis Morris says, in open court, he hath ad- 
vised and desired the Sherift'to secure the fellow, and 
to iron him hand and foot and ribbit the irons, but 
the Sherifl' slighted his advice. John Wilson, Jr., 
saj-s on oath that he made two staples and two keys 
of good iron, as he thought, for the fettering of the 
said Negro — Ordered by the Court that Samuel For- 
man find four men to give five hundred pounds se- 
curity for his appearance at the next Court of Common 
Right, for the answering a negligent escape of the 
fellow, Negro Jeremy ..." 

On the nest day the prisoner was captured, 
brought before the court, confessed his guilt, 
and was immediately sentenced to death by the 
cruel mode of execution set forth in the remain- 
ing portion of the record, viz : 

At eight of the clock the next morning the court 
met again. About 10 of the clock, news was brought 
that negro Jeremy was cauten. Court adjourned 
until two o'clock in the afternoon. At two o'clock 
the court sat again. The negro Jeremy was brot to 
the bar, and his indictment being read over, the pris- 
oner was demanded if he was guilty or not guilty. 
The prisoner owned himself guilty, and all the fact 
how, and after what manner he killed his master. 
The prisoner had his sentence pronounced as follow- 
eth : ' Jeremy, thou must go to the place of execution, 
where thy right hand shall be cut off and burnt 
before thine eyes ; then thou shalt be hanged up by 
the neck until thou art dead, dead, dead ; then thy 
body shalt be cut down and thrown into the fire and 
burnt to ashes.' Ordered by the Court that William 
Goodbody, who did take the said Negro Jeremy, 
shall be paid twenty pounds of right out of the next 
County rate ....'' 

There were four executions at Middletown, — 
three for murder and one for rape, — all four of 
the culprits being negroes. Tlie first was in 1691, 
of Caesar, servant of James Merliiig, of Middle- 
town, for the murder of Mary Wright ; the sec- 
ond was that of Jeremy, above mentioned ; the 
third was of negro Tom for rape committed at 
Shrewsbury ; and the fourth was of negro Min- 
go, for killing negro Xed. 

The following extracts from the records show 
that about the year 1704 the prison at Middle- 
town ceased to be, and the building of another 
was under consideration. The presumption is 
that the original jail had been destroyed by fire, 
for it had been in existence only about twenty 
years and could hardly have become useless by 
ordinary decav in that time. 



" Sessions at Shrewsbury, August, 1704. — The 
Sheriff made application to this Court that he had 
been at great charge for the want of a Prison, and 
desired of the Court that reimbursement might be 
made. 

"Sessions, Shrewsbury, March, 1708. — Ordered that 
the consideration of the County Gaol be referred 
until the next Court of Sessions for this County. 

"Sessions, Middletown, Sept., 1709. — Ordered that 
the consideration of the County Gaol be referred to 
the next Quarter Sessions. 

" Sessions at Middletown, Dec, 1709. — Ordered 
that the consideration of the County Gaol be referred 
to the next Quarter Sessions. . . . 

"Sessions, Shrewsbury, Feb''., 1710 — Ordered that 
the Constable of each Town within this County do 
give warning to each freeholder and inhabitant that 
they do meet together in each town the first Monday 
in March to choose 2 freeholders, as directed by an 
act of Assembly, for building and repairing gaols and 
court-houses, so as also to choose overseers and assess- 
ors for the relief of the poor, as by another act ; and 
that the Town-Meeting be for Shrewsbury at the 
house of John West; for Freehold, at Cornelius 
Thomson's ; for Middletown at M'. Depey ; and that 
the Clerk do serve each Constable with a copy of this 
order. . . ." 

At that time (and for a century afterward) 
there were no newspapers in ^Monmouth County, 
and notice of public meetings was given person- 
ally by the constables, — one constable notifying 
on the north side of Hop Brook, and the other 
on the south side. 

On the 8th of June, 1710, an order was 
given for building a new prison at IMiddletown, 
where the fir.st jail had stood. The style and 
dimensions of the structure, and the method of 
raising the money to pay for it, are given in the 
following : 

" Orders for building the County Gaol at Middle- 
town, and for raising money for the same, June 8th, 
1710. 

" In pursuance of an Act past in General Assembly, 
A.D. 1709, for the building and repairing of Gaols 
and Court-houses within this province, We, John 
Williams and Thomas White, of Shrewsbury, Wil- 
liam Lawrence, William Hartshorne, of Middletown, 
John Okisson and Zebulon Clayton, of Freehold, 
being chosen by the respective towns, together with 
Obadiah Bowne, Anthony Woodward and George 
Allen, Esquires, Justices of the Peace for the County 
of Monmouth, Do appoint the common Gaol for this 
County to be built in the former place at Middletown, 
where the ancient Prison formerly stood, which 
prison is to be built twenty foot square, two stories- 



THE TOWN OF FEEEHOLD. 



401 



high, each storj- to be seven feet high, the lower story 
to be built with lime and stone under ground, the 
upper story above ground to be built with timber, the 
posts to be six inches square and to stand within four 
inches one of the other, to be covered on the outside 
with inch boards, the under floor to be laid with 
plank two inches thick upon good sleepers within 
eighteen inches of each other, and to be spiked down 
with good iron spikes; with two windows, one oppo- 
site to the other, made firm with good iron grates ; a 
division in the said lower story to be made with 
strong studs of timber, so that each room may have 
in it one of the said windows; with substantial doors, 
locks and bars, fit for the securing of Malefactors. 
The second floor to be laid with beams of six and 
eight inches square, within six inches one of the 
other, and the third floor in like manner to be covered 
with inch boards ; the upper room to have windows 
and partition in like manner as the lower room ; the 
said house to be covered with cedar or chestnut shin- 
gles, square edged, and that there be a good brick 
chimney built at one end, with a fire-place in each 
room. 

" And whereas the aforesaid act of the Assembly 
provides that the persons so chosen as aforesaid, with 
three of the justices, as aforesaid, one whereof being 
of the Quorum, shall meet together at such times and 
places as the Major part shall appoint, and agree 
upon such sum or sums of Money as shall be needful 
for the building of Gaols or Court-Houses, and shall 
also agree on such other sum and sums of Money as 
shall be needful for defraying and paying of necessary 
charges for the County for that year, and to what 
uses the same shall be applied, and also to appoint 
assessors and collectors and managers to see such 
works as they shall appoint to be performed. We do 
therefore appoint that one hundred and sixty pounds 
current money of this Province shall be raised and 
collected oft' this County of Monmouth for the use 
and uses aforesaid, and do nominate James Bollen, 
William Lawrence, Junior, and Amos White to be 
assessors, and Joseph Cox, of Middletown, collector, 
to assess, levy and collect the aforesaid sum ; the 
aforesaid assessors to meet and assess the same on or 
before the twenty-fifth of July next, and to assess and 
levy the aforesaid tax in the same method and man- 
ner as the four thousand pounds tax in Lord Corn- 
bury's time was laid, and that the inhabitants do 
each of them give in a true list of their estates, real 
and personal, except such things as are not rateable 
by that act by the fifteenth of July next, and to be 
paid to the Collector by the first day of December 
next, and do also appoint Richard Stout, Moses Lipit, 
. Hugh Hartshorne, all of Middletown, to be managers 
to build the said Prison-house, and that the aforesaid 
collector do pay for the aforesaid work to the said 
managers, as they shall have need, for the said work, 
and that he also do pay to the Representatives of this 
County so much as is due to them for their last sit- 
26 



ting at Burlington, as is certified by the Speaker's 
warrant. 

" John Williams, 

" Thomas White, 

" William L.^wrexce, 

" William Haetshorxe, 

" JoHX Okesox, 

" Zebulon Claytox, 

"Obadiah Bowne, 

"AxTHONY Woodward 

"Cteorge Allen." 



..,} 



(iuorum, 



But the prison, of wliich the plan and speci- 
fications are here so fully set foi'th, was never 
built. After the material had been collected at 
the sj)ot, it was determined to build a court- 
house in connection with the jail, and to hold 
court only in one place in the county. This 
caused a change of location. A number of 
sites were mentioned and viewed, but after some 
years of contention, the location was fixed at 
Freehold. The following entries in the min- 
utes of the court give the different actions 
taken in determining the site : 

" New Jersey, Monmouth, ss. 

"March 12th, 1710-11. 
"By virtue of an Act passed in General Assembly, 
A.D. 1709, entitled an Act for building and repairing 
of Gaols and Court-Houses within this Province, 
John Reid, John Anderson and Samuel Dennis, Jus- 
tices of the Peace for said County, also David John- 
son and Peter Wilson, chosen for Freehold, AVilliam 
Lawrence and AVilliam Hartshorne, for Middletown, 
John AVest and Josejih AVardell, for Shrewsbury, did 
meet at the house of Thomas Forman, and discoursed 
concerning a Gaol and Court-House. It was argued 
that Middletown, where thej- have made some prepa- 
rations for building a Gaol, is a place very inconve- 
nient, being at a corner of the County. Some would 
have it in Shrewsbury, as being nearer the middle, 
and hath better accommodations ; others, to have it 
in Freehold, somewhere near John Okeson's, the 
nearest of all to the middle of the good land and 
whole inhabitants of the County. Said Lawrence 
and Hartshorne said they would not consent to an- 
other place, for it was began, and part of the money 
levied by virtue of said act, and there is no law as yet 
to allow it. It was alleged by the rest that it was 
better for the County to lose that little charge they 
had been at about it ; nay, if the whole were finished, 
better lose it all, than always suffer so much by that 
inconvenient situation in respect to the inhabitants. 
In the meantime it was concluded by the under sub- 
scribers that a stop be put to the building of the 
Gaol at Middletown until the next sitting of the 
Assembl)', where the bill which passed the house of 



402 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Representatives last session may pass into an Act en- 
joining the building of the Gaol and Court-Hoiise 
together, and that near the middle of the Inhabitants 
of the whole County. We do, therefore, accordingly 
forbid the Assessors, the Collectors, the managers and 
the workmen to proceed any further in assessing, col- 
lecting, prejiaring or building the said Gaol at Mid- 
dletown, until the determination of the next Assem- 
bly. 

" Shrewsbury. " Freehold. 

" JoHX West, " David Johxstox, 

" Joseph Wardell. " Peter Wilson, 

" John Reid, 
"John Anderson, 
"Sam'l Dennis, 

" Justices." 

In 171o an act was passed by the Legisla- 
tui-e to build and repair gaols and court-houses 
in the counties of the province. By virtue of 
this act, the justices and freeholders met on the 
8th (if jMarch, 1714, at Shrewsbury, and 
"unanimously appointed William Leeds, Jr., 
Gabriel Steele and John Camjibell a.ssessors, 
and John Wall collector." And, In' a vote of 
nine to seven, they appointed John Eaton, 
Edmund Lafetra and Henry Allen "mana- 
gers for the ensuing year, to agree with work- 
men and see the work done ; that is, the Court- 
House and Gaol built as 'twas agreed and ap- 
pointed by all the Justices and all the Free- 
holders, and signed by their hands the 2')th of 
August last, pursuant to act of General As- 
sembly." 

The record and certification of these appoint- 
ments was signed by Safety Grover, Joseph 
Parker, James Grover, Jr., Henry Allen, 
Anthony Pintard, Joseph Wardell and Richard 
Chambers, justices. But the men whose appoint- 
ment as managers was declared, — viz. : Eaton, 
Lafetra and Allen, — were the ones who received 
the minoriti/ of votes (seven against nine, for 
Henry Leonai'd, James Wilson and Peter \A'il- 
son). This, of course, was not sul)mitted to, 
and the aid of the Attorney-General wa,s in- 
voked to obtain an injunction against John 
Eaton (the founder of Eatontown) and others, 
to prevent them from interfering with the build- 
ing of the gaol and court-house. The entry in 
the minutes relating to this is as follows: 

" Sessions, Shrewsbury, May, 1715. — On motion of 
Mr. Gordon, Attorney-General of our Lord, the King, 



that he is informed his Majesty's service in building 
of a gaol and Court-House of this County is greatly 
hindered and obstructed by John Eaton, Edmund 
Lafetra and Henry Allen, who pretend themselves to 
be managers for building said gaol and Court-House ; 
for, although those gentlemen are no legal managers, 
yet the very pretense which they make, though with- 
out ground or reason, hath greatly hindered his 
majesty's and the Country's Service; and to take off 
those pretences and excuses of obstructing his Slajes- 
ty's Service for the future, I desire, in the Majesty's 
behalf, that they may be forbid and prohibited med- 
ling as Managers any manner of ways whatsoever for 
the future, and that the other Gentlemen, to wit: 
Henry Leonard, James Wilson and Peter Wilson, who 
are the true and legal managers, be confirmed and en- 
couraged to proceed in his Majesty's service, in the 
execution of their office in building said gaol and 
Court-House in the place where the law requires it to 
be done. The Court, having considered the above 
motion of Mr. Attorney-General, do ap]ircive and 
allow of the motion, and have ordered, and do hereby 
order, that the said John Eaton, Edmund Lafetra and 
Henry Allen be forbid and prohibited acting or med- 
dling as managers any manner of way in the said 
Gaol and Court-House for the future, and they are 
hereby forbidden and prohibited accordingly ; and it 
is further ordered by the Court, that Henry Leonard, 
James Wilson and Peter Wilson, who are the true and 
legal Managers, do proceed in the building the said 
Gaol and Court-House in such place and manner as 
the law directs ; and ordered that the Clerk serve the 
said John Eaton, Edmund Lafetra and Henry Allen 
forthwith each of them with a copy of this order." 

On the 26th of August, 1714, a deed was made 
by John Eeid, of Freehold township, 3^eomau, 
to John Reid, Esquire, and other justices and 
" Gents" (a body of men then acting collectively, 
with the same powers as the present Board of 
Chosen Freeholders), a lot of land in Freehold 
as a site for the then proposed court-house and 
jail, it being the same lot on which the court- 
house, prison and sheriff's residence now stand. 
This old deed being a document of peculiar in- 
terest to people of Monmouth County, an exact 
copy of it is here given, — 

" John Reid Know all men by These Pres- 

To ents, that I, John Reid, son of 

John Reid, - James Reid, deceased, of Free- 
JoHN Anderson, hold, in y" county of Monmouth 
& y"= Rest. [ & Province of New Jersey, 

yeoman, for and in consideration of the sum of thirty 
shillings, current money of y'' Province, by me re- 
ceived of John Reid, John Anderson, Anthony 
Pintard, Jeremiah Stillwell, James Ashton, Henry 



ill 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



403 



Leonard, David Johnston, John Wilson, Joseph 
Wardel, Kichard Chambers, Esq'rs, James Wilson, 
Cornelius Tomsou, George Allen, John Throckmor- 
ton, William Lawrence, William Hartshorne, Gents, 
Tvherewith I am well satisfied & contented, have 
aliened, bargained and sold, and by these presents do 
alien, grant, bargain and sell unto y' above-named 
Esqrs. and Gents, their Heirs and assigns : All that 
tract of land running from y" north east corner of my 
dwelling-house to y"" rode southerly & along y" road 
Easterly two chains, & then Northerly and westerly 
to y" place where it began upon y' square, with all 
y" profits and appurtenances thereunto belonging, and 
all y' right, title, interest, claim and demand what- 
soever, of me y° s* John Reid of, into, or out of 
y= same or any part thereof, as fully & amply to all 
intents and purposes as y" same was granted and 
assured to me (amongst other tracts) by a Deed of 

Thomas Combs, bearing date the day of , 

1714. To Have and to Hold y= s'' tract of land and 
premises, with y° appurtenances unto them, the said 
above named, John Reid, John Anderson, Anthony 
Pintard, Jeremiah Stillwell, James Ashton, Henry 
Leonard, David Johnston, John Wilson, Josejih 
Wardel, Richard Chambers, Esqrs., James Wilson, 
Cornelius Tomson, George Allen, John Throckmor- 
ton, William Lawrence, William Hartshorne, Gents, 
their heirs and assigns, to y" only use & intent, & to 
no other use nor intent whatsoever, but to y' use of 
y= County of Monmouth, for y° building of a Court- 
House & Goal for her majesty's service forever. 

" In witness whereof, I, y"' s** John Reid, have here- 
unto set my hand & seal in the thirteenth year of 
Anne by y"^ grace of God, of Great Britain, France 
& Ireland, Queen, defender of y' Faith, &c., this 
Twenty-sixth day of August, Anno Domo. 1714. 

'• Signed, Sealed &Deliv- ) 



ered in y= presence of ) 
" John Hance, 
" John Morris, 
" Jacob Dennis. 
" Memorandum this 24th day 
The within-named John Reid 
instrument to be his act & deed, 



John Reid. [l. s.] 



of November, 
acknowledged 
before me, 



1714, 
this 



"Thojeas Gordon." 

At the time tliis deed was executed, John 
Reid owned (as before mentioned) a farm on 
the northwest side of the old Burlington Path, 
now the Main Street of Freehold, extending 
from near the academy lot to the vicinitj- of the 
railroad crossing. In order to enhance the val- 
ue of his property, lie conveyed the lot for a 
nominal consideration, with the absolute condi- 
tion that the court-house and jail should be 
built and remain there. 



The identity i;>f the present court-house lot 
with the one conveyed by Eeid in 1714 is 
proved beyond question. The dimensions of 
the court-house lot, before the additions made 
a few years ago, correspond with the descrijitiou 
in the old deed, — two chains in depth and two 
in front, making a square. There is no record 
showing that any other lot in Freehold was ever 
conveyed to the county authorities, nor is there 
any tradition that a court-house for the county of 
Monmouth ever stood on any other site. 

The November Sessions of 1714 was the last 
term of the Monmouth Count}- Court which was 
held at Middletowu. The last term at Shrews- 
bury was held in August, 1715, at whicli John 
Reid was indicted for swearing two profane 
oaths. Reid having been a leader in the remo- 
val of the court-house, the indictment was 
doubtless procured as a means of fjctty revenge 
and persecution by the adherents of the party 
who wished to locate the new liuildiiifc at ]Mid- 
dletown. 

During the summer of 1715 tlie first court- 
house of Monmouth County (a small wooden 
building with shingled walls) was built on the 
lot conveyed Ity John Reid ( yeoman ), at Free- 
hold, and the first term of court was held there 
on the fourth Tuesday in Novemi)er in that 
year, — John Reid, Esq., presiding justice.' 

There is no doubt (though it is not certainlv 
known) that the jail of 1715 was under one roof 
■with the court-house, as there is no mention in 
the records of a separ.ate jail building being 
erected at that time. Nothing definite is known 
as to the size of the prison or the materials 
of which it was const)'U(ted. It was ])rol)al)ly 
a frame strui-ture, unsubstantial and insecure, 

1 '■ At a Court of Quarter Sessions, held at Freehold, for 
the county ofMoumouth, the Fourth Tuesday of Novem- 
ber, Anno Domini 171-5. Justices present, .John Keid, 
president; James Ashton, Lawrence Van Hook, Joseph 
Warden, Kichard Chambers, John AVilson. Attorney- 
General, Thomas Gordon, Esq. Gideon Crawford, High 
Sheriff of Monmouth County." 

The grand jurors were Peter Wilson (foreman). Jolin 
Cox, Alexander Poue, Albert Covenhoven, Coruehus Lain, 
John Giseberson [Giberson], John Van Meter, Jolm Re- 
mine. Hendrick Werwey. Johannes Smock, Alex.ander 
Clark, James Crage [Craig], Johannes Polhemus, Jacob 
Covenoven, John Hulct, Nathan .\llen, William Jewell, 
Gawin Watson. 



404 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



for in May, 1719, less than four years after 
it was built, the court ordered "that Luke 
Wes.-iel and David [illegible] be committed to 
custody till they find security to bear the 
sheriff harmless in the repair of the gaol which 
they bri:)ke." Its insufficiency is also shown 
by the following extracts from the records, viz : 

"Sessions at Freehold, 1722, Nov.— William Nich- 
ols, Esq., High Sheriff of this County of Monmouth, 
came into Court, in his proper person, and prayed 
that his protest for the insuiHciency of the gaol might 
be entered, which, by the Court, is agreed to. 

"At a Private Sessions holdcn at the house of Cor- 
nelius Thomson, in Freehold, the 11th day of January, 
1722, Anno Novo Georgio Regis, &c. : Whereas, one 
William Hall is, for a misdemeanour, committed to 
the gaol of this county, in which a prisoner cannot at 
present have the benefit of a flre, there being no chim- 
ney in the said gaol, nor is likely one can be built till 
the weather shall be warmer: Ordered, therefore, that 
the said William Hall be removed from the said Prison 
to the shop near thereunto, belonging to the Under- 
Sheriff." 

At the January Sessions of 172.1, High 
Sheriff William Nichols came into court, and 
again protested the insufficiency and insecurity 
of the jail, which was agreed to and entered by 
the court. At that early period it was customary 
for the sheriff to make such protest when the 
jail was insecure (and sometimes when it really 
was not so), to clear himself of the penalty for 
escape of prisoners, if any such should occur. 
The protest was entered on the minutes of the 
court ; and then, if the jail was not repaired and 
put in good condition, and a prisoner afterwards 
escaped by reason of the insecurity of the prison, 
the sheriff was discharged of all liability in the 
matter. 

The court-house and jail built in 171-5 re- 
mained in use twelve years, and were destroyed 
by fire in December, 1727. In January, 1728, 
the judges met amid the lilackened ruins, opened 
court, and then adjourned to the house of Wil- 
liam Nichols, which was one of the small cluster 
of dwellings that then stood on the site of the 
present town of Freehold. The minutes of the 
term then and there held embrace the following, 
which is the first entry : " At the Court of 
Sessions and Pleas, held at Freehold, in and for 
the County of ]\Ionmouth, in the month of 



January, in the second year of his Majesty's' 
Reign [1728], Since the last Courts of Sessions 
and Pleas held for this county the court-house 
having been burnt down, Henry Ijconard, 
Esq., one of the Judges of this court, and one of 
the Justices, &c., with John Throgmorton and 
William Leeds, Esq., two of the assistants of 
the said Courts, and also Justices, &c., went to- 
gether to the spot of ground whereon the old 
Court-house stood, and there, Ijeing attended by 
the Clerk of the Peace, &c., opened the Courts of 
Sessions and Pleas, and immediately adjourned 
the same to the house of William Nichols, 
Esq." 

In 17-31 another conrt-hotise and jaiF were 
built on the same lot, and (as is supposed) 
on the same part of the grounds. The court- 
house stood and remained in use by tlie courts 



' George the Second. 

'' The ancient document of which the following is a copy 
is one of the papers formerly of John Lawrence, Esq., and 
now in possession of Major James S. Yard, of Freehold: 

"At the House of Doct' Nichols, Esq'., On y' 23" of 
March, 1730-31, There Met & agreed upon by The Sessors 
to Raise Money for building a Goal of Monmouth County, 
by order of The Justices & freeholders for Building y° 
house, 200 pounds. The assessoi-s' & Collectors' fees, £19 
5s. 3<;.— overplush, £17 12«. 

"The Whole County's Worths Is £18,949 7s.,— at [illeg- 
ible], Corns to £236 17s. 3d. 

"Freehold £5105 11 

Upper Freehold 330G 10 

Shrewsbury 5735 16 

Middleton 4711 10 

Total £18,949 7 

"Money Raised to build Y« house . £200 

Fees 19 5 3 

£219 5 3 
236 17 3 

Overplush .... £17 12 

" Each Town Raises 

Shrewsbury £71 13 lOi 

Freehold 64 11 4J- 

Middleton 59 5 4V 

Upper Freehold 41 6 7i 

Total £236 17 3 

" Assessors : For Middleton, Samuel Holmes. 

Shrewsbury, Jacob Dennis, 

freehold, John Henderson. 

Upper freehold, Jno. Lawrence, 
" March y 23^ 1730-31." 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



405 



f(ir more than three-fourths of a ceutury. Per- 
sons are yet living who remember its appearance, 
and they describe it as a frame building, nearly 
square, having a roof shaped mnch like that of 
the old Tennent Church, with a small cupola or 
steejjle in the centre. It was much smaller in 
size than the court-house M'hich succeeded it, 
and it also stood nearer the Main Street than the 
present one. Tiie jail was built under the same 
roof, occupying the basement an<l lower story. 
One of the cells, at least, was in front, as is 

shown 1 )y the minutes of the Board < )f Freeholders 

. . . ' 

where it is mentioned that in 1798 measures 

were taken to repair "the front Prison of the 
Court-House, in the following manner : with 
iron bars near half-inch thick, and inch and a 
half wide above, below, and on each side, to be 
well s])iked with ragged spikes ; the bars to be 
about five and half inches apart ; the door like- 
wise to be in the same manner barred and 
spiked, and the windows double grated." At 
the next meeting of the board the committee re- 
ported that a jmrt of the iron was prepared, and 
that they had agreed with a smith tn punch the 
holes, at one cent per hole, and for the spikes to 
be made and ragged, at seven cents per pound. 
The court-house built in 1730 was the one 
which was made historic by the battle of Mon- 
mouth. The little hamlet, of not more than a 
dozen houses, which afterwards became the town 
of Freehold, but which was then scarcely known, 
excej)t as]\Ionmouth Court-House, was occupied 
in the two days and nights ji receding the battle 
by Knyphausen's division of the British army,' 
and some of the troops were (juartered in the court- 
house.- In the night following the battle the 

^The statement has frequently been maJe, and generally 
believed, that the British army reached Monmouth Court- 
House in the afternoon preceding the liattle of June '28th. 
This is disproved by the diary of .-Vndrew Bell, private 
secretary to Sir Henry Clinton, which contains tlie follow- 
ing : " Friday, June 26. — General Knyphausen moved to 
Freehold Town, four miles, where the remainder of the 
army remained at 10 a.m. 19 miles from Rising Sun; a 
very warm day ; very tired." 

" June 27, Saturday. — The whole army halted here this 
day. A deserter from Washington's army informs that 
the rebels are extended along our left flank, and are very 
numerous ' 

'A few days previous to the battle of Monmouth the 
prisoners in Freehold jail, six of whom were under sen- 



British forces stole away silently and secretl}^, 
and retreated with till possiljle rapidity on the 
road to ISIiddletown. Early in the morning of 
the 29tli soldiers of General Poor's brigade 
raised the patriot flag on the stumpy steeple of 
Monmouth Court-House, and during the day 
a detachment of his command occupied the little 
village, which the events of the preceding day 
had made famous for all time. 

With regard to the occupation of the hamlet 
of Monmouth Court-House b)' the Americans, 
after the battle of tlie 28th of June, tradition 
again comes in with the statement that the court- 
house building was used as Washington's head- 
quarters, whence he issued his congratulatory 
general orders of the 29th. It is possible that 
this may be true, but there are many reasons 
for doubting it. In the first jilace, his general 
orders are dated " Headquarters, Freehold," in- 
stead of " Monmouth Court-House," as they 
probably would have been had he been located 
at the village, which was then known by no 
other name. The name " Freehold" was appli- 
cable, and at that time frequently given, to other 
localities within the township, ju.st as Washing- 
ton several times used the word " Hopewell " in 
dating his orders and dispatches from the differ- 
ent points where he made his temporary head- 
quarters in Hopewell township, of Hunterdon 
County. For this, as for many other reasons, it 
appears likely that his headquarters on the 29th 
of June were established at some point on the 
field, — not impnibalily at the Carr house, from 
which Clinton had retreated in the night follow- 
ing the liattle. AVasliington made no attempt 
to follow the retreating British, but remained 
on the field issuing his orders to the several com- 
mands, and making his dispositions for the 



tence of death, were removed to the jail at Morristown, 
under charge of Nicholas Van Brunt, who was at the time 
sheriff of Monmouth County. The following is .an extract 
from the minutes of the State Council of S.afety, under date 
of September 28, 1778: 

" Agreed, that there be paid to Mr Schenck, for the use 
of Nicholas Van Brunt, sheriff of Monmouth, for his ex- 
penses in removing the prisoners from the gaol in Mon- 
mouth County to that of Morris, at the time of the enemy's 
mn,rch through Monmouth, & in fetching back to Mon- 
mouth those who were there to be executed, as per his 
account, the sum of £48 65." 



406 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



march. During the forenoon of the 29th the 
troops were employed in burying the dead, pro- 
viding for the Mounded and preparing for the 
marcli, and at five o'clock in the afternoon the 
commander and his army moved away in the 
opposite direction from Freehold, and encamped 
that nigiit at Englishtown. 

Another reason for disbelieving the tradition 
is that the court-house was the most proper and 
commodious building for hospital purposes that 
could be found iu a circuit of many miles from 
the battle-ground. The British, in their night 
retreat from the field of Monmouth, left five 
officers and more than forty privates (all wounded) 
iu the court-house, to be cared for by the Amer- 
icans ; and on the following da}', by the ad- 
dition (if numbers of wounded from the battle- 
ground, the old building was filled to its utmost 
capacity. If Washington had had occasion to 
make his head(juarters in the village (which he 
had not), he was not a man who would secure 
his own comfort and cduvcnience at the expense 
of that of his wounded soldiers. 

Not only the court-house, but the old Tennent 
Churcli and the Episcopal Church in the village 
were filled with wouuded, of whom mmiy of the 
most seriously injured remained for a con- 
siderable time after the departure of the troops, 
and not a fevv' of them found a final resting- 
place in the soil of Freehold.' 

After having been in use for sixty years, the 
old court-house of 1 7.'!0 had become dilapi- 
dated, and almost unfit to be occupied by the 
courts. In May, 1791, " Jonathan Rea, Es- 
quire, presented a protest of the sheriff against 
the condition of the court-house," accompa- 
nied by a report of the grand jury, and an order 
was made b}' the court respecting the same. At 
the next meeting of the Board of Freeholders 
it was ordered that the court-house be repaired 
and that the lot on which it stood be fenced 



around wit! 



1 pa 



lines six feet hig-h on the front. 



and with a rail-fence six rails high in the rear. 

' On the residence lot of Dr. Throckmorton, at the corner 
of Main and Tlirockmorton Streets, workmen employed 
in digging a cellar, some years ago, found a number of hu- 
man skeletons, wiiich were undoubtedly those of wounded 
soldiers who had died in hospital in Freehold. They had 
evidently been buried (ogetlier in one grave. 



After the i-epairing of the court-house, iu 
1791, it seems to have served for several years 
without much, if any, complaint ; but soon after 
the commencement of the ]>reseut centurj' the 
erection of a new one began to be advocated 
among the people. On the 9th of May, ISOo, 
a memorial from the judges, ju.stices and a 
number of the inhabitants of the county was 
presented to the board of Freeholders, setting 
forth that the court-hou.se was in a decaying 
•state and almost unfit for the holding of courts, 
and praying for a new building. On the same 
day the board took up the memorial, and unan- 
imously agreed to build a new court-house, 
apijointing William Lloyd and James Cook a 
committee to oljtaiu a draught of the intended 
building:, to desiiiuate the materials to be used iu 
construction and to adverti.se for any person 
who chose to bring in a draught for tlie inspec- 
tion of the committee. 

On the 2d of October, 1805, it was decided 
by the board to accept a draught produced l)y 
Mr. Holmes ; the size of the building to be 
forty feet in depth and sixty feet front. On 
the same day the board agreed with Jacob 
Holmes & Brother "to do the wooden-work, 
and with Mr. Murray- to do the mason-work ; 
they to employ such men as are capable of 
doing a sufficient day's work." The building 
was to be of brick, and the iron-work was done 
by William H. Bennett. On the 4th of Jan- 
uary, 1801), it was resolved by the botu-d that 
" the new court-house is to be set as near the 
centre of the lot as follows, — that is, between 
Mr. John Craig's paling fence and the rang- 
ing line of the surrogate's office ; the front of 
said courthou.se to be laid five or six feet 
behind the present old one." 

The stone material for the court-house was 



brought from the State of New York. 



The 



2 AVilliam Murray (son of Joseph, who was murdered at 
his home in Middletown by Tory Refugees in the Revolution) 
superintended and built the cells and other masonry of 
the building. The substantial nature of his work was shown 
by the way the walls stood the test of the fire which de- 
stroyed the building in 1873. The foundation walls, and the 
front wall of the first story of the present court-house in 
front of the sheriff's office, the hall and (he grand jury 
room remain the same to-day as when put up by William 
Murray more than three-fourths of a century ago. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



407 



bricks (except those from tlie front, which were 
brought from Philadelphia) were burned near 
the site of the building by Mr. Lippincott. 
The laborers on the work were paid five shil- 
lings (" York money ") per day, with a deduction 
of one shilling per day when the days were 
short. In May, 1806, there was some disa- 
greement about the allowance of grog to the 
work-people, and the Boaril of Freeholders 
passed a resolution that the laboring men at 
work at the court-house should have a quart of 
rum per week and the boys only a pint a week, 
to be under charge of the committee. The 
work on the building appears to have pro- 
gressed very slowly, for it was not completed 
until 1808, and was first occupied on the 1st 
of January, 1809. 

The old Ivevolntionary court-house stood (as 
has already been shown) entirely to the front 
of the site of its successor, with a space of a 
few feet between the rear of the old and the 
front of the new edifice. Therefore it did not 
interfere materially with the erection of the 
latter, and so it stood and was occupied by the 
courts until they were transferred to the new 
building, in January, 1809. Soon afterwards 
the brick, stone and iron of the old Iniilding 
were sold at auction, and the house itself was 
also sold in the sanie way and removed across 
Main Street to a spot on South Street, in the 
rear of what is now Taylor's Hotel. There it 
was used for some time as a dwelliug, and in 
1819 as the printing-office of the Monmouth 
Sf(tr, but was afterwaixls converted into a barn, 
and it is said that still later a part of the an- 
cient frame was worked into the structure of a 
stable which is still standing on South Street. 

It was an ignoble fate for the venerable 
edifice. In it, courts had been held in the name 
of two British Kings, before the State of New 
Jersey had an existence. It had stood and 
done service through two great \\ars. It \vas 
a quarter of a century old at the time of Brad- 
dock's defeat on the JNIouongahela ; and in aud 
around it, at court-time, men discussed the fresh 
news of the capture of Quebec and the death of 
Wolfe on the plains of Aliraham. In that 
ancient building the people met to denounce the 
tyranny of the Stamp Act; there, in June, 1774, 



was held the first Revolutionary meeting in 
New Jersey, and there the IMonmouth commit- 
tees met when the dread intelligence' of blood- 
shed came from I.,exington and Bunker Hill. 
In the old court-room was announced the sisrn- 

o 

ing of the immortal Declaration. A\'ithiu the 
same walls the Rev. John WoimIIuiII, of the 
Tennent Church, preached the funeral sermon 
of the patriot martyr, Captain Joshua Huddy; 
aud there the glad tidings were read of the 
treaty of peace that closed the war of independ- 
ance. In that historic structure, which had 
stood there when George Washington was born, 
the people met to listen to his funeral eulogy. 
Its name is so inseparably connected with his 
in history that every school-boy who learns of 
the deeds of Washington, knows also of the 
famous old court-house of Monmouth. 

Until after tlie close of the last century no 
liuilding for a clerk's office had been erected, 
the clerk having either used a part of the 
court-house or had his office in liis dwelling- 
house. There had been a clerk who had charge 
of the rect)rds from the establishment of the 
county and first organization of the courts. 
The IxKjks of conveyances, all of which have 
been preserved and are in existence to this day, 
were very few in number until after 1800. 
There was no need of a surrogate's office, for 
the Governor, as surrogate-general of New 
Jersey, granted letters testamentary and of ad- 
ministration until the year 1784, when the law 
was passed proviiling for the appointment of 
surrogates in the several counties. 

In June, 1799, the first offices in the county 
of Monmouth built by the jiublic authorities 
for the use of the clerk and surrogate were or- 
dered to be constructed. The plan proposed 
was to build them under one roof, of brick, 
thirty-eight by sixteen feet in dimensions, to be 
arched over with brick, and to lie made, as far 
as possible, fire-proof They were built very 
nearly on the above plan, but the dejjth was 
changed from sixteen to twenty feet. They 
were completed before 180-'l, as in .January of 
that year the final account of the building com- 
mittee was settled. They were located in front 
of the site of the offices afterwards erected (and 



408 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



burned in 1873) near the street, and probably 
on a line with the old court-house of 1730, 
which was standing and in use at the time of 
their erection. They remained until about the 
year 1851, when (upon the construction of new 
offices) they were removed to South Street, and 
there used for some years for business purposes. 
The offices of the clerk and sun'ogate, erected 
in 1851, were one story high, the surrogate 
occupying the one nearest the court-house. In 
1869 another story was added to both offices, 
and the building was connected with the court- 
house, a steeple being built upon it corres- 
ponding with that on the court-house. On tlie 




M'LNJlul 111 rijl 1;T IhirsE OF 1808-1873. 

completion of these improvements the clerk 
took possession of the entire lower story, and 
the office of the surrogate was removed to the 
upper room. These offices were well arranged, 
and were regarded as among the most conve- 
nient to be found in the counties of the State. 

The court-house of 1808 — the immediate 
predecessor of the one wliich now stands on the 
same site — remained in use and occupation by 
the courts for nearly sixty-five years. In 1855, 
after a considerable damage to the interior, re- 
sulting from a fire kindled by a female prisoner,' 

' The fire, which was discovered f>t one o'clock a.m., 
February 2, 1885, was set by Catharine Conner, who was 
serving an eight months' sentence for theft. A. dispatch 



the court-room was remodeled, a portico built 
on the front and the exterior ornamented. Be- 
fore that time the railing around the bar was 
circular, the seats for the audience were raised 
as they receded from the bench, the aisle from 
the door to the bar was in the middle of the 
room and the prisoners' dock wa.s just inside 
the railing of the bar. 

About the year 1855 the cells in the court- 
house were converted into dwelling-j'ooms for 
the family, and a jail was built in the rear. One 
of the basement cells had l)een in use for a time, 
in ] 825, for hanking purposes, by the manager of 
the ^lonmouth Eank, then existing in Freehold. 
On Thursday, October 
30, 1873, between twelve 
and one o'clock a.m., a fire 
broke out in the ^lonmouth 
Inquirer building (located 
a little above Court Street, 
and (m the north side of 
Main, where the fine brick 
block now stands), and, 
spreading rapidly in both 
directions, destroyed the 
court-house of 1808, — ex- 
cept the solid walls in front 
and rear, — together with tiie 
jail and the offices of the 
clerk, sheriff and surrogate. 
The post-office. Inquirer 
office, a number of business 
]daces and the fine old 
dwelling-house of Colonel 
P. G. Yought were also included in the destruc- 
tion. The account of the oi-igin and progress 
of the fire, given by the Inquirer and the 
Democrat''' in their next issues, wa.s as follows : 

"It was shortly after midnight when Mr. William 
Burrell, bartender of the Union Hotel, was about to 
go to bed, when, glancing out of his window, he saw 

was sent to linrdentown for aid, and it was promptly re- 
sponded to. Two fire-engines and their companies left 
Bordentovvn, and reached Freehold at half-past ten a.m., 
but in the mean time the fire had been subdued. 

2 Both the newspapers named were printed from tho 
same form,— that of the Danocrat, — which Major Yard 
courteously tendered (as also the use of his press) to Colo- 
nel ,\pplegate, the proprietor of the Inquirer, whose office 
and material had been destroyed by the fire. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



409 



that the Monmouth Inquirer buildiug,directly opposite, 
was on tire. He rushed ont to give the ahirm, and 
met Mr. Will Sanders, a clerk in General Haight's 
law-office, which is located in the TnquirerhvaMing, and 
together they hastened across the street with a view 
of saving the general's books and papers. These per- 
sons were the first to enter the burning building. Mr. 
Sanders says that the fire was in the side ofthe building 
occupied by the printing-office and had burned through 
the ceiling of General Haight's office. Colonel Ap- 
plegate and his son, who were in the office until a late 
hour, declare that no fire was kept in the front room 
of the office, that the fire in the back room was nearly 
out, and that everything was safe when they left. 
Their opinion is that the fire originated in the law- 
office, from the gas jet, which, owing to the low ceil- 
ing, when the lights in town were turned off, caused 
the flame to play against the ceiling. Another opinion 
is that the fire originated on the first floor, on the 
theory that to form so fierce a fire in so short a time 
it must have commenced at the bottom instead of the 
top of the building. Of course, in the excitement 
occasioned by the discovery ofthe fire, no one thought 
of observing its nature, with a view of ascertaining 
its origin, and conjecture is now useless, 

"There was a delay in giving the alarm, as those 
who first discovered it had their attention engrossed 
by the effort to rescue property from the burning 
building. Half an hour is said to have elapsed before 
the bells were rung. The Seminary bell gave the first 
alarm. We happened to be among the first who were 
aroused, and when we arrived upon the ground the 
flames were bursting in great sheets from the front 
windows of the building and through the roof. Mr. 
Postmaster Fleming was also early on the ground, and 
rescued the mails and other property in the Post-Office. 
Messrs. Sanders and Burrell got out a few of General 
Haight's law books, but all his valuable papers were 
destroyed. Sanders and Burrell remained at work so 
long that their retreat by the stairs was cut off; the 
former escaped by leaping from the porch roof, but 
the floor fell in before Burrell got out, and he went 
down with it, and in some almost miraculous way 
escaped through the front ofthe building without any 
serious injury. 

"The Hook and Ladder Company, with their appa- 
ratus, were pronii)tly on the ground, rendering all the 
assistance in their power. They put up their ladders 
upon the adjoining houses, and passed water up, and 
with their hooks and ropes endeavored to tear away 
the rear ofthe burning liuilding, l)Ut their apparatus 
was soon disabled, owing to the strength of the oak 
timbers. It now became apparent that the fire would 
rapidly spread, and it appeared as if nothing could be 
done to prevent a general conflagration of the town. 
The Union Hotel, D. C. Perrine's store, William 
Lloyd's store and dwelling, and G. S. Conover's drug- 
store, on the opposite side ofthe street, were scorching 
from the heat, and showers of burning cinders were 



falling upon the roofs. Rev. F. Chandler, after ad- 
vising with some of our citizens, went to the telegraph- 
office, and, using Governor Parker's name, telegiaphed 
to the Fire Departments of New Brunswick, Trenton 
and Bordentown for help. Responses were received 
from New Brunswick that they had but one engine 
available, and that it would not be prudent to spare 
it ; from Trenton and Bordentown, that their men and 
machines were ready awaiting transportation. 

" By this time the buildings on both sides of the 
Inquirer building were in flames. Burtis's store, on the 
north, separated from the clerk's office by Court Street, 
a narrow alley-way, was an old building of the most 
substantial character, — the frame and timbers of oak. 
With its rear additions, it extended about one hundred 
and fifty feet on Court Street. It burned fiercely, and 
made a great heat. Owing to the narrow passage-way 
between it and the clerk's office, the firemen were 
soon driven out by the heat. 

" The court house, which includes under the same 
roof the clerk's and surrogate's offices on the south 
end and a jury-room and law-offices on the north end, 
was a substantial brick building, handsomely built 
and adorned with a wooden roof, two wooden cupolas 
and an elaborate wooden cornice. Recently the Board 
of Chosen Freeholders, as a protection against fire, 
authorized the construction of a reservoir of water, to 
which was attached a powerful force-pump and a sup- 
ply hose'. This apparatus had been promptly put in 
operation under the direction of Sheriff' Hendriekson 
and County Clerk Arrowsmith, and the roof and the 
sides of the building were constantly flooded with water. 
Presently the cry went up that the cornice was on 
fire, and soon volumes of smoke began to pour through 
the cupolas and out of every crevice in the roof. The 
firemen redoubled their exertions, but they could not 
reach the fire. It ran along and under the cornice 
and under the roof, and the flames soon burst out 
in every direction, presenting a scene of beauty and 
grandeur rarely witnessed, but coupled with the sad- 
dest reflections and apprehensions of the greatest 
danger. 



' •' Mr. John Bawdea, of the Freehold Iron Foundry, had 
obtained consiJerable experience in the service of the 
Fire Department of Brooklyn, which enabled him to ren- 
der more etficieut service here. Under Ins direction, the 
hose from the iron foundry was attached to tlie force- 
pump of the court-house, by means of which a .stream was 
carried to the top of the court-house. Driven from there, 
he retreated with his apparatus to the offices on the north 
end of the building, where, resisting the efforts of some 
zealous but inexperienced persons to tear down the brick 
walls of the offices, he reserved the water until the roof fell 
in, when, by a judicious use of the hose, he extinguished 
the fire on the second floor of that building. He also di- 
rected the efforts by which the fire was prevented from 
spreading to the buildings of R. A. Ellis & .Son, adjoining 
the court-house properly, by which all the northern end 
ofthe town was saved from destruction." 



410 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" In the uortheru direction the fire was stayed. 
The tliick walls of the court-house confining the 
flames, and the extraordinary exertions of the peojile 
in flooding the roofs with water, and hanging wet car- 
pets on the sides of the buildings exposed to the heat, 
were successful in preventing the fire from extending 
beyond the public buildings. 

"As soon as fears for the safety of the court-house 
were entertained, measures were taken by the officers 
in charge, to save the records. The books and papers 
of the county clerk were carried to Davis' Hotel, 
and afterwards transferred to Captain Arrowsmith's 
residence. The books and papers of the surrogate's 
office were also conveyed to a place of safety. Both 
offices were stripped of everything of value ; all that 
was left behind were a few loose papers in the pigeon- 
holes, and a huge pile of justice's dockets, dating 
back to a short period after the flood. The doors of 
the vaults were then closed, and the place was aban- 
doned. As soon after the fire was over as possible 
the vaults were opened, and the papers left behind 
were found safe." ' 

Westward from the poiut where tlie fire 
originated it spread to and destroyed the stores 
of R. Morris Hartshorne, C'onover & Thomp- 
son and E. B. Bedle. Conover & Thompson's 
store was built mostly of hemlock timber, and 
was soon destro}'ed. The first floor was occu- 
jjied liy the owners as a clothing and furnishing 
store, in the second story front was the law- 
office of William H. Conover, Jr., and in the 
rear was the manufacturing department of the 
clothing-store. The third story was unoccupied. 
In tiie second story of Bedle's store was the law 
office of William H. Yredenburgh. In this 
office was the valuable law library collected 
by his father. Judge Vredenlmrgh, and most of 
the valuable collection of Daniel B. Ryall, both 
of Mhich had been purchased by Mr. A'^reden- 
burgh. So rapid was the progress of the flames 
that little could be done towards saving his 

1 The oiBces of the clerk and surrogate were destroyed 
with the court-house, to which they were attached. "The 
vaults anil safes of these offices were intended to be fire- 
proof, and they stood the test of fire. Not a single article 
left in them was injured ; the very plants and flowers, 
whicli were the pets of the clerk [Mr. David S. Crater] of 
the surrogate, were found, upon opening the vault, to be 
green and blooming in the midst of destruction on all 
sides." This quotation is made from an address made 
before the court by the Hon. Joel Parker on the 31st of 
October, 1873, from which address much of the preceding 
account of the old court-houses and jails of the county has 
been taken. 



property. He secured most of the valuable 
papers and books in his safe, but none of his 
furnittire and but few of his books. 

" The buildings on the east side of the street were 
now scorching and smoking from the heat. D. C. 
Perrine had prudently provided a cistern of water, a 
force-pump and sufficient length of hose to reach the 
roof of his large store, which is built of brick. He 
brought his apparatus into service, and poured water 
on the roofs of the Union Hotel and Lloyd's store and 
dwelling, adjoining him on the right and left. A 
small garden-engine was also used to keep the front 
of Mr. Lloyd's buildings wet. Several times the 
hotel seemed upon the point of bursting into flames, 
but by constant exertion it was saved. 

" Adjoining Bedle's store on the south, separated by 
an alley-way, stood the old 'Kyall Homestead,' owned 
and occupied by Colonel P. CT..Vought, who, with his 
wife, are now traveling in Europe. The house was 
one of the best and most substantial dwellings in the 
town, was handsomely built, and but a few years 
ago was thoroughly renovated and repaired. Extra- 
ordinary exertions were made to save it. The sides 
and roof of the building were covered with carpets, 
wliich ^^■ere kept constantly saturated with water- 
The furniture was taken out and carried to a place nf 
safety. The people labored with great energy and 
perseverance, but without avail. The firemen were at 
last driven from the building by the flames, and the 
beautiful dwelling was abandoned to its fate. 

"Separated from the Ryall house was a long twn- 
story building, built nearly a century ago. It was 
occupied on the first floor lay J. W. Swartz's law-office 
and the Home Sewing Machine Agency, and in the 
second story by Dr. W. W. Pitman's dentistry. After 
a brief consultation between a few citizens, the order 
was given by the chief of the Fire Department, Mr. 
James J. Conover, to Jlr. George C. Hulitt, foreman 
of the hook-and-ladder company, to tear down the 
building, and thus make an opening in the path id" 
the fire. Hulitt rallied his men, and with axes, crow- 
bars and ropes they rushed to their work, assisted nn 
the ropes by the bystanders generally. Everybody 
worked with desperate energy. The timbers, of sea- 
soned oak and hardened by age, for a long while re- 
sisted the efforts of the laborers. It was almost like 
cutting iron to work through post or beam. The 
crowd heaved at the ropes until the strands cracked, 
but the old house never shook, even. At last a piece 
of the roof gave way, and the firemen had a better 
stand for their work. In the mean time the Ryall 
house, with its strong timbers and brick lining, con- 
fined the heat and flame within its walls, and so 
shielded the firemen at their work. Piece by piece 
the roof of the old building was torn off, and so they 
fought their way gradually to the ground, but not 
before the flames were playing dangerously around 
them." 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



411 



The destriictidii of the building adjoiiiin<;- 
Colonel Voiight'^ dwelling stayed the fire in 
that direction. It was now nearly five o'clock, 
and the fire had been raging about four hours. 
The total I0.SS by the eonfiagration was estimated 
at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The 
publii^ buildings were estimated at sixty thou- 
sand dollars (a high figure), and the insurance on 
them was thirty thousand dollars. Xeithcr the 
bell which had been on the t'ourt-house nor 
any trace of the metal composing it was ever 
found among the ruins. 

INIeasures were taken at once to rebuild the 
court-house, and arrangements were made for 
the holding of the courts, in the mean time, in 
the session-house of the Eeformed Church. The 
walls of the old court-house remained standing, 
and the plan adopted was to work these walls 
into the new structure, -nhich plan was carried 
out, except \\ith regard to a part of the rear ; 
wall, which fell soon afterwards. The rebuild- 
ing was done by the insurance companies which 
had carried the risks on the old building ; and 
the work of construction ^\•as pushed witli so 
much of vigor and energy that in a little more 
than four montlis from the time of the fire the 
present court-h(.iuse (embracing the offices of the 
sheriff, clerk and surrogate under its i-oof ) was 
completed ; and on the 18th of April, 1874, the 
first jury case was tried within its walls, before 
Judge George W. Shinn. Since that time the 
courts have been held there regularh'. The 
clock which now tells the hours from the cupola 
of the court-house was procured by subscription, 
and was first set in motion June -J, 1874. An ad- 
dition to the court-house, on its rear, and on the 
line of Court Street, has been in process of con- 
struction during the present fall, and is now 
(November, 1884) nearly completed. The ob- 
ject of it is to extend the accommodations of the 
clerk's office, and its cost will be about seven 
thousand five hundred dollars. 

After the destruction of the public buildings, 
the county prisoners were transferred to the 
Mercer County jail, and were kept there and in 
the "lock-up" at Long Branch until a new 
place of confinement was finished in Freeliold. 
On the 9th of Feljruary, 1874, the Board of 
Freeholders resolved to build a jail and jailer's 



residence, at a cost not exceedingsixteen thousand 
dollars. The work proceeded, and the buildiuo- 
which forms the prison and residence was com- 
pleted during the year fi)llouing. It stands in 
the rear of the court-house, having its front on 
Court Street. 

St. Peter's (Episcopal) Ciirncji edifice has 
stood on its present site in Freehold foi- at 
least a century and a quarter, while the church 
in its organization is still many years older, 
ranking among the most ancient of religious 
organizations in the county of Monmouth and 
in the State of New Jersey. 

The first promoter of the establishment, in 
Monmouth County, of religious worship accord- 
ing to the usage and creed of the Episc(,pul 
Church was Lewis Morris, of Tinton :Manor 
(afterwards Governor of Xew Jersey), who, in 
the year 1700, wrote the lashop of London, 
urging the sending hither of George Keith as a 
missionary for that purpo.se. Keith, who, in 
16.S5, was a member of the Society of Friends, 
came to America at about that time, and settled 
in Monmouth County, in the township of Free- 
hold, but a year or two later removed to 
Philadelphia, where he remained several vears, 



during which period he returned several times 
to Monmouth County, and in the vear 1792 he 
took a leading part in the organization of a dis- 
senting branch of the Quakers, and in the 
building of a meeting-house for their use, — ho 
having (juarreled with and seceded (or was ex- 
pelled) from the Orthodox wing of the society 
in Philadelphia. Soon afterwards he returned 
to England, where, after a little time, he entirely 
renounced the Quaker doctrines and joined the 
Established Church, becomiiig a clergvman of 
some prominence in it. In the vear 1702 
(probably in the pursuance of the suggestion 
made by Lewis Morris to the bishop of London, 
already mentioned) he was sent out as a mis- 
sionary by the Society for the Projiagation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Early in the au- 
tumn of the year named he arrived at Perth 
Amboy, and i)reached his first sermon in that 
town on the 3d of October. Of that meetino', 
he says' that there were among his audience a 

1 In a work written by him, entitled " A .Journey of 



412 



HISTOEY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



number of old acquaintances (made during his 
residence in ^Monmouth County, from tliirteen 
to iifteen years before), and some of them liad 
been Quakers' but were come over to the church, 
particularly Miles Forster and John Barclay 
(brother of the proprietary Governor, Robert 
Barclay). After stopping a few days with Miles 
Forster, he left Amboy for Monmouth County, 
where he preached his first sermon on the 
10th of October. Concerning his visit to Mou- 
mouth at that time, the following extracts are 
taken from his "Journal of Travel," viz. : 

" October 10, 1702.— We weut to the Meeting of the 
Quakers at Tojionemes' in Fi'eehold [township], in 
East Jersey, who used to keep a separate meeting 
from the other Quakers for their gross errors, and 
joined with me and my friends in tlie separation 
about lt)92 ; and it happened to be their Yearly 
Meeting, where divers came from West Jersey and 
Pennsylvania. One of their preachers prayed and 
preaclied before 1 began. After he liad done 1 used 
some Church Collects I had by lieart in Prayer, and 
after that I preached on Hebrews v. 9. There was a 
considerable auditory of divers sorts, — some of the 
Church and some Presbyterians, besides Quakers. 
They heard me without interruption and the meeting 
ended peaceably. Tlieir two sjieakers lodged in the 
same liouso witli me that evening, at the liouse of 
Tliomas Boels, formerly a Quaker, but now of the 
Church. 1 had some free discourse with them about 
several weighty things. 1 told them that so far as 
they used their gifts to instruct the ignorant and re- 
claim the vile errours of Quakerism, they were to be 
commended ; but that they had taken upon them to 
administer baptism and the Lord's Supper to any, 
they were greatly to be blamed, having no call or 
ordination to do so. 

"We met again next day, and after that I prayed, 
using the .same Collects as the day before, and 
preached on 1" Thes. v. 9, without any interruption, and 
the meeting peaceably ended. I could blame nothing 
in the matter of the second speaker nor in the 
former, except where he said in his discourse ' That 
they ivho were in Christ need not fear Hell.' I endeav- 
oured to clear the matter in my discourse by distin- 
guishing between an absolute fear of hell, such as 

Travel from New Hampshire to Caratuck, on the Continent 
of .\merica, by George Keith, A.M., late Missionary from 
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts, and now Rector of Edburton, in Sussex. London : 
Printed by Joseph Downing for Brab. Aylmer, at the Three 
Pigeons, against the Royal Exchange, Cornhill, 1706." 

The " Caratuck" here mentioned is in North Carolina, 
where is found the inlet, county and county-seat village of 
Currituck. 



wicked men ought to have, and a conditional fear, 
which good men, even such who are in Christ, ought 
to have ; and about this he and 1 had some private 
discourse, also betwixt us ; but he was dissatisfied and 
would not own that any who were in Christ ouglit to 
have any fear of hell, so much as conditional. 

" October 26"". — 1 preached again at Shrewsbury on 
Matt. 7 : 13. In these meetings in Shrewsbury, Mid- 
dletown and Topenemes, or where else in the Nethe- 
sinks, Mr. Louis Morris and divers others of the best 
note in that County frequented the congregations and 
places where we preached, and did kindly entertain 
us at their Houses, vi'here we lodged as we travelled 
too and again, particularly at Mr. Morris, Mr. Inness, 
Mr. Johnson, Mr. Boels and Mr. Read. Mr. Inness, 
being in Priest's orders, often preached among them, 
and by preaching and conference frequently with the 
Quakers and other sorts of People, as also by his 
pious conversation, has done much good among them 
and been very instrumental to draw them off from 
their errours, and bring them over to the Church." 

In the latter part of Xovember, Mr. Keith 
left Monmouth County and proceeded to Penn- 
sylvania by way of Burlington. In December 
of the same year he returned on anf)ther 
preaching tour in this region, and his journal 
proceeds, — 

" December 20"', 1702.— I preached at Dr. John- 
ston's, at Netbersinks, on Rev. 22 : 14. 

" Dec. 25"'. — Friday, being Christmas, I preached at 
the house of Mr. Morris on Luke 21 : 10-11, and 
after sermon divers of the Auditory received with us 
the Holy Sacrament ; both Mr. Morris and his wife 
and divers others ; Mr. Talbot did administer it. 

"January 1", 170.3, Friday. — I preached at the house 
of Thomas Boels, in Freehold, in East Jersey. My 
text was Isaiah 59: 20-21. Before sermon, after the 
church prayers, I baptized all his children, — two sons 
and three daughters. He was formerly a Quaker, but 
is now come over to the Church ; also a son of Samuel 
Dennis, a late convert from Quakerism. 

" January 3'', 1703. — I preached again at his house 
on the same text, and before sermon Mr. Talbot bap- 
tized two persons belonging to the family of John 
Held, formerly a Quaker, but was lately come over to 
the Church with all his children, — one son and two 
daughters. His two daughters were baptized by Mr. 
Talbot, October 20"", 1702 ; as also the same day was 
baptized William Leads [Leeds] and his sister, Mary 
Leads, late converts from Quakerism to the Church. 
And some days before, at the house of John Eeid, Mr. 
Talbot baptized the wife of Alexander Neaper and J 
his three children. Both he and his wife had been 
Quakers, but were come over to the Church. 

"January 4"", 1703. — I came to the house of Robert 
Rey [Rhea], in Freehold, in East Jersey, accompanied 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



413 



with Thomas Boels, and lodged at his house that 
night. At his and his wife's desire, I baptized all his 
children, some boys and some girls, in number, five. 
His wife is come over to the Church, but be was not 
then come thoroughly out of Quakerism." 

After this, Mr. Keitli proceeded to Burling- 
ton, and tlienco, by way of Philadelpliia, to 
Maryland, Virginia and to the uortheastem 
corner of North Carolina. Nine months later 
he returned to Monniontli Countv and amxin 
held services, concerning which the following 

entries appear in his Journal : 

<^ ■', 
"October 10'", 1S73, Sunday. — I preached at To- 
penemes, in Freehold, in East Jersey, on Acts 24 : 12, 
and had considerable auditory, diverse of them late 
converts from Quakerism to the Church. Mr. Innes, 
above mentioned, did read the Prayers. Mr. Talbot 
stayed to preach in several places in Pennsilvania and 
AV'est Jersey for some time. 

On the 31st of October, Mr. Keith preached 
at Amboy, after which he went to New York, 
and thence proceeded on a tour through the 
New England colonies, which occupied about 
two months. He then returned to Alonmouth 
County and held meetings as follows : 

"January 9"', 1704. — I preached at the house of 
Dr. Johnston, in Neverthesinks, on Psalm 119: 5, 
113, and had a considerable auditory. 

"January 16"'. — I preached at Mr. Morris' honse, 
at the Falls of Shrewsbury, in East Jersey, on 2'' Cor. 
5: 17. 

"January 28"^. — I preached again at Mr. Morris' 
house, on 2 Peter 1 : 5. 

"January 30"'. — I preached at the house of Mr. 
Thomas Boels, in Freehold, iu East Jersey, on 1 Cor. 
15: ;i8. 

"February 6"'. — I jireached at the house of Mr. 
John Reid, in Freehold, East Jersey, on Psalms 
119: 96." 

This apj^ears to have been the last preaching 
by Mr. Keith in Monmouth County. He went 
from Freehold township to Burlington, and 
thence, by way of Eastern Pennsylvania, to 
Maryland and Virginia, and soon afterwards 
sailed for England, where he remained (settled 
at Edburton, in Sus.sex) during the remainder 
of his life. 

After the departure of Mr. Keith the Rev. 
Alexander Innes preached to the congregations 
from time to time until 1713. A request had 
been made to the Society for the Propagation of 



the Gospel for a missionary for this region, but 
none could then be obtained. It is not shown 
what ministers, if any, were in ^Monmouth 
County for twenty years after 1713, but it is 
stated that "for a long period the sup])lv of 
missionary services was very irregular.'" In 
1733 the Kev. John Forljes came over as a 
missionary, and John Milne succeeded him in 
1738.' 

The Kev. Thomas Thompson was appointed 
by the society, missionary to the churches in 
Monmouth County in 1745, and served here 
six years, after which he went as a missionary 
to the coast of Africa. He published a narra- 
tive ^ of his missionary labors, from which the 
following facts are gathered : He sailed from 
Gravesend, England, May 8, 1745, and arrived 
at New York on the 29th of August following. 
On the second Sunda}' after his arrival he passed 
to Elizabethtown " on my Journey to ^Ion- 
mouth County, in the Eastern Division, where 
I was appointed to reside and have the Care of 
the Churches in that County, being also Licensed 
thereto by the Right Reverend the late Lord 
Bishop of Loudon." He proceeded to Kings- 
bury, near Trenton, where he waited on Gover- 
nor Lewis Morris and " took the oath of 
allegiance and supremacy and also the abjuration 
Oath, and subscribed to the Declaration in 
presence of his Excellency," and soon after 
proceeded to the place of his labor in ]Mon- 
iiiouth County, concerning which his ".Vccount" 
proceeds as follows : 

" I had three churches immediately in my charge, 
each of them situated in a different township, which 
had regular duty in such proportions as were agreed 
upon and subscribed to at a general vestry meeting 
soon after my coming there. The names of the town- 
ships are Freehold, Shrewsbury and Middletnwn. I 
also officiated at Allentown, in Upper Freehold, while 
that church was destitute of a minister, which was 

' Bishop Doane, in an address before tlie convention in 
1837. 

^ •' An Account of the Missionary Voyages by the .Ap- 
pointment of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in Foreign Parts, — The one to New Jersey, in North Amer- 
ica, and then from America to Coast of Guiney. By 
the Rev. Thomas Thompson, Vicar, of Reculver, 
in Kent. London : Printed for Benjamin Dod .at the 
Bible and Key, in Ave Mary Lane, near .St. Paul's, 
MDCCLVIII." 



414 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



afterward supplied by Mr. Michael Houdin, a convert 
from the Church of Rome, and a worthy clergyman, 
now the society's missionary. These four townships 
comprised tlie whole county, altlioiigh forty or fifty 
miles in length, and in some parts of it considerably 
wide. 1 also did occasional duty at other places, as 
will be further mentioiied. 

" Tliat I might lay a good foundation for the chil- 
dren, and build them up in sound Christian principles, 
I began to catechize, at first only asking questions in 
the church catechism ; but after a while I changed 
the method with them so as still to keep the words of 
the catechism, but raised other questions to the 
several clauses and matters contained therein, to try 
what they understood of it, and by this means led 
them further into the sense and meaning of every 
part of it. The number of my catechumens began 
now to increase, and several of riper years presented 
themselves with a seeming earnestness to receive the 
benefit of this instruction. So I carried it further, 
and put Lewis' Exposition into their hands, and ap- 
pointed them a day, about once a month, to come to 
the court-house and say the parts which I set them 
to get by heart, and this course I continued till some 
of them could recite it from end to end." 

After giving an account of the laying of a 
floor and the making of other improvements in 
the okl church edifice at Middletown , so a,s to 
make it fit for the hoWiug of worship in it, he 
proceeds, — 

" After necessity had beeu answered its demand in 
fitting up of one church, expediency came next to be 
consulted for the finishing of another, viz.: St. 
Peter's, in the township of Freehold, which had been 
built man}' years, but was never quite completed. 
The ground on which the church stands was the gift 
of one Mr. Thomas Boel, who had been a Quaker, 
but was brought over, with many others of that per- 
suasion, by Mr. George Keith, one of the society's 
missionaries, who himself had been one of that peo- 
ple, but became a very zealous member and diligent 
servant of the church, and was a person well learned. 
After his return from abroad he had the living of 
Edburton, in Sussex, and published his journal of 
missionary travel. 

"The situation of St. Peters Church at Topaue- 
mes, which is distant from any town, is, however, 
convenient enough to the congregation, and was re- 
sorted to by many families in Middlesex County 
living within the several districts of Cranberry, 
Macheponeck and South River ; their missionary, 
my friend and brother, Mr. Skinner, gladly remitting 
to me the care of them, which he could not well 
attend to by reason of a wide and often dangerous 
ferry over the Raritan, which divides Middlesex 
County. I was, therefore, willing to give them all 



possible attendance, and did often meet them and 
baptize their children, and appointed certain days 
to preach at those places and there also cate- 
chize. 

"The inhabitants of Freehold township were at 
least half of them Presbyterians. The church- 
people, and these interspersed among each other, had 
lived less in charity and brotherly love than as be- 
comes churches. But they began on both sides to 
think less of the things in which they diftered in 
oj)inion than of those in which they agreed. And 
when bickering and disputing were laid down, which 
was done at last, with the consent of both jwrties, 
another strife arose from a better spirit in the way of 
peace, to provoke love and to do good works, in 
which neither side was less forward than the 
other. 

"After this the churches continued to fiourish, and 
in the latter end of the year 1750, having then been 
about five years in America upon this mission, I 
wrote to the Venerable and Honourable Society a 
letter requesting them to grant me a mission to the 
coast of Guiney, that I might go to make a trial with 
the Natives, and see what hopes there would be of 
inti'oducing among them the Christian Religion. The 
summer following, 1 received an answer to that letter 
from the Rev. Dr. Bearcroft, acquainting me that the 
Society had concluded to support me in the design of 
that Voyage, and would appoint another Missionary 
in my stead for Monmouth County. And the next 
Sei)tember, the Rev. Samuel Cooke, of Caius College, 
arrived with his proper credentials, and I delivered 
uj) my charge to him. Having took my leave of the 
congregation, I set out on the 13th of November, 
1751, for Xew York, from thence to go on my voyage 
to Africa; and at Elizabethtown waited on Governor 
Jonathan Belcher, Esq., who succeeded Colonel 
Morris, to pay my respects to him before I left the 
Province." 

The Rev. Samuel Cooke, mentioned by Mr. 
Thomp.son as his successor, was the last of the 
missionaries sent to ^Monmouth County from 
England. He remained over tlie churches 
until the Revolution, and soon after the open- 
ing of the war joined the British in New 
York, and was made deputy chaplain of one of 
their brigades. 

The first chureli edifice of St. Peter's was 
located at Topauemus, on land donated for the 
purpo.se by Thomas Boels, a convert from 
Quakerism. TJiese facts are clearly stated in 
the foregoing account by the Rev. ^Ir. Thomp- 
.son. The date of its erection is a matter of 
doubt, but it seems evident that it must liave 
been built some years prior to the time (a.d. 



THE TOW-\ OF FKEEHOLD. 



415 



1 73<} ') wliich has often been given as the coi'- 
reot one, because Mr. Thompson says it " had 
l>een built mani/ years, but was never quite 
completed ;" but lie took measures then to have 
it finished and put in j^roper condition for use. 
Thedateof thebuildingof St. Peter's Chnrdi at 
^Monmouth Court-House village cannot be given, 
but it was certainly after the departure of Jlr. 
Thompson, in 17ol. It has been said that it 
was built from the timber of the old Topanemus 
Church, which had been torn down for the pur- 
pose ; but this is not known to have been the 
case, though it is known that the pews and some 
other parts of the interior of the old church 
were used for the present one. That it was 
l)uilt some considerable time prior to 1763 is 
made reasonably evident by the tenor of an 
ancient subscription agreement now in posses- 
sion of ilr. ^Villiam Lloyd, of Freehold, and of 
which the following is a cojjy : 

"We, the subscribers, being willing to pay oft" the 
arrears due from the church of St. Peter's, of Free- 
hold, as well those due to the former managers as 
those lately contracted for repairs done to the said 
church ; and being desirous thoro'ly to repair & clean 
the building, and to add what things are farther 
necessary for the more decent performance of Divine 
Worship therein: Do each man for himself promise 
to pay to Keneth Hankiuson, or to the church War- 
dens for the time being of the aforesaid church, the 
several sums to our names severally annexed; one- 
half to be paid on or before the first day of July next, 
and the remainder on or before the first day of 
Xovember following. In witness whereof, we here- 
unto set our hands, ilav 17th, 1763. 

£ s. 

" Job Throckmorton 5 

John Forman 5 

Daniel Grandin 5 

James Abraham 6 

John Perreine 3 10 

Lawrence Dey 1 1.5 

Henry Perreine 1 1.5 

William Dev 1 15 



£ 


s. 


5 





1 


15 


1 





5 





3 


10 



10 



l(j' 



' The clwii-tcr of St. Peter's Cbiirch, Freehold, was 
granted by King George the Second, of England, in the 
ninth year of bis reign, on the 4th day of June, a.d. 
1736, certain petitioners " having set forth that with great 
expense they have built a decent Church for God's wor- 
ship in the said town of Freehold, & upon their humble 
petition to the Honorable and Venerable Society for Prop- 
agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, have been supplied 
with a minister, a Presbyter of the Church of England, 
■duly qualified for the cure of said Church." 



Thomas Leonard 

James Abraham, Jr. .... 

James Bradshaw 

Sam'. Cooke 

James Haukinsou 3 

Joseph Morford 3 

Robert Campbell 3 

Kenneth Hankiuson .\iiiount w 

Thomas Tonisoii " 

Joseph Rue 3 

David Stout 1 

Thomas Frances 

Several of the naiues of these subscribers 
will be readily recognized as those of inhabit- 
ants of the vicinity, of Monmouth Court- 
Hou.se village. It does not appear, however, 
that they entirely succeeded in putting the old 
building in good repair and condition, for it is 
known that it remained unfinished for three- 
fourths of a century after that time. Durino- 
the Hevolution it remained uncarcd for and 
somewhat dilapidated, and was used at different 
times as a hospital for soldiers and as an army 
store-hou.se. Finally, in 183.S, it was com- 

, pleted, and consecrated by Bishop Doane, as 

j hereafter noticed. 

From the time when the Eev. Samuel Cooke 
left to join the British, until the year 1788, tJie 
parish was left vacant. In that year tiie Rev. 
Henry Waddell became rector at Shrewsbury, 
and minister of St. Peter's, Freehold. He was 
succeeded, in 1799, by the Rev. Andrew 

I Fowler. 

In 1809 the Rev. John Croes, Jr. (eldest son 
of the Rev. John Croes, of New Brunswick), 
who had lately been ordained to the diaconate 
by Bishop Hobart, of New York (there being no 
bishop in Xew Jersey), took charge of the three 
churches at Shrewsbury, Middletowu and Free- 
hold (all of which had been much depressed 
since the Revolution), and officiated in Moun- 
mouth County for fifteen years. How much of 
liis time was devoted to Freehold it is impossi- 
ble to say. His residence was principally at 
Shrewsbury, and in the Journal of 1816 his 
name is recorded as rector of Christ Church, 
Shrewsbury, and minister of St. Peter'.s, at 
Freehold, the latter of which had then only 
eighteen families and fifteen communicants. 
In 1819 St. Peter's was a missionary .station 



416 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



■without regular services, and it coutiuued so for 
several years. Suljsequently it was supplied by 
the Rev. John M. Ward, the rector of the 
church at SjOTttswood, of whom Bishop Doaue 
said, in 18:54: " Mr. Ward ha.s thus far been 
obliged to occupy himself partially in the in- 
struction of a school. His spirit, however, is 
not thus repressed. He had scarcely ceased to 
go as missionary to Freehold when he com- 
menced the performance of services at South 
Amboy." 

On the 1st of July, 1833, the bishop visited 
Freehold, and in 1834 he wrote of it as follows : 
" Since my former visit, .the opinion which I 
expressed in my last address, that the services 
of a clergyman ought to be, and might be, se- 
cured here, has been acted on. The Rev. 
Samuel Edwin Arnold, late of the Diocese of 
New York, having been elected Principal of the 
Academy, has taken the pastoral charge of St. 
Peter's Church. His services as an instructor, 
I am informed, give great satisfaction. His 
desires for the spiritual improvement of the 
people I know are ardent, and he has exerted 
himself with much success. Long-established 
habits of negligence of the support of Christian 
ordinances are hard to be overcome." 

It was further stated by the bishop, in the 
same address, that he had made a proposition 
to the wardens of the church to devote a certain 
suni from the " oiferiugs " of the diocese to the 
support of INIr. Arnold, provided they would 
contribute another specified sum ; and he was 
encouraged to believe that the arrangement 
would be made, and Mr. Arnold's services re- 
tained. In this, however, it appears that he 
was disappointed. The number of families 
in the parish was then about twenty, and of 
communicants, ten. 

In 1835 the bishop announced that " a board- 
ing and day-school, under the direction of an 
Episcopal clergyman," had, according to his 
recommendation, been established at Borden- 
town, and that Mr. Arnold had, with his con- 
sent, removed there from Freehold to take 
charge of the school. This, of course, left the 
Freehold parish vacant, but the bishop an- 
nounced that if the vestry would " duly exert 
themselves to make the proper arrangements," 



he would appoint the Rev. Thomas Tanser. who 
was then about to take up his residence, and to 
act as chaplain and teacher at the Howell 
Works, " to supply that church one-half i if 
each Lord's Day." The appointment was 
made, and in 1836 it is recorded that the Rev. 
Mr. Tanser had " temporary charge " of St. 
Peter's ; but in 1837 he had removed from 
Howell and was officiating at Spottswood. He 
was an Englishman l)y birth, reared among the 
di.sciples of Wesley, and Bishop Doane thought 
it, " an interacting circumstance, in connection 
with the appointment at Howell, that it was a 
part of the field of labor of the zealous mission- 
ary, Thompson, who had been sent out by the 
Venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel." 
Mr. Tanser Vi-as a man of great zeal and earn- 
estness, and is still remembered by some ot' the 
churchmen of Monmouth County. 

In his address delivered in May, 1837, the 
bishop stated that he had visited the church in 
Freehold in the preceding October, and added : 
" Of this old church I regret my inaliility to say 
anything that is encouraging. The people 
think thev are unaljle to do much for them- 
selves, and ' as a man thinketh, so he is.' It 
would be unpardonable to despair of any church 
that God hath planted. With Him the springs 
of life remain. It is in His power to make 
even the dead revive. We will trust that for 
St. Peter's Church, Freehold, there' is yet to be, 
and that not far distant, a season of refreshing- 
from the presence of the Lord." 

In June, 1837, the Rev. Robert B. Croes. 
began to officiate in St. Peter's, and in the fol- 
lowing September he was instituted into the- 
rectorship by Bishop Doane. Until 1840 he 
divided his services between this parish and St. 
Peter's of Spottswood. He remained at Free- 
hold nearly four years from the time of his 
commencement, and' it was during his rectorate, 
and largely through his influence and labors, 
that the church building was at last completed, 
after so many years of dilapidation and neglect. 
With regard to this old edifice, which had stood 
through the Revolution, and had at different 
times given shelter to soldiers of bi)th the 
American and British armies, Bishop Doane- 
said (in the address to the convention, betbrc 



THE TOWxV OF FREEHOLD. 



417 



quoted from): "In 1782 the church, which 
was never finished, was occupied as a store- 
house for the army. During the greater part 
of the period which has elapsed since that time 
it has scarcely had so mucli as ' a name to live.' 
Let us hope that better days have come." 

In jNIay, 1838, the bishop visited the parish, 
and in iiis annual address made the following 
record, showing the date of the completion and 
consecration of the church: "On Tuesday, 
]May 8th, I consecrated St. Peter's Church to 
the worship of Almighty God. The request of 
the vestrv was read bv the Rev. !Mr. Croes, 
the sentence of consecration and the morning 
prayer by the Eev. Mr. Finch. Here is 
another striking instance of the vitality of the 
church. To those who bear in mind the notice 
of this j)arish in the last address the present 
record must seem as 'life from the dead.' And 
so it is. During the whole of my connection 
with tlie diocese no parish has given me more 
solicitude ; none with less of hope. But God 
seeth not as man seeth. The signs of life, 
which, at the visitation in the autumn, were 
apparent, are now more than realized. It 
seemed impossible that the old building, never 
finished, and yet ruinous, in which I had offici- 
ated, could be the neat, commodious and beauti- 
ful buildino- which I was now called to conse- 

o 

crate. We are indebted under God for this 
residt to the zeal and industry of the Rev. 
Robert B. Croes." 

In April, 1841, Mr. Croes resigned the rec- 
torship, and was succeeded in the following 
June by the Rev. Philip E. Milledoler, M.D., 
son of the Rev. Dr. Milledoler, of the Dutch 
Reformed Communion. In 1842 the rector 
reported that the members of the parish liad 
within the then past year procured an organ 
and made considerable improvements in the 
church and in ornamenting the grounds, etc. 

In ^lay, 184.3, the bishop stated that he had 
lately visited Freehold, and found the parish 
"in a truly interesting and prosperous state; 
God's blessing on the pastor's faithful use of 
the appointed means ! " Dr. Milledoler at the 
same time reported tliat he had, at Easter, re- 
signed his charge of the Freehold Church, hav- 
.|| ing been called to Poughkeepsie, X. Y., his 
27 



separation from the congregation having been 
"caused by no dimiuutiou of mutual love and 
respect, but by other important considerations." 

On the 1st of August, 1843, the Rev. Fer- 
nando C. Putnam assumed charge of the parish, 
and afterwards became its rector. On the 1st 
of April, 1850, he resigned the rectorship, but 
continued to officiate until June, 1851. 

September 28, 1852, the Rev. George Sayres 
entered uf)on his duties as rector, and on Oc- 
tober 1, 1853, resigned his charge to go as mis- 
sionary to Illinois and professor in Jubilee Col- 
lege. He was succeeded as rector of St. Peter's 
by the Rev. W. T. Johnston, who resigned Feb- 
ruary 12, 1855. 

On January 1, 185(5, the Rev. T. J. K. 
Lightboiu-ne became rector. Heresigned in 1858. 

The Rev. Robert G. Chase took charge of 
the parish in March, 1858, and resigned the rec- 
torship in .lune, 1859. 

On April 1, 1860, the Rev. Thomas J. Tay- 
lor entered upon his duties as rector. He re- 
signed his charge in March, 1863. 

April 1, 1863, the Rev. Wilbur F. Xields 
became rector, and on January 1, 1867, resigned 
his rectorship on account of ill health, and ac- 
cepted the rectorship of Trinity Church, at St. 
Augustine, Fla., where he died March 2, 1867. 

On June 9, 1867, the Rev. A. Sydney Dcaley 
assumed charge of the parish, and resigned 
March 11, 1871. He was succeeded by the 
Rev. J. H. Barnard, on June 18, 1871, who con- 
tinued in charge until Xovember 24, 1873. 

The Rev. George Herbert Watson entered 
upon the rectorship ^larch 1, 1874, antl re- 
mained until ^lay, 1877, when he resigned to 
go as rector of " Laurel Hall," a young ladies' 
seminary in San Mateo, Cal. 

The present rector, the Rev. Thomas H. Cul- 
leu, assumed charge of the parish on August 12, 
1877. 

In 1878 the church was enlarged, in harmony 
with the original style of the building, and en- 
tii'ely refui-nished, the members of the parish 
showing their affection for the venerable edifice 
by their beautiful and appropriate gifts. 

The Freehold Baptlst Church originated 
from the congregation (a part of the Upper Free- 



418 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



holdCluirch) who worshiped in the old meeting- 
house that was built nearly a century and a (juar- 
ter ago, a short distance southwest of the ^lou- 
mouth Court-House village, at a place which is 
still known as the old Baptist graveyard. 

lu 1713 the Rev. John Burrowes Ijecame pas- 
tor of the Baptist Church in Middletowu, and 
remained until his death, about 1737. During 
his ministry he jireached not only in Middle- 
towu (including what is now Holmdel), but ex- 
tended his labors to the southwestern part of the 
county, and laid the foundation of what after- 
wards became the Baptist Church of Upper 
Freehold, including the congregation of the old 
church that stood near what is now the village 
of Freehold. 

]\Ir. Burrowes was succeeded in 1738 by the 
Rev. Abel Morgan, who, in his writings, men- 
tions the fiict that he preached "in Freehold 
and the region round aljout." He is mentioned 
as preaching at many places in the county. 
In the year 17*)2, David -Jciues, of Middletown, 
Avho was afterwards ordained to the ministry, 
moved to the vicinity of Monmouth Court- 
House, and in 17(34 began preaching to the 
few Baptists living near his residence and also 
to those of Upper Freehold, who, in the next 
year, formed the church there. At about this 
time the meeting-house had been erected on the 
old graveyard site southwest of the court-house. 
It was occupied for worship until after the close 
of the Revolution, but after that time gradually 
fell into disuse and decay. Services \Aere held 
occasionally in this locality by ministers of the 
Upper Freehold Church, and from 1813 to 1 822 
the Rev. John Cooper, ])astor of that church, 
preached once a month to the jieople here, 
2)rol)ably in private houses. 

In 1822 Mr. Cooper was succeeded bj- the 
Rev. J. M. Challis, who, with reference to his 
settlement in Upper Freehold^ said : " I found 
the church in a very feeble and disorganized 
state, especially so in the neighborhood of Free- 
hold ; so much so that I found among them but 
one regular male member (Peter (Jlayton) and 
a few feeble but pious sisters. The meeting- 
house was almost in ruins, and the congregation 
scattered and peeled." But soon the house was 
repaired and people began to be added to the 



Lord, the first of whom was Euphemia Hunt- 
singer. Mr. Challis continued his monthly visits 
to Freehold, preaching "publicly and from 
house to house" and "breaking bread" to them 
every fifth Sunday of a month until 1834, — a 
period of twelve yeare, during which, he says, 
" my labors continued to be blessed n)ore and 
more every succeeding year, till at length the 
number of members having increased to nearly 
one hundred, it was thought to be highly expe- 
dient and necessary that they be constituted a 
separate and independent Baptist Church in the 
Lord Jesus." 

After much deliberation the members in and 
around Freehold addressed a letter to the Up- 
per Freehold Baptist Church in the following 
wofds : 

" The members of the Baptist Church in and about 
Freehold town, to the Upper Freehold Church, of 
which they are members sendeth greeting : It being the 
unanimous and cordial consent of this branch of your 
church to constitule themselves into a separate body, 
and that, thinking it will be for the promotion of the 
Gospel and the good of souls around us so to act, we 
therefore, with all brotherly love and Christian feel- 
ing, humbly crave a separation from you. In consid- 
eration of which request we afl'ectiouately tender our 
names : 



" J(jseph F. Randolph, 
Oliver Cox, 
Thomas Strickland, 
Lucretia Strickland, 
Peter Clayton, 
Elsey Clayton, 
James Smalley, 
Esther Smalley, 
Samuel Hall, 
Britannia Hall, 
Jonathan Croxson, 
David Perrine, 
JIary Perrine, 
James D. Clayton, 
Mary Ann Clayton, 
Clark Havens, 
Margaret Havens, 
Mary H. Havens, 
James Hulshart, 
Jane Hulshart, 
William Armstrong, 
Rebecca Armstrong, 
Gertrude Simpson, 
Mary Simpson, 
Ruhama Simpson, 
Sarah Yannote, 
Gertrude Hiers, 



Mary S. Clayton, 
Daniel Konk, 
Cornelius Strickland, 
Martha Parker, 
Elizabeth Wilson, 
Abigail Wilson, 
George White, 
Mary Ann Brown, 
Ann Perrine, 
Rebecca E. Clayton, 
Sophia Mott, 
Eliza Michener, 
James A. Conover, 
Hannah Conover, 
Caroline Clemens, 
Sarah Mathews, 
Archibald Konk, 
Grace Emmons, 
Lydia A. Clayton, 
Euphemia Huntsinger, 
Rebecca Huntsinger, 
Margaret Clayton, 
Hannah Pittinger, 
Archer Pittinger, 
Margaret A. Laytou, 
Eliza Keepery, 
Ann Clayton, 



I 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



419 



Mary Silvers, 
Margaret Perrine, 
Eebecca Clayton, 
John Barton, 
Elizabeth Barton, 
Hannah Perrine, 
Gertrude Pittinger, 
Hannah A. Clayton, 
Isabel Clayton, 
Margaret White, 
Isabel JMott, 
Jane Johnson, 
Phebe Throp, 
Phebe Emmons, 
Hannah Emmons, 
Lydia A. Holman, 
Mary Van Clove, 
Mary Bennett, 
Barali Cox, 
Prov. Thompson." 

was returned from the 



Hope Clayton, 
Lydie A. Clayton, 
Eleanor Barkalow, 
Eliza Ann Mount, 
Mary Vonk, 
Esther Edwards, 
Hannah (iriggs, 
Hannah Taylor, 
Synehe Voorhees, 
Elenor Voorhees, 
Ann Hulshart, 
Esther Clayton, 
Sarah Clartou, 
Eleanor Armstrong, 
Sarah Hulshart, 
Elias Hulshart, 
Elizabeth Vancleaf, 
Mary Shepperd, 
Elizabeth Croxon, 
Elizabeth Hayes, 

The followine: answer 
Upper Freehold Church : 

" Upper Freehold, Nov., 1834. 
" Jo the Ministering Brethren assembled to Constitute, and 
all else whom it may concern : 
" Beloved Brethren :— This is to certify that the 
foregoing persons named in the above application are 
members of the Baptist Church of Upper Freehold, in 
good standing and much respected. Their application 
having been laid before the church, their request was 
considered reasonable, and though in some measure 
painful to part with so many brethren dearly beloved, 
yet their request wa.s granted unanimously. Therefore 
they are hereby dismissed, in order to be constituted 
into a separate and independent church of the Lord 
Jesus. May the God of Jacob bless them abundantly 
in their undertaking, and cause them to prosper and 
be in good health even as their souls prosper. When 
they are properly constituted in Gospel order, they 
will be considered as dismissed from us. Signed in 
behalf of the whole church. 

" James M. Challls, Pastor." 

To the ninety-two di.sruissed from the Upper 
Freeliold Church two more were added, one 
from the ]\Iiddlctown Church and one from the 
Hightstown Church. Tliese ninety-four met in 
November, 1834, and constituted themselves an 
independent church, and adopted the name of 
" Freehold Baptist Church." They adopted as 
theirs the " Confession of Faith " first adopted 
by the Philadelphia Baptist Association, Sep- 
tember 2.5, 1 742 ; also a summary of that Con- 
fession and " Eules of Order " then just adopted 
by the Union Baptist Church of the city of New 



York, and the "Covenant" recommended by 
the New Jersey Baptist Association. A resolu- 
tion was adopted jjledgiug them.selves to " en- 
tire abstinence from the making, vending or use 
of ardent spirits as an article of luxurv or 
living." But objection being made, on Scrip- 
tural grounds, to incorporating the resolution 
into the Covenant, they recommended its adop- 
tion in practice by the entire church and con- 
gregatiou. They then chose Joseph F. Eau- 
dolpli for their moderator, in the absence of a 
pastor, and elected Oliver Cox church clerk, but 
failed to choose deacons. 

Agreeably to a call from the church, a council 
comprising delegates from the clum'hes at Upper 
Freehold, Middletown, Salem, Mount Holly and 
Manasquan convened in their house of worship 
November 21,1834, — ^Moderator, Rev. Joseph 
Shepherd ; Clerk, Rev. J. M. Challis. After due 
deliberation, the church was unanimously recog- 
nized as an independent, regular Baptist Church. 
At a meeting of the church held Jauuary 10, 
1835, David Perrine, Samuel Hall and Abra- 
ham Havens were c^hosen deacons, and Joseph 
F. Randolph was elected treasurer. They re- 
solved to a.sk the Upper Freehold Church to 
allow their pastor, Mr. Challis, to divide his 
services with them, but their request was de- 
clinetl. January 2(ith the officers of the church 
chose for trustees Clark Havens, J. F. Ran- 
dolph, Oliver Cox and David Perrine, of the 
church, and Richard Ely, Andrew Simpson and 
Joseph Parker, from the congregation. On the 
23d day of March, 1835, Mr. Challis closed his 
labors in Freehold by preachiug to the church 
from 2 Corintliians, xiii. 11, — " Finally, breth- 
ren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, 
be of the same mind, live in peace : and the God 
of love and peace be with you." A call to the 
pastorship of the church was given to and 
accepted by Rev. C. J. Hopkins, at a salarv of 
four hundred dollars, one hundred dollars of 
which was received from the State Convention, 
and he began his labors March 28, 183-5, and 
on the 26th of May following, the church was 
received into the New York Baptist Associa- 
tion. 

Monthly ol^servance of the Lord's Supper 
was established, and May 30tli the trustees were 



420 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" sworu in." We now find the church officered, 
recognized, associated and ready for church-work, 
yet -there is no record of any church action until 
nine months after ; bnt tlie minutes of the Con- 
veutiou credit tlie church with fifty dollars and 
fifty cents paid into its treasury. 

On the 25th day of June, 1 83(3, the church held 
a special meeting for the purpose of raising the 
pastor's salary, and requested him to preach to 
them on the subject. But it appears that the 
important sermon was delivered by the Rev^. 
William D. Hires. lu the autumn of 1836 the 
church made her second contribution to the Con- 
vention, amounting to fifty dollars, though num- 
bering but ninety-three members, and having 
received from the Convention ninety-five dol- 
lars. March 26, 1837, Mr. Hopkins closed his 
pastoral labors. But one person was added to 
the church by baptism during liis pastorate. By 
invitation, Rev. Peter Simonson,of Providence, 
R. I., preached to them April 2, 1837, 
and was at once secured as their pastor, but re- 
sio-ned his charge October 1, 1838, after a service 
of eighteen months, and settled in Cohansey ; 
but in that time he collected from tlie church 
$187.36 for the State Convention, and he im- 
mersed three converts into the fcllowsliip. 

Upon the recommendation of Mr. Challis, 
Rev. William Maul was invited to visit the 
church, and he received and accepted a call to 
the pastoral charge for one year, and commenced 
his labors November 13, 1838. The church 
then engaged his services for an indefinite per- 
iod at a salary of four hundred dollars a year. 
In order to secure happier church-meetings a 
committee of twelve members — half of them 
females — was appointed to investigate all bad 
reports that may be circulated about the mem- 
bers, and endeavor to settle all such matters 
without bringing them into the church, " which 
measurs accomplished the end in view for 
awhile." 

In October, 1840, the church withdrew from 
the Xew York Baptist Association, and 
joined the Central New Jersey Association, 
and, as a further sign of progress, " two new 
nine-plate stoves, with pipe to reach the ceiling," 
were purchased " for the better warming the 
house." 



February 13, 1844, after a period of five and 
a quarter years of faithful and successful labor, 
Mr. Maul retired from the pastorship of the 
church. One hundred and four persons Mere 
baptized by him into the fellowship. 

Occasional ])u]pit supplies were olitained 
until June yth, when a unanimous call to the 
pastorate was given to Rev. Joseph Beldon — then 
a licentiate of the Bordcntown Church — to serve 
them one year. Mr. Beldon accepted the invi- 
tation, and began his laboi-s August 4, 1 844, but 
at the end of the year he was engaged for an 
indefinite period. 

In 1845 the necessity of erecting a new house 
of worship was considered. On motion of Oea- 
con H. Ely, it was resolved to erect the Ijuilding 
in the village of Freehold, though there was a 
strong opposition to locating it there. 

The corner-stone of the new edifice was laid 
August 5, 1846, in the jiresence of a large con- 
course of people, among whom were Revs. J. 
Lansing Burrows, C. J. Hopkins, David B. 
Stout, W. D. Hires, Andrew Armstrong and 
Samuel Sproul. In connection with the laying 
of the stone, an eloquent address was delivered 
and other services held in the Reformed Church 
of Freehold, on account of the intense heat of 
the weather. 

The new house, forty by sixty feet, was com- 
pleted and dedicated to God Feljruary 4, 1847. 
The sermon was preached by Rev. J. Lansing 
Burrows, of Philadelphia, from Psalm xcvi. 6, 
— " Strength and beauty are in thy sanctuar\';" 
prayer of dedication by Rev. D. V. McLean, 
of the Freehold Presbyterian Church. There 
was a debt on the house of eighteen hundred 
dollars, twelve hundred dollars of which was 
subscribed that day. There were also present 
at the dedication Rev. T. S. Griffiths and Ed- 
ward Hera, of the Baptist Church, C. F. Wor- 
rel, of the Presbyterian, and Mr. Putnam, of 
the Episcopal. The bell, weighing eleven hun- 
dred and fourteen pounds, was presented by 
Thomas Hunt, Escj., of Xew York. Pews 
were theu first rented by the cluireh. 

After a faithful pastorate of nine years and 
eleven months, during which time twenty-eight 
persons were baptized into the church, ISIr. 
Beldon closed his labors as pastor July 1, 1854. 



i 



I 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



421 



111 the following October, Rev. L. C. Stevens, 
of ]Maine, was called to the pa-stoi-ship, and the 
church voted that " when any ten members 
shall certify to the deacons their dissatisfaction 
with the pastor, the deacons sliall call a special 
meeting- of the church, and the members shall, 
by vote, determine whether to retain or dismiss 
him." Mr. Stevens declined their call. They 
then invited Rev. D. S. Parmelee, of the city of 
New York, to visit them in view of a settle- 
ment, Init he declined their request. 

For nine months the church was without a 
pastor. The Rev. William D. Hires received 
and accejjted a call to the jjastoral charge, and 
began his work April 1, 1855. The next year 
a large and handsome parsonage was erected, 
with a lecture-room in the basement. The fail- 
ing health of their pastor compelled him to re- 
sign his charge April 1, 1859. His pastorate 
of four years had lieen a successflil one, and the 
church parted with him with extreme regret. 
The Rev. ]Mr. Charlton, of Philadelphia, was 
immediately called to preside, but he declined the 
invitation. The Rev. Thomas R. Taylor, of 
Blount Pleasant, Pa., received and accepted tlicir 
unanimous call, and entered on his pastoral 
labors among them July 1, 1859. 

October 4, 1860, twenty-five members — seven 
men and eighteen women — were dismissed at their 
request, and constituted themselves the " First 
Baptist Church of Howell," and located their 
place of worship six miles southeast of Free- 
hold, in the township of Howell. The war of 
tiie great Rebellion soon Ijroke out, and questions 
involved in that contest disturbed the harmony 
of the pastor and some of tlie members, and he 
retired from their oversight July 1, 1862, after 
a service of three yeare, during which time 
twenty-seven were added to the church by 
baptism. 

Before Mr. Taylor left, Rev. D. S. Parmelee, 
of New York City, received and accejjted the 
unanimous call of the church, at a salary of six 
hundred dollars and use of the parsonage, and 
began his pastoral work July 1, 1862. The 
roll of members was revised, largely reducing 
it, leaving l)ut one hundred and ninety-two 
members, and a baptistery was placed in the 
meeting-house the same year. 



In 1866 the village of ^larlljoro' was made 
an out-station, and on !May 25, 1869, an inde- 
pendent church was then recognized, aud on 
November 27tli, a council met there to ordain 
to the gospel ministry Rev. E. E. Romine. 

On April 4, 1868, the question of enlarging 
the church building aud placing a pipe-organ 
therein was considered, and unanimously agreed 
to, and the trustees were appointed to prepare a 
plan. The plan was submitted April 26th, and 
approved, and a subscription at once taken for 
its execution. On September 23, 1 369, they 
entered the enlarged edifice, at which time the 
pastor's salary was increased to one thousand 
dollars. About this time regular Sunday even- 
ing services were established, still, however, 
sustaining preaching at the out-stations. 

In July, 1875, the pastor announced that in 
October following his laliors as pastor would 
cease, and on September 26th, ^Ir. Parmelee 
preached his farewell sermon, terminating a 
long and successful pastorate of over thirteen 
years, during which time one hundred and 
ninety were baptized into the fellowship of the 
church. 

On October 4th, the church extended a unani- 
mous call to Rev. H. G. Mason, of Salem, N. J., 
at a salary of twelve hundred dollars, which was 
accepted, and he commenced his pastoral labors 
at once. January 1, 1876, two additional dea- 
cons were elected — namely, George Taylor, who 
declined serving, and Charles Truex. 

Under iNIr. ^Mason's ministry a Young Peo- 
ple's Association was formed, auxiliary to the 
church-work, and of this organization is re- 
corded successful activity on the part of the 
younger church members. Special mention is 
made at this time of the very excellent work 
done through the "Ladies' Church Sociables." 
The financial condition of the church was much 
improved through a better organization of 
methods of collecting. At this time, April 5, 
1879, George Taylor, Jr., was unanimously 
chosen deacon. In the early part of 1880, 
Deacon H. Ely, who had held that position for 
forty years, resigned, and Deacon J. H. Deuise 
was elected to succeed him. 

After five yeai-s of labor Rev. G. H. Mason 
closed his jjastorate, October 4, 1880, having 



422 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



added to the church by baptism oue hundred 
and ten persons. For several Sabbaths imme- 
diately following, the pulpit was supplied by 
Eev. S. L. B. Chase, of Buckfield, Me. On Sun- 
day, December 12th, a unanimous call was ex- 
tended him to assume the pastorship, at a salary 
of one thousand dollars. Mr. Chase commenced 
his pastoral work on the first Sunday of the year 
1881 . After a pastorate of two years and seven 
months, during which time he had baptized into 
the fellowship of thechurch nineteen persons, Mr. 
Chase severed his relation with this people, Sun- 
day, August 12, 1883. Immediately following, 
the church resolved to paint and repair the 
church property, and a committee was appointed 
to supply the pulpit until a pastor should be 
chosen. 

On the 1st of March, 1884, the church ex- 
tended a unanimous call 1o INIr. H. F. Stilwell 
to become their pastor, alter his graduation from 
Crozer Theological Seminary, and on Sunday, 
March 16th, his letter of acceptance was read, 
stilting that the jjastoral relation would date from 
June 15, 1884. 

On May 31st the church decided to send a 
call to each church in the Trenton Association, 
inviting them to sit in council at Freehold, June 
16th, for the purpose of examining Mr. Stil- 
well preparatory to his ordination. Eighteen 
churches resjjonded, being represented by thirty- 
one delegates. The council was called to order 
at 10.30 o'clock. Eev. E. J. Foote, of Calvary 
Church, Trenton, was chosen moderator, and C. 
T. Douglass, of Navesink, clerk. 

After a " full, fair and deliberate examina- 
tion," the council decided to proceed to arrange 
for ordination, to take place on Thursday, June 
19th, at 7.30 o'clock. Pursuant to the recom- 
mendation of the council, the Eev. H. F. Stil- 
well was ordained at the time designated, and 
is now pastor of the church. 

The ^Iethodist Episcopal Chl'rch of 
Freehold,' although only a little more than a 
half-century old in its present organization, is yet 
closely identified in its history with that of the 
old Methodist Church at Blue Ball, which was 
formed more than a century ago, being then 

' By Major James S. Yard. 



called " the Church at Monmouth, " which was 
the name by which the village now Freehold 
was then known. Afterwards the old church 
was often called " the IMethodist Church of 
Freehold." 

Of the rise of .Methodism in this section the 
records are very meagre. Previous to 1774 the 
whole State was included in one circuit, supplied 
by two preachers. That year it was divided 
into two circuits, — Trenton and Greenwich, — 
but still there were but two preachers assigned 
to the State, — William Wattere to Trenton Cir- 
cuit and Philip Egbert to Greenwich, exchang- 
ing, at the end of six months, with Daniel Euff 
and Joseph Yearby, from Chester (Pa. Circuit.) 
Watters was the first native-born Methodist 
itinerant in America. Eichard Owings, also 
native-born, was a local preacher before Watters 
entered the work, but he did not join the travel- 
ing connection until after Watters. Freeborn 
Garretson visited New Jersey in 1779, and 
doubtless traveled through the State. g 

Greenwich and Trenton Circuits disappear 
from the Conference minutes in 1776, and Xew 
Jersey and Philadelphia appear as separate cir- 
cuits until 1779, when they appear that year as 
one circuit, with Philijj Cox, Joshua Dudley 
and Daniel Euff as preachers. 

Atkinson, in his "Methodism in New Jersey," 
says : " The society at jNIonmouth must have 
been formed at an early period, probably about 
1780, as in that year Job Throckmorton, of 
Freehold, was converted under the ministry of 
Eev. Eichard Garretson, and became a member 
of the society. He was one of the first mem- 
bers in that region. The IMethodists were much 
persecuted there at that time. His house was a 
home for the preachers." In 1788, Benjamin 
Abl)ott visited JMonmouth in his six weeks' tour 
in which he traveled about four hundred miles, 
passing through Cumberland, Cape May, Glou- 
cester, Monmouth, Mercer and BurlingtdU 
Counties. Bishop Asbury visited Monmouth in 
1785, and was entertained at the house of Job 
Throckmorton.^ The same year Ezekiel Cooper, 

'Prominent in Methodism in this section. A member 
and a class leader at Blue Ball in 1832, as appears hy a 
record in Ralph Hulse's book of the payment of class 
money. 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



423 



who, in 1776, at the age of thirteen, was con- 
verted under the preaching of Freeborn Gar- 
retson, was admitted to the Conference on trial. 

The Methodists of this region in 1779 must 
have been few in number, as there were but one 
Inmdred and forty repoi'ted in the State. They 
perhaps formed a society, — or a " class," as we 
would now call it, — which counted its members 
scattered through a wide district. Blue Ball 
may have been a centre for its meetings, and 
Freehold on its borders. This is i>robable, for 
while ilethodist meetings were frequently held 
at the court-house, there was no societv in 
Freehold until 18.31, and the members previous 
to that time were connected with the societv at 
Blue Ball. 

The first mention of Freehold Circuit is in 
tlie Conference minutes of 1793, when James 
^Yilsou and John Fountain M'ere appointed to 
the charge. Before that it was included in 
Trenton Circuit. In that year Trenton Circuit 
reported five hundred and six members, while 
in 1794, afler Freehold Circuit was cut off, it 
reported only one hundred and seventy-four, 
while Freehold reported four hundred and 
seventy-seven. This probably included all the 
Methodists in this section of the State east of 
Trenton. 

Judge Joseph Murphy, of Freehold, then 
(1879) in his eighty-third year, informed the 
writer that the only building owned by the ]Meth- 
odists in this section for public worship was the 
one at Blue Ball. The ilethodists of Freehold 
and all the country around, from Keyport and 
Bethany and Cheesequakes, on the east, to Ben- 
nett's Mills, on the south, went there to worship. 
Among the preachers in early times he remem- 
bers ]\Iajor Thomas ^Nlorrell (an officer of the 
Continental army, who was wounded at German- 
town and Long Island), Thomas Xeal, David 
Bartine, Thomas Stewart, James Long, Joseph 
Holdich, Isaac Winner, John K. Shaw, Daniel 
Fidler, Edward Page, Joseph Lvbrand, Charles 
Pitman and Anthony Atwood. The Quarterly 
Meetings were often held there, and were great 
gatherings. That was the only Methodist 
Church organization in the county when he first 
recollected it. The next society was formed at 
Long Branch. They built a church at what 



is now known as Mechanicsville. The third 
^Methodist society was organized at Ciiapel 
Hill, in ]\Iiddletown. From that place it wa.s 
the custom for the circuit preachers to come 
to Judge ilurphy's father's house, at Bethany, 
on Fridays, and preach. 

This account by Judge Murphy was given 
in his old age from memory, and is in some 
respects erroneous. There was a Methodist 
organization at Long Branch years before 
Judge Murphy was born. In 1790 it was 
under charge of the Rev. Zenas Conger, with 
whom his congregation had some disagreement, 
which resulted in his taking away a part of 
the members and firming what he called an 
Independent ^lethodist Church, of M'hich 
several were organized in this region a few 
years later. As to the society at Chapel Hill, 
it was not the third Methodist organization in 
this section, for it was preceded by that at 
jNIiddlctown Point, if not by others besides 
those at Long Branch and Blue Ball. The 
house of worship at Chapel Hill was in posses- 
sion of the Baptists until 1829, when it was 
sold to the ]\Iethodist society. With regard to 
these and other facts concerning the early 
Methodist organizations and worship in INIon- 
mouth County, reference may be had to the 
historv of the ^lethodist Church at Branchburg;, 
Eatontown township, and of the " Independent 
Baptist Church and Society at High Point" 
(Chapel Hill), in Middletown township. 

Judge Murphy had a clear recollection of 
the old church building at Blue Ball. The seats 
had no backs and the walls were unplastered. 
The pulpit was built high up on the wall. The 
building was very much out of repair. It would 
seat aljout one hundred and fifty people, but on 
Quarterly fleeting occasions a great many more 
could be crowded in. He remembered that 
Joseph Goodenough was a leading member of 
the church when he first knew it. The recol- 
lections of Mr. J. Forman Rogers and Mr. John 
J. Cottrell, concerning the old meeting-house 
and the early worship of the ^Methodists in the 
vicinity, are given in the history of the church 
at Blue Ball. 

The first ^lethodist meetings in the vicinity 
i of Freehold of which there is any account were 



424 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



held at Mount's Corner (West Freehold) in 1831, 
in the old store-house at that place, by James 
McBurney, a school-teacher and local preacher.' 
Out of these meetings grew a i-evival of religion, 
and a number of persons were converted and 
joined the church. Some of these converts next 
held meetings iu the old academy on Main Street, 
in Freehold, now occupied by the Gas-Light 
Comjjany as a work-shop and dwelling." 

Previous to this time the Methodists living 
in and near Freehold belonged to William 
Rogers' class, and were members of the church 
at Blue Ball, near which place ]\Ir. Rogers lived. 
He used to walk from his home to Freehold 
and hold prayer-meetings in the academy, iu 
the grand jury room at the court-house (the 
room now occuj)ied as an office by the sheriff), 
and in jDrivate houses.^ 

A class was now (1832) formed at Fi-eehold, 
and Joseph Murphy was appointed leader. The 
old class-book, containing the list of members 
and the record of their attendance upon the 
meetings, and a collector's book, in which was 
recorded the money received for the support 
of the preachers and the names of the iiersous 
contributing it, were found among his papers 
after his decease by his daughter, Mrs. Louisa 
Wheeler. Ralph Hulse acted as steward and 
collected the money. On the inside of the cover 
of the class-book is the following indorsement: 

"freehold village 
CLASS-BOOK. 

1832. 
JOSEPH MURPHY 

LEADER." 

On the first page of the book is the following 
list of membere : 

' McBurney's name appears in the old collector's book 
of Ralph Hulse, first quarter, 1832. 

' Rev. D. W. Bartine, then in his twenty-first year, and 
employed as a supply on Middlesex Mission (1831-32), on 
his way to the Annual Conference of 1832, preached in the 
old academy. The next time that he preached in Free- 
hold was on the occasion of the dedication of the present 
church building. 

'Mr. Rogers did not move to Freehold until the spring 
of 1838. His name is first recorded in the old class book 
in May of that year. 



Joseph Murphy, 
Alice Murphy, 
Enos R. Bartleson.* 
Alfred Hance, 
Rebecca Hance, 
Hanuali Smith, 
Ralph Hulse, 
Margaret Hulse, 
Hannah Lawrence, 
William A. Harvey. 
Jacob Blakesley, 
Ruth Blakesley, 
Samuel Conover, 
Mary Conover, 
Tvlee Sandford. 



Handwriting 
unrecognized. 



In Judge Murphy's 
handwriting. 



In lead pencil. 

The last two names 

scarcely legible. 



Upon the next page, where the names are 
transferred, all in Judge Murphy's handwriting, 
is a marginal record that Hannah Smith and 
the persons whose names follow hers joined the 
society August 6, 1832. On this second page 
Bartleson, ^Ir. and Mrs. Hance, Hannah Law- 
rence and Harvey are marked as removed, and 
Sandford as deceased. 

These were all the members of the Methodist 



* Enos R. Bartleson was a brother of John W. Bar- 
tleson, and in partnership with him in the printing business 
and publication of the Monmouth Inquirer. He subse- 
quently removed to the AVest. 

Jacob Blakesley was a storekeeper at Mount's Corner, and 
shortly .after this removed to Ohio. 

.\lfred Hance was an assistant to Blakesley, and at one 
time peddled wooden clocks for him throughout this sec- 
tion. These clocks then sold for twenty-four dollars 
apiece. Mrs. William Cooper, of Freehold, now has one of 
them, and it is still a good time-keeper. He also removed to 
the West. and. it is siiid, became a preacher. 

Hannah Smith is the widow of John Voorhees, deceased, 
and the mother of the Rev. William Voorhees, of the Newark 
Conference. She now resides on Elm Street, in Free- 
hold. 

Hannah Lawrence is the widow of John Lawrence, for- 
merly of Jerseyville, and the mother of Rev. R. V. Law- 
rence, deceased, and Jacob C. Lawrence, Esq., of Freehold. 
She resides about three miles south of Farmiugdale, is 
about eighty years old, and still in possession of all her 
faculties. 

William A. Harvey was ."in apprentice to Ralph Hulse, 
who then carried on the manufacture of hats in Freehold. 
Harvey removed about 1837. 

Mary Conover was the wife of ex-Sheritf Sanniel Con- 
over, of Freehold, and died about 1838. 

Tylee Sanford was a brother of James Sanford, de- 
ceased, of Freehold, and of Daniel I. Sanford, of English- 
town. He was killed while at work building the parsonage of 
the Reformed Dutch Church in Freehold, by the fall of a 
piece of timber, shortly after he joined the class. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



425 



Church theu residing in Freehold and its imme- 
diate vicinity, so far as can be now ascertained. 
Sally Throckmorton, who was a Methodist, and 
who kept a school in part of Alexander Low's 
cabinet-ware shop, had removed to Palmyra, 
X. Y., Mrs. Stillwell (Mrs. Judge Murphy's 
mother) had died and McBurney had removed.' 
At the bottom of the original list in Judge Mur- 
phy's old class-book appear the following names 

Ann Arcliy, Thomson Clayton, 

John M. Mount, Eleanor Voorhees, 

Mary Goble, Elijah Patterson, 

Eliza Solomon, Alice Johnson, 

Elizabeth Bond, Tunis Patterson, 

George Vancleaf, Michael Maghan, 

Caroline Stillwell, William Vanhorn, 

Jane Murray, Samuel Throp, 

Sarah West, John Voorhees, 

JIary Matthews, William B. Potts, 

Jane Patterson, Eliza Potts, 

Enoch Sandford, Amy Mathews, 

Ann Hulse, John C. Cunningham, 

Joseph Lewis, Catharine Lob, 

George Mount, Emeline McChesney, 

Phebe Stillwell, Samuel AVardeu, 

Sarah Lokerson, Mary Ann Warden, 

Content Stillwell, Rebecca Coward, 

Mary Clayton, Content Maghan, 

Eliza Bills, Apollo W. Borden, 

Rachel Bills, Hannah Borden, 

Eliza Conover, Elisha McCabe, 

John Conoly, Harriet McCabe, 

Richard Pearson, James Harris, 

David Lokerson, Deborah Patterson, 

Abigail Barkalow, Abigail Pyle, 

George Goble, Simon Pyle, 

Ida Hendrickson, Lydia Ann Chambers, 
Rebecca Ann Sandford, Eliza Price, 

Mary Sandford, Jemima Stillwell. 

183S. 

Phebe Patterson, Sarah Xeafie, 

Mary Conoly, Hannah Still (colored), 

Lydia Vancleaf, William Pettit, 

William Rogers, Hannah Pettit, 

Lucy Rogers, Mary Bryan, 

Sarah Rogers, Elizabeth Rogers. 
Abraham G. Neafle, 

1840. 

Newman, Hannah Asay, 

William Strickland, David Price, 

Amy Strickland, David Applegate, 

Jane Conk, Priscilla Richmond, 

Edward Asay, Mary Richmond. 

' Mrs. Stillwell owned and occupied a dwelling above the 
present Episcojial Church parsonage, about where Mulhol- 
land's tavern now stands. 



184L 



Daniel Sanford, 
Mary Ann Sanford, 
Rachel Cubberly, 



Fanny Cook, 
Elizabeth Conine. 



Mrs. David Lokerson (Sarah Stillwell), a 
sister of ]Mrs. Ralph Hulse, says slie well re- 
members the revival at Mount's Corner in 1832. 
It was the first year of the cholera, and the 
excitement attending the prevalence of the pesti- 
lence tended to make people serious. The meet- 
ings M'ere held by Stewart and James Moore. 
INIoore was an old man, and was familiarly 
known then as "Daddy" Moore. She does not 
remember McBurnev, although he might have 
been there. She lived in the Stillwell neigh- 
borhood, about three miles southeast of INIount's 
Corner. She had been married nine years. She 
went with her husband to attend the meetings 
and both were converted. She was taken into 
the society tlierc and her husband at the church 
at Blue Ball. The meetings at Mount's Corner 
were held in a store 1)uilding, where Jol) Throck- 
morton, Jr. (son of Job), then recently deceased 
at the age of forty-five years, had kept store. 
The store goods had all been removed ; Job 
Throckmorton, the elder, was still living and 
was a member of the Blue Ball Church. William 
Rogers was a class-leader at that time. 

In the fall following the organization of this 
class there was another revival in Freehold, 
and fifty or sixty persons — mostly young jdco- 
ple — were converted. David Bartiue was the 
senior jjreacher, and Thomas G. Stewart the 
junior preacher, on the circuit. Stewart prob- 
al^ly made his home in this neighborhood and 
conducted the revival meetings, for his name, 
and not Bartine's, is always associated with this 
revival. Some of these converts fell away, 
some removed from the neighborhood, some 
died, and a few remained faithful and were re- 
ceived into full membership. 

Steven Lane, a resident of Freehold, and 
now in his seventy-ninth year, gives the follow- 
ing description of Stewart as he recollects 
him : "He was spirited, had a strong voice, and 
thundered when he preached. His sermon 
would melt tlie congregation to tears. He 
would pray as if heaven and earth were coming 
together. At the coni'lusion of his prayer, 



426 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sometimes, he ■woukl not wait to go dowu the 
pulpit-stairs, but wouki jump from his knees 
right over the front of the pulpit into the altar, 
and go right to work with the penitents. The 
house was usually crowded ; even the altar 
would he full, when he preached. It was at 
Blue Ball and Upjier Squankum where I heard 
him preach. He was not a large man, about 
five feet eight or nine inches high, quick and 
nervous in action, a rapid speaker, but with a 
very clear utterance, — everybody could distin- 
guish what he said. He used plain and simple 
language. It was reported of him that he got 
bothered one day, while preaching at Long 
Branch, about the grammatical construction of 
a sentence, when he dashed it aside with the 
exclamation, 'I would not give the grace of 
God for all the grammar in the world,' and 
then went on with his discourse." 

At this time the whole of New Jersey was 
included within the bounds of the Philadelphia 
Conference, and Freehold Circuit covered the 
territory now included within the boundaries of 
Monmouth and Ocean Counties, together with 
one or two ajjpointments in ^liddlesex County. 
The district was known as East Jersey District, 
and comprised all of tlie State north of Bur- 
lington County, except Sussex and ^^'arren 
Counties, and including Statcn Island. J. .J. 
Matthias Avas presiding elder. The circuit 
preachers of Freehold Circuit during the year 
18.3.") were .James Lono- Thomas G. Stewart 
and Mulford Day. James ^loore, a supernu- 
merary, resided within the bounds of the cir- 
cuit, probably at Long Branch, for the next 
year, when that place became a separate charge, 
James Moore was there assigned. 

Statistics of Freehold ajiai-t from the circuit, 
and no statistics in detail until after ^Middle- 
town Circuit was cut off from Freehold, in 1837. 
In the Conference ^Minutes for 1833, Freehold 
Circuit reported thirteen hundred and twelve 
white membei's and twenty-two colored mem- 
bers. The Conference collections for the circuit 
are r'eported at twenty-six dollars, and the 
whole Conference (including all of Xew Jereey 
and the richest part of Pennsylvania) contrib- 
uted only .S"2129.cO for missionary purpo.ses. 

At the Annual Conference of 1834, I)avid 



AV. Bartine, Robert E. ^Morrison and William 
H. Gilder were received on trial, Francis A. 
^[orrell was ordained a deacon, and J. Leonard 
Gilder, ( ' ) Jefferson Lewis, John L. Lenhart 

' Mr. Gilder, in his semi-centennial sermon delivered be- 
fore the New York East Conference, .\pril 2, 1S79, thus de- 
scribes Freehold Circuit as he first knew it : 

"In the spring of 1829, when but a beardless youth, 
seventeen years of age, I bade adieu to my father's house, 
in the city of Philadelphia, and, with my saddle-bags and 
my horse, took my solitary way to what was then known 
as Freehold Circuit, at that time one of the oldest and 
largest circuits in the Slate of New Jersey, the limits of 
which extended on the north from Little Washington to 
the Highlands, thence on the east to Squan, thence on the 
south to Freehold, (hence on the west to Little Washington. 
It was a four weeks' circuit, with two preachers, a senior 
and a junior. It embraced twenty-eight preaching-places, 
the preachers alternating every two weeks. The appoint- 
ments were chiefly in private houses. There were but five 
meeting-houses on the circuit: at Cheesequakes, Rumson, 
Long Briineh, Squan and Squankum. They were small, 
plain structures, in some instances unceiled, with unplaned 
boards for seats ; at evening service lighted with tallow 
candles. The largest and most pretentious wa,s that at 
Long Branch. A description of the meeting-house at 
Cheesequ.ikes may not be devoid of interest. Erected in 
days of yore, to which the memory of no man living goeth 
back, it was constructed accordingto themost primitive style 
of Methodist Church architecture. It stood in the midst of a 
sand-field, one of the most God-forsaken spots of earth I 
ever saw, whei'e neither bird, beast, reptile or insect could 
have extracted nutrition sufficient for the most ephemeral 
existence. The building was as unpolluted by paint with- 
in and without as when its timbers were growing in their 
native forest. A gallery extended around three sides. .\t 
the extreme end of the left gallery was a small room parti- 
tioned ott' for class-meetings. The pulpit was elevated about 
six feet above the floor, and in form resembled a large dry- 
goods box, the breast-work so high as almost to conceal the 
preacher, if small in stature, from view. From the pulpit 
extended a stair-case conducting to the class-room in the 
gallery, to wliich the preaclier and the members repaired 
at the close of the public service. At the time I preached 
in it, being well ventilated, the swallows were tenants at 
will, and had literally found a nest for their young. It 
was in this meeting-house the renowned Benjamin Abbott 
was preaching, when a terrific thunder-storm arose, during 
which, with stentorian voice, he exclaimed, "Thunder, my 
Lord, outside, while I thunder within !" and men and wo- 
men all through the house suddenly fell, as though a frig- 
ate had poured a broadside of shot into the congregation. 
At the time of my labors on the circuit, Keyport was not in 
existence. Red Bank consisted simply of a few scattered 
houses. The same was true of South Amboy. Freehold 
town, a small village, was inaccessible to the Methodists. The 
preaching-place was the house of Joseph Murphy, Esq., 
the tanner, then in the suburbs of the town. Where are 
now Asbury Park and (Icean Grove and Ocean Beach, with 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



427 



(aftenvardschaplain oftlic " Cuinl)er]and"),WiI- 
liam A. Wilnier, Joseph Ashbrook, Edmund 
S. Janes and Thomas G. Stewart received 
elders' orders. 

At the same time Ezekiel Cooper (who en- 
tered the ministry in 1785), Daniel Fielder 
(1789), Thomas Morrell (1787), Thomas Ware 
(1784) and James Moore (1794), worn out in the 
service, took supernumerary relations. The 
veterans who were then retiring from active 
service were cotemporary with "\A"esley, Coke 
and Asbury, while we who are here to-day 
were many of us familiarly acquainted with 
Bartine, ^lorrison, the Gilders, Chaplain Len- 
hart and others, the new recruits then just join- 
ing the ranks. Indeed, there are some of us 
here who have touched hands with the veterans 
of 1834, and have thus bridged the centur}' be- 
tween the children of this generation and the 
founder of Methodism, — John Wesley, — and 
the first bishops of tlie church in America, — 
Coke and Asbury. 

Under Stewart's pastorate, and while he was 
holding meetings at the old academy, a revival 
broke out, which thirty years ago was still spo- 
ken of as a great revival. It probably extended 
to other parts of the circuit in this vicinity. 

On the 2d of j\Iarch, 1833, a meeting was 
held at the academy for the purpose of electing 
a board of trustees, preliminary to the erection 
of the first church building-. At this meetina: 
Eev. Thomas G. Stewart presided, and Alfred 
Hance was secretary. The following-named 
persons w-ere elected : Joseph JMurphj', Ralph 
Hulse, Enos R. Bartleson, Samuel Conover, 
Jacob Elakesley. 

On the 30th of tlie same month they took 
and subscribed three several oatlis before Wil- 
liam Lloyd, a justice of the peace, — one to sup- 
port the Constitution of the United States, one 

their teeming population, was a vast wilderness of sand and 
pine, the oppressive stillness unbroken save by the occa- 
sional report of the hunter's fowling-piece or the deep 
bass of the unquiet ocean. 

" At Middletown Point, now Matsiwan, the preaching- 
place was the house of a Brother Walling, who, with his com- 
panion, extended the utmost hospitfility to the preaidiers. 
The grateful remembrance of their personal attentions to 
my own needs and comfort the lapse of years has failed 
either to efface or diminish." 



of true filth and allegiance to the State govern- 
ment, and the third to faithfiilly execute the 
trust of their office as " Trustees of the 'Meth- 
odist Episcopal Congregation of the Wesleyau 
Chapel in the Village of Freehold." ' The lot 
was purchased of Daniel Stillwell for the siun 
of one hundred and seven dollars. At that 
time this lot was out of town, and was located, 
probably, as a compromise between Freehold 
and Mount's Corner. The church building 
was erected and dedicated during the following 
year (1834); Rev. Edmund S. Janes, afterwards 
bishop, officiated at the dedicatory ceremonies." 
The building was an exceedingly plain one, 
thirty-five by forty feet square, standing with 
the gable-end to the street. There w-ere two 
rows of small windows on each side, and on 
the front were tln-ee upper windows and one 
lower one (between the two doors). In the 
centre of the front, on a line with the eave.s, 
was a small sign-board bearing the legend, in 
three lines of painted letters, — " Freehold ^I. 
E. Church." Inside, a gallery, suj)ported by 
thick wooden columns, extended around three 
sides of the church. The aisles were narrow ; 
the floors were bare ; it was M'armed by two 
square wood-burning stoves, and was lighted 
with candles. The pulpit was a quaint struc- 
ture, after the style of the period, into which 
the preacjier \vent by a short flight of stairs and 
shut himself in with a door. The cost of the 
building- was twelve hundred dollars, and it 
was with much difficulty that the money was 
raised to pay for it.' 

'On the 19th of February, 1875, this title was formally 
changed to that of "The Freehold Methodist Episcopal 
Church." 

' Steven Lane was present at the haying of the corner- 
stone of the first building. A preacher from New York 
was to deliver the sermon on this occasion, but failed to 
come, and Stew.art preached. Lane was also present at 
the dedication, and heard Mr. Janes preach. 

3 Jvidge Murphy was fond of relating one of the efforts 
to clear off the debt. .-Vt a camp-meeting in the neighbor- 
borhood they opened a stand and sold refreshments, con- 
sisting of cakes and pies and home-made small beer. 
The barrel of beer soon gave out, but the demand for it 
was so great that they felt constrained to fill the barrel 
with molasses and water, flafored with ginger, and so 
continued to supply the demand, which, the weather being 
very warm, was unabated. 



428 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



In 1834 tho circuit preachers were James 
Long and J. X. Crane. Long died at Imlays- 
town, January 13, 1863, aged seveuty-five years. 
Stewart died at Bordentowu, January 24, 1848, 
aged fifty-eight yeai*s. Crane went to the New- 
ark Conference. At the Conference this year 
Long Branch was set oif as a station, witli John 
K. Shaw preacher in charge and James Moore 
as supernumerary. Moore died May 11, 1842. 
Shaw became presiding elder of the distinct in 
1850 and died October 4, 1858. 

In 1835, Edward Page was appointed circuit 
preacher, witli "one to be supplied." He died 
at the Annual Conference, at Keyport, March 
25, 18(37. 

In 1836, Mulford Day and William Rol)ert- 
son were appointed to the circuit. Day died 
June 26, 1851. Eobertson died November 2, 
1864. 

In 1837 the circuit was divided. A new 
circuit was cut out and named Middletown 
Circuit. From the i-ecords of Freehold Circuit 
(lately in possession of the pastor of Farming- 
dale Church) it is learned that it now included 
sixteen appointments, viz.,— Freehold, Squan- 
kum, Green Grove (.Jersey ville), Longstreet's 
(West Farms),White's School-House (two miles 
south of Blue Ball), Mo.ses Bennett's (Bennett's 
Mills, one mile south of New Prospect), Har- 
mony (near Hyers' tavern, on the I'oad to Tom's 
River), Littleton Herbert's (near Bricksburg), 
INIanasquan, Howell Works (Allaire), ^Vbraham 
Herbert's (Burrsville), Newman's School-House, 
Shark River (Hamilton), Tinton Falls, Colt's 
Neck and Turkey. 

At this time Josejjh Murphy appears as a 
steward and leader, and William Rogers as 
leader and exhorter. John I. Cottrell is the 
only one of the official members of the circuit 
now known to be living. Joseph 3Iurphy, 
Joseph Goodenough, Jonathan Youmans, John 
B. Williams, Richard Longstreet, Hance Her- 
bert, AVilliam Parker, Francis Fieldei-, Silas 
Newman, Littleton Herbert, William Rogers, 
Caleb Lokerson all died in the faith, aud have 
gone to their reward* 

In 1838, Joseph Atwood' aud Charles S. 

' Atvrood is still living, and resides at Bridgeton. 



Downs appeared as circuit preachers. After the 
Fourth Quarterly Meeting of this year Colt's 
Neck disappears from the list of appointments. 

In 1839. — Edward Page and Thomas Canfield 
were the circuit preachers. 

In 1840. — Edward Page and Vincent Mess- 
ier. 

' In 1841, Bromwell Andrews and William 
P. Corbit.^ Upper Squankum (Farmingdale), 
Englishtown aud Green Grove appear in the 
list of appointments for this Conference year. 

In 1842, Bromwell Andrews and Nicholas 
Vansant. 1843, Abraham J. Truett and .lo- 
seph B. Dobbins.^ Upper Turkey (Blue Ball) 
and Lower Turkey (Fairfield) ajjpear in the 
appointments this year. 

1844.— Abraham J. Truett, Jacob P. Fort.* 

The first Sunday-school wa.s organized in 
1844 or 1845 by Sarah Rogers, daughter of 
William Rogers. She was assisted bv Mrs. 
Hulse and Mary Murphy. iNIiss Rogers was 
followed, in 1850, by John G. Cooper as super- 
intendent, assisted by John H. Mecabe (now of 
Jersey City), and subsequently by Francis de 
Lombrado and John Hanlon, Jonathan Vannote 
and William Voorhees. The school had been 
suspended l>efore Mr. Cooper came in, and he 
resuscitated it. During this period the school 
was suspended during the winter months. 
Since 1854 it has been carried on regularly, 
without intermission, throughout the year. 

1845. — Samuel .Jaquett and Robert Given. 

1846 — Samuel Jaquett, Jonathan W. Put- 
nam and Charles P. Whitecar. 

1847. — Joseph J. Sleeper (died February 27, 
1873), W. W. Christine. 

1848.— John S. Beegle (died JNIarch 20, 
1882).^ 

- Botli still living — Andrews at Navesink, in this 
county, and Corbit in Brooklyn, N. Y. Corbit says that 
there were then thirty-seven appointments on the circuit. 
Each man preached at one of these places once a month, 
which would give preaching every two weeks — week-days 
and Sundays, Judge Murphy at this time, he says, was 
the leading man of the town — store-keeper, farmer and 
judge of the County Court. 

^ Mr. Dobbins is now a member of the Philadelphia Con- 
ference, and is stationed at Reading. 

* Mr. Fort is now a member of the Newark Confer- 
ence. 

' .Mr. Beegle was instrumental in building two churches 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



429 



At the last Quarterly Conference of 1848 
Point Pleasant and Hulse's School-House were 
added to the list of appointments. 

1849.— .J. J. Hanley (died October 28, 1860). 

1850. — John K. Shaw appears as presiding 
elder, and .John W. Barret and William Clark 
as circuit preachers. One hundred dollars each 
was allowed the preachers for table expenses 
and fuel. Thomas Hanlou appears as an ex- 
horter at the Fourth Quarterly Meeting for this 
year, and A^'illiam H. Clark was recommended 
for the traveling connection. 

1851. — -John W. Barret, preacher in charge; 
AMIliam C. Stockton and Samuel T. Moore, 
local preachers under the elder. 

In 1851 a building kuown as the "cocoon- 
ery," then standing on the site now occupied 
by the Presbyterian Church, was fitted up for a 
dwelling. The church leased this buildino;, 
and Mr. Barret moved from S<juankum aud 
occupied it. The church here is represented as 
having been for a long while in a spiritually 
cold condition. During this year there was a 
powerful revival, known as "the Bai-ret re- 
vival." It commenced during; the winter of 
1851, and continued into the spring of 1852. 
There were many conversions ; among them 
were Mrs. Jane Cottrell (recently deceased), 
I\Irs. Kate White, j\Iary aud Phebe ^lurpliy, 
Caroline Stillwell (afterwards Mrs. Ephraim 
Robbins) and Derrick Long-street. At the 
Fourth Quarterly Meeting, John H. Stockton 
appears as an exhorter, and William C. Stockton 
aud Samuel T. Moore were recommended to be 
received into the traveling connection. At the 
same meeting John H. Stockton and Thomas 
Hanlon were licensed as local preachers. At 
this meeting complaint was made against a local 
preacher, — 

" That he had been in the practice of treating to in- 
toxicating liquors ; 

That he had been seen to drink intoxicating drinl^s 
himself; 

That he had been seen in a bowling-alley, prepar- 
ing to roll balls; 

That it was presumed that he had thrown dice." 

— one at Blue Ball (Bethesda) and one at Farmingdale. 
He also received (18-49—30) into the church Thamas Han- 
lon, now the distinguished principal of Pennington Semi- 
nary. Mr. Becgle died at MilWille, March 20, 1882. 



The trial of this ca.se was postponed from 
time to time, and at length the offending brother 
was, by vote, allowed to resign his position as 
local preacher. 

In 1852, Benjamin D. Palmer and William 
C. Stockton were appointed to the circuit. At 
the Second Quarterly ileeting of this yeai-, 
October 23d, Ruliff V. Lawrence appears as an 
exhorter and Willituu Franklin as a local 
preacher. At the Third Quarterly Meeting, 
January 22, 185.3, Franklin appears as a cir- 
cuit preacher,' and at the Fourth Quarterly 
Meeting, April 2, 1853, he was recommended 
for admission into the traveling connection. At 
this last meeting it was "Resolved, That the 
liishop be requested to divide Freehold Circuit 
at the ensuing Conference." The receipts on 
account of preachers' salaries amounted to about 
$905, of which there was paid to the elder, .$48 ; 
to Mr. Palmer, .§377; to Mr. Stockton, $380; 
to Mr. Franklin, $75 ; aud to ilr. McGowen, 
$25. 

In 1850, William Clark was junior preacher 
on Frecliold Circuit. The practice was for him 
to preach once in two weeks at Freehold in the 
morning, and at Englishtown in the afternoon. 
This was one day's work. Blue Ball, Hulse's 
School-House and Harmony, one day's work, 
once in two weeks. Shark River in the morn- 
ing, Farmingdale in the afternoon and a school- 
house in the evening. Saturday night at Her- 
bert's house once in four weeks. Point I'leasant, 
Sunday morning, Squan Village in the after- 
noon, and Xewman's in the evening, once in 
four weeks. There were week-night appoint- 
ments on the circuit. Occasionally the preachers 
would, on the two weeks' tours, come back to 
Freehold aud preach on Sunday night, staying 
generally at Judge Murphy's and occasionally 
at Ralph Hulse's. 

At the request of the Quarterly Conference, 
the Annual Conference of 1853 divided the 
circuit, creating a new circuit, which was named 
Sfpiankum, aud leaving of the old Freeliold 
Circuit but a small portion. The onl}' statistics 
found of Freehold Circuit, as it Mas now con- 
stituted, and the Conference minutes of 1854, 

'At the same meeting Ruliff V. Lawrence was licensed 
as n local preacher. 



430 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sliow that in 1853-54 it had three churches (prob- 
ably Freehold, Blue Ball aud Harmony), four 
Sunday-schools, with sixty-five officers and 
teachers, four hundred and fifty scholars, eight 
hundred volumes in their libraries (an average 
of two hundred volumes to each school). The 
Conference collections for that year were : For 
missions, $43.24 ; Bible cause, $17.50 ; Sunday- 
School Union, $13.00; Tract Society, $40.12; 
Conference claimants, $17.60. The preachers this 
year were Benj. D. Palmer and John Atkinson. 

About this time the church here was undergoing 
a change, by additions to the membership of young 
and enterprising men zealous for the cause. Among 
these were John G. Cooper, who had recently 
joined by certificate, Abraham S. Lokersou, 
James M. Hopper, Steven M. Cooper, Francis 
M. de Lombrado aud John V. Snedeker. The 
railroad had been built to the town this year, 
and strangers began to come here to settle, bring- 
ing with them new ideas and new methods — at 
least new to this section. Some of them were 
members of the Methodist Church, and others, 
who were not members, sympathized with it and 
attended upon its ministrations. At this time 
preaching was had on Sabbath mornings only 
every other week, and preaching on Sabbath 
eveninsfs was irreaular. The intervals were 
filled by prayer and class-meetings conducted by 
local preachers occasionally, and by the exhort- 
ers. This irregularity in the services did not 
suit some of these younger brethren. They had 
been accustomed to Sabbath services regularly 
throughout the year, morning aud evening, aud 
they began to cast about in their minds the 
question of how to mend the matter. 

The leaders at this time were '• Father " 
Rogers and Judge Murphy, both advanced in 
years, but both zealous aud strong men in the 
service of the church, and the mainstay of its 
spiritual interests. John Hanlon and Jona- 
than Vannote, apprentices to the printing busi- 
ness, had been recently converted at a woods 
meeting in the neighljorhood, and were exer- 
cising; their gifts in exhortation. Both soon 
afterwards entered the ministry, and both held 
important positions in the work of the church. ' 

1 Hanlon took a course of study at Pennington Seminary ; 



In 1S54 the preachers were John S. Beegle 
and John Atkinson. With a view to regular 
preaching here every Sunday, an arrangement 
was entered into by which the Freehold Church 
assumed the responsibility of paying the board 
of the junior jireacher, aud had his services 
every Sunday evening. They also fitted up 
his lodgings with such conveniences as were 
needed. James S. Yard appears this year as 
Sunday-school superintendent. As a result of 
the work this year, a revival broke out during 
the \\inter, which is known as " the Atkinson 
revival." It commenced in this way : On a 
Sunday evening, after the prayer-meeting which 
followed the regular service, ^Ir. Atkinson 
invited all the members of the church who earn- 
estly desired a revival to meet him in the church 
the next evening. Accordingly, at the time 
appointed, there was a large attendance of the 
membership, and their prayers were especially 
offered in the direction indicated. The work 
went on from that evening until the meeting 
of the Annual Conference, and a large number 
of converts were gathered in. Among them 
was the aged mother of Thomas and John 
Hanlon. Preachers from other parts of the 
State attended and took part in these meet- 
ings, and members of other denominations in 
the town manifested their sympathy with it l)y 
their attendance. Rev. H. D. Cause, of the 
Reformed Dutch Chui-ch, delivered an earnest 
sermon one evening from the text " Come, for 
all things are now ready." 

The church was so much encouraged and 
strengthened at this time that it was resolved to 
ask the Conference to set it off as a station. It 
was with misgivings as to the result of such a 
measure, on the part of some of the elderly 



was licensed to preacli in 1856; in 1857 he joined the 
Newark Conference, and after a career seldom equaled for 
its usefulness and brillancy, died at Morristown, aged 
thirty-nine years, on' the 4th of January, 1875, having 
served nineteen years in the ministry. 

Vannote entered the New Jersey Conference, and after 
filling some prominent positions located at Treutou, and 
became editor aud publisher of the Stale Guzelte. He 
relinr|uished this position after some years, and became 
an editor of a daily newspaper in Pittsburg. He is now, 
or was last summer, employed on the editorial staff of 
the Philadelphia Evening Cull. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



431 



brethren, whose zeal was tempered by an expe- 
rience that the yountier men were yet to acqnire ; 
they consented, however, after a canvass of the 
congregation had resnlted in securing pledges of 
a sufficient amonnt to sustain the expenses of the 
station. In the spiritual condition in which the 
churcii then was, this was no difficult matter. 
The strug-o-le to sustain the charge was vet to 
come. 

Accordingly, at the Conference of 1855 Free- 
hold was set off as a station, and Daniel L. Ad- 
ams was appointed to the charge. He was a 
man zealous for the work of the Lord, winning 
in his manners, a good preacher, and an indus- 
trious aud methodical worker. During his two 
years of service he strengthened aud built up the 
church and endeared himself to all. 

The following is a list of the officers of the 
church aj)poiuted at the First Quarterly Confer- 
ence for the station, which was held in the 
church on the 17th of May, 1855 : 

Leaders. — Daniel L. Adams (preacher), John G. 
Cooper, William Rogers, James S. Yard, Abraham S. 
Lokerson. 

Stewards. — William Rogers, James S. Yard, Joseph 
Murphy, James M. Hopper, John V. Snedeker, Sam- 
uel Conover. Recording Steward and District Steward, 
James S. Yard ; Tract Steward, .John G. Cooper. 

Exhorters. — John Hanlon, William Rogers. 

Sunday -School. — Superintendent .James S. Yard; 
Librarian, James M. Hopper ; Secretary, James P. 
Connolly. 

Missionary Cmnmittee. — J. M. Hopper, John Han- 
lon, .J. G. Cooper. 

At this first official meeting for the station, the 
Sunday-school superintendent reported an aver- 
age attendance for the previous quarter of fifty- 
four scholars, being an increase of nineteen since 
last report. The highest number in attendance 
at any oue time was seventy. 

At tlie Conference of 1856, Adams was re- 
turned to Freehold charge. At the official 
meetiug on Novemljer 6th, a resolution was 
adopted that the question of seating the con- 
gregation pi'omiseuously be Ijrought before the 
congregation. Hitherto the men and women 
liad occupied sejjarate seats, as was then still 
the practice in many ]\Iethodist Churches. 
About the 1st of December in this year a re- 
vival was held, which contmued for several 



weeks, and resulted in the conversion of a num- 
ber of young men. At the Fourth Quarterly 
Conference for this year, held January ^3, 1857, 
the trustees reported that there M'as no debt on 
the church property. At this (Quarterly Confer- 
ence Fi-aucis ^I. de Lombrado and James S. 
Bogart were appointed stewards in place of 
jNIessrs. A^'alters and Snedeker, who had re- 
moved. 

In 1857, Rev. J. B. Graw was appointed to 
this charge. He was young, earnest and aggres- 
sive. He at once became a leader, especially 
among the younger portion of the church. At 
the official meeting held May 7th the leaders 
reported a general lack of attendance at the 
class-meetings. At the First Quarterly Confer- 
ence for this year, held May 25th, the preacher 
i-eported the Sunday-school in a prosperous con- 
dition, with a cousideralile accession to the ranks 
of both scholars aud teachers, and an addition 
of twenty-five dollars' worth of books to the 
library. An allowauce of three hundred and 
fifty dollars for salary, board, washing, fuel and 
lights for the pastor was voted at this meeting. 
A conmiittee was appointed "to examine the 
church [building] and report what repairs are 
necessary, or, if not worth repairing, to make 
such report as the nature of the case, in their 
judgment, requires." 

In a village newspaper of June 4th of this 
year is fouud the following paragraph, which is 
the only record of the event to which it refers : 

"The Methodists of Freehold unanimously 
resolved, at a meeting held on Monday evening 
last, to build a new church in place of the oue 
they now occupy, which is in a dilapidated con- 
dition and too small to accommodate the con- 
gregation. They intend, if possible, to build 
one that will not ouly be comfortable, but be an 
ornament to the village." 

On June 4th two new classes were organized, 
one at Mount's Corner, of which B. Cook 
Reynolds was appointed leader, and one to be 
held on Friday evenings at the church, of which 
the pastor was to be the leader. 

On the 20th of July, pursuant to notice, a 
meeting was held at the church for the election 
of a board of trustees. There is no record of auy 
meeting of the board after that of the 20th of 



432 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



April, 1833, to take the official oath, nor is there 
any official record of any new election after that 
date until now. In the book of minutes of the 
board of stewards there is a memorandum 
made by the secretary of that board, of the offi- 
cial members of the church for 1855, in which 
appears a list of the members of the board of 
trustees, as follows : 

TRUSTEES. 

I Joseph Murjiby, 

Original Trustees ] Samuel Conover, 

( Ralph Hulse, 

f John G. Cooper, 

Elected August 6, 1855 -^ j^^^^ jj_ Hopper. 

At the meeting now held all these trustees 
tendered their resignations, which were accepted, 
when the following-named persons were then 
duly elected in their stead : Joseph Murphy, 
Ralph Hulse, Samuel Conover, James S. Yard, 
John G. Cooper, James M. Hopper, Steven M. 
Cooper, — to serve for one year, or until their 
successors shall be elected. 

Immediately after the election the board or- 
ganized by the election of Joseph jNIurphy as 
president and treasurer and James S. Yard as 
secretary. Plans and specifications were sub- 
mitted, by a committee appointed by the old 
board, for a new church building, which were 
adopted, and a committee was appointed to sell 
the old building. 

The old building was sold at public sale on 
the 1st of August, and was purchased by ^lessrs. 
William H. Conover and John E. Haley for 
$298. They removed it to a lot adjoining the 
residence of Judge ^McLean, on the site now oc- 
cupied by the residence of the late ^Nlrs. Judge 
Vredenburgh, and converted it into a public hall, 
which was called "Citizens Hall." It was so 
used until 1869, when it was purchased by Judge 
McLean, who cut it in two and moved part of 
it around the corner into ^McLean street, and 
converted it into a dwelling, which now stands 
there. The last public services in the old church 
were held on Sunday, the 16th of August. 
The next Sunday, August 23d, being Quarterly 
INIeeting, services were held at three o'clock p. M. in 
the Baptist Church, which was kindly tendered 
for that purpose. 

The corner-stone of the new church was laid 



on the 25th of August. The exercises were con- 
ducted by Rev. J. B. Graw. Rev. E. W. Col- 
lier, of the Reformed Church, assisted in the ex- 
ercises. Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, presiding 
elder, delivered the sermon — his topic was 
" Progress." While the new church was build- 
ing, meetings were held in the Baptist Church 
on Sunday afternoons and in the session-room 
of the Presbyterian Church ou Sunday evenings. 
The Sabljath-school was suspended, uu suital)le 
place in which to hold it being obtainable. Ste- 
ven M. Cooper was elected a steward in jjlace 
of James Bogart, removed from the town. 

At this time the churchyard was used for 
burial purposes, and frequently by persons who 
were not members of the church or congrega- 
tion. No charge was made for burial-plots, 
and in consequence the graveyard was rapidly 
filling up. All the easterly side of the yard 
was already filled, and the graves began to en- 
croach upon the westerly side. As the westerly 
side was needed for the accommodation of car- 
riages, it was thought that some restriction 
should be laid upon burials. Action was there- 
fore taken by the trustees, at a meeting on the 
7th of September, forbidding any burials west 
of a line " parallel with the easterly line of tlie 
church lot and ranging with the easterly side of 
the church building," restricting burials to those 
who already had friends buried there, and re- 
quiring jjermission first to be had of the com- 
mittee to be appointed to superintend the mat- 
ter. It was more than nine years afterwards 
(viz., on the 24th of November, 1866) that a 
resolution was adopted forbidding burials in the 
cluirch-yard under any circumstances whatever, 
and at tlie same time another resolution was 
adopted requesting all persons having friends 
buried there to remove their remains as soon as 
possible. The first one to accede to this request 
was Judge ^lurphy, who had a plat, handsoniely 
ornamented and fenced, on the easterly side of 
the church, in which several members of his 
family had been buried. Others followed his 
example. Notices were sent out to all persons 
that could be reached, of the action taken by 
the trustees. At length, it having been deter- 
mined to build a parsonage on the easterly side 
of the lot, public notice was given, February 



« 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



433 



4tli, ill the newspapers to all persons interested, 
to remove the remains of their friends on or be- 
fore the 1st day of March ensuing (1869), if 
they desired to, do so; otherwise the trustees 
would proceed to remove them. So generally 
was this request complied with that the whole 
expense tu the church of removing those that 
were left amounted to only $31.20. 

The new church building was finished and 
ready to be occupied during the latter part of 
April, 1858. The dedication took place on 
Sunday, the 25th April, when the following 
exercises were had : 

Singing — 16t]i hymn, "Before Jeliovali's awful 
throne." 

Prayer — Rev. F. A. Morrell. 

Reading of the 84th Psalm — " How amiable are thy 
tabernacles, Lord of hosts !" 

Singing — 9()6th hymn, " Lord of hosts, to thee we 
raise." 

Sermon — Rev. I). W. Bartine, from 1st John iv. 8 : 
" He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is 
love." 

In the afternoon there was a sermon by Rev. 
F. A. Morrell, of Long Branch, and in the even- 
ing anotlier sermon b}' Dr. Bartine. During 
the day subscriptions and money amounting to 
seven hundred and twenty dollars were taken 
up. 

The new church was designed by Charles 
Graham, architect, of Trenton. (Originally the 
style was Romanesque, and finished on the out- 
side in imitation of brown stone. Gas-fixtures 
were put in while it was building, and it was 
lighted with gas on the evening of the dedica- 
tion. It was the first building in Freehold 
lighted with gas ; it being the last building then 
on the line of the mains, the first gas turned on 
was burned out at the church to clear the mains 
of air. The first cost of the church was about 
four thousand four hundred dollars, of which 
two thousand three hundred and sixty-one dol- 
lars was ]iaid by subscriptions, and sale of the 
old church building. 

At the October meeting in 1858 the class at 
Black's Mills reported that they were desirous 
of purchasing the old building at that place 
which formerly belonged to the Methodists. The 
proposition was indorsed by the Quarterh' Con- 
ference, and Rulift' S. Hulshart, David Clayton, 
■28 



John Ij. Snyder, J. B. (iraw and William H. 
Clayton were appointed a committee to make the 
purchase. This enterprise seems to have failed, 
as no further mention is made of it. 

In August of this year a camp-meeting was 
held in Gordon's woods, near Freehold, on the 
line of the Freehold and Jaraesburg Agri- 
cultural Railroad. During this meeting the 
ladies of the church kept a boai'ding-tent on the 
grounds, the proceeds of which were applied to 
the liquidation of tlie debt on the church. 
Women never, perhaps, worked harder than 
these women did during the si.x days of this 
meeting ; but the expenses ran away with most 
of the profits. There were about sixty tents on 
the ground, and it wa.s considered to be a large 
meeting for this section in those days. Over 
thirty preachers were in attendance, among 
them Dr. D. W. Bartine and Hai'ris, " the con- 
verted Jew." There was a large attendance of 
people. Good order was maintained through- 
out. During the progress of this meeting news 
was received of the successful laying of the first 
Atlantic cable. 

At the conference of 1859, Mr. Graw, to whose 
indomitable faith and untiring energy the church 
was so largely indebted for the new and beauti- 
ful edifice which they now possessed, was trans- 
ferred to a new field of labor, and Rev. G. R. 
Snyder was appointed to the charge. 

At the official meeting of May 6t]i the ])rcach- 
ers' salary was fixed at five hundred dollars and 
house rent. Lombrado and Hopper resigned as 
members of the board of stewards, and Geoi'ge 
H. Bills was appointed to the board. Alfred 
Walters was appointed recording steward. 

At the First Quarterty Conference for 1861, 
Rev. F. B. Rose appeared as pastor. 

The official members were as follows : 

Exhorters. — William Rogers, R. S. Hulshart, F. de 
Lombrado, John Strieker. 

Leaders. — J. G. Cooper, A. S. Lokerson, William 
Rogers, Alfred Walters. 

Stewards. — William Rogers, .Joseph Murphy, James 
S. Yard, Steven B. C'oburn, Alfred Walters, George 
H. Bills, Samuel Couover. 

At the Quarterly Conference, November 9th 
Ruliff S. Hulshart was licensed as a local 
preacher. 



434 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



On the uight of February 24, 1862, during 
a severe storm, the roof of the church, which was 
of tin, was blown ofi' by the wind. The next 
morning it was found hanging in strips from 
the eaves, swinging against the windows and 
breaking out the glass. It was replaced by a 
shingle roof at a cost of three hundred and fifty 
dollars. 

Rev. John W. Kramer was appointed to the 
charge in 18()2. He was very much beloved 
by his congregation, Ijut there was no remarka- 
ble work during his pastorate. It was in the 
height of the excitement of the War of the Re- 
bellion, which seemed to swallow up all other 
interests. 

At the Fourth Quarterly Conference Herbert 
H. Parker and Stephen Morris were licensed as 
local preachers. 

In 1864, Rev. Robert M. Stratton was ap- 
pointed to the charge. He remained but one 
year. Rev. W. W. Moffett became pastor of 
the church in 1865. He remained three years. 
His pastorate is remarkable for its financial suc- 
cess, as well as for a revival which commenced 
during the latter part of the term, and continued 
with great power until the meeting of Confer- 
ence. In June of this year a committee of the 
board of trustees reported the estimated cost of 
repairs of damages to the church building, oc- 
casioned by the defective siding, at seven hun- 
dred dollars. A committee was appointed to 
have the work done. After the work was com- 
menced it was found that the damage to the 
building was much more extensive than was at 
first anticipated, and the cost ran u|)to over two 
tliousaud dollars. 

A notable event in 1866 was tlie celebration 
here, for Trenton District, of the centenary of 
American Methodism, on the 2Sth of June, 
The pastor has left on record a history of the 
celebration, embodied in a report to the Quar- 
terly Conference. The principal speaker on the 
occasion was ex-Governor Parker. The report 
on the Sunday-school (August, 1867) showed 
two hundred and fifty scholars on the roll, with 
an average attendance of one hundred and fifty. 
At the last Quarterly Conference for this Con- 
ference year (held January 25, 1868) Albert J. 
(jarrison appears as a local pi-eacher, and James 



S. Yard in the list of exhorters. The member- 
ship of the church was reported at two hundred 
and sixty-five, a gain of one hundred and five 
in three years. This included the probationers 
gathered in at tlie late revival. 

Rev. Heurv Baker, Jr., was assigned to the 
charge by the Conference of 186.S. He was a 
young mau of fine abilities and winning man- 
ners. His ministry promised to be an excep- 
tionally successful one, but a vacancy occurring 
in the pulpit of the charge at Princeton, he was 
changed to that j)lace, against the earnest re- 
monstrance of the church here. His successor 
was Rev. J. Howard Brooks, who was also a 
young man of fine abilities, but the congrega- 
tion were piqued by the removal of Baker, and 
Brooks was made for a while to feel the resent- 
ment manifested for the offence of which he was 
in no wise accountable. Before the close of 
the year, however, he made himself felt so 
strongly for good, both as pastor and preacher, 
that the church would have been glad to have 
had him returned ; but before this fact was 
known, Mr. Brooks had made arrangements to 
be transferred to a Western Conference. 

Rev. Henry Belting was appointed to the 
charge by the Conference of 1 869. The first busi- 
ness was to build the parsonage. On the 28th 
i)i jNIay a contract was made, and on December 
27th following, the work was reported as com- 
pleted. The total cost of the building, fencing, 
flagging and furniture (§699) was $5379.17. 

Rev. John Edward Adams was sent to the 
charge by' the Conference of 1872. He had a 
successful pastorate. 

In 1875, Rev. Anani.is Lawrence became pas- 
tor. He remained but one year. In his closing 
report he represented the church in a " good, 
healthy condition, both financially and spirit- 
ually, having been much quickened by a re- 
vival then (January 26, 1876) in progress for 
the last two mouths, resulting in about thirty 
converts, twenty-one of whom had joined the 
church on probation." 

Rev. William H. Pearne was appointed to 
the charge by the Conference of 1876. He also 
remained but one \'ear. A remarkable event 
of this year was the excursion of the Sabbath- 
school to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel- 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



435 



phia. Over eleven hundred persons accompa- 
nied this excursion. 

Rev. Amos M. North was appointed by tlie 
Conference of 1877. He remained two years. 
Rev. S. F. Wheeler succeeded ]Mr. North in 
1879, and Rev. G. C. Maddock came in 1881. 
In the spring of 1884 he was succeeded by the 
Rev. W. M. White, tlie present pastor. 

The Second Reformed Church of Free- 
hold ' furnishes, in its name, an instance of the 
confusion which often arises from perpetuating 
old titles after the conditions in which they arose 
are changed. The Second Church is the only 
one of that denomination in the jilace. It is so 
called to distinguish it from the mother-church 
at Bradevelt, popularly known as the " Brick 
Church." The Brick Church was estai)lished 
in 1699, when the name of Freehold was 
loosely applied to a large portion of the present 
county of Monmouth, and its corporate title is 
still the First Reformed (Dutch) Church of 
Freehold. 

The Second or Village Church was organized 
October 4, 1842. For many years jji-evious to 
this, occasional services had been conducted in 
Freehold village by the pastors of the mother- 
church for the benefit of that portion of the 
congregation. In 1835 their growing needs led 
to the purchase of two lots of ground in the 
village and the commencement of the erection 
of a house of worship. Its corner-stone Mas 
laid by Rev. James Otterson, then pastor of the 
Brick Chureli, in the spring of 1836, but for 
lack of funds it was not dedicated until Feb- 
ruary 1, 1838. Its cost, exclusive of the gi-ound 
(which was only four hundred dollars), was five 
thousand dollars, and after the young congre- 
gation was organized into a church, the entire 
property was most generously transferred to 
them by the Brick Church, at the nominal 
price of seven hundred and fifty dollars. In 
1847 a house on !Main Street was purchased, 
aud is still used for the residence of the pastor. 
The church edifice was enlarged and repaired 
in 1860, the pulpit, which iiad previously stood 
between the two entrances, like that of the 



mother-church, being removed to the other end 
of the building, and the pews turned about to 
correspond. Henceforth, late-comers could 
enter unrebuked by the reproving stare of those 
more punctual. At tliis time a large pipe-organ 
was added to the edifice. 

A small chapel has been since erected by the 
side of the church for Sunday-school and prayer- 
meeting purjjoses. In 1882 this building was 
handsomely refurnished. The entire value of 
the church buildings and lots is now about 
twenty-five thousand dollars, and is free from 
all incumbrance. The Freehold Cemetery, 
near the village, which was originated in 1851, 
is also under the control of this congregation. 
Five jjastors have served the church since its 
organization. The first, an able and eloquent 
man, was Rev. Henry D. Ganse, now a secretary 
in the service of the Presbytei-ian Church, at 
Chicago. His pastorate extended from 1843 to 
1856, and was one of great prosperity to the 
church. His successors have been Rev. Ezra 
W. Collier and Rev. Gulick Van Aken, both 
of them (now deceased) men of high character 
and unusual pulpit talent. Rev. Charles S. 
Hageman, D.D., served the church from 1871 
to 1878, and is now living without charge at 
Nyack, N. J. Rev. Isaac P. Brokaw, the 
present pastor, was installed January, 1879. 
Three young men connected with the church 
have become ministers of the gospel. 

The congregation at present comprises one 
hundred families. The church membership is 
two hundred and twenty-five. The contribu- 
tions for the year ending April 1, 1884, were : 
for missionary purposes, §515 ; for congrega- 
tional purpo.ses, $3065. 

The First Presbyterian Church of 
Freehold - is an offshoot from the famed and 
venerable Tennent Church, from which came its 
entire original membershi]). In the spring of 
1835 a few members of the Tennent Church and 
congregation, encouraged i)y their j)astor, the 
Rev. Daniel V. McLean, and assisted by other 
citizens in tlie place, determined to build a place 
of worship in the village of Freehold. The 



By ihe Rev. Isaac P. Brokaw. 



' By the Rev. Frank Chandler, D.D. 



436 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



corner-stone of a brick edifice, forty-four by 
sixty feet, was laid June 10, 18."')5, upon the site 
of the present residence of Mr. Jacob B. Rue, 
adjoiuiug the property afterwards occupied by 
the Young Ladies' Seminary. On the 5th of 
A])ril, 1836, the congregation was organized 
under the laws of the State, by the election of 
the following-named trustees: Cyrus Bruen 
(president), James Craig (secretary), John J. 
Thompson, William D. Davis, William T. Sut- 
phin, John W. Bartleson and Aaron Combs. 
They ado])ted for a corporate name "The 
Village Church at Freehold." 

The house was completed at a cost of about four 
thousand dollars, and was dedicated to the wor- 
ship of God June 17, 1837, Rev. D. V. McLean 
preaching the sermon from Psalm Ixxxiv. 1. Mr. 
McLean, having resigned his pastorate of the Ten- 
nent Church in the fall of 1836, preached in the 
Village Church from the time of its completion. 
On the 21st of February, 1838, a committee 
of the Presbytery of New Brunswick organized 
the Village Church with thirty-two members, all 
of whom brought their letters from the Tennent 
Church. November 1st, in the same year, Mr. 
McLean was installed pastor. The First Church 
of Howell, situated where the Fairfield Baptist 
Church now stands, originally constituted with 
.seven members, after an existence of seven years, 
was dissolved by act of Presbytery, and those con- 
nected with it, then numl)ering twenty-three per- 
sons, were directed to enroll themselves with the 
Village Church. They were received April 13, 
1839. The year following, a special work of grace 
resulted in the addition at one communion of 
foi-ty -seven parsons upon confession of their faith, 
so that one hundred and forty-four members were 
reported to the Presbytery in the year 1842. 

The Rev. Mr. McLean resigned his charge 
in the fall of 1850, after an efficient ministry of 
twelve years. He was succeeded in the spring 
of 1851 by Rev. Samuel D. Alexander, of 
Princeton. This pastor was much beloved by 
his congregation, and resigned, greatly to their 
regret, in April, 1856, to take charge of the 
Fifteenth Street Church, in New York City. 
During his ministry (in 1852) the church edifice 
was enlarged by the addition of thirty feet to 
its length, at a cost of six thousand dollars. 



The Rev. Frank Chandler was born in New- 
ark, N. J., May 26, 1831, and graduated at the 
College of New Jersey in 1854. In the fall of 
1856 he was called to the pastorate of this 
church, he beius then in the senior class of the 
Theological Seminaiy at Princeton, where he 
graduated in 1857. He was installed in charge 
of the Freehold church. May 19th of that year, 
and has been its pastor continuously from that 
time to the jjresent. The church had a natural 
and steady growth, and became .so much in- 
creased in numbers that, in the year 1871, 
April 24th, after frequent meetings and much 
deliberation, it was resolved to build a new and 
larger edifice at the corner of Main Street and 
Brinckerhoff Avenue. The impression had 
become widely prevalent that the old building 
was not secure by reason of a breaking of the 
foundation. The change of location was deemed 
necessary because the old lot was too small for 
the larger edifice which it was resolved to build. 
The corner-stone of the new structure was laid 
August 30, 1871, but the completion of the 
building was delayed one whole year by a dis- 
astrous storm, occurring November 19, 1871, 
which demolished the walls just as they were 
finished and prepared to receive the roof tim- 
bers. 

The dedication occurred April 10,1873, Rev. 
John Hall, D.D., of New York City, upon in- 
vitation, pi-eachiug the sermon. The adjoining 
building, containing lecture-room and parlor and 
Sunday-school rooms, was not completed until 
the spring of 1874. The ground floor of the 
church is one hundred feet long by sixty-four 
feet wide, with a transept at the rear thirty-five 
by seventy-four feet, and the whole cost, with 
furniture, was seventy-five thousand dollars. 

In the year 1876 the church was again blessed 
with a wonderful work of divine grace, follow- 
ing which, at one communion, seventy-two per- 
sons made confession of their fiiith in Christ 
and joined themselves to His people. There 
have been connected with the church from the 
beginning eight hundred and forty-five persons, 
of whom one hundred and forty-two have died 
and letters of dismission have been granted to 
two hundred and seventy persons. 

The congregation has always been distin- 



//■ 




//^:i^i^/^ .•(^^„«»-*^ i^.^. 



THE TOWN OF FEEEHOLD. 



437 



guished fdi- its liberality in maintaining the or- 
dinances of religion and the cause of charity ai 
home and abroad. For the erection of its 
houses of worship and congregational expenses 
one hundred and thirty thousand dollars has 
been expended, and not less than twenty-five 
thousand dollars has been eoiitrihutcd in works 
of benevolence ; and never in its history has 
the church been more vigorous, united and 
heai'ty in its support of every good cause than at 
the present time. The pastor, who has stood in 
his place for more than a quarter of a century, 
has sreat cause for encourao-ement and gratitude 
in his lengthened and useful ministry. 

The Roman C'athcjlic Congeegation at 
FreehokP was first organized, in the year 1853, 
by the llev. John St'hollard, who resided in 
Princeton, N. J., where he had charge also of 
the Roman Catholic congregation. In 1854 a 
frame church, twenty-five by ibrty feet, capable 
of seating about one hundred and seventy jier- 
sons, was put uj) at Freehold, and ^lass was 
celebrated about one Sunday in a month. 

In August, A.D. 1857, the Rev. J. Schollard 
was succeeded by the Rev. Alfred Young, 
who held the charge until December, a.d. 
1860, when the Rev. J. J. J. O'Donnel was 
appointed in his stead, who had the care of the 
congregation until -Tuly, 1867, at which time 
he was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas R. 
Moran, who officiated till January, 1871. 

At this time the congregation, which until 
then had been considereil only as a mission, and 
as such had been attended by priests of Prince- 
ton, received a rector of its own in the person 
of Rev. Frederick Kivelitz, the present incum- 
bent. In 1873 the church was considerably 
enlarged, and in 1880 a new church was begun, 
and in 1882 completed. The new church has 
a capacity of seating seven hundred persons. 
Services are held twice every Sunday, three 
times daily on feast-days, and Mass is celebrated 
every morning on week-days. 

The Freehold Cemetery, which is beautifully 
situated on elevated ground a short distance 
southwesterly from the property of the IMon- 

' By the Rev. F. Kivelitz. 



mouth County Agricidtural Society and about 
one-half mile from the centre of the village, 
was laid out in the year 1851 on a tract of 
three acres (enlarged by a subsequent purchase) 
procured by the consistory of tlie Second Re- 
formed Church at a cost of one hundred dollars 
per acre. Although designed primarily for the 
use of the members of that congregation, and still 
held under the control of their officers, its privi- 
leges have since been extended to all who desire 
them without regard to creed ; and many citi- 
zens, not only of the town and county, but even 
of other parts of the State, have secured for 
themselves here the right of a last resting-place. 
Although its future enlargement was not fore- 
seen in the original jJ'H'chase and the ground 
laid out accordingly, there is still land sufficient 
to be had whose natural features admirably 
ada))t it for purposes of sepulture and admit of 
the adornment which is so desirable in these 
" cities of the dead." There are at present six 
hundred lot-owners, and the total valuation of 
the plats is about two thousand dollars. The 
cemetery embraces an area of nine acres, which 
is nearly all oeciijjied. 

Schools were taught as early as the period of 
the Revolutionary War in the vicinity of what 
is now the town of Freehold, tliough it is not 
certain that there were any taught in the limits 
of the little settlement then known as Mon- 
mouth Coiu't-House. An advertisement in 
Collins' Gaz(dte, dated March 14, 1778, an- 
nounced that Joseph Rue would " open a Latin 
School in Freehold [township, probaljly], at the 
hou.se of Ileniy Pcrrine, where scholars can be 
accommodated in the best manner and at the 
lowest expense." Other classical schools were 
taught in the vicinity at about the same time 
and a few years later ; but very little definite 
information can be gained of Freehold schools 
taught as early as the year 1800, soon after 
which time an English and classical school was 
taught by the Rev. Andrew Fowler, in a build- 
ing; that stood on or near the site of the Free- 
hold Banking Company's building. j\Ir. Fow- 
ler was rector of St. Peter's Church at the time 
—from 1799 to 1809. 

It has been related bv Mrs. Barkalow 



438 



HISTOEY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



(niotlier of Alexander L. Barkalow) that in lier 
chilillioii(l she went to school to Aunt Massey 
(^lercv) Lerton in the old log school-house that 
stood on the hy-road leading from the main 
road to the Baptist Cemetery, south of the man- 
sion on the " Murphy Farm." This school- 
house, it is said, was built hy General David 
Forman, of Revolutionary fame, who then 
owned the farm ; and it was maintained l)y him 
as a select school for the education of his own 
children, and of those of such of his neighbors 
as chose to avail themselves of its privileges. 
Subsequently Maria Oldwell boarded with 
Joseph Phillips and taught a select school in 
the village. The school near the Murphy 
house was - kept up for many years. Judge 
Charles A. Bennett attended it at about the 
time of his earliest recollection, — 1825 to 1830, 
— when it was the only public school anywhere 
in the vicinity of Freehold, and scholars came 
to it from Blue Ball, Mount's Coruei's and 
(.ither neighborhoods outside the village. Re- 
ferring to an earlier time, however (before 
1820), Dr. Robert Laird says he first went to 
school to .Tames JIcGregor, " a testy old Scotch- 
man," who taught in a small building next 
northwest of the Ejiiscopal Church, on what is 
now Throckmorton Street. The teacher who 
succeeded ^McGregor was Thomas C. Throck- 
morton, afterwards Judge Throckmorton. This 
school. Dr. I^aird says, was "the only public 
school for many vears near the village." 

A " Select and Classical School " was taught 
iu Freehold by Asa S. Colton (afterwards the 
Rev. jNIr. Colton) from January, 1828, to 
October in the same year. Among his pupils 
were the Rev. James English, Judge Combs, 
the Hon. John C. Ten Eyck, Mr. Barbarie 
Throckmorton, James Hartshorne, Jliss Theo- 
dosia Scudder (afterwards the wife of the Rev. 
William J. Pohlman, missionary to China), 
iliss Julia A. Davis and a number of the 
other Freehold young ladies of that time. 

The " Monmouth School," as it was named 
by its proprietors, but otherwise more com- 
mcinly known as the Woodhull School, was first 
opi/ned in the year 1844, by William W. and 
Charles F. Woodhull (who had previously 



taught in the old Freehold Academy). The 
circular of the principal stated that " at this 
institution thorough instruction is given in all 
branches necessary to prepare boys for college 
or for business. Terms : Two hundred dollars 
a year, payable (juarterly, in advance." In 
1857 the instructors w'ere William y\ . Wood- 
hull, principal ; Charles F. Woodhull, vice- 
principal ; Charles G. Endicott, assistant ; Pro- 
fessor .Tames Garland, instructor on the piano ; 
William P. Dale, vocal music. For a number 
of years the school was located where ]Mr. D. 
D. Deuise now lives, on the north side of ^lain 
Street, adjoining the Reformed Church. In 
1859-60 a new building was erected for its ac- 
commodation, where Mr. John Bawden now 
resides, at the corner of High Street and 
Manalapan Avenue. At that place the school 
was taught for about twelve years. Reference 
to the ending of the school, and the conversion 
of the building to other uses, is found in the 
following item, printed in the Monmoxdh Demo- 
crat : " The two parts of the late Woodhull 
School building will soon form three com- 
modious residences," — the date being February 
26, 1874. 

The YouxG Ladies' Semixary ' at Free- 
hold was established forty years ago, as the result 
of the well-directed efforts of the Rev. D. V. 
McLean, to whom the county of Monmouth and 
the world are greatly indebted for the wiiole- 
some influences which have gone forth throngli 
many families and to many lands from the 
Young Ladies' Seminary at Freehold. La the 
year 1844, being then pastor of the Village 
Presbyterian Church, he enlisted the sym]iathy 
aud co-operation of Honorable John Hull and 
Honorable Thomas P. Haight, and together 
with them erected the commodious and costly 
buildings upon Main Street, adjoining the site 
of the old Presbyterian Church, where they m^^\ 
stand, a lasting riionument to his remarkable 
energy and prudent foresight. 

During the same year Mr. Amos Richardson, 
A. M., who was born at Springfield, N. H., 
1812, and in the year 18."37 graduated at Dart- 
mouth College, was engaged to take charge of the 



1 By RcT. Frank Chandler, D.D. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



439 



school. He proved himself to be eminently fitted 
for the great work of building up and sustain- 
ing for many years one of the most honored 
and iLseful institutions for the higher training 
of young ladies. He had pleasing and refined 
manners, a bright and cultured mind, great 
fondness for music and the fine arts, a warm 
and generous heart, boundless enthusiasm in his 
chosen profession, and, above all, a love for 
truth and righteousness, and a zeal tor their 
maintenance and extension, which made him a 
safe and trusted guardian of the highest inter- 
ests of his pupils. The school soon attained 
great success, and for many years attracted 
patronage not only near at hand, but from many 
r -mote States of the Union. 

In the year LS.)4, encouraged by the financial 
prosperity of the institution, and desiring to 
enlarge and perfect iiis tacilities for doing the 
best work for his pupils, he planned and built 
the beautiful and spacious hall facing on High 
Street, a structure the very form and arrangement 
of which display a breadth of view and liber- 
ality in the cause of education which few men 
possess. Just at the completion of this great 
enterprise, when he had reason to hope his 
higiiest ambition and aim were to be realized, 
he lost his eyesight by a melancholy accident, 
and to the end of his life jiatiently Init sadly 
performed his work in total darkness. He died 
October Ifi, 1881. at the age of sixty-nine 
years, lieloved aiul mourned by the entire com- 
munity which he had unselfishly and labor- 
iously served thirty-seven years. 

During the summer of 1883, when it became 
necessary to sell the seminary property to settle 
the estate of Mr. Richardson, the Rev. F. 
Chandler, D.D., pastor of the Presliyteriau 
Church, labored assiduously to save the institu- 
tion from the impending danger of extinction. 
A number of prominent citizens of Freehold 
and vicinity formed an incorporation under the 
general laws of the State, purchased, repaired 
and refurnished the establishment at a very large 
outlay of money. The Hon. Joel Parker was 
elected president of the association. Rev. F. 
Chandler, D.I)., was requested to take control 
of the institution. Under his efficient manage- 
ment, able and experienced instructors were 



selected, liberal and generous pm vision was 
made for the comfort and advancement of 
the incoming pupils, and now, at the end of 
the second year of the new administration, the 
good name which the school has borne at home 
and its growing patronage promise a succss 
larger even than that of past years. 

The institution is believed to be, in point of 
thorough teaching, refined Christian culture and 
home comforts, second to none in the State. 

TiiK Freehold Instii tte for Boys, is sit- 
uated on the corner of South and Institute Streets, 
on land which was purchased by Samuel C. Hicks 
and Professor Oliver R.Willis' in 1847, at 
which time it was an oat-field. In the autumn 
of the same year the erection of the front 
Iniilding was commenced, and in the fallowing 
spring Professor AVil lis, who was then principal 
of an academy at High tstown, moved his school 
to its new quarters, in Freehold. In his first 
circular of the Freehold Institute he said, — 

"With a view to furnish his pupils with more lib- 
eral accommodations, and to secure to his family the 
privileges of a church of his own denomination, the 
principal has made arrangements to remove his 
school from Hightstown to Freehold, Monmoutli 
County, N. J., at the opening of the next session, 
which will commence on the second Wednesday 
in May, 1848. . . . The buildings are entirely 
new, are neat and commodious, and have been 
erected under the immediate direction of the princi- 
pal. Dimensions, eighty feet front by forty-six dceji, 
the central building, three stories high. The a])art- 
ments are arranged in the most modern and improved 
style; the rooms are spacious and airy, with high 
ceilings and ventilating flues in the walls and parti- 
tions. The plan of the building was matured after 
much delil)eration, the principal having visited the 
best schools in New England and New York liefore he 
decided on it. And he congratulates himself now, in 
being able to say to his patrons and the public, that 
he is prepared to furnish accommodations that are se- 
cond to none in the country. No expense will be spared 
that would tend to make the place attractive, or whicli 
can minister to the comfort, convenience, health or 
advancement of the members of the school. Well- 

' lu the Monmouth Democrat of February 17, 1848. is 
this advertisement : 

" Freehold Institute, a Preparatory School for Boys at 
Freehold, Monmouth County, N. J. Oliver R. Willis, 
Principal and .Joint Proprietor. Proprietors: Samuel f> 
Hicks anil Oliver R. Willis." 



440 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



arranged wash-rooms and bathing-rooms are provided 
for the exclusive use of the pupils. A large building 
ha.s been erected for a gymnasium. The gymnastic 
exercises will always be under the direction of the 
principal or one of his teachers." 

At the opeuiug of the institute in Freehold 
the number of its pupils was twenty-four, 
eleven of whom were boarders and thirteen 
day-pupils. The number gradually increased, 
so that at the end of the school-year of 1849 
there were fifty-two pupils in attendance, forty- 
two of whom were boarders. The instructors 
in that year were O. E. Willis (principal), Paul 
A. Chadbourne, A.B.; C. Aug. Walters; 
Theodore IVHuillcr, B.L.; Amos Richardson, 
A.M. From that time the institute enjoyed a 
constantly increasing patronage, until the num- 
ber of pupils reached one hundred. The last 
circular issued while the scliool was under the 
direction of Dr. Willis was a graded catalogue 
issued for the year ending January, IStiO. In 
this catalogue are recorded the names of one 
hundred and five pupils, — viz. : In the Clas-sical 
Department, tliirty-four; in the ^Middle Depart- 
ment, sixty-one ; in the Preparatory Department, 
ten. Of these, forty-one were boarders and the 
remainder (lay-]>upils. Tiie greatest number 
of boarders present at any one time was fifty- 
eight. Among the highest ten in the institute in 
that year were D. McLean Forman and Ciiailes 
F. Richardson. The li.^t of instructors fur that 
year was as follows: Oliver R. Willis, A.M.; 
Charles A. Walters, A.M.; Charles Jamison, 
A.M.; Clark B. Royce, A.M.; Edward H. 
Redfield. Lecturers : Rev. Robert Baird, his- 
tory; Rev. Samuel Lockwood, geology. One 
of the marked characteristics of the manage- 
ment of the scIiool under Di . Willis was the 
employment of able and competent men as in- 
structors, and among the early classical teachers 
in the institute was Dr. Paul A. Chadbourne, 
president of Williams College. 

In 185;3 a large additional building was 
erected, eighty feet in length and thirty-six feet 
wide, for school and recitation-rooms, which 
were most liberally equipjJed with every de- 
scription of apparatus and all tlie recpiirements 
for conducting the business of education. It 
was heated bv a combination of steam and hot 



air, and lighted with gas made upon the prem- 
ises. The institute's collection of philosophical 
apjiaratus, its cabinets of shells, minerals, 
paleontological specimens, and its herbarium 
exceeded anj'thiug of the kind to be found in 
the country, except in the colleges ; and up to 
the time of the opening of the War of the Re- 
bellion it was regarded as the most completely 
ecjuipped and best furnished school in the 
vicinity of the cities of Xew York and Phila- 
delphia. 

In April, 186-2, Professor Willis left the insti- 
tute, the property having been sold at that time 
to Cyrus Baldwin, who reopened the schoijl in 
the following month as principal. Under the 
administration of Professor Baldwin tlie system 
of military drill and discipline was introduced, 
and has proved successful ; but the institute 
under him was not pecuniarily prosperous, and 
on the 27th of May, 1 868, it was purchased for 
fi)urteen thcusand two hundred and eighty-two 
dollars by William H. Conover, Joel Parker, 
D. C. Perriue, Andrew Perrine, Hendrick E. 
Conover, William H. Wykotf, R. A. Ellis, G. 
W. Shinu and James J. Conover. They bar- 
gained it to Rev. A. G. Chambers, of Miami 
LTniversity, Oxford, Ohio, who immediately re- 
opened the institute, and has continued its prin- 
cipal and proprietor to the present time. In 
his catalogue of July, 1883, he .saj-s: "This in- 
stitute, estal)lislied in 1844, was moved to Free- 
hold in 184S. The records of the school, being 
the property of the former proprietors, were 
withdrawn, so that there is now nothing to 
show its history prior to 1868. Since that time 
over five hundred boys and young men have 
been in attendance. Some of these entered West 
Point, Rutgers, Lafayette, Columbia or Prince- 
ton College; others entered immediately upon 
the study of law or medicine without further 
intellectual training ; and the remainder, the 
various departments of business life." 

The Freehold Academy, which, in tlie 
days of its highest success, was attended by many 
of those who are now ranked among the most 
prominent and influential people of the town 
and vicinity, had its ])eginningin 1831, in which 
year, on the 1st of January, William H. Ben- 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



441 



lu'tt conveyed to 'W'illiaiu J. Bowiie aud others, 
trustees of Seliool District Xo. 7, a lot of land 
which is a part of the old academy lot, at the 
corner of Main Street aud the street leading 
from it northwardly past the gas-works. The 
land was con\'eyed by 'Sir. Bennett to the trus- 
tees, to he used for educational purj)oses and 
none other, — consequently to revert to the granti )r 
or his heirs when it ceased to be used for those 
purposes. The district, however, afterwai-ds 
made absolute purchase of some adjoining land, 
thus enlarging the lot to its present size.' 

Xo account has been found of the erection of 
the fii-st academy building or the opening of the 
school in it. The earliest principal of the school 
coucei-ning \\hom any information has been 
gained was a man named James McBurney, who 
taught it in 1831. The Eev. Samuel lEdwin 
Arnold took charge of it in the latter part of 
18o3, or early in 1834, he being also at that 
time rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church- 
Reference to him was made by Bishop Doane, 
will I, having visited Freehold July 1, 1833, and 
ygain in 18-'U, said, in his remarks as to the con- 
dition of the jiarish : "Since my former visit 
the opinion which I expressed in my last address 
. . . has been acted on. The Rev. Samnel Ed- 
win Arnold, late of the diocese of New York, 
having been elected principal of the academy, 
has taken pastoral charge of St. Peter's Church. 
His services as an instructor, I am informed, 
give great satisfaction." 

^Ir. Arnold, however, remained in charge of 
the academy but a short time. In 1835 he re- 
moved to Bordentowu to take charge of a 
^' b(mrding and day-school " which had been es- 
tablished at that place bv or through the infln- 
ence of Bishop Doane. In view of his proposed j 
removal, the school trustees — J. K. Lippincott, 
John Bowne, Daniel B. Ryall, Daniel H. Ellis 
and Joseph F. Randolph — published (January , 
2!», 18351 this advertisement,— " T he subscrib- 



' After more than forty years' occupation by tlie academy 
school he property was abandoned for school purposes, 
upon the opening of the new graded school building, and 
then the land conveyed by Mr. Bennett in 1831 reverted 
to his heirs, who sold it to the Gas-Light Company, who 
now own the entire lot and the building, having pur- 
chased from the district the land which was bought to 
enlarge the original lot deeded by Mr. Bennett. 



ers wish to engage a well-qualified teachei' to 
take charge of the Freehold Academy ; -also a 
competent person to assist him in the English 
Department." The immediate result of this ac- 
tion does not appear, but on the 4th of May, 
1836, it was announced that " The trustees have 
secured the services of Mr. Fay, of ]\Ia.ssa(!hu- 
setts, a graduate of Williams College, to take 
charge of the academy, with Mr. Hallowell as 
assistant." The gentleman here referred to was 
Julius A. Fay, who is still well remembered bv 
many citizens of Freehold who were his pupils 
fifty years ago. 

In July, 183G, the trustees announced that 
the academy building was found to be inade- 
quate to the requirements of the .school, and that 
a new and larger building was necessary. A 
public meeting was called to be held August 22d, 
in the court-house, to take measures " to con- 
sider the erection of an academy building." At 
that meeting (of which J. F. T. Forman was 
secretary) it was resolved to build, aud John B. 
Throckmorton, J. E. Lippincott, Joseph ]\Iur- 
phy, J. F. T. Forman and Daniel H. Ellis 
were appointed a committee to select a site. The 
old site, however, was decided on, the lot being 
increased in size by the purchase of some addi- 
tional land, as before mentioned, forming the 
" Academy Lot " as now known. On the 7th 
of January, ls;!7, a meeting was held to choose 
ti'ustees, adopt a corjiorate name and take meas- 
lu-cs to procure an incorporation. In April of 
that year it was announced that the trustees had 
secured the services of Mr. A. W. Hobart as 
principal. 

On the 4th of February, 1842, an "exhibi- 
tion " of the Academy School was held " at the 
Brick Church," on which occasion the pupils 
showed a proficiency which was very highly 
praised. In April, 1845, the amiouucement 
was made that the trustees had engaged William 
W. Woodhull "to superintend the academy," 
though Mr. Woodhull had himself opened the 
" Monmouth School " in the previous year. 
James Shields (afterwards a major-general in 
the United States .service) was at one time prin- 
cipal of the Freehold Academy, but the date 
and duration of his engagement here have not 
been a.scertaincd. 



442 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Prior to 1848 a Mr. Sears had charge of the 
Academy School as principal. On the 20tli of 
April in that year he resigned, and was suc- 
cetded by Mr. Thomas Souther. In the sum- 
mer of 1854 the principal was Isaac J. St. John, 
with Miss Elizabeth P. Hanford as preceptress. 
In April, 1855, R. V. Lawrence was engaged 
as principal. In November, 1856, the 3Ion- 
mouth Inquirer said: "We understand that in 
consequence of the liberal provision made for 
schools at the annual town-meeting of this 
township, we have for the first time a./Vee school 
in Freehold. This school is taught at the 
Academy, under the superintendence of R. V. 
Lawrence." In 1859, Mr. Enoch L. Cowart, 
superintendent of schools for Freehold, said, in 
a communication printed in the Monmouth 
Democrat, on the 24th of February: "The 
district of Freehold numbers about three hun- ' 
dred children, being much larger than any 
other in the township, and consequently draw- 
ing- much more of the school fund. The 
teacher charges two dollars and fifty cents per 
scholar for all within the district who attend 
school, for which he draws out of the fund ; 
and those children who come from over the 
bounds of the district he lias extra pay for, 
from their parents. The income annually to 
the teacher, therefore, is little short of one 
thousand dollars." The teacher at that time 
was Stephen Morris, and the Academy District 
was Xo. 2, of Freehold township. 

At the time above referred to, the days of the 
academy's great efficiency and fame were past. 
It had come to be little more than a common 
district school, and its later progress was in a 
direction opposite to that of imjirovement. For 
twelve or fifteen years prior to the establish- 
ment of the graded school in Freehold the 
academv was anvthini; else than what its name 
■would imply in the matter of educational facili- 
ties. The structure itself was old and dilapi- 
dated, and the teachers employed were i>f that 
itinerant class who wander about from place to 
place, evading the vigilance of the boards of 
examiners and serving their ends in earning 
enough money, by so-called teaching, to aid them 
to other and more remunerative callings. The 
three well-known requisites of a ■well-ordered 



school — a spacious and comfortable building, a 
co-operative public and good teachers — all wei-e 
lacking. 

This state of affairs continued until the new 
school law of New Jersey went into eifect. This 
made provision for the appointment of a county 
superintendent, to exercise a supervisory power 
over all the schools of the county. The new super- 
intendent. Professor Samuel Lockwootl, was suc- 
cessful in bi'inging about a healthful change of 
sentiment in relation to the importance of pub- 
lic education throughout Monmouth County. 
Towns of only the size of Freehold began erect- 
ing costly graded school buildings. This gen- 
eral agitation of public education awakened an 
interest in the question of the condition of 
school buildings in Freehold and the work 
performed within them. The county superin- 
tendent came to live in Freehold in 1871, and he 
immediately set about to remedy the evils exist- 
ing; in the schools. Besides the academv, rhere 
was, in the sulnirbs of the town, another school, 
known as the Orchard Street School. This 
was under the management of a separate board 
of trustees, but subsequently was united to the 
Academy District. The trustees exercised con- 
siderable care in the selection of teachers and the 
general conduct of the schools ; and, though the 
school was more unfavorably located, yet it 
was in better repute as a school than the old 
academy. 

In the summer of 1871 an enthusiastic 
vouns: Normal School te^icher was engaged to 
take this Orchard Street School. This teacher 
worked hard, and soon his reputation as a skill- 
ful teacher extended beyond the limits of his 
district, and brought from the academy side 
manv applicants for admission. This soon 
brought about a crowded school-room, whicii 
necessitated larg-e accommodations. A room was 
rented in a neighboring dwelling to provide for 
the overplusage of pupils. This fact served to 
bring, more pi'omineutly than ever before, the 
condition of the schools before the public. Com- 
munications from interested citizens appeared 
in the local papers advocating the l)uildiug of 
a new school-house and the establishment of a 
sraded school, and the editors threw their weight 
in its favor. The editor of the Monmoidh 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



443 



Democrat was notably zealous in his advoc-aey ' 
of better school accommodations. Much oppo- [ 
sition was manifested from sources that had 
become iuterested in the private .school enter- 
prises of the town. A popular vote in favor of 
a new buildin<;-, it was thought, could not be 
obtained. 

In the winter of 1S7.> the first effcirt was 
made to ol)tain from the State Legislature the 
passage of a bill that would allow the people of j 
Freehold to secure a new school building. The ! 
passage of the bill was secured ; but, owing to 
the lack of a provision in it giving power to 
dispose of the old school property and other 
minor points, it was found to be practically j 
inoperative, and the subject was dropped until 
the following winter, when a bill passed both 
Houses of the Legislature ^ and became a law, 
giving full power to the board of trustees of the 
towu of Freehold, acting in conjunction with 
three other persons chosen liy the people by 
ballot, to build a new and commodious building 
and dispo.se of all the old .school property. 
Tliey were further impowered to issue bonds of 
tJie school district to the extent of sixteen thou- 
sand dollare. 

In pursuance of this law, in the .sjiriug of 
1874 a public meeting was called, at which 
Elihu B. Bedlc, John W. Bartleson and (xcorge 
W. Patterson were elected to act with the school 
trustees, who were George ^^'. Vanderveer, 
William Ci:)oper and William E. Conover. 
These gentlemen inmiediateiy set to work to 
carry out the object of the legislative enactment. 
An excellent site was secured on Hudson Street, 
and a large and commodious brick structure was 
erected uj3on it. The building committee em- 
bodied in the new school-house the substantial , 
and healthful, rather than the ornamental. The i 
whole cost of the property, when completed, was 
about nineteen thousand dollars. The commit- 
tee worked harmoniously throughout, and served 
to the entire satisfaction of the community. In 
the month of January, 1874, die liuilding was 

' " An act to enable the Trustees of Freeliold School Dis- 
trict, Nuaiber Seven, to sell the present school property and 
to buy other property and erect a School-House thereon, 
and to issue Bonds in payment therefor." .Approved April 
4,'l87.3. 



formally dedicated to public use. Addresses were 
made by Professor Samuel Lockwood, county 
superintendent, and others. The attendance at 
these exercises was notably small. The enter- 
prise of a graded school was as yet tentative, and 
many witliheld their support and even svm- 
patliy. 

The Freehold Geaded School \\ as opened 
February 4, 1874. Joliii Enright, who had lieen 
very successful as teacher in the Orchard Street 
School, and who was a member of the board of 
examiners of teachers for Monmouth County, 
was appointed principal, with Lizzie Havens, 
Emma Mulford and Sarah Parker as assistants. 
The school opened vnih but feeble support from 
the best citizens, but it soon sprang into popular 
favor, and at the close of the school year the 
number of children had iucrea.sed so that another 
teacher ^^■as engaged for the coming vear. Dur- 
iug the next year (1875) the school grew more 
and more in fa\-or, and it became necessary to 
furnish another room. This was done and an 
additional a.ssistant was employed. During 
this period the school population remained sta- 
tionary or nearly so, yet school attendance in- 
creased surj^risingly fast. Before the graded 
school-house was built three teachers did tlie 
work ; in two years after its opening itretpiii-ed 
six teachers. The reputatitm of the school was 
now established. The best citizens of the town 
had become its patrons, and applications from 
pupils outside the limits of tiie school district 
came pouring in, and notwith.standing tlie fact 
that the tuition was made reasonably high, yet 
applicants had to be turned away for want of 
room. This demand for admission into the 
school has been kept up and increased from year 
to year. 

The course of study comprises all the English 
branches. Thoroughness in the fundamental 
branches is a marked feature of the school. 
Upon the completion of the course of study a 
handsomely executed di})loma is presented to 
each student. The first regular class was 
graduated in the year 1879, before a large au- 
dience of friends and citizens generally. Classes 
have been graduated annually since that time. 
The interest in these exercises and the sciiool 
has increased from year to year, and the graded 



444 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



school commencements have now become a 
marked feature of the events of impoi-tance in 
the year. In all, fifty-six students have com- 
pleted the course of study and graduated from 
the school, and many of them are filling im- 
portant and rcsjjonsiljlc positions in the profes- 
sions and other walks of life. Many of the 
undergraduates, as well as graduates, are occu- 
pying positions as teachers in the schools of 
M( )nmonth ( 'oimty . 

Mr. John Enright, who is still tlic principal 
of the school, labors hard and unostentatiously 
for the advancement of pnbli(> education, and 
deserves well of the public whom he has taith- 
fully served. Much of the success of the 
school is due to the district clerk, Mr. Gilbert 
Combs, who has taken great interest in its wel- 
fare. He gives to the advancement of the 
school much of his time, and has the gratitude 
of the best citizens of the community. 

Samuel Lockm^ood, ph.d.,' was bred in the 
■city of New Yoi'k, except his professional course, 
his entire education having been received there. 
His father was a well-to-do person, somewhat 
prominent as a politician, but who succumbed to 
reverses. Tradition has it that the jjaternal 
ancestor, in the days of the merry-men all " of 
Nottinghamshire, was a doughty personage, who 
entered the lists and did featly achievements 
witli the long-bow." He was an " archer of 
renown." In the maternal line were two 
brothers, who were of a Moravian family, which 
had left Germany in exile for conscience' sake. 
Each one became the head-master of an endowed 
school in England. One of these brothers, the 
grandfather of our sketch, was a man of taste 
and refinement, an artist and an amateur engraver 
on copper. His youngest daughter, our sub- 
ject's mother, was a lady of deep religious sensi- 
bility, with a profound love of the religious 
part of classical English poetry. She would 
often cite long passages from Milton and Young. 
But the child lost his mother so early in life 
that his only knowledge of her appearance is 
from a miniature on ivory. He first saw the 
light January 20, 181;». A frail-bodied boy, 
he was while very young thrown upon his own 



' By .lolin Enriglit. 



resources. An incident then occurring seemed 
almost prophetic. For some childish service 
rendered to a gentleman he received a present 
of an old-fashioned shilling. At that time a 
custom much- in vogue with the few booksellers 
of the city was to make an ostentatious display 
of their limited stock in the .store-windows. The 
boy book-worm could tell the window stock of 
titles of every book-store in the city. In one of 
them he saw a small book, price one shilling, 
" The Voyages of Jean Franfois de Galoup, 
Count de La Perouse." This was the great 
French navigator, the rival of Captain Cook. 
With that shilling he bought the book, and 
La Perouse was literally devoured. How the 
boy ever learned to read he never knew. But 
the elders called him an elegant reader, and this 
fact did for him more than it deserved, as it got 
him a reputation for a better education than he 
then possessed. For his callow 3'ears he was 
well read. He had his living to earn, but 
always kept some book at hand for the spare 
moments. An old gentleman tince caught him 
in this way poring over an old grammar, which 
he carried in his pocket. That book he had 
committed thoroughly to memory. The old 
man obtained for him a ticket to the Apprentices' 
I^ibrary. The boy's idea of a library was a 
])lace or vehicle of knowledge, or intellectual 
improvement ; hence, when he noticed tiiat almost 
all the readers called for some work of fiction, 
usually a novel, he was surprised. Walter 
Scott was succeeded by a troupe of weaker 
novelists, who, as being newer, were the favor- 
ites. When the librarian took down his name 
for the first time, and inquired what book he 
desired, he seemed surprised and asked again. 
The boy wanted " Adams on Electricity," — an 
old book that had never been loaned before. 
The truth was the borro-wer had had his ajijietite 
in that direction whetted by reading the " Life 
of Benjamin Franklin." The work borrowed 
was in two ponderous volumes, and quite anti- 
quated even then. However, they were plodded 
through, and many notes taken during the 
reading. 

A course of lectures on natural philosophy 
was given in the institution, which young Lock- 
wood enjoyed highly. At the close of one of 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



445 



these lectures an old gentleman, one of the di- 
rectors, said he had a pleasant fact to coiumuui- 
cate to the young men. He had a letter in his 
hand Avi-itten by one of their number, although 
it was anonymous, that it expressed grateful- 
ness for these lectures, and hojjcd f<)r another 
course, giving some wise suggestions, tliat the 
letter had been read in council, and probably a 
course as laid out bv the writer would l)e given 
next season. Then the good old gentleman ex- 
pressed his delight that any boy should write 



next matriculated at the New York University, 
from which institution he was in due time grad- 
uated as A.B., and three years afterward took the 
degree of A.M. He helped make both ends 
meet up to his junior year by taking charge after- 
noons of the higher mathematics in a ladies' sem- 
inary, — a really exacting matter, as they did not 
use the same textr-books to which lie had been 
accustomed. At this time he received a note 
from tlie old schoolmaster, whom he liad for- 
merly assisted. It inclosed an advertisement 




such a letter. He wished they could know his 
name, and he went on to predict an intellectual 
and useful career for the author. Then the 
buzz went round " Who wrote it ? " The real 
author, half frightened, hurried away, for it 
seemed to him that they would make him out. 

Some years of hard study had gone by, and 
we find our subject engaged as teacher in a city 
academy, and in the winter months also teaching 
night school, then, again, conducting a school 
of a select character over his own name. He 



cut from the Sun, and the old gentleman urged 
him to apply. TJie advertisement read,— 

"Wanted, a person competent to undertake 
the revision of a manuscript book soon to be 
given to the press. Address, by letter, 'Author,' 
Sun Office." 

The proposition seemed to him presumptuous. 
True, he had written a preface to an arithmetic, 
of which the old schoolmaster was the author, 
but nothing more than this had he achieved in 
the literary line. However, he wrote a note to 



446 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" Author," and received a reply requesting an in- 
terview at the Sun office. Tliere, to his astonish- 
ment, he found iiiniself closeted with Moses Y. 
Beech, the proprietor ofthe Sun. The book in ques- 
tion was " The Wealth and Wealthy Citizens 
of New York City." It included all who were 
worth fifty thousand dollars and upwards. But 
the hook was a mere bait. ^Ir. Beech questioned 
tlie young man in a way that brought out more 
tiian he himself knew to be in. Said the shrewd 
old man, " The work is not }'et ready ; but you 
ma}' go home and write me some articles for my 
paper on such topics as are timely, and I will 
pay you for those that are used." A war with 
Mexico was imminent, and that very day a city 
lawyer had destroyed liimself. So he wrote two 
articles, one "The Mexican War," the other 
"The Moral of Suicide," and sent them to the 
oflice. To his surprise the suicide article ap- 
peared next morning as the "leader." He had 
the additional excitement of hearing it com- 
mented upon by the boarders, who, of coui-se, 
were ignorant of the author. As "The Mexican 
War " would keep, it appeared later, but the 
same day came a note by penny-post reqiiesting 
the writer to call on Mr. Beech, when the posi- 
tion of assistant editor ^vas offered and accepted. 
The work each day began in the afternoon, 
running late into the night. This, with his col- 
lege work, was a severe strain on the student. 

Mr. Lockwood's mind was set toward the 
ministr}' of tlie Reformed Dutch Church, and 
upon graduating at the university he left the 
San and entered the Theological Seminary at 
Xew Brunswick, N. J. He soon found himself 
on the verge of giving up, for he had become 
])enniless, and the prospect was bad. He took 
a b(3ld step to raise the sinews of success ; for he 
went to an old citizen of the town, who was 
noted for his careful finance, andasls:ed a loan of 
fifty dollars on his note for thirty days. To his 
surprise, the old gentleman advanced the money 
without hesitation. It afterwards appeared that 
the old citizen was pretty well informed on some 
points ofthe young man's character and history. 
However, he had never before taken a student's 
note ; but Providence smiled, and the note was 
promptly settled when due. It was the 3'oung 
man's first note, and he has told the ^^Titer of 



this sketch that until it was paid he felt as if 
be were carrying the debt of some corporation. 

Again the clouds gathered blackness, and the 
student was in a strait wlietlier to go on or stop. 
In this juncture an advertisement caught his eye 
in a city journal, offering a premium of one hun- 
dred dollars forthe best local story. Smaller prizes 
were ofifered for those of lesser merit. A friend 
urged him to compete, which he did, producing 
" The Treasure Hunters " as the result of a two 
weeks' holiday. The manuscript was intrusted 
to an acquaintance to deliver; but l)y a stupid 
blunder, it was put into the hands of an unscrupu- 
lous rival, by whom it was kept concealed. The 
fact came out barely in time to enable the author 
to obtain it upon demand, and so get it before the 
proper committee. It won the first prize. That 
one hundred dollars carried him through his 
theological course. He was ordained in the 
church at Courtlandtown, N. Y., in 1850. 
Thence he went to the church at Gilboa, N. Y., 
in 1852, and in 1854 he took the pastorate of 
the Reformed Church at Keyport, N. J. 

Mr. Lock wood from early years has been a 
devoted student of nature. ^\'heu a pastor in 
Schoharie County, N. Y.. he made a study of 
the local geology, whicii resulted in a discovery 
that established the grandeur of the acrogen 
flora of tlie Devonian period. On this subject 
Hugh :Miller's "Old Red Sandstone," of Scot- 
land, had aroused great interest, but bis idea of 
the vegetation ofthe Devonian age scarcely went 
beyond plants whose stems were about as thick 
as a pencil. In working out the fossil flora of 
that part of New York, Mr. Lock wood discov- 
ered that the acrogens of that age were gigantic, 
and he deposited in the cabinet of Rutgers Col- 
lege a section of one of his fossil plants, of 
thirty-six inches diameter, which was named by 
Dr. Dawson, Psauronius textilU. He was pre- 
paring notes and drawings of these fossils to 
send to Hush Miller when the tidings came of 
his sad death. 

On settling in Monmouth County he found 
that he had left an interesting fossil flora for a 
region containing relics of an equally interesting 
f().ssil fiiuna, and it was a curious coincidence 
that as he had discovered a gigantic cryptogam, 
he should now unearth from the Cretaceous clay 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



447 



:i relic of the hiigest rejJtile then known to 
science, and the first one that sliowed the close 
relation of these ancient monsters in their oste- 
ology to the modern ostrich. Hence, Mr. Lock- 
wood's famous reptile received from Professor 
Cope the name Ornithotarsux immanw. In 
1866 he demonstrated the strange fact of that 
singular fish, the sea-horse, that the male bears 
(in his abdomen a pouch or sack, into which is 
received the spawn of the female ; there it is 
liatchcd, and thence the young fishes are emitted 
into the water. The paper was published the 
next year iu the American JS'atumlist, and at- 
tracted the close attention of scientific men. As 
theworkofan alumnus, thecli.incellor of the Uni- 
\ersity directed to it the attention of the council, 
wlio ordered the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
to be conferred on the author. At the request 
of the Lyceum of Natural History, of the city 
(if New York (now the Academy of Sciences), 
Dr. Lockwood was induced to study the life 
history of Limulus, the horse-foot, or Kirtg 
Crab. The result, among other things, was the 
startling fact that this crab is a hia-her form of 
the trilobite, that fossil which has been so per- 
plexing to scientific men. The paper ^^•as read 
to the society in 1869, and published in the 
American Naturalist in 1870. It was trans- 
lated into German by Professor Anthon Dorhn, 
of the University of Jena; it received flattering 
consideration from the eminent French zoologist, 
Milne de Edwards, and was highly compli- 
luented by the veteran comparative anatomist. 
Dr. Owen, in a related jiaper read to the Lin- 
Uiean Society, of London. Dr. Lockwood's 
knowledge of the oyster and the oyster industry 
i^ shown iu his exhaustive manual on the oys- 
ter, published in the report for ISS."] of the Bu- 
r.au of Statistics of Labor and Industry of the 
State i.if Jersey. 

Among American scientists much interest 
was awakened, in 18(50, by the discovery of the 
>iandinavian savants, that the great inland 
oyster lieds of the Jutland fjords and shores of 
the Danish Islands, supposed to have been left 
j by a change of the sea-level, were actually the 
leavings of a people of the Stone Age. Hence, 
they were called kitchen-middings, or food ; 
leavings. Among these shells were found 



stone implements. In 18")t)— 37, Dr. Lockwood 
made the unique discovery of an American 
kitchen-midding on the Raritan Bay shore, 
about a mile and a half nortiieast of Keyport. 
There was an inland oyster bed, which the 
doctor determined to be a kitchen-middino: of 
the Stone Age. Here, year after year, with his 
children, he explored, making a cnllection of 
stone implements and chips. In an article read 
before the Natural History Society of Rutgers 
College, he also showed that this kitchen-mid- 
ding, then not more than half a mile from the 
\Nater at low tide, was formerly much farther 
inland. In 1863, Dr. Charles Ran, in a visit 
to the doctor, was informed by his host of his 
discovery, — a fact which he hesitated to believe 
until he took him to tiie spot. Dr. Rau worked 
up the matter in an article for the Smithsonian, 
iu report of 1864, in which he says: "Here 
we have Kjoekken-moedding, in the real sense 
of the word." Dr. Rau acknowledges his in- 
debtedness to Dr. Lockwood as the first dis- 
coverer. 

The doctor is a Fellow of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 
and is an honorary member of a number of 
scientific bodies, including the Societe Beige de 
Microscope. He has for many years been the 
secretary of the New Jersey State Microscopical 
Society and president of the Ameriaiu Postal 
Microscopical Club. His contributions to 
science in botany, zoology and microscopy are 
very numerous. He is one of the staff of 
writers in the " Standard Natural History," now 
in course of publication. In ])opu]ar natural his- 
tory Dr. Lockwood is regarded as introducing a 
new schotil : his style is so fascinating, and yet 
so rigidly accurate in scientific statement. In 
that interesting compilation, " A Natural His- 
tory Reader," Professor James Johonnot speaks 
of his indebtedness to the " admirable sketches 
of Rev. Samuel Lockwoood. This accurate 
observer has a poetic insight and a sense of 
humor which invests every subject with which 
he deals with a peculiar human interest." 

The first year, especially, of the late war, 
witii its financial distress and general gloom, 
was a testing time of men ; though quiet and 
unobtrusive, even to the verge of conservatism, 



448 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and the pastor of a church, our subject threw 
himself as a patriot into the necessities of the 
times. By methods singularly original and in- 
genious, he caused the raising of money for the 
first volunteers, at Keyport,and their necessitous 
families. On another occasion, having accom- 
panied a squad of volunteers to the camp near 
Freehold, a setback occurred. Not one of the 
men would allow himself to be mustered into 
tlie service, alleging tiiat tlicy had been de- 
ceived, as not a dollar of the promised bounty 
money was forthcoming. All argument had 
failed, when one who had acted as spokesman 
said: "If Dominie Lockwood will give his 
word that the bounty will be paid in a reason- 
able time, we will sign the muster-roll." The 
response came like a flash : " God bless you, 
boys. Give me ten days, and if I am alive, I 
will put the money in your hands." After a 
wild hurrah for the dominie, they were mus- 
tered in. It was a large sum of money to raise 
entirely by voluntary subscriptions upon per- 
sonal solicitation ; but it was done, and ttie jias- 
tor, on the tenth day, put into the iiauds of each 
man twenty-five dollars. 

Actuated by his personal knowledge of the 
distress among the relatives and families of many 
of those who went from Monmouth County to 
the war, he went to the field of operations as 
allotment commissioner, and, with one solitary 
exception, every Jerseyman he met signed his 
roll of home remittances. 

Dr. Lockwood's proudest rSle in the history 
of Monmouth County must be looked for in his 
educational work. When he came into the county 
the condition of the public schools generally 
was very low. A few gentlemen there Avere 
who viewed the situation similarly, and who 
were indjued with the same spirit, — namely, the 
late principal, Amos Richardson, of the Young 
Ladies' Seminary ; Dr. O. R. Willis, the 
founder and long the principal of the Freehold 
Institute ; Rev. A. ]Millspaugh ; and that live 
teacher of the public school at Farraingdale, 
W. V. I.iaureuce, who became eminent as a 
clergymen. For years a county organization of 
teachers was kept up, which met semi-annually, 
for a two days' session, an evening being devoted 
to public addresses in some church. As these 



assemblages met in the different villages, theetfect 
was a quiet leavening of the community. ]>r. 
Lockwood worked devcjtedly on the earliest 
County Institutes, and, at a request made at one 
of them, he even undertook to lecture on the 
needs of the schools in every village of the 
county. Unable to pay carriage hire, much of 
his traveling was done on foot in one of the 
severest seasons known to New Jersey, so that 
liis winter's work was with suffering antl witli 
peril, as a dangerous illness ensued. In 18")9 
he was elected town superintendent for the town- 
ship of Raintan. A statute of long standing 
gave the Board of Freeholders of each county 
the power to appoint a board of examiners, 
whose duty shtmld be to license teachers. Mon- 
mouth had never heeded this law. So, in 18(55, 
a law was enacted making it the duty of tlie 
Freeholders to appoint, and in default, it should 
be tlie duty of the State Board of Education to 
make the appointment. So, in the s])ring of 
18(55, the Board of Freeholders appointed Rev. 
S. Lockwood and Rev. A. Mills])augh said ex- 
aminers. The office had a good deal of work, 
but no pay. The teachers in eacii township 
were sumniduetl to meet the examiners in the 
school-house most central. The examinations 
were chiefly oral, the candidates standing in 
line. Dr. Lockwood was much dissatisfied with 
the first experiments, as too often the individual 
with the mo.st cheek would appear to advantage 
over some timid female much his superior. But 
the harvest of this much .sowing was not far off. 
Dr. Lockwood had given his earnest labor 
to the State Teachers' Association in its early 
days. From this body went a presentment 
and petition to the Legislature for the appoint- 
ment by law of a State Board of Education. 
This was done, and now progress was possible, 
for this new State Board soon obtained the 
passage of what was for years called •' The 
New School Law." This was in the .spring of 
1867. It abolished the office of town superin- 
tendent and of county examiners, and instituted 
the county superintendent, with an examining 
staff. Dr. Lockwood had been elected to the 
office of town superintendent nine times, and now 
was honored with the appointment of county 
superintendent. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



449 



After a pastorate of fifteen years, in August, 
l.S(!!l, he resigned . his care of the church at 
Keyport in order to devote himself to the edu- 
cational field now before him, and in 1870 he 
moved to Freehold, to be more central to his 
work. 

The first examination of teachers held under 
the new order of things was in July, 1867, 
in the grand jury room. Freehold. The en- 
tire exercises were in writing. The county 
superintendent had composed the questions and 
one of his examiners, SpatFord W. Murjjhy, 
who was skillful as a text printer, had printed 
each topic on a large sheet, ^hich was hungup 
in sight of the candidates. There were twenty- 
seven present, and a feeling of apprehension 
prevailed. After the stationery was distributed, 
the superintendent said he would ask their at- 
tention a few minutes before they began their 
work. He assured them, in words of gentle- 
ness, that he was in sympathy with them ; it 
was a severe ordeal to which they were called ; 
the situation was trying and new. He said he 
would narrate a bit of western experience. "A 
judge, named Coulter, was holding court, and 
as the offense was so common, and no notice 
had been taken of it before, it caused surprise 
that an old man should be put on his trial for 
cutting some of Uncle Sam's timber ; hence, 
the opinion prevailed that it would amount to 
nothing, even in the event of conviction, as 
only a nominal punishment would be inflicted. 
The result differed from expectation, as Judge 
Coulter gave the old man two years' imprison- 
ment, — in fact, exemplary punishment. The 
poor fellow, in astonishment, asked if he might be 
allowed a word, and said, ' Hasn't your honor 
set the Coulter too deep for new land ? ' And 
now, dear teachers, do your best. I have con- 
sidered the situation, and will set the coulter for 
new land." This little speech was an inspira- 
tion of courage to the timid and of confidence 
to the suspicious. Comparing the educational 
])rescnt with the past, what a contrast ! Those 
early County Institutes, with, perhaps, an at- 
tendance of twenty teachers a day ; now, at 
these gatherings one hundred and eighty-five 
teachers answering the roll-call. How differ- 
ent their appearance, too ! then how many were 
29 



slouchy and slovenly! now, well ordered and 
commanding respect. The average scholarship 
of the public school teacher to-day is fifty per 
cent, over that of those days. Our school sys- 
tem now is absolutely free ; then a rate system 
prevailed. The illiteracy of the young is by 
actual individual enumeration in our county 
considerably under two per cent. When Dr. 
Lockwood organized the county he caused a 
careful estimate to be made of the public 
school property. It went very little beyond 
twenty thousand dollars. To-day it is not far 
from four hundred thousand dollars. At that 
time there was not a graded or High School in 
the county. Now the one single village with- 
out such an institution is regarded as the ex- 
ceptional one in the county. Each year our 
jjublie schools graduate a large number of 
pupils whose education is sujjerior to that of 
the average public .school teacher of those 
days. 

As a lecturer, whether on pedagogics or nat- 
ural science. Superintendent Lockwood is very 
popular among teachers, and in that capacity 
he has done institute work in every countv of 
the State. In the great educational exhibit at 
the Centennial Exposition, he made an archse- 
ological exhibit for Monmouth County, which 
won high praise, and for which he received a 
medal and diploma from the International Jury 
of Education. In 1878, nearly broken down 
with excess of work, the teachers and friends of 
education in I\Ionmouth County sent their su- 
perintendent to Europe to visit the Paris Expo- 
sition and recuperate his health. 

Dr. Lockwood is a man of broad views and 
the most liberal convictions. Narrowness and 
bigotry have no lodgment in his nature. While 
reasonably conservative, he has the profouudest 
respect for the honest opinions of mankind. In 
his dealings with men, both professionally and 
in the ordinary every-day transactions of life, 
he is the very essence of honor. His motives 
are pure and without repi'oach, personal feeling 
in him always giving way to a high sense of 
duty, directed by the sincerest judgment. He 
is charitable, in the ordinary meaning of the 
word, even to a fault, his pity giving ere charity 
begins. Especially helpful has he been to de- 



450 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



serving youug people, who are seekiug to better | 
their condition. In Dr. Lockwood many such 
have found a devoted friend. He has a quick ! 
discernment in detecting real merit, and will ' 
often go out of his way in advancing it. Many 
a young man has found his way through col- 
lege and to places of honor and remuneratii»i 
through Dr. Lockwood's aid and encourage- 
ment. The writer of this has known him to 
take a long ride, under great physical suifering, 
to aid a worthy teacher in trouble, — not that it 
was his official duty, l)ut liecause of tlie prompt- 
ings of the religious humanity of his generous 
heart. To-day in Monmouth Countj- few there 
be who have not the most kindly feeling and 
respect for this scholarly gentleman, who has 
given the maturest part of a valuable life to the 
advancement of education in Xew Jersey, which 
he is proud to call his home. 

No newspaper was published in Freehold 
prior to the "War of 1812-15, and the few which 
were published there during the next fourteen 
years after the close of that war were weak and 
of short duration. In the time of the Eevolu- 
tionary War the only paper published in Xew 
Jersey was the New Jersey Gazette, of which 
Isaac Collins was publisher. There were no 
post-offices then in ^lonmoutli ; the nearest one 
was Trenton, of wdiich B. Smith was postmaster. 
The Xeic Jersey Gazette had many subscribers 
in Monmouth, to whom papei-s were delivered 
by post-riders, who undertook such business on 
their own account. In 1778, John Van Kirk, 
■who was probably the same who was sheriff of 
Middlesex, and who lived at Cranbury, adver- 
tised that he would deliver the Gazette to sub- 
scribers in Allentown for 7s. 6c?. per annum ; 
Hightstown, lO.s.; Cranbury, U.S.; Englishtown, 
12.S. 6d.; Monmouth Court-House (Freehold), 
15s, — provided two hundred and fifty subscribers 
could be obtained ; one-quarter of the money to 
be paid in hand. In August of the following 
year (1779) Van Kirk advertised to carry the 
paper for about the same terms per quarter, in- 
stead of per annum, — fluctuations in currency 
probably the cause. His terms in 1779 were to 
subscribers in Allentown, 7s. 6d.; Freehold 10s.; 
Shrewsbury, 14s.; Middletown, 15s., and Eng- 



lishtown, 10.S'. per (juarter, — tlie cash to be paid 
by the packet master on delivering of the second 
week's papere. 

The agents in Monmouth County in 1777-78 
for the Xew Jersey Gazette were Colonel Thomas 
Henderson, Freehold ; John Burrowes, Mid- 
dletown Point ; Colonel Daniel Hendricksou, 
Shrewsbm-y ; Colonel Elisha Lawrence, Upper 
Freehold. 

The first newspaper of Freehold was a small 
sheet, called the Spirit of Washingtvn, pub- 
lished, as before mentioned, in the house of 
John Craig (or in a small building attached to 
the dwelling), on the north side of Main Street, 
next east of the court-house. It first appeared 
in 1814, and continued into the following year, 
but how much (if any) longer is not known. It 
was a Federalist paper, devoted largely to abuse 
of President ]Madison and ex-President Jeffer- 
son, and violently ojiposed to tlie war then in 
progress against England. Two or three copies 
of this paper are still in existence in Free- 
hold. 

The Monmouth . Star, a small five-column 
])ai)er, edited by West Deklyn (a young lawyer 
of Freehold), made its first apj)earauce October 
24, 1819. It was printed in the old court- 
house building, on South Street, and also, for a J 
time, in an old building standing on a 2)art of 
the American House site and adjoining the 
small shop then occupied by Francis Deklyn, 
and afterwards, for more tJian thirty-five years, 
l)y Ellas Hart. How long the Star con- 
tinued is not known. 

The Monmouth Journal, a five-column 
paper, was first issued December 26, 1826, by( 
George M. Bunce <t Co. It lived nearly two: 
years, expiring in 1828. 

The Jersey Blue — John C. S. Counollyi 
and Josiah Pierson, editors — was published In 1 
Freehold in 1846, its first Issue being dated 
January 11th in that year. It was a three-col- 
umn, weekly journal, " devoted to the moral and 
intellectual culture of youth," which Is all that 
has been learned with regard to it. 

The Monmouth Herald was commenced byi 
John C. S. Connolly and John R. T. Mason, 
in October, 1854, the office of publication being 
at the southwest corner of Main and Throck- 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



451 



mortou Streets. The paper was consolidated 
■\vitli the Monmouth Inquirer iu April 1860. 

The Monmouth Inquirer and the Monmouth 
Democrat are the only newspapers now pub- 
lished in Freehold, the first named being the 
older of the two. It was establisJied in 1.S29 
bv John W. and Enos R. Bartleson/ who came 



'John Wesley Bartleson was born at Wliitemarsh, 
Jlontgomery County, Pa., .Iiinuary 26, 1806. .At the age 
of eighteen he was apprenticed to the printing busiaess in 
the office of the Doylesloum Democrat, a mile and a half 
from his birth-place, the office then being under the man- 
agement of General Rogers. His brother, Enos R. Bfirtle- 
son, was at the same time an apprentice in the ofBce of the 
Intelligencer, conducted by Kelly & Jackson, in the same 
town. 

The first enterprise of Mr. Bartleson, after finishing his 
apprenticeship, was the publication of a newspaper at 
Doylestown. where, ou the '27th of November, IS27, in part- 
nership with F. B. Shaw, a lawyer, he issued the first num- 
ber of Tke Bucks Counlij Political Examiner. The paper 
"was a small folio, with three columns to a page, issued 
weekly. It supported the administration of John Quincy 
Adams, and advocated his re-election to the Presidency. 
The election of .\ndrew .lackson in 1828 probiibly caused 
the suspension of its publication, soon after which Mr. 
Bartleson removed to Freehold to commence the publica- 
tion of the Inquirer, as mentioned. 

Mr. Bartleson was an aciive politician. He joined the 
Whig party early in the history of that organization, and 
remained in its ranks until it ceased to exist. About 18-55 
he became identified with the " American" or " Know- 
Nothing " movement, and upon the breaking up of tliat or- 
ganization, after the election of .\braham Lincoln to the 
Presidency, he allied himself to the Democratic party. He 
was alwaj's opposed to the Republican party, as were very 
many of the old Whigs who adhered to the teachings of 
Webster and Clay and the politicians of that school. 

Mr. Bartleson alw.ays wielded a strong influence among 
the people, and consequently was frequently named for po- 
sitions of public trust. In 1841, after bis first withdrawal 
from the Inquirer, he was appointed by President Harrison 
to the charge of the light-house at Sandy Hook, and 
removed with his family to that place, where he remained 
throughout the administration of President Tyler. In 1854 
he was nominated by the Whig County Convention for sher- 
iff against Holmes Conover, the Democratic nominee, and 
was defeated by only eighty-one majority in a total poll of 
' 4956 votes. In 1855 he was nominated by the Whig 
I Convention for county clerk, and was defeated by Jehu 
I Patterson, receiving 2077 votes against 2709 for Patter- 
son. In March. 1858, he was appointed by Governor New- 
ell county clerk, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the 
death of Mr. Patterson, until the ensuing election. At the 
township election in 1859 he was elected school superin- 
tendent, and was annually re-elected to that position until 
the new law creating a county superintendent went into ef- 
fect, in 1867. In 1874 he was elected a justice of the peace 



from Doylestown, Pa., to Freehold for that pur- 
pose. 

In the spring of the yetir named, having 
learned that the 3Ionmoufh Journal, whicli had 

to fill a vacancy, and the following year was elected to the 
full term of five years, and was re-elected in 1880. 
In every public position to which he was assigned he dis- 
charged the duties faithfully and to the entire satisfaction 
of the public. 

After his first withdrawal from the Inquirer, Mr. Bartle- 
son became a large operator in real estate. From 1832 to 
1850 he bought and sold large tracts of land in what is now 
the town of Freehold and in the immediate vicinity. It 
is said that at one time during the above jieriod he 
was the largest land-owner, and probably the wealthiest 
man, in this section. In 18.36 he owned over two 
hundred acres of land east of South Street, and built 
the brick mansion opposite to the Freehold Institute, now 
occupied by J. A. Geissenhainer, Esq. This property he 
sold, in 1847, to Charles Parker, father of ex-Governor 
Parker, who conveyed it to C. D. Emson, Esq. In 1850 he 
purchased the " Briar Hill Farm," and engaged in farming, 
having his f\imily residence on the Keyport road, just below 
the " Cowart property." He also engaged in the butcher- 
ing business, and dealt in flour, feed and grain. This lat- 
ter business ultimately caused his financial embarrass- 
ment. 

He was an early and warm friend and supporter of pub- 
lic education. He not only labored for the establishment 
of the public-school system, but he aided to establish, and 
was a liberal patron of, the private institutions of learning 
in Freehold that, for more than a third of a century, 
contributed so largely to the intellectual culture of the 
people. 

Mr. Bartleson was married, at Freehold, on the .Sth of 
February, 18.35, to Catharine, daughter of Samuel Throck- 
morton, who married Phoebe Snyder, at Frankfort, Ky., on 
the 26th of January, 1806, the day on which Mr. Bartleson 
was born. Her grandfather was Samuel Throckmorton, of 
.South .\mhoy, who married Catharine Francis, of Middle- 
town Point, in 1755. Mrs. Bartleson's aunt, Sarah Throck- 
morton, married Dr. Samuel Forman, who was the father 
of John F. T. Forman, and grandfather of Dr. D. McL. 
F. rnian, of Freehold. The fruit of this msirriage was five 
children — Catharine L., who died in infancy ; Mary Ann, 
widow of James D. Budington, of Freehold; Katie T., wife 
of H. B. Carpenter, merchant, of Philadelphia: Alethea, 
wife of Rev. E. D. Ledyard, of Cincinnati ; and Julia, wife 
of A. Bell Malcolmson, lawyer, of New York City. 

Intimately associated as he was with public affairs, Mr. 
Bartleson was unobtrusive in his demeanor and kind and 
gentle in his intercourse with his fellows. His public ad- 
dresses, whether on political topics or in local assemblies, 
were argumentative and persuasive, exhibiting a sound, 
practical judgment and a mind well stored with facts. He 
always maintained a high reputation for honesty and in- 
tegrity of character, and possessed, to aremark.able degree, 
the confidence and respect of the public He aimed to be 
useful, and iv this respect he was successful to the full extent 



452 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



been commenced in Freehold a little more than 
two years before, had been suspended for want 
of patronage, and that the citizens of Monmouth 
County were very much in want of a printer, 
the brothers Bartleson immediately started for 
iSIonmouth Court-House, as the town was then 
called. There was no public conveyance to the 
county-seat from that direction, and they were 
obliged to make the last twentv-five or thirty 
miles on foot. Arriving here, they learned that 
the printing-otfice of the Journal belonged to 
Major Peter Vanderhoef, then surrogate of the 
couuty, who had taken it to secure the payment 
of money advanced to sustain its publication, 
the original owners having departed to seek their 
fortunes elsewhere. Major Vanderhoef was not 
only anxious to sell in order to recover his ad- 
vances, but was also, for public reasons, anxious 
to have the newspaper resuscitated and the 
printing-office again put into operation ; so he 
was not long in coming to terms with the young 
printers, and making a transfer of the establish- 
ment to them. Tiiey immediately commenced 
business, and issued the first number of the Mon- 
mouth Inquirer under the firm-name of J. W. 
& E. R. Bartleson, editors and proprietors. The 
first number was i.ssued on Tuesday, the 7th 
day of July, 1829. The paper was a small folio 
of four pages, eleven by seventeen inches each. 
At this time the Inquirer was neutral in politics. 
Andrew Jackson, on the previous 4th of March, 
has just entered upon his first term as President, 
and Monmouth County, at the State election in 
October following, had given two hundred ma- 
jority for the Jackson ticket. Subsequently, 
upon the formation of the Whig party, the paper 
espoused that cause, and remained firm upon 
Hiat side as long as the party survived. 

The two brothers, with the assistance of a boy 
(John Conley),^ by close application, managed to 



of hh opportunities. His ear was ever open to the tale of 

woe, and his hand always ready to relieve the distressed. 
The memory of few men of his generation will be longer 
cherished in the hearts of the poor than his. In his fam- 
ily he was a beloved friend and brother to all in tlie house- 
hold, laboring unselfishly to the end for the comfort and 
welfare of those committed to his charge. He died at 
Freehold, August 18, 1«81. 

'.John Conley was born at Stillwell's Corners, January 
15, 1817, and died at Freehold, August 11, 1881. At (he 



do nearly all the work of the printing office 
within themselves, including tlie distribution of 
the paper to subscribers, which had to be done 
by Ciirriers on horseback, there being very few 
post-offices in the county. The printing-office 
occupied part of a building located upon the lot 
now occupied in j)art by the Monmouth Demo- 
crat building and in part by the banking-house 
of the Freehold National Banking Company. 
In digging for the foundations of the Democrat 
building in 1860, tlie well of the old printing- 
office was uncovered. The building had a front 
of about forty feet, and was al)out twenty feet 
deep, with a hall and stairway in the centre. 
On the first floor, in the west end of the building, 
Mr. John Outcalt had a cabinet-shop ; over this, 
on the second floor, Charles Drake manufactured 
boots and shoes ; the printing-office occupied the 
ground floor on the east, and a small building 
on the retrr was used for a press-room. The 
second story over the office was used by William 
Thompson as a tailor-shop. About the 1st of 
January, 1831, just about daybreak, this build- 
ing was discovered to be on fire, and was entirely 
destroyed. The only article belonging to the 
printing-office that was saved was the Ramage 
press upon which the paper Mas printed. This 
was saved by taking it apart and throwing it 
out of the window. The fire, however, was 
prevented from reaching the press-room. It 
was afterwards ascertained that the fire origin- 
ated in the tailor-shop from the carelessness of 
a journeyman. By the generosity of the busi- 
ness men of the town, a considerable amount of 
money was raised for the suffi'rers by the fire, 
tjut the Messrs. Bartleson refused to accept any 
part thereof, relying upon their youth and 
industry to recover their losses. The same 
morning of the fire a severe snow-storm set in, 
and before night the roads were completely 
blockaded. The next morning, without waiting 
for the roads to be broken, the senior partner of 



age of twelve years he went into the Inquirer oEBoe to leava | 
the business, and he continued there, almost without inter- i 
mission, until the time of his fatal illness. "There were 
several instances when Mr. Conley was the only person 
who remained faithful to it (the Inquirer), a.nA he never- J 
failed to bring it out some time during the week, and so 
kept up its regular publication." 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



453 



tlie finn started for Philadelphia on a wood- 
sled to purchase materials to start the ofSce 
again. It took all the first day to work his 
"way to Trenton. From there to Philadelphia 
he found the roads open. Having purchased 
the necessary materials and packed them iijion 
his sled, he started at sunset and reached Bristol 
on the evening of the third day after leaving 
home. The fourth day he made good ])rogress, 
and reached the " Willow-Tree Tavern" (now 
Clark.sburg) just as night closed in, but shortly 
•after leaving there he lost his way in the pine 
forests, and wandered about for several hours. 
The weather was intensely cold, the ther- 
mometer marking below zero. He left his 
team in the woods and started on foot. At 
length he discovered a light which led him to a 
house, where he received directions, found his 
road and succeeded in reaching Freehold about 
half-i)ast one o'clock in the morning. His feet 
and hands were badly frost-bitten, but he 
thawed them with t'old water, and subsequently 
experienced no serious trouble from that cause. 
Ill the mean time another buildino- had been 
procured, and before noon of the day of his 
return the printing-office was in full operation 
again. The week having elapsed, they lost the 
publication of the paper, lint the next week 
they issued two editions to make up for it. 
These incidents are particularly mentioned to 
show the difficulties that attended the publica- 
tion of a newspaper in Monmouth County half 
a century ago, and the courage and persever- 
ance that was necessary to overcome them. 

The establishment l)y this firm of private 
post routes for the distribution of their news- 
paper throughout the county cost them about 
five hundred dollars a year, and about this 
time they discovered that it was a losing busi- 
ness, and discontinued it. The firm continued 
until July, 1833, when E. R. Bartleson, the 
junior partner, withdrew from it, and re- 
moved to Wheeling, Va., where he established 
the }]lieeling Gazette, daily, semi-weekly and 
weekly, and built up a large business. Henry 
and George Ayres at this time came into the 
I)i(jiiirer office as apprentices, and with John 
Conley formed the operative force. They re- 
mained there until 1840, when thev removed 



to Philadelphia and engaged in the mercantile 
business. Henry, for a number of years after 
his removal, was a literary contributor to the 
Inquirer, over the signature of " Aunt Betsey." 

In the spring of 1835, Mr. Bartleson sold a 
half-interest in the Inquirer establishment to 
Jacob M. Callender, of Doylestown, and the 
firm of Bartleson & Callender continued the 
business until 1840, when Mr. Bartleson dis- 
posed of his remaining interest to Robert H. 
Johnson, of New York City. In 1842, Cal- 
lender sold his interest to Orrin Pharo. Subse- 
quently Mr. Bartleson purchased Johnson's 
interest and shortly after sold it to Pharo, who 
then became sole owner. In September, 18.^)4, 
Mr. Bartleson again purchased a half-interest in 
the Inquirer, and the business was carried on 
under the firm-name of Pharo & Bartleson until 
May 8, 1856, when the latter withdrew, and was 
not afterwards connected with the paper. During 
this period, namely, Octol)or, 1855, the firm 
issued the first number of the New Jersey Far- 
mer, a monthly of sixteen small quarto pages, 
the publication of which was continued success- 
fully for several years, in the mean time having 
been sold to Judge Naar, of the True American, 
at Trenton. 

Soon after the final withdrawal of Mr. Bar- 
tleson from the Inquirer, Charles S. Tunis be- 
came associated with jNIr. Pharo in the proprie- 
torship of the paper. The next change was the 
withdrawal of Pharo, leaving Tunis sole j)ro- 
prietor. Then came the firm of Tunis ct Stout, 
then the withdrawal of Tunis in .Tune, 1S5!). 
During Mr. Tunis' proprietorship a daily edition 
of the Jiujitirer had been issued for a time, but 
was found unprofitable, and discontinued July 
17, 1858. After Stout, the next proprietor was 
Mr. Lyons. In April, 1860, the Monmouth 
Herald was united with the Inquirer, — Proprie- 
tors, W. D. & J. P. Connolly; Editor, John C. 
S. Connolly. The next change was the \\'\i\\- 
drawal of W. D. Connolly. Next,W. D. Con- 
nolly associated with him W. S. Cloke, under 
the name of Connolly & Cloke. Connolly 
withdrew, and A. P. Fardon became proprietor 
with Cloke. Fardon withdrew, and on the 24th 
of July, 1862, Cloke sold to Benjamin Snyder 
& Son. The last change of proprietorship was 



454 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



made in 1864, when Snyder sold out to Col- 
onel Edwin F. Applegate, Mdio remained the 
owner and manager of the Inquirer establish- 
ment until his deatli, in the present year, and 
it is now carried on by his sou. Of those who 
preceded him in the proprietorship of the j^aper, 
there are now living Charles S. Tunis, Dr. A. 
P. Fardon, William S. Cloke (editor of the 
State Gazette, at Trenton) and W. Scott Snyder. 

The 3Iomnouth Democrat was founded and 
established by Mr. Bernard Connolly, who 
died without leaving any record of the iiistory 
of the paper under his administration as editor 
and publisher. No files of the paper were pre- 
served by him, and no copy of the first number 
is known to be in existence. From a copy of the 
second number, in good state of preservation, 
and now in possession of the present owner of the 
establisliment, we learn that the first number of 
the ])aper was published on Saturday, April 
12, 1834. It was a folio of finir pages, with five 
columns to a page, printed on a sheet twenty by 
twenty-eight inches in size, and set in large type. 
The motive leadinsc to its establishment was to siis- 
tain President Jackson in his opposition to the 
reciiarter of the United States Bank, then the 
prominent political issue before the country. Mr. 
Connolly was a j'l'inter, then a resident of 
Princeton, and, from certain indications in the 
material of the office when it passed from his 
control, was employed in printing the publi- 
cations of the Presbyterian Church, under the 
direction of its board of publication. The first 
thirteen numbers of the Democrat were printed 
at Princeton, as appears from a paragraph in 
the number for July 5, 1834, in which the 
publisher announces that he hopes to be able to 
remove his printing material to Freehold by the 
early part of the succeeding week. Of its fur- 
ther history under Mr. Connolly's management 
we have but a few general facts gathered from 
occasional numbers collected by the present 
owner. In 1836 it supported Van Buren for 
the Presidency, and has supported the nominees 
of the Democratic National and State Conventions 
from that period down to the present time. Under 
the leadership of John R. Thom])son, in 1842- 
43, it advocated the framiuffof a new State Con- 



stitution, the leading issues being the election 
of Governor and county officers by the people, the 
constitutional abolition of the property qualifi- 
cation for members of the Legislature, and the 
creation of the Court of Errors and Appeals. 
It also opposed the high tariff doctrines of 
Henry Clay and the Whig party, and advocated 
" a tainfffor revenue, with incidental j>rotection.'* 
After the custom of those days, the paper was 
essentially a political one, prominence being 
given to reports of congressional and legislative 
proceedings and debates on political questions. 
In the matter of news, preference was given to 
that from foreign countries, while local events 
in State and county, other than the proceedings 
of political meetings and conventions, were 
largely ignored. 

About the 1st of January, 1854, the estab- 
lishment was purchased of Mr. Connolly by 
James S. Yard, under whose management it lias 
since continued. Mr. Yard was then publish- 
ing the Milage Record, at Hightstown, a pajier 
which, in partnership with Jacob Stults (now of 
the Long Branch News), he had established a 
few years before, and which had acquired some 
local reputation for its independent and vigor- 
ous treatment of social and political topics. He 
was largely imbued witli the new ideas in jour- 
nalism then coming into vogue, and upi)n as- 
suming control of the Democrat, without chang- 
ing its politics, he at once altered its whole gen- 
eral character and its typogra]ihical appearance. 
He announced, in his first address to its readers,, 
that while the paper would be always found the 
ready and zealous champion of Democratic men 
and measures, its political department would 
never be allowed to engross so much space in 
its columns as to detract from its merits as a j 
newspaper for the family, and that especial at- 
tention would be given to tiie chronicling of, 
local news. Since that time the press of the 
State and of the whole country, in tiie particu- 
lars referred to, has been revolutionized, and the 
Democrat, among the pioneers in the movement,, 
has maintained a good reputation among the 
papers of its class at home and in the State at 
large. 

While faithfully supporting the principles 
and organization of tiie party to which it is at- 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



455 



tac'hedjthf Democrat lias not blindly followed the 
lead or submitted to the control of party man- 
agers, but has aimed to elevate tha tone of party 
politics, and in <loing so has not hesitated to re- 
buke the wrong method or to repudiate the im- 
proper nomination. At the same time, it has 
maintained the right and duty of a public news- 
paper to discuss social and moral ([uestions uj^on 
their merits, and without regard to party con- 
sideratious ; and this it has done at all times 
and upon all occasions when it has seemed to be 
demanded. It was among the first to call atten- 
tion to the dangerous tendencies of the Know- 
Nothing organization, and was unremitting in 
its opposition to it until it ceased to exist. It 
was among the first in the State in its snp])ort 
of the war to suppress the Southern Rebellion. 
In its leading editorial in its issue immediately 
succeeding the attack upon Fort Sumter, and, 
in common with the press of all parties, still 
hoping that an appeal to arms might be averted, 
it said, — 

■■ Let us throw no obstacle in the way of the gov- 
ennnent in carrying out its policy. . . . We should 
remember, whenever the flag of our country is un- 
furle<l and the stars and stripes are flung to the breeze, 
tluit it is our flag, and that the country over which it 
waves is our country." 

In the next succeeding issue of the paper it 
said, — 

" Allegiance to the government is as imperative as 
fidelity to one's family. To oppose the government 
when war is in progress is a crime." 

As an earnest of his faith in the cause, the 
])ublisher immediately tendered his services to 
Governor Olden, was accepted, went to the seat 
of war as Major of the Third Regiment N. J. 
Militia, with the first New Jersey troops that 
left the State, and served his tour of duty with 
credit. Until the close of the war the Deinovnd 
was foremost in encouraging the raising of 
troops and in sustaining measures for the sup- 
pression of the Rebellion. It also vigorously 
opposed all peace measures that were not based 
upon a complete restoration of the Union and 
an unqualified surrender to the constitution, 
and throughout the struggle counselled obedi- 
ence to law and the constituted authorities. 
During this period an attempt, which was 



seeondi'il by some local leaders of the l>arty, 
was made to disband the Democratic party, 
upon the plea that in the existing emergency 
there should be but one political party. This 
attempt was promptly and energetically op[)()sed 
by the Democrat, and the eifort was shortly 
abandoned. 

In ISoo the Democrat attacked and was in- 
strumental in breaking up the practice of horse- 
racing on the public roa<ls, then to the demorali- 
zation of the community largely indulged in. It 
attacked and broke up the unlicensed liquor 
saloons in Freehold, several of which then ex- 
isted in open violation of law and without re- 
monstrance from the public. It has been ac- 
tive in encouraffing the construction of our local 
railroads and other enterprises designed to de- 
velop the industries of the county. It early 
called public attention to the advantages of our 
sea-coast, and lent efficient aid in the effort to 
build u|) that section of the county. It from 
the beginning supported our ])ublic-school sys- 
tem, and has lent aid and encouragement to its 
progress and development. It has been the 
friend of progress, but at the same time has 
steadily opposed sudden and radical changes in 
old-established laws and customs, and changes 
merely to answer present emergencies or partisan 
ends. It has always held that a newspaper is a 
public trust, to be u.sed in the interest of the 
general public, and not as an instrument to re- 
dress private grievances or to further personal 
aims and ambitions, and while it has been fear- 
less and uncompromising in opposing that which 
it believed to l)e wrong, and sustaining that which 
it deemed to be right, whether in either case in- 
volving the reputation of public officials or per- 
sons in private life, it has never been called 
into court to justify any jjublication in its col- 
umns, and this immunity from prosecution it 
no doubt largely owes to its close adherence to 
the principle above stated. 

The establishment was removed to the build- 
ing it now occupies in the fall of 1860. Since 
then considerable additions have been made to 
the building to accommodate its inci'easiug busi- 
ness. Recently its mechanical departments have 
been rem(jdeled by the introduction of new 
machinery and the latest modern appliances 



456 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and in this respect it now ranks with the best 
weekly newspaper and job printing offices in the 
State. 

Major James Sterling Yard, sou of the late 
Captain Joseph A. Yard, whose sketch may be 
found in the military history of this volume, was 
born in the city of Trenton, April 20, 1826. He 
received his preliminary education from books at 
Trenton Academy, and left school at the age 
of fourteen to act as book-keeper for his father 



the Kings County Democrat, and in 1850 he 
printed for Benjamin F. Yard, owner and editor, 
the first thirteen numbers of the Ocean Signal 
(now Ocean County Courier), at Tom's River. 
Subsequently he started the Village Record (now 
Gazette) at Hightstowu. While at that place, he 
was postmaster for a period just before 1854, 
which position he resigned upon removing to 
Freehold. He was also postmaster of Freehold 
from October 1, 1855 to July 1, 1860, wlien he 




/^(^Z^yyiocyC^^^^^iS^ 




in the auction business. He afterwards entered 
the True American office to learn the art of 
printing, and sj)ent seve]'al years in learning 
the mechanical branch of the trade. He was 
a skillful compositor and pressman, and at one 
time worked the entire weekly edition of the 
True American on a hand-press. In 1846 he 
started the WeeUy Visitor in the city of Tren- 
ton, and after conducting it for three months, 
sold it. In 1848 he published for an association 
in Williamsljurgh, L. I., a campaign news])aper, 



resigned 



In 1854 he jjurchased the Monmouth 
Democrat (see sketch), and has conducted it to 
the present time (1885). In 1866 he also 
established the Long Branch News, which he 
conducted for several years. He was elected a 
member of the Monmouth County Board of 
Chosen Freeholders in the spring of 1863, 
and re-elected for two suci'eeding years, when 
he declined to serve longer. 

He was major of the Third Regiment of 
militia durino- the three months' service at the 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



457 



outbreak of the late wai-, and afterward.-^ was 
counected with all the military operations in 
the county for raising troops until the close of 
tiie war. He was appointed by Governor Olden 
to draft the militia for Monmouth County, and 
was commander of Camp Yredenburoh and as- 
sisted in raising the Twenty-eighth and Twenty- 
ninth Regiments of volunteers. Hewasalsocom- 
missioned as commander of Camp Bayard, at 
Trenton, which he declined. He held several 
commissions under Governor Parker during the 
war, in connection with New .Tersey troops in 
the field. 

]Major Yard was appointed commissioner of 
railroad taxation by Governor Parker in 1873, 
which position he filled until 1883. In 1S78 
lie I'eceived the appointment of deputy quarter- 
master-general from Governor ^IcClellan, which 
|)osition he still holds. 

While Major Yard has been earnestly en- 
gaged in business matters, and filling responsible 
military and civil places and assuming respou- 
siliie trusts in the interests of his fellow-citizens, 
he has not been unmindful of other obligations, 
to himself and to the community in which he 
has resided. 

While at Hightstown, in l.S,52, he became a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
has remained in that communion since. He 
efficiently served there as superintendent of the 
Sabbath-school, and n])on his removal to Free- 
hold was appointed to the same position here 
which he held for many years. In this, and 
also in church-work, he has zealously guarded 
the interests of both moralitv and religion. For 
several years Major Yard has held a license as 
local preacher in the church at Freehold. 

On September 25, 18.56, he married Adaliue 
Clark, daughter of Daniel D. Swift, of Lan- 
caster County, Pa. (see sketch of H. "W. 
Murphy), by which union he has had seven 
•children, — Emma, wife of Wm. M. Ivins, of 
New York City ; Mary Stw-ling, wife of A. 
Harvey Tyson, of Reading, Pa. ; Daniel Swift, 
who graduated at Princeton in the class of 
1882, died Xovemlier 21, 1.S83 ; Joseph Ashtou ; 
AdalineSwift ;JamesSterling, died April 7, 1877, 
and Thomas Swift, who died June 14, 1880. 

Mrs. Yard, in addition to the usual cai'esof a 



large family, which she has managed discreetly, 
has been an active and useful member of the 
church and of society, taking a leading part in 
the affairs of both ; and not only with her hands, 
but by her counsel and with her pen, has she 
labored efficiently and contributed her share 
in the world's work. 

The earliest physician in Freehold of whom 
any mention is found was one referred to in tlie 
old records as "Docf Nichols, E.sq." (meaning 
ex-SherifF William Nichols), who is there men- 
tioned iu connection with the fact that in Janu- 
ary, 1728, soon after the destruction of the first 
court-house by fire, his house was designated as 
the place for the holding of the courts of Mon- 
mouth, and his name is also found iu the records 
of the freeholders, whose place of meeting was 
at his house in 1730. 

Mention has already Iteen made of Dr. Na- 
thaniel Scudder and Dr. Thomas Henderson, 
both of whom were physicians of Freehold in 
the time of the Revolution, and Itoth of whom 
were colonels in the patriot forces. Dr. Na- 
thaniel Scudder was a son of Jacob Scudder, 
born May 10, 1733, graduated at Princeton in 
1751, became a physician of note at Monmouth 
Court-House, was a delegate in the Continental 
Congress, 1777-79, and was killed by Refugees 
October 16, 1781, at Black Point, Monmouth 
County, where he went, as colonel of the First 
Battalion of Monmouth County militia, to ope- 
rate with General David Forman against the 
enemy. 

Dr. John Anderson Scudder, son of Dr. 
Nathaniel Scudder, M'as born March 22, 1759, 
graduated at Princeton in 1775, and, like his 
father, he +)ecame a well known physician of 
Freehold. During the Revolutionary War he 
served two or three yeai's as surgeon's mate. 
Lanman's "Dictionary of Congress" says of 
him : " A native of New Jersey, a physician 
by profession ; he served a number of years in 
the Assembly of his native State, and was a 
Representative in Congress from New Jersey 
for the unexpired term of James Cox, who 
died in 1810." Not long afterward.^ Dr. John 
A. Scudder removed from Monmouth County, 
N. J., to Kentucky, where he died. 



458 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



Dr. Samuel Fornian, who was one of the 
most uoted physicians who ever practiced in 
Freehold, was a son of " Sheriff David " For- 
man, born on the old Forman liomesteiid on the 
3d of August, 1764. As a boy he was present 
in Freehold through all the period of the Rev- 
olutiou, and was au eye-wituess of most of the 
stirrinsr scenes which were enacted atthecountv- 
seat during that bloody period, the story of 
which he often narrated in his later years. His 
home was just outside the village, below the 
toll-gate on the Colt's Neck road, where he died 
in 1845. He was one of the originators of the 
Monmouth County Medical Society, and a more 
extended mention of him, as also of his son. Dr. 
David Forman, a prominent physician of Free- 
hold, who died in 1826, will be found in the 
account (elsewhere given in this volume) of that 
society. He was a grandfather of Dr. D. Mc- 
Lean Forman, now one of the leading practi- 
tioners of Freehold. 

Among other j^rominent physicians of Free- 
hold during the past half-century, of whom 
mention is made in the history of the ^Medical 
Society, are Dr. Charles G. Patterson (l)orn 
1796, died 18.35), Di. Grandiu Lloyd (born 
1807, died 1852), Dr. John B. Throckmorton j 
(born 1796, died 1856), Dr. James H. Baldwin j 
(born 1807, died 1868), Dr. John T. Woodhull ! 
(born 1786, died 1869), Dr. John R. Conover 
(born 1813, died 1871) and Dr. John Yought, 
who died in 1882. 

The present (January, 1885) physicians of 
the town are Dr. O. R. Freeman, Dr. D. Mc- 
Lean Forman, Dr. I. S. Long, Dr. J. S. Cono- 
ver, Dr. W. M. He]>burn ; and of the homoeo- 
pathic school, Dr. William W. Burnet. 

Of hotels or taverns in the village that is 
now Freehold, the earliest suggestion is found 
in the records of January, 1728, when the court, 
having met at the ruins of the court-house, 
which had been destroyed by fire a month be- 
fore, adjourned to the house of William Nichols, 
where the business of the term was transacted. 

In 1729, and afterwards, Nichols' house was 
the place designated for the meetings of the 
Board of Freeholders. These facts do not prove 
that Nichols kept a public-house, but they lead 



to that presumption, as it is almost certain that 
there must have been a tavern in the couit- 
house village, and it appears probable that the 
tavern would be the place selected (rather than a 
private house) for the purposes mentioned. The 
William Nichols referred to had been high 
sheriff of Monmouth County, and it appears 
that he was also a physician, as the records of 
1730 mention him as " Docf Nichols, Esq." 

From that time uo reference has been found 
to taverns or tavern-keepers at ]\lonmouth 
Court-House, until 1778, when James Wall's 
name is found in that connection. It is not 
known that then, or at any time during the 
Revolution, there was more than one tavern in 
the village. A second one, however, must have 
been opened soon after the close of the war, as 
in 1788 the taverns of John Anderson and 
Samuel P. Forman are mentioned, and in 1789, 
Lewis McKnight was an inn-keeper at Mon- 
mouth village. There is nothing in the men- 
tion of these to indicate the locations of their 
houses, but there can be little doubt that they 
kept the two ancient tavern-stands of Free- 
hold, — the Washington and the Union. 

The Washington Tavern, (or Hotel, as named 
in later years,) is said by tradition to be the 
pioneer inn of the village. Its earliest land- 
lord, who can be mentioned as such with cer- 
tainty, was ]\Iajor James Craig, who kept it 
from 1797 to 1810, and, perhaps, before and 
after that period. He was succeeded by ^^'il- 
liam Craig, who was, in turn, succeeded by John 
Casler, who was its landlord in 1818 and in 
1825. It was kept by Aaron Brewer in 1827 
to 1830. In 1832-33 it was kept by General 
James Ten Eyck, who afterwards removed to 
Colt's Neck, and was succeeded in the Wash- 
ington by C. C. Higgins, who was a silversmith 
by trade, but who, having taken up the business 
of tavern-keeping, became successively the 
landlord of all hotels in Freehold except the 
American, and was also interested in several 
stage-lines. He kept the Washington from 
1834 to 1837, inclusive. His successors down 
to the year 1850 were Elisha Thompson, John 
I. Thompson, William D. Oliphant and Ab- 
ner H. Reed. In 1851 the house w;is rented 
bv David Patterson, who, about a year after- 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



45» 



wards, purchased the property, and kept the 
house until 1873. During this period, in 
1860, he demolished the old house, which had 
been added to and repaired at various times 
from the year 1800, and erected the present 
A\'ashington Hotel, of which he is still the 
owner. Since his retirement from the managc- 
agement of tiie house it has been kept by 

George W. Patterson, McNiilty, Eichard 

Fleming, John J. Wheeler and Samuel Thomp- 
son, who occupied it until April 1, 1885. 

The Union, now Taylor's Hotel, was known 
eighty years ago as "Coward's Tavern,'' being 
then kept by Samuel Coward, who was the first 
of the landlords now definitely known to have 
kept it as an inn, though the house had then been 
in existence many years.' After him (about 1809) 
came William Egbert, who kept it a number of 
years, and was succeeded about 1823 bv Jacob 
Dennis. Charles Burk was its landlord in 
1825, and continued until after 1830. After 
Burk, the house was kept by C. C. Higgins, 
who afterwards took the Wasiiingtou, and 
still later the United States. He was suc- 
ceeded in the Union, in the early part of 
1834, by Barzillai Hendrickson, who kept the 
house about si.x years, after which Higgins 
again became the proprietor. It was kept by 
Nathaniel S. Rue from 1844 to 1853, inclusive. 
In ^larch, 1854, it was taken by Welch & 

' On the 11th of June, 1779, the land now embraced in the 

Union Hotel property was sold under the confiscation laws 
by Samuel Forinan, Joseph Lawrence and Kenneth Han- 
kinson, commissioners. The property was then described 
as adjoining David Rhea's lot, and consisted of " a house, 
out-houses and lot of ground," previously owned by John 
Longstreet, Jr., who was a Tory Refugee. The purchaser 
from the commissioners was Elisha Walton. On the 21st 
of December, 1808, Walton conveyed it to Lewis Gordon, 
who, on the 23d of May, 1809, conveyed it to William Eg- 
bert, who mortgaged it to the Rev. John Wooilhul!, and 
was sold out by the sheriff, July 6, 182-'5. It then be- 
came the property of the estate of Tunis Vanderveer, and 
so remained until .\pril 15, 1825, when it was sold to 
Charles and James Burk. In 1827, James Burk sold his 
interest to Charles, and in October. 1832, Charles Burk 
was sold out at sheriff's sale. The purchaser was James 
Burk, who sold the property to Barzillai Hendrickson, 
Februiiry 7, 1834. Hendrickson sold it, January 2, 1840, 
to C. C. Higgins, who sold it to N. S. Rue, May 7, 1844. 
Rue sold it, in 1854, to Welsh & Carson, and in 1858 the 
property was sold by the sheriff to Thomas P. Barkalow. 
Subsequent changes of proprietorship are noticed above. 



Canson, who repaired and refitted the house. 
In 1856-57 it was kept by Carson & Conover. 
In February, 1858, the property was purchased 
by Thomas P. Barkalow, who then kept the 
house eight years, and was succeeded by John- 
son & Patterson, who kept it from 1866 to 
1X69, and whose successors have been Johnson 
& Bailey, Danser & Sutphin, Richard Fleming, 
David C. Danser, E. C. Richardson and John 
Taylor, the present projn-ietor, \^•ho purchased 
the j)roperty in the spring of 1882, and by 
whom the house has been enlargetl, thoroughly 
repaired and refitted in every detail. 

The United States Hotel, previously the 
Monmouth Hotel, was opened under the lat- 
ter name by Benjamin Laird, in the year 1830, 
the house being tiie same which had been the 
residence of John Craig, adjoining the couit- 
iiouse lot on tlie main street. Mr. Laird kept 
the house until 1837 or 1838, after which it 
was kept a short time by Mrs. Ware. In the 
spring of 1840 it was taken by C. C. Higgins,. 
who rebuilt the house (raised it to three stories), 
named it the United States, and kept it till 
the spring of 1845, when it was again taken by 
Benjamin Laird, who kej>t it several years. 
After Mr. Laird the house was kept by John 
L. Doty, but the e.xact date of the latter's pro- 
prietorship has not been ascertained. It was 
kept in 1854—55 by John C. Co.x, whose suc- 
ces.sor was D. C. Conover. Stokes & Rogers 
took it in 1857. After them came as land- 
lords, George H. Snowhill, J. S. Crater and 
Danser & Hamill. In 1864 tiie property was 
purchased by David Patterson, Snowhill licing 
then the landlord. Afterwards (while Danser 
& Hamill were in possession) it was sold to 
Rowland A. Ellis, who remodeled the building 
into stores and offices, as it still remains. 

The Amerlcau Hotel is the youngest of the 
hotel-stands on the main street of Freehold. 
Gordon's " (Tazetteer " for the year 1 834 says that 
at that time there were three hotels in the town. 
These three were, of course, the old Washing- 
ton and Union taverns, and the Monmouth 
Hotel, which Benjamin Laird had opened four 
years before. There wtis then no tavern on the 
site now occupied by the American Hotel, but 
there was one built and opened there very soon 



460 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



afterwards, and it was kept in 18.37 by John I. 
Tiiompson, who was then familiarly known as 
■"Boss" Thompson, and who kept the house for 
three or four years. Reference to newspaper files 
of that time show that while Thompson was 
landlord (and for a time afterwards) the house 
was called Monmouth Hall. When he left 
the house he removed to Shrewsbury, but sub- 
sequently returned to Freehold, took the Wash- 
ington Hotel, and died there. After he left 
jNIon mouth Hall it was kept by Isaac Amer- 
mau. In April, 1843, it was bought by David 
C. C(jnover, who afterwards became landlord of 
the United States. 

The name American Hotel was given 
by Joseph G. Stillwell, who, with his partner, 
McXulty, purchased the property, and after 
«ontinuing business for a few years in the old 
house (which was a small, low-studded struc- 
ture), tore it away and erected a new and com- 
modious house, which they opened under the 
present name. One of the landlords of the house 
was J. L. Huntsinger, but neither the precise 
date nor the duration of his occupancy has been 
ascertained. Another landlord (for a short time) 
was John C. Cox, who afterwards kept the 
United States. In 1854 the American 
Hotel was kept by Abner H. Reeil, who re- 
mained in it about fifteen years and was suc- 
ceeded by Moses M. Laird, who kej^t the house 
until January, 1873, when he was succeeded by 
the present proprietor, ^Ir. William Davis. 

The Railroad Hotel, on Throckmorton Street, 
near the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, was 
opened in 1861 by Charles T. Fleming. In 
1864 he sold it to AVilliam Thompson, who 
was succeeded in the proprietoi'ship by Thomas 
Mulholland, the present owner. 

The post-office at the village which is now 
Freehold was established January 1, 17i)5, and 
named "Monmouth," which name was officially 
changed to "Freehold" on the 1st of January, 
1801. Following is a list of tlie postmasters, 
with dates of their appointment, viz.: 



Richard Throckmorton 
William J. Bowne . . 
Peter C. Vanderhoof . 
Cyrus Bruen .... 
William Lloyd, Jr. . 

Orrin Pharo 

William V. Ward . . 
James S. Yard . . . 
Jacob C. Lawrence 
J. H. Rosell .... 
Charles T. Fleming . 
Edwin F. Appleg.ite . 
Martin L. Farrington 



, October 1, 1805. 
. July 1, 1817. 

June 26, 1825. 

December 15, 1827. 

March 3, 1835. 

November 15, 1849. 

June 7, IS.'iS. 

September 25, 1855. 

July 23, 1860. 

March 26, 1861. 

July 23, 1870. 

June 18, 1874. 

March 3, 1883. 



Samuel McKinstry 
Samuel -\IcConkey 
.John I^aird . . . . 
David Craig . . . . 



. January 1, 1795. 
. April l", 1795. 
. April 1, 1798. 
. Julv 12. 1798. 



Freehold became an incorporated town in 
1869, under "An Act for the Improvement of 
the Town of Freehold, in the County of Mon- 
mouth," approved ]\Iarch 25th in that year. 
By this act the legal voters of the town were 
authorized and empowered to elect annually one 
commissioner, four a.ssistaut commissioners, a 
town clerk and two inspectors of election, the 
commissioner and assistants, when duly sworn 
into office, to con.stitnte "The Board of Com- 
missioners of the Town of Freehold," having 
corporate powers and privileges and authority 
"to pass and enact such by-laws and ordinances, 
not repugnant to the constitution or laws of the 
State, as they may consider proper, for altering, 
regulating and fixing the grade of the roads, 
streets and side-walks and lighting the same 
within the limits of the town ; for keeping the 
same in repair and for preventing or removing 
obstructions therein ; for preventing and sup- 
pressing riots and disturbances of the peace; for 
suppressing vice and immorality ; and all such 
other laws and ordinances as they may think 
adapted to promote the welfare, good order, 
health and prosperity of the said town and the 
inhabitants thereof; to revoke, alter and amend 
the same in their discretion, and to enforce obe- 
dience to the same by fines and imprisonments," 
. to an extent not exceeding twenty 
dollars' fine and a term of thirty days' impris- 
onment; the board to appoint a town treasurer, 
two police justices, a town marshal and one or 
more assistants, and also a street superintendent, 
having duties " the same as the overseer of the 
roads under the laws of the State." The mem- 
bers of the Board of Commissioners to receive 
no compensation for their services. The cor- 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



461 



poration limits aud bouiularies were established 
by the act, as follows : 

" Beginning at the soutliwesterly edge of the new- 
Street, recently opened by Henry Brinkcrhoff, where 
it intersects with Main Street, and rnnniiig thence 
along the southwesterly edge of said new Street to 
the middle of South Street, aud including the land 
three hundred feet deep on the southwesterly side of 
said new Street from Main to South Street ; thence 
northerly along the middle of South Street to the 
northerly edge of the road leading from South Street, 
by Benjamin Lefl'erson's house, to Jerseyville ; thence 
along the northerly edge of said Jerseyville road to 
the middle of Parker Avenue, opened between lands 
of Joel Parker and the late Thomas C. Throckmorton ; 
thence along the middle of Parker Avenue to the 
middle of Institute Street; thence in a northerly 
direction in a straight line to a point where the most 
easterly line of Hudson Street intersects with Elm 
Street, as marked on the map of Freehold, made by 
Ezra A. Osborn and Thomas A. Hurley, in 1855 ; 
thence along the most easterly edge of Hudson Street 
in the northeasterly direction to Bennett Street, as 
marked on the aforesaid map ; thence in a straight 
line, the same course as the most easterly line of 
Hudson Street to the Freehold and Colt's Neck turn- 
pike, and including the lands two hundred feet deep, 
on the most easterly side of said line from Elm Street 
to said turnpike; thence in a northerly direction in a 
straight line to the southeasterly corner of the land of 
William H. Conover, Jr., on the Freehold and 
Keyport turnpike ; thence northerly along said 
Conover's easterly line, six hundred feet; thence in a 
straight line to the middle of Henry Street, where it 
is intersected by the middle of Brown Street ; thence 
in a westerly direction along the middle of Heni-y 
Street to the middle of Court Street ; thence north- 
westerly along the middle of Court Street to where 
the southeasterly edge of Haley Street intersects with 
Court Street ; thence along the southeasterly edge of 
Haley Street in a westerly direction to Throckmorton 
Avenue ; thence in a straight line in a southwesterly 
direction to the most easterly corner of Elisha 
Schanck's line; thence along Elisha Schanck's line in 
a southwesterly direction to Manalapan Avenue, as 
marked on the aforesaid map of Freehold ; thence in 
a straight line in a southerlj' direction to a point on 
the southerly edge of Main Street, three hundred feet 
from the place of beginning; thence along the 
southerly edge of Main Street to the place of begin- 
ning." 

The first charter election of the town of Free- 
hold was held on the first Monday in May, 1869, 
in pursuance of the requirement of the act of 
incorporation, David C. Perrine, Holmes W. 
Mm-piiy and John S. Deuise (the persons named 
in the act) being judges of the election, which 



resulted in the choice of the following-named 
officers, viz. : Commissioner, Holmes W. Mur- 
piiy ; Assistant Commissioners, John S. Denise, 
John G. Cooper, John Dorrance, Joseph T. 
Laird; Town Clerk, John L. Howell; Inspec- 
tors of election, George W. Vanderveer and A I frcd 
Walters. Following is given a list of persons 
who have been elected to the offices of commis- 
sioner, assistant commissioners and town clerk 
in each year, from that time to the present, viz. : 
1870 Axn 1871. 

Commissioner, Holmes W. Murphy. 

Assistant Commissioners, John S. Deuise, John G. 
Cooper, Joseph T. Laird, William Cooper. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 

1872 TO 1874 (inclusive). 

Commissioner, Joseph T. Laird. 

Assistant Commissioners, .fohn S. Denise, John G, 
Cooper, Alfred Walters, William Cooper. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 
1875. 

Commissioner, John G. Cooper. 

Assistant Commissioners, John S. Denise, Alfred 
Walters, William Cooper, John H. Ellis. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 
187G. 

Commissioner, Alfred Walters. 

Assistant Commissioners, John H. Ellis, Williank 
Cooper, William S. Combs, Janies J. Conover. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 
1877. 

Commissioner, James .1. Conover. 

Assistant Commissioners, Alfred Walters, William. 
W. Pitman, Charles Truex, William H. Butcher. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 
1878. 

Commissioner, James J. Conover. 

Assistant Commissioners, William W. Pitman, 
Charles Truex, William H. Butcher, .Joseph H. 
Rosell. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 

1879 AND 1880. 

Commissioner, James J. Conover. 

Assistant Commissioners, Charles Truex, William 
H. Butcher, Joseph H. Rosell, John Dorrance. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 

1881 TO 1884 (inclusive). 

Commissioner, John Dorrance. 

Assistant Commissioners, William H. Butcher^ 
Charles Truex, Joseph H. Rosell, Frank P. McDer- 
mott. 

Town Clerk, John L. Howell. 

Town Marshal, John Neatie (held that office con- 
tinuously from 1869 until his death). 



462 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



John Neafie was boru at Turkey, in Howell 
township, Monmouth County, May 1(3, 1837- 
His father was Abraham G. Neafie (afterwards 
sheriff of Monmouth County), who was born 
April 25, 1804, married Sarah A. Smith, De- 
cember 29, 182o, and died June 7, 1846. 
His wife wa.s a daughter of Peter and Sarah 
(Hall) Smith, of Howell township, who lived 
to the respective ages of eighty-eight and eighty- 
four years. Their daughter, Sarah A., was 
born August 31, 1809, and died November 21, 
1880. The children of Abraham G. and Sarali 



in 1841 removed to Lower Squankum, where 
.John Neafie passed the years of his boyhood. 
He attended the common schools of the neish- 
borhood until, having reached the age of fifteen 
years, he went to Freehold to learn the trade 
of sash and blind-making with a Mr. Van 
Doren ; afterwards he was employed in superin- 
tending the same business for Austin H. Pat- 
terson, at Turkey, Howell township, M'here he 
remained one year, and then returned to Free- 
hold, where, in April, 1857, he establisiied a 
sash and blind-factory. After having- been in 




A. (Smith) Neafie were nine in number, viz. : 
A son who died in infancy, unnamed ; Peter 
Smith Neafie ; Margaret (married ^Marshall 
Allen); Caroline (married John B. Cowdrick); 
Garret; John; .Jackson H. ; Mary Conover and 
Ruhama Campfield. Of these, only two — IMar- 
garet (Mi-s. Allen) and .Jackson H. Neafie, — 
are now living. 

In 1838, Abraham G. Neafie, fiither of John, 
was elected sheriff of Monmouth County. 
Upon his assuming the duties of that office he 
removed with his family to Freehold, where 
they remained until the close of his term, and 



tiiat bu-iness about two years his health became 
so much impaired by a pulmonary disease that 
he was entirely incapacitated for work, and in 
that condition he remained for more than five 
years, during which period his disease became 
at times so alarming that his life was despaired 
of. At length, however, his health began to 
iinjirove, and finally became so far re-established 
that, in connection with Henry F. .Jennings, 
and afterwards witii B. T>. Cawley, he engaged 
in the ready-made boot and shoe business in 
Freehold ; but after a time it became evident 
that out-door employment was indispensable to 



i 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



463 



tlie prc-^ervation of liis liealth ; thereupon he re- 
linquished his business, and in ]<S(i8 was elected 
•constable of the township. In the following 
year, upon the erection and organization of the 
incorporated district of Freehold, he was ap- 
pointed marshal of the district. 

In 1S79 a law was passed authorizing the 
appointment of two sergeants-at-arms for the 
■county courts, and on the oth of April in that 
jear. Mr. Neafie was commissioned to that 
office, his being the first appointment as ser- 
geant-at-arms in Monmouth County. Subse- 
quently he received the appoiutment of crier of 
the courts, to fill the vacancy caused by the 
death of George Huntsiuger. All the offices to 
which ^Ir. Xeafie was appointed, as above- 
mentioned, were held by him continuouslv until 
the time of his death. 

In November, 1.S79, he purchased the book 
and stationery store on Main Street, established 
by John G. Cooper, and, in partnership with 
3Ir. Grandin Johnson, under the firm-name of 
Neafie & Johnson, continued the business 
very successfully until his death, Mr. Johnson 
attending chiefly to the in-door work of the 
store. 

Mr. Xeafie was married, December 28, 1S.J7, 
to Kate Taylor, daughter of Johnson Taylor, 
of Howell township, and iiis wife, Sarah (Huff") 
Taylor. Tlie children of :\Ir. and Mrs. Neafie 
have been Harry Xeafie, born August 4, 
1859, and now a physician of Freehold ; J. 
Conover Xeafie, born December 20, 1864, and 
died iu infancy; Emma, born March 31, 1869, 
died in infancy; and Maggie A., born May 7, 
1872, and now living with her mother in Free- 
hold. Mr. Xeafie died at his Iiome in Freehold, 
after a short illness, of pneumonia, March 4, 
1885. 

During his residence of more than a quarter 
of a century in Freehold, John Xeafie wa.s one 
of its most active and valued citizens. In his 
business relations he sustained an uublemishsd 
reputation. In his fomily lie was kind, affec- 
tionate and indulgent. As a public officer he 
was faithful, fearless and impartial, yet cour- 
teous, kind and forbearing in tlie discharge of 
his duties. In his social relations he was highly 
esteemed; and as a man and citizen, he enjoyed j 



to the fullest extent the confidence and respect 
of the community iu which he lived. 

The first bank of Freehold was the ill-fated 
Monmouth Bank, chartered iu 1824. In the 
following year it was (nominally) in business, 
with "William J. Bowne as manager and cashier. 
For a time in that year, whatever funds, securi- 
ties or other property it possessed, liable to be 
stolen, was locked, for safe-keeping, in one of 
the cells of the jail. Afterwards a safe or 
strong box was provided, and the office of the 
bank was kept iu Mr. Bowne's building, on 
iNIain Street, — the same one which, in the great 
fire of October, 187o, was torn down by the 
Good Will Hook-and-Ladder Company to check 
the sjjread of the fire westward. It stood next 
east of the First X'ational Bank building, aud 
between that and the Kyall mansion. 

Of the history of the old ^lonmouth Bank 
during the twelve years next followiug the time 
of its incorporation very little is now known. 
In Gordon's " Gazetteer" is found the following : 
'^Monmouth Bank at Freehold. — Chartered in 
1825. Capital, §200,000. Amount paid in, 
140,000. Amount of bonus, $4000. Amount 
paid to treasurer, $4000." The bank was always 
regarded with distrust by the community, and 
finally ceased to exist. The end of it, under its 
first organization, is marked by an advertise- 
ment printed in the Monmouth Democrat of 
February, 1836, as follows: 

" Monmouth Bank 
" Will be sold at Public Auction, at the house of Barzillai 
Hendrickson, in Freehold, on .Saturday, the Vlx\i of March 
next, at eleven o'clock, a.m. The Vault of the Monmouth 
Bank, Consisting of Iron and Stone, two Iron Doors, one 
large fire-proof Iron Chest, three Copper Bank Note Plates, 
Bank Note Paper, Blank Account Books, one Large Bank 
Lock and other articles, 

" W. J BowxE, Assignee. 
"Freehold, 23d February, 1831)." 

The sale was twice adjourned, viz., to Sat- 
urday, February 18th, and again to Saturday, 
the 26th, at which latter time the articles were 
doubtless disposed of, though no account of the 
sale is found. 

The bank was afto'wartis resuscitated luider 
the same name, and witii Dr. John T. Woodhull 
as president. It is said (and is undoubtedly 



464 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTr, NEW JERSEY. 



true) that Dr. WoodhuU was deceived into con- 
necting himself with the project by the mis- 
representation of some traveling cattle-dealers, 
who, with their friends in New York, wished 
to (and did) use the bank to serve their per- 
sonal ends, in speculation — or worse. The 
office or place of business of the resuscitated 
bank under Dr. Woodhull's presidency was in 
the house now occupied by the Misses Christo- 
pher, on ISIain Street. Some of the bills pf this 
bank are still in existence. One of them, kept 
by Hon. Charles A. Bennett as a curiosity, 
reads : " The Monmouth Bank will pay 
to J. S. English, or bearer, one dollar. John 
T. Woodhull, president; James H. Earl, 
cashier." The numljer of the bill is 147 ; date, 
January 22, 1842. This was the last year of 
the existence of the ^lou mouth Bank, its charter 
being repealed in 184."j. 

In 1836 application was made to the Legis- 
lature for a charter of the Marl Bottom Bank, 
to be located at Freehold ; but it was not ob- 
tained. 

The Farmers' Bank of Freehold (notM'ith- 
standing its name) never had any banking-office 
or regular place of business in Freehold, but 
was owned by and carried on in the interest of 
a few men . living and doing business in New 
York. No facts have been a.scertained showing 
the amount of its nominal capital, or how long 
it had been in existence prior to January 2, 
185o, which is the date of the following self- 
explaining advertisement, found in the Mon- 
mouth Democrat of that time, viz.: 

" Bank Notice. 

" Farmers' Bank of Freehold, N. J. 

" All the outstanding notes of this bank must be 
presented to the State Treasurer for payment within 
two years from the date hereof, or the funds deposited 
for the redemption of such notes will be given up to 
this institution at the expiration of said time. 

"Daniel Christopher, Prest." 

The Freehold Banking CoMrANV M'as 
originally organized under a special charter 
granted by act of the Legislature of 1855. The 
incorporators named in the act were James S. 
Lawrence, Peter Vredenbnrgh, Nathaniel S. 
Rue, Tunis V. Conover, Bennington F. Ran- 



dolph, John Vought, Joseph Combs, Jacob B. 
Rue, James Buckalew. 

The capital stock authorized was $10t),000, 
with the privilege of increasing the same to 
§200,000. The company was organized at a 
meeting of the stockholders held at the Union 
Hotel on the 28th of September, 1855, of which 
meeting James Buckalew was chairman and Dr. 
John Vought secretary. The first board of 
directors was composed as follows : James S. 
Lawrence, William D. Davis, Joseph Combs, 
William H. Conover, William Statesir, Ben- 
nington F. Randolph, A. R. Throckmorton. 

The bank commenced business February 1, 
1856, with a capital paid in of $50,000, and 
with James S. Lawrence as president and Jacob 
B. Rue as cashier. The bank building was built 
in the fall of 1855 and following winter. In 
1805 it was enlarged and remodeled, forming 
the substantial and commodious building now 
occupied by the bank. 

The first president, ^Ir. Lawrence, held the 
office until 1861, when he resigned and was suc- 
ceeded by William Statesir, who continued as 
president until his resignation, in 1882. Hi& 
successor was Aaron R. Throckmorton, who 
held until his death, March 3, 1883, upon which 
William Statesir was again elected, and is the 
present president. The cashiers have been as 
follows : Jacob B. Rue, 1856 to 1864, resigned ; 
W. H. Howell, 1864-70, resigned; Stewart 
Brown, 1870-71 ; James L. Terhuue, 1871-74,. 
resigned ; T. A. Ward, 1882 to present time. 

The capital of the bank, originally $100,000, 
was afterwards increased to 8150,000, and again 
to $200,000. About 1S74 it was reduced to 
$150,000, as it is at present. It has a surplus- 
of §1(.>0,000. 

In March, 1865, the bank was organized, 
under the National Banking Law, as the Free- 
hold Nati(jnal Banking Company, under which 
name and organization it continued for nearh' 
twenty years, until December 13, 1884, when it 
was reorganized under the State laws, resuming 
its original name, the Freehold Banking Com- 
pany. 

James S. Lawrence. — James Lawrence,' 
the grandfather of James S. Lawrence, who. 
was of English descent, married Elizabeth ; 



( 



THE TOWN OF FEEEHOLD. 



465 



Ritchie, of Aberdeen, Scotland, and was the 
father of children, — Ann, born in 1740; 
Mary, in 1750; Rebekah, in 1752; James, 
in 1754; George, in 175(5; John R., in 1759; 
and Mehitable, in 1760. John R., whose birth 
occurred on the 24th of September, 1759, 
and his death on the 14th of February, 1882, 
married Margaret, daughter of James and 



town, in Burlington County, N. J., and subse- 
quently under Samuel Gummere, of Burlington, 
adding mueii to this early training by careful 
and judicious reading and habits of observation 
and tiiought. The early death of his father 
placed in his hands, when a youth, the manage- 
ment of the farm, and caused him to be intrusted 
with unusual responsibilities, which were met 





Hannah Shiun. Their children were James 
S. ; Ritchie, born September 5, 1801; and 
Margaret R. (Mrs. William Tilton), whose birth 
occurred April 3, 1803. James S. Lawrence 
was born August 24, 1797, at Cream Ridge, 
Upper Freehold township, and spent the greater 
portion of his life at the ancestral home which 
was the scene of his birth. He received a 
thorough preparatory education, first at Arney- 

30 



with a determination and energy that' insured 
success. At a later period, though placing the 
cultivation of the land in otiier hands, he still 
retained his residence in Upper Freehold town- 
ship. Judge Lawrence was married, on the 10th 
of rel)ruary, 1825, to Mary S., daughter of 
Hendriek Conover, whose death occurred on the 
7th of August, 1834. He was again married, 
on the 3d of June, 1841, to Phoebe Ann, eldest 



466 



HISTOllY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



daughter of Nathaniel S. Eue, Sr., of New York 
City, formerly of Maualapan townsliip, Mon- 
mouth County. Mrs. Lawrence's paternal grand- 
father was William Rue, wiio married Nellie 
Couover, and had, among his seven cliildren, a 
sou, Natlianiel S. Rue, who was united in mar- 
riage to Elizabeth Toan. The surviving children 
of the latter marriage are Mrs. Lawrence ; Na- 
thaniel S., of Cream Ridge, Upper Freehold 
township, whose children are Elizabeth L. and 
James L. ; Robert C, who has children , Lucretia 
M. and Nathaniel S. (deceased); and Sarah M , 
wife of George W. Shinn, of Freehold, whose 
children are James L. and Mary A. Judge 
Lawrence, in 1856, made Freehold his residence, 
having that year been elected president of the 
Freehold Banking Company, which position he 
held until his death, on the 26th of February, 
1860, in his sixty-third year. He was also 
director of the Mercer County Fire Insurance 
Company, and frequently the incumbent of 
offices of trust, such as guardian and executor. 
He was long identified with the Old-Line Whig 
party in politics, and on the organization of tlie 
Republican party joined its ranks. He was for 
twenty-four years freeiiolder of Upper Freehold 
township, for many years justice of the peace 
and served a term in the State Legislature. He 
was also appointed associate judge of the Mon- 
mouth County Court. Judge Lawrence was 
descended on the maternal side from Quaker 
stock, but in later life supported the Presbyte- 
rian Church, to which he was ever a willing 
contributor. 

William Statesie is of Holland descent, his 
grandfather, Isaac Statesir, having been a farmer 
in Shrewsbury township, ^Monmouth County, 
N.J. He had children — Joini, Isaac and adaugh- 
ter, who became Mrs. Simon Duryea. The birth 
of John, who served in the Revolutionary army, 
occurred January 24, 1760, in Shrewsbury town- 
ship, where his life was spent. He married, 
February 16, 1783, Agnes, daughter of John 
Anmack, of Freehold township, wliose children 
were Mary, Lena, Elizabetli, Arintha, Jane, 
Isaac, John, Tunis and William, of whom 
Elizabeth died in her ninety-eighth year, and 
William is the only survivor. John Statesir 
died October 13, 1825, and his wife October 1, 



1836. William was born on the 25th of Janu- 
ary, 1806, in Shrewsbury, now Atlantic town- 
ship, and remained during liis youth at Colt's 
Neck, in the latter township, wiiere his fatlier 
was engaged in the business of a tanuer. After 
such advantages of education as were obtaina- 
ble at the common schools, he entered the tan- 
nery and became familiar with the business. 
Desiring a less circumscribed field of action, he 
studied surveying, which for several years en- 
gaged his attention in the vicinity of his home. 
He was, April 20, 1836, married to Sarah Ann, 
daughter of John Conover, of Freehold, now 
Marlboro' township, whose children are John 
Henry (deceased), David Abeel, Agnes and 
Alpheus. Mrs. Statesir died December 6, 1851, 
and he was a second time married, in January, 
1855, to Cornelia Ann, daughter of Arthur 
Van Derveer, of Athuitic townshij), whose only 
child, Eliza R., born November 17, 1855, died 
on her twenty-fifth birthday. Mr. Statesir, the 
year following his first marriage, removed to a 
farm in Marlboro' township, and remained un-- 
til the spring of 1864. On the organization of 1 
the Freehold Banking Company he was elected 
a director, and in 1864 was made its president, 
which influenced his removal the same year to 
Freehold. He has, since that date, made 
that town his residence, and still retains his 
official connection with tlie bank. His fidelity 
to imjjortant trusts has caused liim frequently to 
be chosen as administrator and guardian. He 
has in politics always been identified either with 
the Whig or Republican party, but has filled no 
political office. Mr. Statesir was formerly a 
member of the First Reformed Church of Free- 
hold, and now holds his membership with the 
Second Reformed Church of that place, having 
officiated as elder in both. He has for twenty 
yeai's been the treasurer of the Monmouth 
County Bible Society, and is among the most 
active citizens of the county in the promotion of 
all philanthropic and Christian projects. 

The First National Bank of Freehold 
was incorporated under the National Banking i 
Law, February 24, 1864, and was organized with 
the following-named board of directors, viz., — ■ 
Arthur V. Conover, John Dorrance, Josejih T. 



I 






I 




% % A-H.PMehi' 





■<^ 



'^>»« 




THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



467 



Laird, Joseph D. Bedle, Charles Haight, Charles 
Allen, Charles A. Bennett, Jacob B. Rue, Philip 
J. Ryall. Jacob B. Rue was elected president 
and James Fountain cashier. Mr. Rue con- 
tinued in the presidency until January, 1883, 
when he resigned, and was succeeded by the 
present president, Joseph T. Laird, Esq. In 
1865, James Fountain was succeeded as cashier 
by Isaac B. Edwards, who continued until 1875, 
when he resigned, and was succeeded by Joseph 
T. Laird, ^^^hen Mr. Laird accepted the presi- 
dency, J. W. S. Campbell became acting cashier, 
and on the 8th of January, 1884, was appointed 
to the cashiership, which he holds at the present 
time. 

The capital of the bank at its organization 
was §100,000, \vhich was afterwards increased 
to §125,000. In February, 1883, the charter 
of the bank was renewed, to continue twenty 
years from that date, and in the same year 
^75,000 was refunded to the stockholders, and 
the capital stock accordingly reduced to §50,000, 
still leaving a net surplus of §50,000. Since 
the reduction of the capital, three semi-annual 
dividends of seven per cent, each, have been 
made. 

The banking-house of the institution (a hand- 
some and substantial structure of brick, with 
brown-stone trimmings) is on the north side of 
Main Street, between Court and Throckmorton. 
For more than twelve years after the bank went 
into operation the building had a fi'ont of but 
eighteen feet on Main Street, but in 1877 it was 
rebuilt and enlarged to a front of twenty-five 
feet, with a dej^th of sixty feet, as it now stands. 

The present directors of the bank are Joseph 
T. Laird (president), Charles Haight, Elihu B. 
Bedle, William H. Vredenburgh and Charles 
A. Bennett. 

Jacob B. Rue, who for nearly thirty years 
was widely known and prominent as a bank 
officer of Freehold, being a large stockholder in 
both the present banks of the place, and hold- 
ing, at diiferent times, high positions in both, 
was born on the family homestead in Middle- 
sex County, near Cranbury, October 10, 1827. 
His father was Joseph I. Rue, a farmer, and 
his grandfather was John Rue, of Cranbuiy, a 
soldier of the Revolution. His mother was 



Mary Bergen, daughter of Abraham Bergen, of 
Middlesex, in the same neighborhood. His 
education was acquired in the district school. In 
his boyhood he developed an inclination for 
mercantile pursuits, and at the age of sixteen 
years he became a clerk in a store in New 
York City ; but after a short experience there 
he removed to Freehold, where he entered the 
store of Colonel William D. Davis as a clerk. 
In that position he exhibited such an aptitude 
for business that at the end of about two years, 
and when he had hardly attained his majority, 
he was taken into jjartnership, and so continued 
until he entered upon his duties as cashier of 
the Freehold Banking Company. He was 
active in promoting the establishment of the 
bank, and was elected its cashier upon the 
organization of the board of directors, in De- 
cember, 1855, the bank being opened for busi- 
ness early in the following year. He remained 
in this position until the organization of the 
Fii-st National Bank of Freehold, when he was 
elected its first president, and he continued at 
the head of the institution until the condition of 
his health warned him to retire, which he did, 
resigning the position January 1, 1883. His 
condition was not thought to be immediately 
alarming, but his health continued precarious, 
and, with a view to its improvement, he left 
Freehold with his family on the 9th of Febru- 
ary, 1885, and proceeded to Jacksonville, 
Florida. But the anticipated l)enefit of the 
Southern climate was not realized, and he died 
at Jacksonville on the 19th of the following 
]\Iarch. 

During all the period of his business life Mr. 
Rue was largely engaged in buying and selling 
real estate in Monmouth County, both on his 
own account and in company with others, who 
were glad to avail them.selves of his accurate 
judgment and business tact in this line. He 
was also one of the promoters of the Fi'eehold 
and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad, and at 
the time of his death M-as one of its directors. 
In fact, he was foremost in most of the larger 
business enterprises of Freehold and vicinity 
almost from the beginning of his career. In all 
his business relations he was methodical, correct 
and upright, as may be judged from his long 



4G8 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



It 



and uniformly succe.ssfiil career. In his inter- 
course with the public he was in business 
matters sometimes brusque and peremptory in 
his manner, because of his quick perception and 
the decisive cast of his mind. This caused him 
to be occasionally misunderstood by men less 
accustomed to business haliits and methods, but 
he was always just and fair in all his dealings, 
and ordinarily was easy and affable. He was 
frank iu the expi-ession of his sentiments, and a 
hearty hater of shams. In his family relations 
and in the social circle the better traits of his 
character were exhibited. He was an affec- 
tionate and indulgent husband and father, and 
a warm and reliable friend. 

Joseph T. Laird, for many years a well-known 
merchant at Colt's Neck, and now president of 
the first National Bank of Freehold, is a grand- 
son of Robert Laird, a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion, who was a descendant of one of three 
brothers (Alexander, William and Robert Laird) 
who emigrated from Scotland and settled in 
East New Jersey before the year 1 700. Robert 
Laird, the descendant of one of these brothers, 
was born April 7, 1758, and died June 3, ISll. 
His wife, Elizabeth, was born May 12, 1754, 
and died April 13, 1833. Their home was at 
Euglishtown. They had two daughters — Sarah 
(Mrs. Thomas Walton) and Charlotte (Mrs. 
James Herbert ) — and four sons, — John A., Ben- 
jamin, Samuel and Elisha, — none of whom are 
now living. John A. (who received a better 
education than either of the other sons) went 
South and died there early iu life; Benjamin, 
who was a well-known hotel-keeperat Freehold 
and other places in Monmouth County, died at 
his son's house at Long Branch ; Samuel was 
the father of the subject of this biography, as 
more fully mentioned below ; Elisha, the young- 
est of Robert Laird's sons, remained a bach- 
elor, and died at Colt's Neck, September 12, 
1863. For more than thirty years, and until 
the time of his death, he had been engaged in a 
general mercantile business at Colt's Neck. He 
was county collector from 1856 to 1862, and 
was a man widely known and universally re- 
spected. 

Samuel Laird, third son of Robert, was born 
Febrnaiy 1, 1787. In 1817 he became pro- 



prietor iif the hotel at Colt's Neck, which he 
kept continuously for forty-two years, and died 
there July 5, 1859. His wife was Eleanor 
Tilton, who was born May 16, 1795, and died 
June 1, 1848. She was a daughter of John 
Tilton, a Revolutionary soldier, who lived in 
what is now Atlantic township, north of Colt's 
Neck. He was living there at the time of the 
battle of Monmouth, and had his cattle taken 
from him by the British troops, who were guided 
by his Tory neighbors to the place where he had 
concealed the cattle in a swamp. In the latter 
years of his life Mr. Tilton lived with liis son- 
in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel 
Laird, aud he died in their house at Colt's Neck 
about fifty years ago. 

The children of Samuel Laird were eleven in 
number, viz., — Sarah, Benjamin (who died in 
infancy), Alice, John T., Joseph T., Elizabeth, 
James, Malvina, Mary (died May 29, 1839), 
Robert and Mary S. Laird, of whom only 
the three brothers, Joseph L, James and Robert, 
at present are living. 

Joseph T. Laird, son of Sanmel and Eleanor 
(Tilton) Laird, was boru at his father's house at 
Colt's Neck, February 12, 1824. His earliest 
education was obtained at the public schools ; 
afterwards he attended for about two years at 
the old Freehold Academy, then under charge 
of Professor A. W. Hobart, and a shorter term 
at the same academy under W. W. AVoodhuJl. 
During all the years of his boyhood and youth 
he lived with his father, whose hotel at Colt's 
Neck was the stopping-place for the lines of stages 
then running from Bordentown to Long Branch. 
Mr. Laird also usually had in his charge many 
valuable blooded hoi^ses, in which his son Joseph 
ven' naturally took considerable interest, and 
being then young, light and active, he became 
a very expert rider. Among Mr. Laird's horses 
was one which was managed and trained by 
himself, and which became the most fiimous racer . 
then in America. This was the celebrated mare 
" Fashion," which, in her memorable conte.st 
against the noted horse " Boston," at Union 
Cour.se, L. I., on the 10th of May, 1842, was | 
ridden by the boy " Joe Laird," making the 
best race which up to that time had ever been 
run on this side of the Atlantic. He was also ' 




■■y^^-V k/ (S^;.t^2--^^z>^^ 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



469 



the rider of " Fashion " iu all her other public 
contests on the turf. 

In 1 846, Joseph T. Laird became a partner with 
his uncle, Elisha Laird (under the lirm-name of 
Elisha Laird & Co.), in a general merchandise 
l)usiuess, which the latter had established about 
1830, iu a store which had beeu occupied for the 
same purpose during the Revolutionary strug- 
gle, it being part of the historic old house which 
was the home of the patriot Captain Joshua 
Huddy until he was murdered by Tory Refu- 
gees, iu 1782. 

The partnership of Elisha Laird & Co. re- 
mained without change until about 1859, when, 
by the admission of James, brother of Joseph T. 
Laird, the firm -name was changed to E. & J. 
T. Laird & Co., and so continued until the death 
of Elisha Laird, in 18().'5. From tluit time it 
was J. T. & J. Laird until 18(5-3, when the 
business was sold out, and Joseph T. Laird re- 
moved to Freehold, where, in the jwevious year 
he had been elected one of the first board of di- 
rectors of the then established First National 
Bank of Freehold. He was one of the original 
stockholders, and has been continuously a direc- 
tor of the bank from its organization to the 
present time. 

For about two years after j\Ir. Laird's removal 
til Freehold he was an active assistjint in the 
bank. In 1868 he formed a partnership with C. 
C. Bowue in the house-furnishing and furniture 
business, which was continued until 1872, when 
tlie firm was dissolved by the retirement of Mr. 
Laird. In 1875 he was elected cashier of the 
bank, Jacob B. Rue being then its president. 
On December 31, 1882, Mr. Rue retired and Mr. 
T^aird was elected president, in which office he 
still continues. He is a working president, giv- 
ing as close attention to the details of the busi- 
ness as when he was cashier, and under liis in- 
cumbency tiie bank has reached a condition of 
prosperity and strength altogether unusual in its 
history. 

Mr. Laird was one of the first assistant com- 
missioners of the town of Freehold, elected in 
1869, the year of its incorporation. In the fol- 
lowing year he was elected commissioner of the 
town (a position without salary or emolument 
of any kind), and held the office continuously 



until 1875. During that term a large part of 
the public imjirovements of Freehold were 
made (including tiie construction of sidewalks 
and erection of lamp-posts), and the Fire De- 
partment was organized. When the steam fire- 
engine had been procured, iu 1874, it was neces- 
sary that there should be a place to house it, 
and as there was tio suitable building to l)e had 
for the purpose, and the town had no authority 
under its charter to build one, Messrs. Joseph 
T. Laird, Thomas W. Ryall, D. C. Perrine and 
Gilbert Combs purchased a lot on Throckmor- 
ton Street, and erected upon it the engine-house 
now in use, paying for the lot and building out 
of their own private means, trusting to the 
probaliility of the j)assage of an amendment to 
the town charter authorizing payment for the 
house and lot. At the ensuing session of the 
Legislature the amendment was passed permit- 
ting the issue of bonds, from the proceeds of 
which they were reimbursed for the expendi- 
ture which they had made on their own responsi- 
bility for the public good, amounting to nearly 
seven thousand dollars. 

In October, 1872, Mr. Laird was married to 
Marv, daughter of John Evans, of Fryeburg, 
Me. Their surviving children are, Marion, 
Joseph T. and Eleanor, their youngest child, 
Samuel E., having deceased September 16, 
1884. 

The Moxmouth County Mutual Fire 
INSURANCE Company was incorporated Feb- 
ruary 18, 1858. Names of corjwrators, — Joseph 
Combs, Horatio Ely, George Taylor, Daniel H. 
Ellis, Henry C. Patterson, Joseph H. Rosell, 
William Y. Ward, John R. Haley, William 
I). Davis, Austin H. Patterson, James Cooper, 
Charles Butcher, Charles H. Conover, John 
Barriclo, William P. Forman, James M. 
Smith, Elisiia Laird, John N. Conover, 
Jacob Herbert and Peter S. Conover. The 
charter named the persons' who should be 
the first directors of the company until an 
election for directors should be held, accord- 
ing to the provisions of the charter, viz, — 
Joseph Combs,* Horatio Ely, Joseph H. Rosell, 
John R. Haley, William D. Davis,* James 

•Those marked with * arc dead. 



470 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Cooper, Charles Butcher,* Charles H. Conover,* 
William P. Fornian, James M. Smith, John N. 
Conover, Jacob Herbert and Peter S. Conover.* 
On April lU, 1856, the directors held their 
first regular meeting, and Joseph Combs was 
chosen president, William T. Hoffman secretary, 
and Joseph H. Resell treasurer. At a special 
meeting held March 12, 1859, William T. Hoff- 
man was relieved from the office of seci-etary, 
and Charles A. Bennett was appointed secretary 
in hLs place. 

The present directors of the company (in the 
j^ear 1884) are George "W. Shinn, James Cooper, 
Joseph H. Rosell, James M. Smith, Henry Ben- 
nett, Horatio Ely, John N. Conover, William 
N. Sickles, William Spader, Peter Forman, 
Charles E. Hall, Charles H. Snyder, James 
Lippincott. The officers are George W. Shinn, 
president ; Charles A. Bennett, secretary ; and 
Joseph H. Rosell, treasurer. 

The company has been in successful operation 
from its beginning, and, although it has paid a 
large amount of money for losses, it has never, 
during the thirty-six years of its existence, had 
to resort to an assessment to pay any of its obli- 
gations. 

According to the report made to the Secretary 
of State, December 31, 1883, the company had: 
insurances outstanding, $2,234,212; premium 
notes on hand, $121,637; risks written during 
the year 1883, $261,390 ; premium notes received, 
$17,745; total cash assets, $6076.39; losses 
during the year 1883, 1429.50 ; cash receipts, 
$3451.58. 

Expenditures, including payment of losses 
of 1882, $4586.09 ; number of members in the 
company or notes, 1627. 

The Freehold Gas-Light Company was 
incorporated Manli 20, 1 857. Corporators, — 
James S. Lawrence, Enoch L. Cowart, David 
C. Perrine, Charles A. Bennett, John R. Haley, 
William H. Conover and Aaron R. Throck- 
morton. The capital stock, is thirty thousand 
dollars. 

Books of subscription were opened June 6, 
1857. Charles B. Waring subscribed for four 
hundred shares, amounting to ten thousand 



dollars. He assigned shares to Oliver R. Willis, 
James S. Lawrence, William H. Conover, 
Alfred Walters, on September 28, 1857. These 
constituted all the stockholders of the company. 
October 19, 1857, the stockholdere met at the 
hotel of Conover & Carson, in Freehold, and 
elected five directors, viz. : James S. Lawrence, 
Oliver R. Willis, William H. Conover, Alfred 
Walters, Charles B. Waring. At the first meet- 
ing of the directors, October 24, 1857, James S. 
Lawrence was elected president, Oliver R. 
M'illis secretary antl treasurer, and Alfred 
Walters superintendent. At a subse(iuent 
meeting, October 29, 1858, Charles B. Waring 
was appointed under an agreement, in writing^ 
with full control to carry on the enterprise, and 
he proceeded to erect the gas-works in their 
present location and lay down the street mains, 
etc., and lighted the town of Freehold with 
gas on the first of the year 1859. Some of the 
citizens of the town of Freehold not being able 
to get Mr. Waring to extend the mains of the 
gas company so that they might get the gas 
served to them in their dwellings, applied to 
the Legislature - for a charter for another gas 



1 



Those marked with * are Jead. 



»The following petition wfis presented to the General As- 
sembly, February IB, 1800: 

"The subscribers, residents of Freehold, Monmouth 
County, New Jersey, hereby respectfully petition your 
honorable body to grant to the citizens of our village a 
charter for a gas company, for the purpose of supplying, at 
a reasonable price, a good quality of gas. There is already 
a company, with gas-works built in our village, but we 
respectfully represent that the whole stock of said com- 
pany (with the exception of enough nominal stockholders 
here to make up the number of directors required by the 
charter) is owned by a person or persons outside of tlie 
State of New Jersey, whose object seems to be wholly for 
profit, without a proper regard to the wants and situation 
of the villagers. That the gas most generally furnished 
is of an inferior quality, emitting at times such an odor , 
that some of our citizens have been compelled to turn it 
otr, aud be deprived of its use. That the price charged for 
it is so exorbitant that some of our merchants are about 
to abandon its use for the present. That we believe that 
a much better article, and at a much lower price could be 
furnished. That the s,aid company has been remonstrated 
with upon the quality and price of their gas, and that no 
change has been made. We further represent that the 
amount of main pipe put down in said village is very in- 
adequate to the wants of the citizens. For these and 
other reasons we petition that a new Company may be 
chartered, with most of the stock to be owned in Freehold, 
so tliai we may be fully supplied with a good article of 



\ 



THE TOWx\ OF FEEEHOLD. 



471 



company, and iu March 14, 1860, an act was 
passed to incorporate " The Citizens' Gas-Light 
Company of Freehold," the incorporators being 
John R. Haley, William H. Conover, Daniel 
H. Ellis, Joseph D. Bedle, Isaac INIcXnlty, 
David C. Perrine, Daniel B. Ryall, Tliomas P. 
Barkalow, Rowland A. Ellis, John R. Con- 
over, Henry C. Patterson, Charles A. Bennett 
and Henry Bennett. This latter company did 
not fully organize. On May 14, 1860, Mr. 
Waring, then and at the organization of the Free- 
hold Gas-Light Company owning all the capital 
stock except four shares, sold his entire interest 
in the company to Daniel H. Ellis, John R. 
Haley, Charles A. Bennett, Joseph D. Bedle, 
David Clark Perrine, John R. Conover, Row- 
land A. Ellis and Isaac McNulty. All the old 
directors resigned, and Daniel H. Ellis, Joseph 
D. Bedle, C. A. Bennett, John R. Haley and 
John R. Conover were elected directors for the 
new owners, and Daniel M. Ellis was chosen presi- 
dent, Charles A. Bennett secretary, and David 
C. Perrine treasurer. The gas-works con- 
tinued to be run under the first charter up to 
the present time. The present officers of the 
company ai-e David C. Perrine, president; Charles 
A. Bennett, secretary and treasurer; and William 
S. Freeman, superintendent. There are five direc- 
tors, — D. C. Perriue, Alfred Walters, Henry 
Bennett, Chas. B. Ellis and Chas, A. Bennett. 
On April 14, 1869, the gas-works were all 
burned down, which was caused by the acts of 
the agents of the Pneumatic Gas Company, 
who were trying to introduce their oil gas into 
these works. The comjjany resolved to rebuild 
and put up large worksof a very substantial char- 
acter, sufficient to supply a town three times as 
laro-e as Freehold. The ras was furnished from 
the new works Feljruary 4, 1870. The town 
is supplied with a good quality of gas, and 
the company is very liberally patronized by the 
citizens. Their gas is used in all the public 
buildings, and in nearly all the better cla.ss of 
stores and private buildings. It is also used to 
some extent for heating and cooking purposes, 
and for running gas-engines. 

gas at a fair price." This petition resulted in the pas 
sage of the act incorporating the Citizens' Gas-Light 
Company. 



The Freehold Fiee Department is of 
recent oriain, havinar been in existence less than 
twelve years. With the exception of .some two or 
three dozen buckets, which had been purchased 
and kept for some years in Freehold, to he used in 
case of fire by jDassing them, filled with water, 
along a line of men to the place where needed, 
and then returning them empty along another 
line of persons of less physical strength, there 
was no apparatus for the extinguishment of fires 
until about 1850, when a small hand-engine 
was purchased. This machine, which, as is said 
by tho.sc who remember it, was never of much, 
if any, practical utility, was in existence (and 
presumably kept ready for use) in 1854, as a 
reference to it is found in the newspapers of 
that time. But it appears that such was not the 
ca.se in 1855, for in that year, at a meeting of 
citizens held at Cox's Hotel on the day when the 
court-house was partially burned, it was stated 
by Mr. Vredenburgh that Freehold had then 
no fire apparatus, and he urged that some 
measures be taken at once to supply the need, 
which was the object for which the meeting 
had been called. David C. Perrine, Joseph 
Combs and ^y. H. Conover were then appointed 
a committee to solicit subscriptions for the pur- 
pose, but the effort did not prove successful, 
though the people were .several times in that 
year reminded of their insecurity by the occur- 
rence of several fires, — of Dauser's barn, Burns' 
shoemaker-shop, on South Street, and others. 
The matter was kept in agitation at intervals, 
but without re.*ult, for a considerable number of 
years. 

The purchase of the hook-and-ladder ap- 
paratus, in June, 1872, was the first effectual 
step taken towards the formation of a service- 
able Fire Dejiartment in Freehold. A comjiany 
was organized called the Good-Will and a 
hou.se built for the truck iu the rear of the 
block next below the court-house. At the great 
fire of October 30, 1873, which destroyed the 
court-house and all the buildings on the north 
side of Main Street, up to the First National 
Bank building, this company and apparatus 
performed invaluable .'service in demolishing the 
building between the Vought mansion and the 
bank, thus checking the progress of the fire in 



472 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



that direction, and probably saviug the town 
from the disaster of widespread conflagratioa. 

The great fire in 1873 reawakened the people 
to a sense of their danger from lack of sufficient 
fire apparatus and to the necessity of procuring 
a steam fire-engine. In the spring of 1874 a 
steamer was purchased conditionally, and on 
Friday, May 22d, in that year, the machine, with 
two hose-carriages, reached Freehold, and was 
put on trial the same day. With imperfect 
arrangements for firing, the gauge showed sev- 
enty ]>ounds of steam in seven minutes. The 
engine (weighing four thousand five hundred 
pounds) was warranted by the builder, Richard 
Harrell, of Paterson, to throw one stream two 
hundred and forty feet or two streams one 
hundred and ninety feet, through one hun- 
dred feet of hose, and one hundred and fifty 
feet through one thousand feet of hose. The 
trial resulting satisfactorily, the steamer was 
accepted by the commissioners, and a company 
was organized, the first officers of which (elected 
at a meeting held on the 3d of June) were: 
Foreman, W. H. Hendricks; first Assistant, 
B. White; Second Assistant, John W. Hulse; 
Engineer, Edwin Bawden; First Assistant En- 
gineer, John Buck ; Second Assistant Engineer, 
W. H. Hart. 

The new Fire Department, consisting of 
the steamer Freehold, No. 1, the Good- Will 
truck, with their companies and the corporation 
officers, joined in a parade on the 10th of June, 
making an excellent ajjpearance and receiving 
general commendation. The firet chief was 
John Bawden, who held the office seven years. 
The steamer was kept in the barn of Honorable 
Holmes W. Murphy during the construction 
of the present engine-house, on Throckmorton 
Avenue, and on the completion of the building, 
in the fall of 1874, it was occupied, as at pres- 
ent, by the steamer, the truck and other apjja- 
ratus of the department. In the same year a 
number of cisterns of large capacity were con- 
structed at the most accessible and convenient 
points in the town, with facilities to keep them 
filled with water for the use of the steamer 
when needed. 

The steamer company now numbers forty 
membei-s; that of the truck, thirty-two. The 



following named are the present (1884) officers 
of the department and of the companies : 

President, I. J. Grimshaw ; Vice-President, 
D. ^^. Perrine ; Secretary, W. W. Cannon ; 
Treasurer, Charles H. Butcher ; Chief, G. C. 
Hulett ; Assistant, J. W. Hulse. 

Foreman of Truck, H. H. Clayton ; Assistant, 
A. H. Schanck ; Foreman of Steamer, William 
Brown ; First Assistant, C. P. White ; Second 
Assistant, William Burrell ; Third Assistant, 
P. De Eoche. 

The Freehold Foundry and Machine 
Shops, now owned and operated by Combs & 
Bawden, were started in the summer of 1856, by 
John Bawden, whose first advertisement, dated 
November tith, in that year, announced that he 
was prepared to furnish iron railing, mill-work 
and agricultural castings. The business was 
not very remunerative, and not long afterwards 
Mr. Gilbert Combs became associated with ]\Ir. 
Bawden, under the firm-name of Combs & 
Bawden, as at present. For fourteen years 
from the commencement the business contin- 
ued to languish, and in 1869 and 1870 it 
seemed extremely unpromising. Additional 
capital was then invested, the buildings and 
facilities were enlarged from time to time; 
prosperity followed and has continued until the 
present time. Their specialty now is grate, 
fender, and other kinds of ornamental iron- 
work. A single order, for the Palace Hotel, at 
San Francisco, was tidcen (through New York 
parties) and filled by this firm, amounting to 
twenty thousand dollars, — the heaviest order for 
that kind of work ever filled in America or 
Europe. The works (foundry, machine-shop 
and j)laning-inill) embrace four brick buildings, 
located on the tracks of the Pennsylvania Bail- 
road, near the Freehold Station. Messrs. Combs 
& Bawden give employment to about fif\y men. 

John Bawden. — The history of Mr. John 
Bawden, the founder of the Freehold Iron 
Foundry and !Machine-Shop, is one that well 
deserves to be recorded as an example of 
true heroism in a struggle with adverse cir- 
cumstances in early life, and of triumph 
over difficulties encountered in maturer years. 
His success has been achieved through a 



..//l^.tinfSs^ 




THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



473 



display of courage, perseverance and close 
attention to honest business principles rarely 
equaled. He was born in the town of Gwin- 
car, in the county of Cornwall, England, on 
the 10th of April, 1827. His father was John 
Bawdeu and his mother was Sally Malachi, 
both of tlie same C(junty. His father was a 
blacksmith and contractor for furnishing black- 
smith work for the tin-mines in the county. 
By the financial failure of mining operations 
there about the year 1830 or 1831, he was re- 
duced in circumstances, when he resolved to 
emigrate to America. The ftimily, which con- 
sisted of father, mother and seven children, 
went first to Pott.sville, and then to Philadel- 
])hia. Of the latter city the subject of our 
sketch has a distinct recollection. It was dur- 
ing the " cholera year" (1 832), and he remembers 
seeing the sick and dying carried through the 
streets on stretchers. About 1834 the family 
removed to New York, and he remembers being 
thei'e when the great fire, during the winter of 
lS3o-3(j, occurred. They then removed to 
Yorkville, where his father was employed in 
making tools for the quarrymen, who excavated 
the tunnel at that place for the Hudson River 
Railroad, and he was one of a party of boys 
who, when the quarrymen met in the centre of 
the tunnel from op]wsite sides of the work, 
were the first tn crawl through the opening. 
This year his mother died, and the care of the 
children devolved upon the elder sisters. The 
children were now thrown largely upon their 
own resources. Mr. Bawden, then a boy of teu 
years, obtained employment with a gold-beater, 
and afterwards as an errand-boy in a siioe-store, 
and as an assistant in a rope-walk, going to the 
])ublic schools at intervals until he was fifteen, 
when he went into William Buckley's brass 
foundry, in Cannon Street, still carried on by 
Buckley's grandson on the same spot. He 
worked here for two years, and one year at 
another brass foundry in the city. In 1845 he 
went into .James L. Jackson's iron foundry, 
then on Stanton Street, where he served as 
apprentice ami journeynian until he removed to 
Freehold in 1,S5I). Here, in the fall of that 
year, he conimencod business in a small building 
twenty-four by thirty-six feet, on the site of the 



present main building. At first his work was con- 
fined to the jobbing of the neighborhood, such as 
plow-castings, iron railings and light machinery. 
He worked with his own hands in every detail of 
the business, and for several yeai"s scarcely suc- 
ceeded in maintaining his family. In fiict, he 
was more than once on the verge of abandoning 
the struggle. Subsequently he formed a co-part- 
nership with Mr. Gilbert Combs, and the busi- 
ness was enlarged by adding to it the sale of agri- 
cultural implements and farm machinery, which 
was then coming into use in this section. Sup- 
plied now with necessary cajjital, and with the 
relief from a portion of the labor of the enter- 
prise which the partnership afforded, Mr. Baw- 
den was enabled to give his entire attention to 
the development of the mechanical branch of 
the business, in which he excelled. The super- 
iority of the work of the foundry, especially in 
the line of light castings, soon attracted atten- 
tion, and brought contracts which obliged the 
firm to enlarge their fac-ilities from time to time, 
and to increase the number of their employes, 
until it has grown to the ample proportions that 
it now enjoys, the little frame structure having 
given way to the extensive brick one that now 
occupies its site. 

Mr. Bawden was married, July 26, 1847, to 
Miss Eleanor H. Blair, of New York City, 
whose mother was a native of jNIiddletown, in 
Monmouth. She died December 9, 1856, at 
Greenpoint (now a part of the city of Brook- 
lyn), L. I., pending the removal of the family 
to Freehold. Four children were the fruit of 
this union, two of whom are living, — Mr. 
John H. Bawden, who is associated with the 
firm of Combs & Bawden in the management 
of the foundry, and Eleanor H., wife of Mr. 
E. B. H. Tower, of Washington, D. C. Mr. 
Bawden's present wife was Miss Charlotte L. 
Conover, daughter of Cornelius D. Conover, of 
Lower Squankum, in this county. They were 
married on the 7th of December, 1859, but 
have had no children. ]\Irs. Bawden's mother 
was Johanna Rogers, daughter of Samuel 
Rogers, of Manalapan; her maternal grand- 
mother was Mary Freeman, who was born in 
1777, in the old Tennent parsonage, on the 
battle-field of Monmouth, and died in 1865, 



474 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



aged over eighty-eight years. Her parents resid- 
ed in the parsonage at tiie time tiie battle was 
fought, and it was a family tradition that the 
family vacated the premises on that occasion 
and took refuge in the woods. 

Mr. Bawden became a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church at Greenpoiut in March, 
1855. Upon his removal to Freehold, he 
transferred his membership to the church here, 
and has since remained a consistent, active and 
zealous member of it, ^laving for a number of 
yeai-s been connected with its official board as 
steward and trustee, and a liberal contributor, 
according to his means, to the support of the 
church and its institutions. Politically, he has 
been identified with the Republican party on 
national questions but in local matters he has 
acted independently, supporting those men and 
measures, without respect to party that he 
deemed to be for the best interests of the pub- 
lic. He has never sought office, but when the 
Fire Department of Freehold was organized 
he was elected chief engineer, which post he 
filled ably and with fidelity until the annual 
election of 1883, a period of nine years, when 
he declined a re-electi'^n. During his incum- 
bency of this position he represented the de- 
partment at the annual conventions of engineers 
of the United States and Canada at Boston and 
Richmond. At the great fire in Freehold, in 
187.3, previous to the organization of the Fire 
Department, "Sir. Bawden distinguished himself 
by his labors, and through his intelligent effijrts 
and skill the fire was prevented from spreading 
below the court-house, and so the lower part of 
the town was saved from destruction. In 188.3 
he was appointed a member of the Board of 
Health of the town, and M'as made president of 
the board, which position he still fills accept- 
ably. 

Mr. Bawden is still in the prime of life, giv- 
ing daily his personal supervision to the details 
of his large and increasing business. Some 
years ago he purchased the dwelling on the cor- 
ner of ]\Ianalapan Avenue and Broad Street, 
and furnished it luxuriously, improving the 
grounds and adding a conservatory for flowers, 
which is the admiration of the neighborhood, 
and for the cultivation of which both himself 



and his wife have a passion. Here, surrounded 
by family and friends, and with the respect and 
esteem of the community', he enjoys his hours 
of leisure. 

Olive Branch Lodge, No. 16,F. and A.M., 
has had an existence of more than thirty-five 
years, and is the lineal successor of an ancient 
lodge which Mas organized here nearly a century 
ago. The history of Olive Branch Lodge, which 
follows, prefaced by a brief account of Freema- 
sonry in Monmouth County, was compiled and 
arranged by Major James S. Yard, of the 
Monmouth Democrat, and published by a com- 
mittee of the lodge appointed for that purpose. 

There are no records of Freemasonry in New 
Jersey before the organization of the Grand 
Lodge in 1786. Previous to that time lodges 
derived their authority, directly or indirectly, 
from the Grand Lodges of England. During the 
War of the Revolution the records of these lodges 
were lost or destroyed. From the records of 
the Grand Lodge of England it appeare that in 
1730, Daniel Coxe, of New Jersey, was appointed 
Provincial Grand Master of the provinces of 
New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but 
it nowhere appears that he ever exercised any 
authority as such. This Daniel Coxe was a 
wealthy citizen of Gloucester County, a member 
of the Council of the notorious Lord Cornbury 
and Speaker of the Assembly during a portion 
of the administration of Governor Hunter. At 
the time of his death, which occurretl in 1739, 
he was a justice of the Supreme Court. 

In 1794 " The Grand Lodge of London, in 
Great Britain," established a Provincial Grand 
Lodge for the Province of Pennsylvania, and 
this Provincial Grand Lodge, according to its 
records, issued warrants to several lodges in 
New Jersey. At a meeting on December 20th, 
1779, a warrant was granted to "William Bost- 
wick, ]\Iaster, Isaiah ^Yool, Senior Warden, and 
Motte, Junior ^\\arden,' " for a new lodge to be 

1 These were probably officers in the Continental army 
who were made Masons in an Army Lotlge. as we tind that 
William Bostwick was a lieutenant in Captain William Gor- 
don's company of the Third Establishment, and John 
Motte was captain of the Fifth Company in the same or- 
ganization. The Mott family in Monmouth County came, 
from Rhode Island, and was related to Nathaniel Green 



THE TOWN OF FEEEHOLD. 



4Y5 



held at Middletou " (Middletown), in Monmouth 
County. This is the first lodge of which there 
is any record in this county. It had probably 
become extinct prior to the organization of the 
Grand Lodge of New Jersey, as no mention is 
made of it at that time. 

The Grand Lodge of New Jersey was organ- 
ized at a Convention of Free and Accepted 
Masons of the State, iield at New Brunswick, 
December 18, 1786. At this meeting were 
present from Monmouth, Richard Lloyd, hold- 
ing membership in Lodge No. 1, of Albany, 
N. Y., and Jonathan Rhea, of No. 19 on the 
register of Provincial Grand Lodge of Penn- 
sylvania. At a subsequent meeting, at the same 
place, January 30, 1787, a dispensation was 
granted to Jonathan Rhea to open a lodge at 
Freehold, a warrant to be issued at the expira- 
tion of that time. At the session of April 3d, 
the same year, there were present from INIon- 
mouth, Jonathan Rhea il. ; Richard Lloyd, 
S. W. ; and Thomas Leland, J. W. Among 
the visitors appears the name of Barnes H. 
Smock,^doubtless Captain Smock. Tlie lodges 
represented balloted for their numbers; Mon- 
mouth drew No. 3, and the dispensations were 
extended for three months longer. On July 
3d, of the same year, another session of the 
Grand Lodge was held at Trenton, when the 
following minute appears upon the records: 

" Ordered, Tliat a warrant be issued, agree- 
ably to the above application, for a lodge to be 
hereafter held in the county of Monmouth, to 
be distinguished by the name of Trinity Lodge, 
No. 3; Brother Rhea having paid the treasurer 
the sum of £10 5.s. OcZ., agreeable to the rule, 
for a warrant and one member who has been 
initiated." 

At this session "Major Richard Lloyd" offi- 
ciated as S. G. W. pro tem., and on the next 
day (July 4th) General David Forman, of No. 
3, appears as a visitor. 

At a session of the Grand Lodge held at 
New Brunswick, June 23, 1788, the names of 
the following persons appear as visitors from 



the ''Quaker General" of the Revolution. Gershom 
Mott is a common name on the old records of Monmouth, 
and General Gershom Mott, of Trenton, a distinguished 
officer of the late war. was a descendant of that family. 



Monmouth Lodge, viz. : "Richard Lloyd, 
Esq., Elisha Lawrence, Thomas Barber, Ben- 
jamin Rogers, Barnes Smock, David Rhea, 
Benajah Osman, William Lloyd, James Eng- 
lish, General David Forman, James Rogers, 
Esq., A. Lane, tyler." ■ 

At the session of July 3, 1789, Trinity, No. 
3, was represented by Jonathan Rhea, M. ; 
David Forman, J. "NV. ; and James R. English, 
Treasurer. 

On January 5, 1790, the Grand Lodge met 
at Freehold, when David Rhea officiated as G. 
S. D., and Richard Lloyd as G. J. D. pro ton. 
The session of July 6th, following, was held at 
Trenton, and Trinity, No. 3, was represented by 
Jonathan Rhea, Anthony F. Taylor and James 
Rogers (no titles given). At this session the 
time of meeting of Trinity Lodge is recorded 
as on the first ^Monday in each month. 

At the session of January 11, 1791, Jona- 
than Rhea, Esq., was elected Junior Grand 
Warden. At the session of December 27th, 
the same year. Trinity Lodge was represented 
by Hon. Elisha Lawrence, Master ; William 
Lloyd, Junior Warden ; and Elisha Newell. 
At the election of officers, Jonathan Rhea with- 
drew his name from the list of candidates, aud 
Hon. Elisha Lawrence was unanimously elected 
Junior Grand Warden. 

At the session of December 31, 1792, Elisha 
Lawrence appeared as Senior Grand \A'arden 
p/-o tern., but Trinity Lodge is reported not rep- 
resented. At the semi-annual session, June 24, 
1793, it was represented by Jonathan Rhea, 
Master, and John Freeman. Eleven lodges 
appear upon the rolls. At this session the 
warrant of Trinity Lodge was surrendere<l, but 
its name was not struck from the rolls until 
January 8, 1800. The ^Master, in surrendering 
the warrant, "prayed the indidgence of the 
lodge for time to make up their accounts, and 
a,ssured the lodge that all monies due the lodge 



= Nearly all of these brethren were officers in the Conti- 
nen al army. Lane was an ensign ; David Ehea, lieuten- 
ant colonel ; .Jonathan Rhea, ensign; Richard Lloyd, 
captain ; David Forman, colonel and general of militia ; 
Elisha Lawrence, colonel ; Thomas Barber, surgeon ; 
James Rogers, ensign; James English, surgeon's mate; 
I Barnes Smocls, captain ; Benajah Osman, lieutenant. 



476 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



should be honorably and punctually paid." 
These moneys, as appears by the records, were 
subsequently paid. After this time the name 
of Jonathan Rhea occasionally appears in the 
minutes of the Grand Lodge as a member of 
Xo. 5, at Trenton, of which he became an officer. 
He was also treasurer of the Grand Lodge for 
several years. 

At the session held on November 10, 1807, 
a warrant was granted to John Mott, INIaster, 
Robert Shannon, S. W., Jesse Hedges, J. W., 
for a lodge at Middletown Poiut, in the county 
of ^lonmouth, by the name of Trinity Lodge, 
No. 20. A warrant for Shrewsbury ^^'ash- 
ington Lodge, No. 34, was granted Novem- 
ber 14, 1815, John P. Lewis, M.; Jonathan 
Morris, S. W. ; and Alexander iNIcGregor, 
J. W. 

In 1832, out of fifty-seven lodges instituted 
up to that time, only four were represented in 
the Grand Lodge. This was probably in a 
great measure due to the Anti-Masouic excite- 
ment, which commenced about the year 1826, 
and raged for several years, during which time 
many of the lodges ceased labor. At the ses- 
sion of the Grand Lodge, Nov. 13, 1838, there 
were not funds enough in the hands of the 
treasurer to pay the tiler four dollars, voted 
for his services. 

At the session held November 9, 1841, the 
Grand Secretary reported, of fifty-seven lodges 
warranted in the State, only eight were in work- 
ing order, — seven had been stricken off (among 
them Trinity, No. 20), nine had surrendei-ed 
their warrants (among them Trinity, No. 3), 
thirty-three had ceased their work, but retained 
their warrauts (among them Shrewsbury Wash- 
ington, No. 34). At the session of 1842 all the 
lodges were stricken off, leaving but eight 
lodges in existence within the jurisdiction of the I 
Grand Lodge. These lodges were then re- - 
numbered from No. 1 to No. 8. Washington 
Shrewsbury, although recorded among those 
stricken off, was allowed to rank as No. 9. 

At the session of 1843 the Grand jNIaster, in 
his rejjort, states that he had received a com- 
munication from Worshipful John P. Lewis, 
Past Master of Shi-ewsbury Washington Lodge, 
and fourteen others, members of said lodge. 



stating that they had not held any regular meet- 
ings since the year 1835, and that their lodge- 
room had been entered by thieves and their 
warrant and jewels stolen, and that they wished 
to reopen and resuscitate their lodge. He had 
accordingly granted them a dispensation for 
that purpose. At this session a new warrant 
was granted to that lodge. 

The cloud under which the institution of 
Freemasonry had rested throughout the United 
States since the persecution, which began in 1826, 
had now dispersed, and it began to revive in 
this State. Among the first to feel the effects of 
it were Masons of Freehold. They made ap- 
plication to Worshipful Grand Master John P. 
Lewis, then a resident of Eatontown, in this 
county, and a member of Shrewsbury Wash- 
ington Lodge, who granted a dispensation to 
John B. Throckmorton, Samuel Laird, Rufus 
Bergen, Hugh Newell, James W. Andrews, 
William D. Davis, John D. Cottrel and David 
C. Oonover, to form a lodge at Freehold to be 
hailed as Olive Branch Lodge, No. 16. This 
was the title and number of a lodge located 
" at Phillipsburg, in the county of Sussex," for 
which a warrant was granted January 9, 1799, 
and was among those stricken off at the session 
of 1842. It would seem that coming in as 
No. 16, the founders of this lodge accepted the 
old title anciently attached to the number. The 
dispensation was granted on the 20th day of 
October, 1849, and on the same day the Grand 
Master convened an emergent meeting of the 
Grand Lodge at Odd-Fellows' Hall, in Free- 
hold, and installed John B. Throckmorton 
Master, Samuel Laird Senior Warden, and 
Rufus Bergen Junior Warden of the new lodge, 
"with full power and authority to enter, pass 
and raise to the sublime degree of Master Mason 
such candidates as may be found worthy and 
well qualified ; " upon which the work was com- 
menced and progressed until the annual meet- 
ing of the Grand Lodge, on the 9th of January, 
1850, when a warrant ^vas granted to John B. 
Throckmorton, master; Samuel Laird, senior 
warden; and John Vought, junior warden. In 
his address at this session the Grand Master, 
referring to this lodge while working under 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



477 



dispensation, said : " In company with a num- 
ber of brothers of Washington Lodge I have 
visited them and assisted them several times in 
malving, passing and raising candidates of the 
first respectability and standing in society. 
The character and conduct of the officers and 
bretiiren of tiiis lodge warrant the belief that it 
will do honor to the fraternity." 

The following persons have filled the offices 
since then : 

Worshipful 3Jasters. 
1850, John B. Throckmortoa ; 1851, Samuel Laird ; 

1857, Jehu Patterson ; 1858, Holmes W. Murphy ; 

1859, James S. Yard ; 1860, Isaac S. Buckalew ; 1865, 
Aaron R. Throckmorton ; 1867, Jacob C. Lawrence ; 
1868, George C. Beekman ; 1871, Alexander A. Yard; 
1873, Aaron R. Throckmorton ; 1874, William J. 
Butcher; 1875, James B. Craig; 1876, Aaron C. Hart; 
1877, Henry W. Long ; 1878, Henry W. Long ; 1879, 
Jacob C. Lawrence, P. M. ; 1880, Alfred Walters ; 
1881, Jacob C. Lawrence; 1882, Jacob C. Lawrence; 
1883, Jacob C. Lawrence, P. M. 

Senior Wardens. 

1850, Samuel Laird ; 1851, Jehu Patterson; 1857, 
John Vought; 1858, James S. Yard; 1859, Isaac S. 
Buckalew; 1860, Joseph D. Bedle; 1861, Alfred Wal- 
ters ; 1863, Jacob C. Lawrence ; 1864, Aaron R. 
Throckmorton ; 1865, George C. Beekman ; 1866, 
John Bawden ; 1867, Charles Ellis ; 1869, Joseph T. 
Laird ; 1870, Alexander A. Yard ; 1871, Acton C. 
Hartshorne ; 1872, William J. Butcher ; 1874, James 

B. Craig ; 1875, Aaron C. Hart ; 1876, Henry W. 
Long; 1877, George C. Beekman ; 1878, Edward H. 
Duncan ; 1879, Amos Lippincott ; 1880, William Se- 
goine ; 1881, Edward H. Duncan ; 1882, Edward H. 
Duncan ; 1883, Joseph McDermott. 

Junior Wardens. 
1850, John Vought; 1857, Charles A. Bennett; 

1858, Henry C. Patterson ; 1859, Joseph D. Bedle; 

1860, Alfred Walters ; 1862, Jacob C. Lawrence ; 1863, 
Aaron R. Throckmorton ; 1864, John Bawden ; 1866, 
Charles Ellis ; 1867, William H. Howell ; 1868, Acton 

C. Hartshorne ; 1869, Alexander A. Yard ; 1870, 
Marcus B. Taylor ; 1871, Edwin F. Applegate ; 1872, 
Thomas C.Swift; 1874, George C. Hulett; 1875, 
George S. Courter ; 1876, James S. Magee; 1877, 
Edward W. Duncan ; 1878, William L. Conover; 1879, 
Alfred Walters ; 1880, Charles Hartzheim ; 1881, Jo- 
seph McDermott; 1882, Joseph McDermott ; 1883, 
William W. Burnett. 

Secretaries. 

1850, William D. Davis ; 1851, Charles A. Bennett; 
1857, Holmes W. Murphy ; 1858, Isaac S. Buckalew ; 



1859, James T. Burtis ; 1862, Charles Ellis; 1864, 
William H.Howell; 1865, Stewart Brown ; 1866, 
James B.Morris; 1867, Robert P. Miller; 1869, 
Thomas C. Swift ; 1872, Aaron C. Hart ; 1875, Philip 
E. Cline ; 1876, James B. Craig ; 1877, Aaron C. Hart ; 
1878, Aaron C.Hart; 1879, Aaron C.Hart, P. M ; 
1880, Aaron C. Hart ; 1881, Aaron C. Hart; 1882, 
Aaron C. Hart ; 1883, Aaron C. Hart, P. M. 

Treasurers. 

1850, Hugh Newell ; 1851, John B. Throckmorton ; 
1857, John W. Welch ; 1859, Henry C. Patterson ; 
1862, John Dorrance; 1863, James T. Burtis; 1865, 
Joseph H. Rosell; 1878, James T. Burtis; 1879, 
James T. Burtis; 1880, James T. Burtis ; 1881, James 
T. Burtis; 1882, James T. Burtis ; 1883, James T. 
Burtis. 

Senior Deacons. 

1850, Peter Parker; 1857, Isaac S. Buckalew; 1858, 
Joseph D. Bedle; 1860, James S. Yard; 1861, Aaron 
R. Throckmorton ; 1863, Charles S. Golden ; 1864, 
George C. Beekman ; 1865, William Segoine; 1866, 
Jacob C. Lawrence; 1867, Acton C. Hartshorne; 
1868, Peter Forman ; 1869, Lemuel Dey ; 1870, Aaron 
C.Hart; 1872, James B. Craig; 1873, William C. 
Chambers; 1874, William Segoine; 1875, Henry W. 
Long; 1876, William L. Conover; 1878, Amos Lip- 
pincott ; 1879, James B. Craig; 1880, Jacob C. Law- 
rence ; 1881, James H. Shepherd ; 1882, Alfred Wal- 
ters ; 1883, Edward Martin. 

Junior Deacons. 

1850, David Craig Conover ; 1851, John C. Cox ; 
1857, James S. Yard ; 1858, Peter Parker; 1860, Al- 
fred A. Miller; 1866, Robert P. Miller; 1867, Alfred 
A. Miller; 1868, Thomas E. Morris ; 1869, Joseph W. 
Hulse ; 1871, George C. Hulett ; 1874, Britton C. Clay- 
ton ; 1876, Philip E. Cline; 1877, Ira A. Lockwood ; 
1878, James H. Shepherd ; 1879, James H. Shepherd ; 
1880, James H. Shepherd; 1881, Charles Hartzheim ; 
1882, Charles Hartzheim ; 1883, Charles A. Clark. 

Tilers. 
1^50, Ruftis Bergen; 1867, Charles W. Conover; 
1860, Anthony Frey; 1864, Robert P. Miller; 
1865, Anthony Frey; 1870, George C. Hulett; 1871, 
Joseph S.W.Douglass; 1873, Britton C. Clayton; 
1874, Edward A. Fordham ; 1875, George C. Hulett; 
1876, Edward W. Duncan; 1877, A. M. T. Flandreau; 
1878, A. M. T. Flandreau ; 1879, Edward H. Duncan ; 
1880, B. C. Clayton ; 1881, B. C. Clayton ; 1882, B. C. 
Clayton ; 1883, William L. Conover. 

Chaplains. 
1862, Thomas J.Taylor; 1865, Wilbur F. Nields; 
1868, W. W. MoflFett ; is71-84, Andrew G. Chambers. 

linance Committee. 
1851. — Jehu Patterson, John Vought, John C. Cox. 



478 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1859.— Holmes W. Murphy, William D. Davis, 
George W. Patterson. 

I860. — William D. Davis, Eowland A. EUig, Joseph 
H. Rosell. 

1861. — William D. Davis, Rowland A. Ellis, Joseph 
H. Rosell. 

1862.— William D. Davis, Philip J. Ryall, Joseph 
H. Rosell. 

1864.— William D. Davis, Rowland A. Ellis, J. C. 
Lawrence. 

1865. — Rowland A. Ellis, Alfred Walters, William 
H. Howell. 

1866.— J. C. Lawrence, George C. Beekman, Alfred 
Walters. 

1868.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, Henry 
Bennett. 

1869.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph S. Conover, A. R. 
Throckmorton. 

1870.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, James H. 
Magee. 

1871.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, Joseph S. 
Conover. 

1872.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, Joseph S. 
Conover. 

1873.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, Joseph S. 
Conover. 

1874.— J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, William 
Segoine. 

1875. — J. C. Lawrence, Joseph T. Laird, Lewis A. 
Hoffman. 

1876.— J. C. Lawrence, G. C. Beekman, Britton C. 
Clayton. 

1877._J. 0. Lawrence, G. C. Beekman, Alexander 
A. Yard. 

1878.— J. C. Lawrence, P. M., Aaron R. Throck- 
morton, P. M., Amos Lippincott. 

1879. — A. R. Throckmorton, James S. Yard, A. C. 
Hartshorne. 

1880.— A. R. Throckmorton, James S. Yard, A. C. 
Hartshorne. 

1881.— A. R. Throckmorton, Alfred Walters, Joseph 
H. Rosell. 

1882.— A. R. Throckmorton, Charles Hartzheim, 
Joseph H. Rosell. 

1883.— Joseph H. Rosell, William S.Throckmor- 
ton, Charles Hartzheim. 

Masters of Ceremonies. 

1865.— Charles Ellis and Joseph S. Conover. 
1866. — George C. Beekman, Joseph T. Laird. 
1867. — John Bawden, Joseph S. Conover. 
1870.— Edwin F. Applegate, James H. Magee. 
1871. — Charles Hartzheim, Britton C. Clayton, 
1872.— Charles Hartzheim, Britton C. Clayton. 
1873. — Charles Hartzheim, James B. Craig. 



M. 



1874. — Charles Hartzheim, William C. Chambers. 
1875 — Charles Hartzheim, William C. Chambers. 
1876. — William Segoine, Jacob C. Lawrence. 
1877. — James B. Craig, Charles Hartzheim. 
1878. — Charles Hartzheim, John H. Williams. 
1879. — Charles Hartzheim, A. M. T. Flandreau. 
1880.— James S. Yard, Joseph H. Rosell. 
1881.— George C. Hulett, Holmes W. Murphy, P. 

1882.— Joel Parker, A. C. Hartshorne. 
1883. — M. L. Farriugton, James B. Craig. 

Sfctvards. 

1862. — John Bawden, James T. Burtis. 
1864.— Charles S. Worts, Alfred Walters. 
1865.— William D. Davis, Henry S. Little. 
1866.— William D. Davis, Henry S. Little. 
1867.— AVilliam D. Davis, Henry S. Little. 
1868.— William D. Davis, Henry S. Little. 
1869 —Joel Parker, Henry S. Little. 
1872. — A. R. Throckmorton, James S. Yard. 
1873. — John Dorrance, James S. Yard. 
1874. — John Dorrance, James S. Yard. 
1875.— Joel Parker, Joseph D. Bedle. 
1876. — Joel Parker, Joseph D. Bedle. 
1877.— Joel Parker, Joseph D. Bedle. 
1878. — Joseph H. Rosell, Joseph W. Hulse. 
1879. — Joseph H. Rosell, John Bawden. 
1880. — Henry W. Long, John Bawden. 
1881.— James S. Yard, P. M., A. R. Throckmorton, 
P. M. 

1882.— James S. Yard, A. R. Throckmorton. 
1883.— Holmes W. Murphy, E. H. Duncan. 

Monmouth Lodge No. 20, I. O. O. F., was 
instituted June 8, 1843, bv Marshall C. Holmes, 
W. W. Graud Master of the State, upon petition 
of James B. Taylor, Henry Bennett, Alfred 
Bergen, John L. Dotv, Joel Parker and Bern- 
ard Conolly ; was duly organized by the elec- 
tion of James B. Taylor, Noble Grand ; Joel 
Parker, Vice-Grand ; Henry Bennett, Secretaiy ; 
and Alfred Bergen, Treasurer. The lodge meet- 
ings were held in the room over the book-store 
of J. G. Cooper & Son. At the end of three 
years the membership had become so large that 
a more spacious room was needed. To obtain 
suitable accommodations much difficidty was 
experienced, but when !Mr. Amos Haviland was 
about commencing the erection of a building on 
South Street, to be used as a carriage repository, 
a committee of the lodge was appointed to con- 
fer with him, and the result of their conference 
was that Mr. Haviland agreed to fit up the 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



479 



second story of the new building for a lodge- 
room, and to lease it to the lodge for a term of 
years. Having made this arrangement, the lodge 
did not re-rent the room previously occupied, 
and tliey were consequently notified to vacate, 
wliicii they did, and were then witliout a place 
for the holding of their meetings. "But our 
kind and generous-hearted brother, Joel Parker, 
threw open the doors of his private dwelling 
and invited this homeless band of brothers to 
enter and hold their meetings there until such 
time as the new hall could be completed. They 
gratefully accepted the invitation, and moved in 
,. and remained there until the 4th day of July, 
[ 1846, at which time the new hall was dedicated.'" 
1 This hall was occupied by the lodge for eight 
vears, when they removed to a hall in Major 
Henry Bennett's building, over the store of G. 
W. Shinn & Co., on Main Street. Thence, after 
a number of years, they removed to the hall now 
occupied by the Grand Army post, in Burtis' 
building, corner of Main and Court Streets, and 
thence to the present quarters of the lodge, in the 
hall over the store of J. B. Haviland, on Main, 
west of Court Street. 

The present (1884) officers of the lodge are : 
E. Emrich, N. G. ; Charles Eldridge, V. G. ; 
John Strieker, Secretary ; William ^NIcDermott, 
Treasurer ; Peter V. Thompson, John B. 
Gordon and David S. Crater, Trustees. 

Captain J. W. Conover Post, No. 63, 
Graxd Army of the Republic, of New 
Jersey, was mustered in January 16, 1882, 
with twenty-six charter members, viz. : 

P. C. — John W. Hulse, Thirty-eighth Regiment New 

Jersey Volunteers. 
S. V. C. — James Christie, Thirty-fifth Regiment New 

Jersey Volunteers. 
J. V. C. — W. W. Cannon, One Hundred and Eighty- 
fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteers. 
Chaplain. — Joseph Rue, Twenty-eighth Regiment 

New Jersey Volunteers. 
Surgeon.— C. H. Snedeker, Sixth Regiment New 

Jersey Volunteers. 
Quartermaster. — C. A. Clark, Seventeenth Regiment 

Connecticut Volunteers. 
O. Day. — C. Hartzheim, Seventh Regiment New York 

Volunteers. 

' Quotation from an address by David S. Crater, Esq., 
secretary at the twenty-eighth anniversary of the Lodge, 
June 8, 1871. 



O. G. — W. Burrell, Twenty-eighth Regiment Penn- 
sylvania Volunteers. 

Adjutant. — C. H. Bunting, Fourteenth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade C. Patterson, Fourteenth Regiment New 
Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade Joseph Evans, Thirteenth Regiment New 
York Artillery. 

Comrade Nelson Cooper, Fourteenth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade James H. King, Thirty-eighth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade George G. Sparks, Forty-eighth Regiment 
New York Volunteers. 

Comrade John F. Thompson, Twenty-ninth Regi- 
ment New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade James Vannote, Thirtj'-fifth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade Stephen Lane, Fifth Regiment New Jer- 
sey Volunteers. 

Comrade James Mathews, Ninth Regiment New 
Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade Elias Applegate, Thirty-fifth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade William J. Cottrell, Twenty-ninth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade D. S. Oliphant, Thirty-fifth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade Jacob M. Douglass, Thirteenth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade James Hogan, Thirty-fifth Regiment New 
Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade C. Marcellus, Eleventh Regiment New- 
Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade R. H. Wagner, Fourteenth Regiment 
New Jersey Volunteers. 

Comrade C. A. Brower, Fourteenth Regiment New 
Jersey Volunteers. 

During the year there were mustered in nine 
recruits, making a total number of comrades in 
good standing, December 28, 1882, thirty- 
five. During the year 1883 twenty-three re- 
cruits were mustered, making a membership, on 
December 26, 1883, of fifty-eight comrades. 

The officers for 1883 were: P. C, Colonel E. 
F. Applegate; S. V. C, C. Brower; J. V. C, 
C. H. Snedeker; Chaplain, Jacob M. Douglass; 
Surgeon, C. Patterson ; Quai-termaster, C. A. 
Clark; O. Day, C. Hartzheim; O. G., G. G. 
Sparks; Adjutant, W. W. Cannon. 

The number of recruits mustered during the 
year 1884 (to September 24th) was six comrades, 
and three were drojiped, making the total num- 
ber of comrades on September 24th, in good 
standing, sixty-one. 



180 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The officers for 1884 were: P. C, Colonel E. 
F. Applegate; S. V. C, J. V. Muldoon; J. V. 
C, C. H. Snedeker; Chaplain, J. M. Douglass; 
Surgeon, William Burrell ; O. Bay, G. G. 
Sparks; Quartermaster, C. A. Clark; O. G., 
John Thompson; Adjutant, Joseph Brown. 

Tennent Lodge, No. 69, Knights of Py- 
thias, was instituted inFreehold, March 7, 1872, 
with the following-named charter members : 
George C. Hulett, Robert Lippincott, John W. 
Hulse, Lewis Hirschy, Frank McConnell, John 
H. Heath, James B. Craig, John C. Van Cleaf, 
James H. Voorhees, Henry Bennett, C. M. 
Barkalow and Charles Ellis. The first officers 
were: C. C, Charles Ellis ; V. C, George C. 
Hulett; Prelate, Henry Bennett; M. of E., 
Robert Lippincott; M. of F., John C. Van 
Cleaf; K. of R. and S., John C. Van Cleaf; M. 
at A., John W. Hulse; I. Guard, Frank 
McConnell; 0. Guard, Cornelius M. Barka- 
low. 

The lodge, now numbering sixty members, 
including the three ranks, meets at its hall over 
the store of J. B. Haviland, in the brick block 
on Main Street above Court. The present ( 1 884) 
officers of the lodge are : C C, Jesse C. Er- 
rickson; V. C, Mulford Arose; Prelate, A. 
H. Schanck ; M. of E. and C, William McDer- 
mott, Sr.; M. of F., Bartley Morris; K. of R. 
and S., Joseph Brown ; M. at A., Fred. Hirschy ; 
I. Guard, Harry Davis ; O. Guard, C. M. Bark- 
alow; P. C, Charles Rogers. 

The Freehold Lyceum Library and 
Free Reading-Room was established through 
the effi:)rts and energy of a nuraber of earnest 
men, citizens of Freehold, among whom were 
included Major James S. Yard, Theodore W. 
Morris, Colonel E. F. Applegate, Dr. C. E. 
Hall, George F. Ward, M. L. Farrington, J. 
B. Conover, J. P. Walker and others. 

The first public meeting of citizens for the 
purpose of establishing the free reading-room 
was held November 3, 1883, at which time an 
organization was effected. The first meeting of 
the first board of directors, as below, was held 
Tuesday evening, November 21, 1883, — M. J. 
Farrington, president ; J. P. Walker, vice- 
president ; J. B. Conover, secretary; C. P. 
Emmons, treasurer ; W. H. Ingling, W. B. 



Duryee, C. H. Butcher, L. F. S. Schanck, W. 
S. Throckmorton. 

The number of members enrolled the first 
year was one hundred and thirty-six ; number 
enrolled the second year, seventy-seven ; the 
number of volumes now upon the shelves, five 
hundred and fourteen. 

Among the donors to whom the Lj'ceum 
owes its rapid gro\v"th and representative char- 
acter are Mrs. Louisa L. Vought, Mrs. Elea- 
nor Vredenburgh (now deceased), Hon. Joel 
Parker, T. W. Ryall, William H. Vreden- 
burgh, G. S. Conover, Dr. J. P. Geran and 
Mrs. M. A. Rightmire. Messrs J. A. Geissen- 
haiuer, Peter Jackson, Hon. Joel Parker, Rev. 
I. P. Brokaw have contributed to the treasury. 
The present board of directors are J. B. Cono- 
ver, president ; Frederick Parker, treasurer ; 
W. E. Truex, secretary ; Dr. Charles E. Hall, 
J. B. Haviland, Gill)ert Combs, C. H. Lewis, 
George B. Conover, Maxey Applegate. 

The Monmouth Battle Monument re- 
cently erected to commemorate the momentous 
event indicated by its name, stands on Monument 
Park, which is a beautiful plat of elevated 
ground, lying a short distance northwest of the 
court-house, on Court street, and on the north- 
west line of the corporation. 

There have been within the last fifty years 
several unsuccessful attempts to raise money 
to erect a monument on the battle-field of Mon- 
mouth. The effort to that end which proved a 
success originated in 1877. The originator of 
this movement was Joel Parker, a native of 
Monm(juth County, who had twice been elected 
Governor of the State of New Jersey, and who 
had been a resident of the town of Freehold 
since 1843. He was born near the battle- 
ground ; some of his ancestors were in the bat- 
tle and had also suffered in their property from 
the depredations of the British army in its 
march through the county. 

Governor Parker was aware, as he often said, 
that if the centennial year passed without lay- 
ins the corner-stone of the monument, no effort 
towards that end would ever subsequently be 
made. It so happened that the commencement 
exercises of the Freehold Institute were held 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



481 



in the Presbyteriau Church at Freehold on the 
28th of Juue, 1877. Ex-Governor Parker, 
being present, was invited by the principal of 
the school to address the students and the peo- 
ple assembled. In the course of the Governor's 
remarks he referred to the fact that that day 
was the ninety-ninth anniversary of the battle 
of Monmouth, and suggested that measures be 
inaugurated theu and there to have a monu- 
ment erected on the battle-ground to commemo- 
rate the event, to be dedicated, if possible, on 
the centennial anniversary of the battle, Juue 
28, 1878. And he suggested that the editors 
of the newspapers, the clergymen of the county, 
tiie couuty officers and the judges of the county 
courts be appointed a committee to devise a 
plan by which the suggestion might be carried 
out ; and that ]Major James S. Yard, editor of 
the Monmndh Democrat, be appointed to uotify 
the other members of the committee of the time 
and place of its meeting. At the suggestion of 
Rev. C. S. Hagemau, ex-Governor Parker was 
added to the committee and ex-Governor William 
A. Newell, who resided in Monmouth County, 
was also added. The suggestions on the sub- 
ject met with favor, expressed with enthusiasm 
by the large audience, and resolutions ap- 
pointing the committee were unanimously 
adopted. 

Subsequently a circular was issued by Major 
Yard, as secretary, calling a meeting of the 
committee for Monday, September 17th, at the 
court-house. On the day last named a number 
of the committeemen met, and organized by ap- 
pointing Joel Parker chairman, and James S. 
Yard, secretary. The following resolutions were 
unanimously adopted, viz. : " Resolved, That 
tlie one hundredth anniversary of the Jiattle of 
Monmouth should be celebrated on the 28th of 
June, 1878. Resolved, That we believe a 
monument worthy of the object can be erected 
within the time proposed by small contributions 
from the people of the old county of Mon- 
mouth and others interested." A committee was 
then appointed to nominate officers of a per- 
manent organization. 

On the 2d of October, 1S77, at a public 
meeting assembled at the court-house, officers 
of the jjermancnt organization were elected, 
31 



and a constitution and by-laws adopted. The 
following M'ere the officers chosen : 

President. — Hon. Joel Parker. 

Secretary. — James S. Yard. 

Treasurer. — Asher S. Parker, Ked Bank. He did 

not act, and subsequently John B. Conover was 

chosen. 

Vice-Presidents and (jcneral Committee. 
Upper Freehold. — Hon. W. A. Newell, vice-president; 

Charles Bullock, Colton B. Mars. 
Millstone. — Charles Allen, vice-president ; David 

Baird, Peter Forman. 
Manalapan. — John H. Laird, vice-president ; Joseph 

Ely, Charles H. Snyder. 
Freehold. — E. F. Applegate, vice-president ; .James 

T. Burtis, Gilbert Combs. 
Howell. — Levi G. Irvin, vice-president; Halsted 

H. Wainwright, Joseph H. Donahay. 
Marlborough. — John W. Herbert, vice-i)resident; 

Obadiah C. Herbert, Daniel P. Vandorn. 
Atlantic. — T. Forman Taylor, vice-president ; John 

T. Haight, Thomas W. Ryall. 
Holmdel. — Rev. T. S. Griffith, vice-president ; Rev. 

William Reiley, Gilbert H. Vanmater. 
Shrewsbury. — John S. Applegate, vice-president; 

James Broadmeadow, William H. Sickles. 
Middletown.— George W. Sickles, vice-president; E. 

M. Hartshorne, Thomas S. Field. 
Raritan. — Thomas S. R. Brown, vice-president; Al- 
fred Walling, Jr., Thomas Burroughs. 
Matawan. — William L. Terhune, vice-president; 

Charles W. Fountain, William Spader. 
Ocean. — William H. Bennett, vice-president ; Rev. 

J. B. Wilson, James A. Bradley. 
Wall. — Dr. Robert Laird, vice-president ; Hal. Al- 
laire, Pitney Curtis. 
Eatontown. — Dr. S. H. Hunt, vice-president; Samuel 

Griscom, Isaiah S. Lane. 

On taking the chair as president of the Mon- 
mouth Battle Monument Association, which 
was then organized. Governor Parker made an 
address in which he pledged himself to use his 
utmost eiforts to bring the undertaking to a suc- 
cessful conclusion, a pledge which he faithfully 
kept. Hon. Edward W. Scudder, a judge of 
the Supreme Court, then holding the Mon- 
mouth Circuit, who was present, addressed the 
a.ssociation. Numerous meetings of the associ- 
ation were held in the fall of 1877, the winter 
of 1877-78 and the spring of 1878. Itsoon be- 
came manifest that sufficient funds could not be 
obtained to erect a monument (such as should 
mark a battle-field of the Eevolutionary War) 
before the 28th of June, 1878, and it was de- 



482 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



termined to do iio more on that day tlmu to lay 
the corner-stone in connection with a grand pa- 
rade and celebration of the one hundredth anni- 
versary of the battle. In the mean time a com- 
mittee was ap2)ointed to repoii a site for the 
monument. After going over the ground on 
which the battle was fought, the committee re- 
ported in favor of that which Mrs. Mary A. 
Schanck offered to donate to the association, and 
the rejjort was unanimously adopted by the asso- 
ciation. The site selected is where the Americans 
under Colonel Butler, as they emerged from the 
woods (which then extended from the north- 
west from Hartshorne's Pond up to near the 
present residence of jMrs. Schanck), fired on a 
detachment of the Queen's Eangers, under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe, who were discov- 
ered drawn up in the rear of the old court- 
house, as has been more fully mentioned in tlie 
account of the battle given in a preceding 
chapter. Of course, it was proper to place the 
monument on any part of the ground where 
there was fighting on that day. 

The gift of Mrs. Schanck and her children is 
a very valuable one. The ground presented by 
them as the site of the monument, contains three 
and one-quarter acres, in the shape of a triangle, 
with roads on the three sides. The ground is 
high, and lies between and about equally distant 
from the two railroads running to Freehold. 

Early in the spring of 1878 a committee of 
one from each township was appointed to act in 
conjunction with the committee of citizens of 
Freehold, to make arrangements for the celebra- 
tion of the centennial anniversary of the battle. 
The citizens of Freehold met and selected a com- 
mittee of gentlemen and ladies representing each 
of the churches in the town. This committee 
proved very efficient, and arranged for and car- 
ried out successfully the best demonstration 
ever Avitnessed in Now Jersey. 

It became apparent that the association should 
be incorporated, in order legally U> hnkl title to 
the laud which Mrs. Schanck and her family 
projjosed to present as a site for the monument ; 
also, to invest funds donated. Accordingly an 
act was framed by ex- Governor Parker, which 
was passed by the Legislature, March 19, 1878. 
It was a general law providing for the incorpo- 



ration, by filing a certificate in the clerk's office, of 
associations for the erection and maintenance of 
monuments. Among other things, it authorized 
such associations to receive by gift, titles to land 
not exceeding five acres for the purpose of erect- 
ing monuments thereon. Under this law, a 
certificate of incorporation was filed in the clerk's 
office of the county of Monmouth, on May 23, 
1878, signed by a number of gentlemen from 
the different townships. Under this certificate, 
in accordance with the law, the new organization 
was completed on the oOth day of May, 1878, 
by the election of the following trustees, viz.: 

Al Large. 

Theodore W. Morris, of Freehold ; Edwin F. Ap- 

plegate, of Freehold ; James T. Burtis, of Freehold ; 

James S. Yard, of Freehold ; John B. Conover, of 

Freehold. 

For Townships. 

Upper Freehold, Hon. William A. Xewell. 
Millstone, Charles Allen. 
Manalapan, John H. Lainl. 
Howell, Levi G. Irwin. 
Atlantic, John T. Haight. 
Holmdel, Gilbert H. Vanmater. 
Wall, Dr. Robert Laird. 
Eatontown, Dr. Sylvester H. Hunt. 
Ocean, Hon. John A. Morford. 
Shrewsbury, John S. Applegate. 
Earitan, Thomas Barrows. 
Marlboro', Daniel P. Vandorn. 
Middletown, Thomas B. Field. 
Matawan, William L. Terhune. 
Freehold, Hon. Joel Parker. , 

The following officers were elected : 

President, Joel Parker. 

Vice-Presidents, William A. Newell, Dr. Robert 
Laird, John S. Applegate. 

Executive and Finance Committee, James 8. Yard, 
James T. Burtis, Theodore W. Morris, .Tohn H. Laird> 
Hal xVllaire. 

Secretary, James S. Yard. 

Treasurer, John B. Conover. 

The association did not meet again until Feb- 
ruary 22, 1879, the business attending the prep- 
aration for the celebration on the 28th June, 
1878, having previously been entrusted to the 
executive committee, in conjunction with other 
committees chosen ])y the citizens. On May 
30, 1878, provision was made by this committee 
for procuring the corner-stone and placing it iu 
proper position on June 28th. 



I 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



483 



Oh June .'kl, tlu' executive eomtuittee met aud 
autliorizcil the luanufacture of five thousaud 
medals of white metal aud one huudred of bronze 
to be sold ou the day of the anniversary. Many 
of these were sold on that day. 

At the time the corner-stone was laid the sub- 
seriptions which had been received were much 
less than had been anticipated. In the begin- 
ning, the purpose of those who were active in 
the matter was to raise, if possil)le, ten thousand 
dollars ; but the amount collected up to the time 
the corner-stone was laid was less than three 
thousaud dollars. This was discouraging ; but 
the gentlemen who had embarked in the enter- 
|)rise knew no such word as fail, and amid dis- 
couraging circumstances, in this respect, they 
laid the corner-stone, confident that they could 
successfully appeal to the honor of old Mon- 
mouth not to let the project fail, after going so 
far as to commence the work with imposing 
ceremonies. 

Following is given an account of the cere- 
monies at the laying of the corner-stone, as 
written out by Eli Crozier, of Wilmington, 
Del., a patriotic citizen who attended all the 
centennial celebrations in the countr\-, and who 
published a pamphlet giving an account of the 
proceedings at each : 

" The little town of Freehold, made memorable by 
the Revolutionary battle fought here a hundred years 
ago, presented a gala appearance to-day. It was 
robed in all the paraphernalia of patriotism. On 
every side, whichever way you might turn, there were 
to be seen the stars and stripes floating above house- 
top, store and factory, while across the streets was 
stretched the noble lianner, dearer than ever to every 
American heart. There was manifested a generous 
spirit of rivalry among the residents; each did his 
best in honor of the occasion, and the result was such 
a display that did credit to their hearts and hands. 
The humblest citizen joined with his wealthier neigh- 
bor in contributing to the imposing demonstration. 
Very seldom has there been witnessed anywhere such 
a scene of beauty in the way of decorations; because 
so general. It is safe to say that not a structure, no 
matter of what character, was without some insignia 
of a patriotic character. The portrait of the great 
commander-in-chief of the army, the immortal Wash- 
ington, occupied a prominent position upon the fronts 
of numerous houses, while the national colors were 
liberally displayed for festooning. Shields and stars, 
and the numerals 1778 and 1878 were to be seen at 
every turn. Long before entering this beautifully- 



located town, the residences upon the roads, all the 
way from Monmouth Junction, a distance of several 
miles to the depot, were decked gayly, and it seemed 
as though the owners and occupants had given them- 
selves up entirely to the celebration. There was no 
half-heartedness in this grand — nay, more — imposing 
display. All entered into it with their whole soul, as 
though determined to make the day one that should 
not be forgotten. That they succeeded, needed no 
more than a walk through the streets of Freehold. 
Every one was in good humor, and bent upon making 
the most of the occasion. All the leading thorough- 
fares were thronged, and every train, of which there 
were many, arrived crowded with people, who swelled 
the happy sight-seers to over twenty thousand. Every 
town in the commonwealth of New Jersey, within a 
radius of fifty miles, sent its quota, and not a few 
were contributed by the goodly City of Brotherly 
Love and the gallant little State of Delaware, among 
whom was a representative of ' Mad Anthony Wayne,' 
who presided at one of the stands. At an early hour 
the troops composing the Second Brigade, N. .1. N. G., 
began to arrive, and by eleven o'clock, the time for 
the formation of the procession, all the militia ordered 
out by Governor McClellan were on the ground. 
These came from far and near, and, like everything 
else about the celebration, evinced a promptitude that 
was more than once the subject of remark. Not alone 
by rail was the great crowd made up ; every sort of 
conveyance, from the humble wagon of the farmer to 
the stylish turnout of the man of ease, were em- 
ployed, while hundreds tramped loug distances to 
share in the festivities. Old and young, rich and 
poor alike, took part in the joyous celebration of an . 
event that will remain riveted upon the minds of all 
who trod the streets of the county-seat of Monmouth. 
The court-house probably was the gayest decorated 
structure of the town, for from turret to foundation 
there was an almost unending display of flags, stream- 
ers, shields and mottoes. The residences of ex-Gov- 
ernor Parker and Judge Shinn were among the most 
beautifully adorned residences. With a display that 
was so general, and an enthusiasm so unbounded, it 
would be almost impossible to particularize, and the 
attempt, if such were made, would be to make distinc- 
tions which might be considered invidious. Freehold 
did her best; her citizens did nobly ; and wherever a 
centennial celebration may be held, she can feel 
assured that none will excel her in honoring the men 
and the principles they espoused, for the priceless heri- 
tage they contended for for their children, the fruits 
of which are now being enjoyed. At an early hour in 
the morning, as early as six o'clock, the celebration 
commenced by the ringing of all the bells in the town. 
The people were astir in expectation of the initial 
portion of the well arranged and splendidly executed 
details of the very fine programme. They desired to 
miss nothing, and so were ready at the earliest mo- 
ment to participate in the festivities of the day. At 



484 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



halt-past six o'clock a salute of thirteen guns was 
fired by the battery stationed on Briar Hill, a short 
distance out of town, under the command of Captain 
Charles F. Snowden and Lieutenant Hillman, of the 
quartermaster-general's corps. 

" Long before the hour fixed for the formation of 
the procession, before even the arrival of a single or- 
ganization upon the ground, the streets through which 
it was to pass were thronged, and this was particularly 
the case with such thoroughfares as Yard Avenue and 
Main Street. Assistant marshals rode through the 
town, giving warning to the occupants of vehicles 
not to obstruct tlie highways, and in this way the 
route was kept perfectly clear of anything that might 
impede the progress of those who were to make up 
the great patriotic pageant. At twelve o'clock the 
procession moved over the prescribed route, in the 
following order: Grand Marshal, Major James S. 
Yard and aids; Committee of the Day, Hon. U. W. 
Shinn, Hon. A. K. Throckmorton, Colonel E. F. Ap- 
jdegate ; aids : C. A. Bennett, Jr., and Charles Throck- 
morton. Then came the Second Brigade, National 
Guards of New .Jersey, commanded by Major-General 
William J. Sewell and staff, and composed as follows: 
Peterman's Band, of Trenton ; Seventh Regiment, 
Colonel A. Wangel, commanding, numl)ering three 
hundred men ; Sixth Regiment, preceded by the 
Sixth Regiment band and drum corps, commanded 
by General E. Burd Grubb, with four hundred and 
fifty-six men in line ; Third Regiment, Colonel W. 
A. Morrell commanding, numbering four hundred 
and thirty men, accompanied by the Elizabeth Vet- 
eran Zouaves. An artillery company, provided with 
two fine Gatling guns, were the next in line; they 
numbered sixty men, commanded by General J. 
Madison Drake, and were accompanied by Drake's 
Band. The corps was composed entirely of soldiers 
who served throughout the War of the Rebellion, in 
defense of their country, and carried with them four 
tattered flags, among which wasonebelonging to Phil. 
Kearney's division, and another captured by General 
Drake in Virginia, on the 24th of May, 1861, when the 
army crossed the Long Bridge. Next came Damas- 
cus Commandery, No. 5, Knights Templar, Charles 
E. Ingalls, Eminent Commander, nnml)ering one 
hundred and ten knights, in full Templar uniform, 
accompanied by a fine band of music. Following 
were Olive Branch, St. John's and Wall Lodges, and 
the officers and members of the R. W. Grand Lodge, 
A. F. A. M., of the jurisdiction of New Jersey. 
Then came a long line of carriages, containing many 
prominent citizens, followed by Company A, Wash- 
ington Centennial (iuards, of Princeton, in the uni- 
form worn in the days of the Revolution. Next in 
line were the Joel Parker Association, of Newark, 
named in honor of the distinguished ex-Governor, all 
clad in dark clothing and wearing white high felt 
hats, and numbering one hundred men. They were 
preceded by a fine band of music and presented a 



very creditable appearance. The rear of the line was 
brought up by the Delaware Hose Company, of Bor- 
dentown, with their gayly-decked apparatus, dragged 
by thirty men in white shirts and wearing black 
helmet hats. The procession, after moving over the 
presi'ribed route, reached the Monument Park, where 
was erected a stand, upon which the ceremonies were 
to take place a little after one o'clock. 

"Here, upon the site for the erection of the monu- 
ment to commemorate the battle of Monmouth, was 
a capacious stand, through the centre of which pro- 
jected the base and the derrick, from which hung the 
large, square block of granite which was to be the 
corner-stone. An awning sliielded those who were to 
occupy the platform from the burning rays of the 
sun. The military, as they reached the monument, 
or rather where it is to be constructed, filed to the 
left and entered the capacious and well-shaded 
grounds of Mrs. Schanck, the donor of the park, where 
they rested from the fatigues of their march. The 
Knights opened order and the Masonic brethren 
marched through in inverse order and ascended the 
stand, when the officers assumed their appropriate 
stations : the R. W. Grand Master in the east, the 
R. W. Senior Grand Warden in the west, and the 
R. W. Junior Grand Warden in the South. On the 
riglit and left of the Grand Master were the Senior 
and Junior Deacons. The officers and members of 
the commandery also occupied places upon the plat- 
form, forming in a hollow square. As soon as every- 
thing was in order, Mr. Theodore W. Morris, in a few 
well-chosen remarks, ]jrescnted the deed of the prop- 
erty upon which this monument is to be erected, to 
Hon. Joel Parker, president of the Monument Asso- 
ciation. Governor Parker, in accepting the document 
of conveyance, said: 'On behalf of the Monument 
Association, I accept this agreement for transfer of 
this valuable property, to be used forever as a site for 
a monument to commemorate the battle of l\Ion- 
luouth. No more beautiful location and none more 
appropriate could have been selected. I know the 
history of the family you represent on this occasion. 
JIany of them were in the American army during 
the War of the Revolution, and some were at the battle 
of Monmouth. Y'ou truly say that no stain of dis- 
honor rests upon the memory of any of them. Con- 
vey to Mrs. Schanck and the others for whom you 
.speak the thanks of the Monument Association for 
their most liberal gift. It will be our aim speedily to 
rear upon this spot a monument worthy of the great 
event. This we can do, if, in addition to what has 
already been contributed, the people continue to 
manifest the same liberality that has characterized 
them for the last few days.' " 

[Here follows the account of the laying of the stone 
according to Masonic form and usage.] " The ceremo- 
nies were concluded by the Grand Marshal making 
proclamation that the corner-stone had been laid this 
dav bv the R. W. Grand Master of Masons of New 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



485 



Jersey, in aiiqile form. The Masonic bretliieu then 
left the stand, and Hon. Joel Pai-lccr called the assem- 
blage to order. 

" The following-named gentlemen were announced 
as the officers of the meeting: "Vice-Presidents, Dr. 
Robert Laird, Thomas Burrowes, John H. Laird, Hon. 
Chilion Eobliins, R. W. Dayton, G. H. Van Mater, 
John A. Morford; Secretaries, John B. Conover, 
John J. Ely. A fervent prayer was made by Rev. 
Frank Chandler, and, after music by an excellent 
band, ex-Governor Parker addressed the people as 
follows: 

"'Fellow-Citizens: — We are assembled on a 
battle-field of the American Revolution. Here, one 
hundred years ago, our forefathers struck a blow for 
liberty. Near the spot where we now stand, on that 
quiet Sabbath morning in June, the first gun of the 
battle of Monmouth was fired and the first blood 
shed. Here the Continental troops emerged from the 
woods, and yonder [pointing to an eminence where 
the other meeting was in progress] the Queen's Ran- 
gers received the first volley, fled through the village 
and joined the main army of the British, then slowly 
retiring over the plain beyond. The American ad- 



where they were reviewed by (xovernor George B. Mc- 
Clellan, who uncovered as every regiment came in 
view. This concluded the festivities of the day, 
which were brilliant and successful, and were credit- 
able in the highest degree to all concerned. Through- 
out the day the entire military and the guests of the 
occasion were furnished with a bounteous re] ast at 
Bhinn's Hall, as many as nine hundred sitting down 
to the tables at one time.' There was full and plenty, 
and none were permitted to leave dissatisfied. Such 
hospitality has rarely been equaled, and the ladies, 
of whom there were many, were unremitting in their 
attentions in waiting upon the men who had come 
to Freehold to help swell the throng, and to add to 
the interest of "he great centennial celebration of the 
battle of Monmouth, and here before closing let me 
say that the ex-Governors of New Jersey nobly re- 
sponded to the invitation to grace the occasion by 
their presence, four— Price, Parker, Newell and 
Bedle— being prominent in all that was transpiring, 
and exhibiting quite as much enthusiasm its any of 
the good people of this, one of the original thirteen 
States." 

The first meetiug of the Monumeut A.ssouia- 



vance, under Lee, quickly crossed the ravine which ^j^^ after the centennial celebration, was on the 



forms the eastern boundary of this farm, descended 
into the plain and engaged the British rear. . . . 
On this beautiful and appropriate site the generous 
gift of a public-spirited lady, whose paternal as well as 
maternal ancestors were in the battle, in the presence 
of this vast multitude, with most solemn and fitting 
ceremonies, we have laid the corner-stone of a monu- 
ment. The work is auspiciously begun and the 
monument will be built. The honor of the county 
of Monmouth is pledged to its completion. When 
all here assembled shall have passed from earth the 
granite shaft to rise on this spot will still point 
towards heaven, and in after centuries will speak to 
the generations who follow us of the heroic deeds and 
virtues of those noble men who, on these fields one 
hundred years ago, achieved a victory which helped 
to make our country free.' 

"A stand one hundred yards or more away was 
erected in what is termed Throckmorton's Field, 
which was gaily decorated, and upon which was sta- 
tioned a band of music. Here ex-Governor William 
A. Newell presided, assisted by the following officers : 
Vice-Presidents, John S. Applegate, Dr. S. H. Hunt, 
Collen B. Miers, O. C. Herbert, Levi G. Irwin, Thomas 
S. Field, D. E. Conover, David Baird ; Secreta- 
ries, J. Clarence Conover, Hon. .John J. Wheeler. 
After a prayer by Rev. Thomas H. CuUeu, and an 
eloquent address by Governor Newell, a fine selec- 
tion of music was rendered by the band, and Colonel 
Henry B. Carrington, United States array, delivered 
a historical sketch of the battle of Monmouth. 

" At the conclusion of the musical and literary 
exercises the troo])s were re-formed and made a short 
parade, passing the residence of ex-Governor Parker, 



22(1 of February, 1879. The pre.sident stated the 
object of the meeting, and said, in addressing the 
association, "The honor of the county of Mon- 
raouth is now pledged to the completion of tiie 
monument, the corner stone of wliich we have 
laid." The treasurer, Mr. Joini B. Conover, 
reported the total receipts for monument fund, 
up to that time, to be as follows, viz. : Eeceipts 
from all sources, $39o7.03 ; disbursements, in- 
cluding expense at celebration, $332.25 ; in 
treasury 22d of February, 1879, $3024.78. 

This statement was certainly discouraging ; 
but the few stout hearts foremost in the under- 
taking were not appalled, but in .strong flxith re- 
doubled their efforts. Plans for monuments 
were sought, to cost from five to ten thousand 
dollars, and several plans were submitted. 

At the meeting of June 28, 1879, the receipts 
had increased over twelve hundred dollars. 
The Rev. Thaddeus Wilson, of Shrewsbury, ad- 
dressed the association at that meeting. The 



1 It was estimated that fully three thousand persons, in- 
chiding the soldiers, weve provided for at the public tables. 
Every township in the county contributed double the 
quantity of provisions asked for. Tlie arrangements, 
which were almost perfect, included even the furnishing of 
ice-water in profusion at many different points for the re- 
freshment of the military and visitors. 



486 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



trustees and officers chosen were those who had 
previously been elected. The association was 
now in condition to receive the deed for the site. 
On the day the corner-stone was laid, Mr. 
Theodore W. Morris, son-in-law of Mrs.Schanck, 
had delivered to ex-Governor Parker, president 
of the association, an agreement signed hy that 
lady, in which she agreed to give the deed to the 
association when five thousand dollars had been 
subscribed and paid in towards building the 
monument. The deed for the site, containing 
t)ver three acres, was signed and executed on the 
2.Sth day of June, 1879, by Mrs. Mary A. | 
Schanck and her children. This was indeed a 
most generous gift of a valuable plat of ground. 
The site is pronounced by all who have seen it 
the very best that could iiave been obtained. The 
thanks of the association and of the people of 
Monmouth are due to Mrs. Schanck and her 
children, and es])ecially to Mr. Morris, through 
■whose influence chiefly this noble gift was 
made. 

The fund continued to increa.se gradually but 
slowly. On July 10, 1880, the treasurer re- 
ported the amount received and in hand, secured 
bv bond and mortgage and United States bonds, 
to be nearly seven thousand dollars. It now 
became apparent that the subscriptions would 
soon i-each ten thousand dollars. Ex-Governor 
Parker had obtained forty oue-huiidred-dollar 
subscriptions, besides many of fifty dollars, and 
nearlv one thousand five hundred dollars was 
paid through Major James S. Yard, of the J/ot- 
■mouth Democrat, and about six hundred dollars 
came through collections of James T. Burtis) 
Esq. 

When it became probal)le that the ten thou- 
sand dollars of subscriptions aimed at would be 
obtained, the active promoters of. the project 
began to think that a ten thousand dollar mon- 
ument would not be of sufficient dimensions to 
worthily commemorate a battle so important to 
the State and nation as that of Monmouth ; but 
how to add to the fund was a most difficult 
problem. 

At a meeting held on the 21st of February, 
1880, Governor Parker advocated an application 
to the Legislature of New Jersey for an ajipro- 
priation of ten thousand dollars to duplicate the 



amount of subscriptions. It must be confessed 
that success in that direction then seemed doubt- 
ful, but the meeting 

" Resolved, That the executive committee of this 
Association be authorized to talce such measures as to 
them may seem advisable to obtaiu from the State of 
New Jersey, at the present session of Legislature, 
pecuniary aid toward the erection of the monument to 
commemorate the battle of i\Ionmouth, and that ap- 
plication for that purpose may be made to the Legis- 
Liture in the name of the Association." 

Application was made to the Legislature dur- 
ing the session of 1881, in conformity with the 
resolution above quoted, and with what success 
a})pears by a report made at a meeting of the 
as.sociation, held on the "id day of April, 1881, 
by ex-Governor Parkei-. He reported, amid 
applause, that the Legislature had passed an act 
giving ten thousand dollars towards building 
the monument, and also stated that Senator Mc- 
Pherson told him he "thought the Congress of 
the United States would make an ai^propriatiou 
of ten tliousand i>r twenty thoasand dollars for 
the same purpose ; " so that the prosjject was 
srood for over fortv thousand dollars to build the 
munument, as a considerable amount would 
still be realized from private subscriptions. 

It nuist not be supposed that the appropria- 
tion from the State was obtained without effi^rt. 
j It took weeks of hard work to accomplish it. 
I The president of the association and others saw 
everv member and explained to each every 
reasiiu for tlie ap])ropriation. It was fortunate 
that there were in the Ijcgislature a few warm 
friends from the first. The Hon. George C. 
Betkman, a patriotic gentleman and an enthu- 
siastic student of American history, at that time 
represented Monmouth County in the Senate, 
and gave all his energies to secure the passage 
of the bill, which was also warmly and earnestly 
advocated l)y the Hon. Holmes W. ^Murphy, of 
Freehold, a popular gentleman with his asso- 
ciates in the House of Assembly. The president 
of the Senate, Hon. :Mr. Hobart, of Passaic 
County, was born in Monmouth. Senator 
Sewell, of Camden, and Taylor, of Mercer, were 
also warm advocates of the measure. Senator 
Beekman was selected to introduce the bill, which 
had been carefully prepared by ex-Governor 
Parker. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



487 



The day before the vote was taken in the 
Senate it was somewhat uncertain how it Ma)uld 
result. All the Senators thought the object a 
worthy one, but some said it was introducing a 
precedent for appropriations, and they thought 
their constituents would blame them for voting 
the money. The reply was that all the people 
of the State were, or should be, interested as well 
as those residing in Monmouth, and the precedent 
involving the raising of ten thousand dollars by 
those interested in another battle-ground before 
a bill could be passed, and all the people of 
Monmouth asked of the rest of the State was to 
duplicate their subscription. 

On the night before the bill was to come up 
in the Senate, Mr. Charles P. Smith, of Tren- 
ton (since deceased), gave a reception in honor 
of the newly-elected Governor Ludlow, and the 
newly-elected United States Senator, Sewell. To 
this reception the Senators and members of 
Assemby, as well as the judges of the Supreme 
Court, were invited. Ex-dovernor Parker was 
present. It so happened that ^Ir. Smith had a 
Une painting representing ]Molly Pitcher at the 
battle of Monmouth. Of course, the ex-Governor 
took pains to call the attention of the legislators 
to that painting, and dilated considerably on the 
heroism of the brave woman in the battle. On 
the next day the vote was taken, and out of twenty 
Senators present, nineteen voted for the bill. On 
the same dav the bill passed the House of 
Assembly, under suspension of the rules, by a 
two-thirds vote. 

On the 2d of April, 1881, resolutions were 
passed in conformity with the law authorizing 
a deed to be made to the State for Monument 
Park on or before the first Monday of May, 
1881, and to hand over and transfer also to the 
commissioner for the State eight thousand dol- 
lars in money and securities. It will be seen 
that the whole ten thousand dollars which had 
been subscribed was n(jt to be handed over to 
the commissioner, but that two thousand dollars 
was reserved to aid in putting the park in order ; 
but the commissioner did actually receive as 
much as ten thousand dollars from the Monu- 
ment Association in addition to the land, for the 
accumulated interest and the subsequent sub- 
•scriptions turned over amounted to some two 



thousand dollars in addition to the eight thou- 
sand dollars. 

By the act of March 14, 1881, apj)ropriating 
ten thousand dollars for the erection of the 
monument, the wcjrk was j'l^iced under the 
charge of a commission instructed to select a 
design, contract for, erect and finish a monu- 
ment in the park at Freehold, where the battle 
commenced, June 28, 1778. Under this act 
the Monument Association selected five trustees 
— Mr. Theodore W. Morris, Major James S. 
Yard, :Mr. James T. Burtis, Mr. Hal Allaire 
and Mr. John B. Conover — to represent them in 
the newly-created State Commission. The State 
officials to represent the State on this commis- 
sion were the president of the Senate and the 
Speaker of the House of ^Vssembly, Hon. 
Edward J. Anderson, comptroller of the treas- 
ury. General Lewis Perrine, quartermaster-gen- 
eral, and General William S. Stryker, adjutant- 
general. On Ajiril i), 1881, the commission 
was organized by electing Hon. Garret A. 
Hobart, jjresident of the Senate, to be president 
of the commission ; Hon. Harrison Van Duyne, 
Speaker of the House of Assembly, and Mr. 
Theodore W. Morris, vice-presidents; Colonel 
Edwin F. Applegate, secretary, and Mr. John 
B. Conover, treasurer. The commission, at this 
meeting, ordered a deed to be executed to the 
State of Xew Jersey for Monument Park. It 
was stated that ex-Governor Parker, having 
been appointed a justice of the Supreme Court 
of the Stiite, was iniwilling to accejit election as 
a member of the commission, which was a 
body imder the State law, because it seemed to 
be against the spirit of a statute of New Jersey 
which forbids a judge of the Supreme Court 
holding another office. It was, therefore, re- 
solved, on motion of E. J. Anderson, "that 
Hon. Joel Parker be requested to be jjresent at 
all future meetings of the commission, to assist 
by his counsel and advice." And Judge Parker 
was appointed to go to Washington, and, if pos- 
sible, procure an appropriation from Congress. 

On the 6th of December, 1881, Senator 
]\IcPhersou introduced in the Senate of the 
United States "A bill in regard to a monu- 
mental column to commemorate the battle of 
Monmouth," — appropriating twenty thousand 



488 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUxVTY, NEW JERSEY. 



dollars towards the erection of the column, — 
wliich bill was duly passed. 

It was fortunate that John R. McPherson 
and William J. Sewell were in the United 
States Senate when the measure was pending. 
They were on opposite sides in politics, and 
as each took a warm interest in the success of 
the measure, a powerful influence was brought 
to bear on both sides of the chamber in favor of 
the bill. Senator Sewell was a member of the 
Military Committee, to which the bill was re- 
ferred. He had a day appointed by the full 
committee for a hearing on the bill, and tele- 
graphed to Judge Parker notifying him of the 
time. This was quite unusual, as such matters 
are usually referred to a sub-committee. It was 
through Senator Sewcll's influence that this was 
done. Judge Parker went to Wa.shington be- 
fore the committee, and at their i-equest addressed 
them for about an hour ; the result wa.s that the 
bill was unanimously reported. The committee 
was composed of the following Senators, all of 
whom were present, — Ijogan (chairman), Sewell, 
Wade Hampton, Hawley, Benjamin Harrison, 
Grover, of Oregon, Cockrell, of Missouri, and 
one of the Texas Senators. It was understood 
that before the committee met, several of the 
Western Senators were not favorable to the 
bill. They did not know much about the bat- 
tle itself, nor did they approve of voluntary 
organizations to erect monuments, because, after 
the originators of the project are dead, others 
suffer them to go into decay ; but when they 
understood that the State had taken a deed for 
the site and aided in building the structure, they 
were satisfied the monument and grounds 
would be taken care of. The Senate irs on the 
committee who warmly favored the bill and 
aided General Sewell materially were Benjamin 
Harrison, of Indiana, Hawley, of Connecticut, 
who had met Judge Parker in Philadelphia 
in Centennial times, and AVade Hampton of 
South Carolina, whose grandfather was in the 
battle of Monmouth. Senator Sewell was re- 
quested to report the bill, which he did, and in 
a few weeks the bill was reached in its turn. Sena- 
tor McPherson made a carefully-prepared and 
eloquent speech in advocacy of the measure, and 
it passed the Senate without a dissenting vote. 



The bill then went to the House of Repre- 
sentatives. In that House there was greater 
difficulty to secure its passage, not because there 
was any actual opposition, but because of the 
number of bills ahead of it. Judge Parker 
again went to Washington, determined to pass 
it through the House, if possible, before his re- 
turn. He did not exactly like the Military 
Committee of the House, for it was large and 
unwieldy. He had the bill referred to the 
Library Committee. This is a joint committee 
consisting of three Senators and three Repre- 
sentatives. It has a supervision not only over 
the library of Congress, but also over works of 
art, and inasmuch as it was contemplated to have 
bronze representations of scenes in the battle on 
the monument, the bill was referred to this small 
committee. The Library Committee at that time 
was composed of Senators Sherman, of Ohio, 
Hoar, of Massachusetts, and Daniel Voorhees, of 
Indiana, all of whom heartily approved the bill, — 
Voorhees, the son of a Jerseyman, who went West 
many years since from the county of Somerset. 
The active committeeman of the House was 
Judge (jeddes, of Ohio. He was instructed to 
report the bill, which was done, and the report 
printed. Now the hard work began. There 
were between two and three thousand bills and 
joint resolutions pending ahead of this bill. If 
it could be got on the Speaker's table, it could be 
called up out of order, if no objection was 
made ; but if a single member of the House 
objected, it could not be taken up. There were 
were two or three members of the House called 
" objectors." They were men never, up to that 
time, known to let an appropriation bill be taken 
up out of order, witiiout sending it back by 
objection. Judge Parker knew these men per- 
sonally and sought tiiem out, and he succeeded 
in inducing them jn.st this once to promise not 
to object to the bill, and one afternoon, just as 
the House was about adjourning. Miles Ross, 
the Representative from the Monmouth District, 
called up the bill, and in two minutes it pa.ssed 
unanimously without a call of the roll. All 
the members from New Jersey aided in tiie pas- 
sage of the measure. Besides Ross, there were 
Robeson, Brewer, Jones, Hardenburgh, Harris 
and Hill. 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



48!t 



Judge Parker had made arrangements through 
Secretary Frelinghuysen to have an interview 
witli the President, and had secured liis prom- 
ise to approve tlie bill, which was done as 
soon as it reached the executive. Thus the 
fund had increased from less than three thou- 
sand dollars, when the corner-stone was laid, 
in four years, to over forty thousand dollars. 

On the 16th of October, 1882, a committee 
on design, consisting of Mr. Theodore W. 
Morris, Hon. Edward J. Anderson, 
General Lewis Perrine, General 
William S. Stryker and Mr. Hal 
Allaire, invited the submission of 
designs and specifications for the 
battle monument, anti on March 2, 
1883, the design executed by Eme- 
lin T. Littell and Douglass Smythc, 
architects, and J. E. Kelly, sculptor, 
and exhibited by Maurice J. Power, 
of Mew York City, was accepted, 
and a contract was awarded Mr. 
Power, of the National Fine Art 
Foundry, for its erection for the sum 
of thirty-six thousand dollars On 
May 9, 188.3, the services of Mr. 
Edward E. Raht, architect, were 
secured to superintend the construc- 
tion of the monument. Hon. Gar- 
rett A. Hobart, president of the 
Senate, was elected president of the 
commission, and Hon. John T. Dunn, 
speaker of the House of A.ssembly, 
and Mr. Theodore W. Morris, vice- 
presidents for the year 1882. The 
officers of the commission for 188.3 
were Mr. Theodore W. Morris, presi- 
dent, and Hon. John J. Gardner, 
presidentof the Senate, and Hon. Thomas O'Con- 
nor, speaker of the House of Assembly, vice- 
presidents. In 1884, Mr. Morris was re-elected 
president of the commission with Hon. Ben- 
jamin A. Vail, president of the Senate, and 
Hon. Alfred B. Stoney, speaker of the House 
of As.senibly, vice-presidents. The other offi- 
cers of the commission continue at this date 
(November, 1884) the same as first elected, in 
1881. Following is a description of the battle 
monument, as it now stands. 



The base of the monument is in the lorni of an 
equilateral triangle with eannon at each angle. Three 
spurs ofgranite form the base of the shaft, surmounted 
at the point of contact by a large drum-shaped bloclf, 
on which five bronze reliefs, illustrative of the battle, 
will be placed. Above the tablets and around the shaft 
are the coats of arms, in bronze, of the thirteen orig- 
inal States, festooned with laurel leaves. Rising 
above this is the shaft proper, consisting of three 
sections, each joined by rings of bay leaves. The 
shaft is surmounted by a composite capital, on which 
is a statue of Columbia Triumphant. The monument 




IN'MOCTU BATTLE MONUMEiNT, EKJiUTEU IN 16B4. 



is constructed of New England granite, tine-axed, 
and is about ninety-four feet high. The tablets, five 
feet high and six feet wide, merit special mention. 
The models of them were designed by Mr. J. E. 
Kelly, of New York City, and the bas-reliefs were 
cast at the National Fine Art Foundry. They repre- 
sent, with graphic exactness, five scenes in the Mon- 
mouth battle, viz. : 

1. liamsqi Defending hix duns. — This represents 
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Ramsey, of Maryland, 
in the closing effort to hold his position until the 
main army could be rallied. General Washington 
had told him he depended on his exertions, and he 



490 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



had promised to check the enemy. He tried with 
his gallant regiment to defend the guns of Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Oswald, until, having been dismounted, 
he was overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the 
British dragoons. In the foreground he is represented 
with historical accuracy in a hand-to-hand conflict 
•with a detachment of the Seventeenth British Light 
Dragoons. Colonel Ramsey's portrait is from a min- 
iature and silhouette, both taken from life and fur- 
nished by his family. His sword is modeled from 
the short-bladed weapon which he actually carried 
that day, and which is still preserved. The uniform, 
horse equipments and all the outlittings of the drag- 
oons are taken from the official record of the battal- 
ion. So particular has the artist been that the 
"death-head" may be seen on the hat of the trooper 
of the Seventeenth Dragoons, — the organization al- 
lowed to wear the same by the order of the King, 
with the motto "victory or death." In the back- 
ground Oswald is directing his men in their attempt 
to carry off his guns. It will be remembered that 
Ramsey, very badly wounded in this personal com- 
bat, was taken prisoner by the British. Sir Henry 
Clinton, in soldierly admiration of so brave a man, 
ordered his release on parole. 

2. Washington Eallijing the Troops. — The comman- 
der-in-chief is here depicted riding down the Amer- 
ican line at headlong speed, and rallying the troops 
after (reneral Lee's unaccountable retreat. He is 
placing the regiments of Stewart, Ramsey and Liv- 
ingston in position to check the advance of the Brit- 
ish. General Washington's head and figure are 
modeled from Houdin's life-cast, now in possession 
of Mr. Power. The model is worked on a scale and 
is entirely accurate, in all its proportions, from Hou- 
din's measurements. The style of the uniform and 
horse equipments of the chieftain are all from authen- 
tic sources. 

3. Molly Pitcher. — The head and figure of the hero- 
ine of Monmouth is an ideal woman of great muscular 
power. Her dead husband is at her feet, and General 
Knox is seen in the background directing his artil- 
lery. A wounded soldier uses his right hand, instead 
of the left, in thumbing the vent. This, it is readily 
seen, improves the composition of the picture. The 
old Tennent Church, still standing as a memorial of 
the battle, is seen on the extreme left of the relief. 

4. Council nf War at Hopewell. — This tablet repre- 
sents Generals Washington, Lee, Greene, Stirling, 
Lafayette, Steuben, Knox, Poor, Wayne, Woodford, 
Patterson, Scott and Duportail as they appeared in 
the important council of war held at Hopewell, N. 
J., June 24, 1778. General Washington is listen- 
ing attentively as General Lafayette, standing by 
the table, is urging upon the council to decide on 
making a strong demonstration against the British 
column, even if it should bring on a battle. The 
position and general expression of other officers 
clearly indicate their ojiinion of Lafayette's appeal. 



General Lee, who preferred to let the British force 
parade unmolested across the State, looks indignant 
that his military experience and judgment does not 
entirely control the board. It is also ea.sy to see that 
the foreign officers, Steuben and Duportail, want to 
make a strong attack, and not simply to feel the 
enemy. General Patterson agrees with them, and so 
does tlie true-hearted Greene. General Wayne, al- 
ways ready for fight, can hardly wait until Lafayette 
has finished, that he may speak a few words of ardent 
patriotism. Colonel Scammell, Washington's adjut- 
ant-general, who afterward gave his life for liberty 
on Yorktown's ramparts, is here engaged in noting 
the opinions of the general officers for the guidance 
of his chief. 

5. Wayne's Charge. — The other uufiuished relief 
depicts Mad Anthony Wayne leading his troops in 
the final charge of the day, through a trampled corn- 
field and the British grenadiers falling back and try- 
ing in vain to carry away the body of their dead 
commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Monckton. 
The parsonage of Tennent Church is seen in the 
background. 

The work of coustnu'ting the monument 
having been delayed from various causes, the 
eomniission was unable to arrange for its nn- 
veiliug on the anniversary of the battle, aud 
accordingly the 13th of November, 1884, was 
fixed ujion as the day of its dedication.' Com- 
mittees of arrangements were appointed on be- 
half of the State and of the town of Freehold, 
and every possible effort put forth to make the 
affair a grand success. The citizens of Freehold 
raised a very generous fund for the purpose of 
building triumphal arches in the streets, and 
defi-aying other expenses which would devolve 
uj)on the town, and which had not been pro- 
vided for by the State. The Board of Chosen 
Freeholders of the county made the appnipria- 
tion necessary to decorate the county buildings 
aud for the erection of a reviewing stand in 
front of the court-house. At last the only 
question which Mcighcd heavily upon the minds 
of all was whether or not the weather would 
prove propitious. ]Mauy a weather prophet 
wisely shook his head aud declared that the 
day would surely prove stormy, or cold and 
disagreeable. There were three heavy hoar- 
frosts just preceding the day, — a sure sign of 



1 The account which follows of the ceremonies attending 
the unveiling and dedication of the monument is from the 
Miinmoiilli Democrat of November '20, 1884. 



THE TOWX OF FREEHOLD. 



491 



rain, as some thought, — but the day came, and 
these gloomy predictions "faded into thin air." 
Old Phoebus rose in a cloudless sky, and as he 
slowlv emerged from his eastern bed he wa.s 
welcomed with the ringing of church-bells and 
with a Continental salute from twelve-pound 
Napoleon guns, stationed in Throckmorton's 
field, just east and in full view of Monument 
Park. Shaking his golden locks, he encircled 
"Columbia Triumphant" with a radiant halo, 
and bathed old Monmouth's battle-plain in one 
vast wave of light. The hoar-frost gleamed 
whitely on the sere, brown sward, fit winding- 
sheet for those heroic dead whose dust there 
mingled with the jiarenta! clay. A we.stern 
breeze, wiiich coyly played ^y'n\l the rich-hued 
autumnal leaves still lingering on the trees, was 
as mild and lialmy as those which sweep over 
violet-beds in the flowery month of ISIay. 

The citizens of Freehold early bestirred them- 
selves. They evidently felt that, next to the 
liattlc of Monmouth itself, the most important 
event in the history of the place was the dedi- 
cation of the beautiful monument to commemo- 
rate it. Freehold in the Revolution was very 
different from tiie Freehold of to-day. Never be- 
fore was the handsome town in such magnificent 
di-ess. It was "her bridal day of happiness." 
Decorated in all the hues of the I'ainbow, she 
reflected the patriotism, the valor, the devotion 
of the heroic dead of the Revolution. The 
whole town was a sea of decoration, and bespoke 
a just feeling of pride on the part of the people 
tliat thev tread oround hallowed Itv assoeia- 
tions dear to every lover of political freedom. 
Strangers on the streets gave way to exclama- 
tions as their measure of praise at seeing the 
magnificent display of bunting. 

Two beautiful triumphal arches spanned INIain 
Street, one extending from Burtis' brick build- 
ing across to Taylor's Hotel, on the opposite 
side, the other from Ellis' building across the 
street. Both arches were after the same design, 
and were constructed at the expense of the citi- 
zens of Freehold. The length of these struc- 
tures was thirty-eight feet and the height eighteen 
feet in the clear. They were constructed with 
artistic skill and presented a magnificent appear- 
ance. They were not, in fact, true arches, nor 



intended as such, but consisted of a turret at 
either end of each structure and spanned bv a 
bridge four feet in width, the centre of which 
was ornamented with a cuj)ola three or four feet 
in height. The turi-ets were built up with ever- 
greens, on the top of which, at each corner, was 
a flag with vertical staff, suggestive of Gothic 
pinnacles. The angle under the bridge was 
broken by large American flags, and the entire 
span was covered with bunting of all colors 
festooned and made into large fans. This con- 
stituted the ground-work of the bridge. Upon 
this, at intervals, were placed large shields with 
flags of different nations. Between the shields 
were the coats-of-arms of the thirteen original 
colonies, that of New Jei-sey being in the centre, 
above and around which were flags in vertical 
positions. Standing above this, in half-relief, 
was a Goddess of Liberty, holding in her hand 
a large flag. The material used was rich through- 
out and presented a very pretty appearance. 
The word "Welcome," in large gold letters, 
swung under the lower arch at Ellis', and the 
word "Monmouth," made in the same manner, 
swung beneath the upper one at Burtis'. A 
flag-pole had been erected on the corner of Main 
and South Streets, half-way betw^een the arches. 
The base of the pole was wrapped in evergreen, 
at the top of which was a portrait of Washing- 
ton, ornamented with bunting. Over this, in 
gilt letters, were the dates "1778 and 1884." 
From the top of the pole floated the American 
flag. Reaching from the top of the pole to each 
arch were suspended the naval flags of various 
nations, making the whole a pleasing, ornate 
design. 

The interior of Shinn's Hall presented a truly 
magnificent appearance. The decorator's art 
had transformed it into palatial beauty, sug- 
gestive of the banquet halls of baronial times. 
The front of the hall, from which the staging 
had been removed, was richly tapestried with 
elegant garnet satin curtains, suspended from 
the ceiling in graceful folds. Upon this Avas 
an escutcheon bearing the coat of arms of New 
Jersey. The side-Avalls all around the ceiling, 
for a depth of three feet, were festooned with 
silk plush, embroidered in gold tinsel. Below 
this, on both sides and ends, were hung shields, 



492 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



bearing flags of all nations. Between the shields | reviewing stand, fifty-four bv ninety fot, 
were hung bannerets in white, yellow, green, j front of the court-house, was decorated with 



national colors. The jailor's residence was 
decorated in keeping with the court-house. 
The Ellis building, containing the law-offices of 
Samuel C. Cowart, J. Clarence Conover, E. W. 
Arrowsmith and Charles H. Butcher and the 
shops and stores of Anthony Deedmeyer, Charles 
B. Ellis, Charles Hartzheim and A. De la Reu- 
selle were decorated after the same style as the 
court-house. 

It is estimated that from fifteen to twent\- 



blue and garnet. These were embroidered with 
gold tinsel and edged with gold fringe, each 
bearing in the centre a coat of arms of a foreign 
nation. 

The speakers' pavilion on the park grounds 
was richly ornamented. Between the posts, at 
the front and sides, were curtains of American 
flags. Below this, on the railing, all about tlie 
stand, was a ground-work of brocaded silk ; 
over this was red bunting, with gold and black 
.silk bands festooned in graceful fans. Alxive thousand people were assembled to M'itness the 
the speaker, and looking out upon the audience, ceremonies. The Pennsylvania Railroad and 
the open space was hung with garnet curtains, 
while in the centre wa.s the .same material made 

into a fan. 

In the interior of the building the decora- 
tions were after the same pattern. Flags of 

various nations floated from the top. The 

nmsic stand was in keeping with the pavilion 

and of like material. The monument itself 

had its bronzes veiled in garnet chintz. On 

the coping of each corner was a large gilt eagle 

surrounded by four flags of different nations. 

Back of the chair-stones in each of the three 



the Freehold and New York Railway each ran 
five special trains and five regular trains each 
way. The former ran eighty-five coaches and 
the latter about fifty coaches each way, and 
every coach was crowded full of people. The 
arrivals by the Pennsylvania were nearly eight 
thousand, and those by the Freehold and New 
York about four thousand. The people came 
from every portion of the county and State, and 
there were many re]ire.'ient:itives of adjt'ining 
States. 

The arrangements for receiving invited 
angles of the monument were large shields, | guests were admirable. Distinguishing badges 
bearing flags of different nations. The whole ! had been sent out with each invition. White 
park, with these bright colors, presented a mag- '• badges assembled at ex-tiovernor Parker's 
nificent appearance. residence, where Governor Abbett and statt*, the 

Nearly all the private residences and business i judiciary and other distinguished guests were 
places of the town were decorated with flags, I entertained. The members of the State Legis- 
streamers and other patriotic devices in bunting ' lature, the Board of Chosen Freeholders of 



and eversreen, and in the centre of all this was 
the court-house in its magnificent costume of all 
colors. From the top of the building floated 
three large flags, and small flags and shields 
were fastened to eveiy pinnacle. Falling from 
the edge of the roof in graceful festoons were 
the tri-colored emblems of America. Ever- 
green ropes, festooned, broke the angles of the 
bunting festoons. Each window was cm'tained 
with flags and huna; with evergreens in wreaths 
and stars. In the centre of the building a coat 
of arms of New Jersey, in oil, was placed, and 
around it were evergreens. The porch contained 
shields of the thirteen original States, with New 
Jersey in the centre. The porch columns were 
wreathed in evergreens and flags. The immense 



Monmouth County and other prominent offi- 
cials of the county and State wore red badges, 
and were received at the grand jury room in 
the court-house. The members of the ])re.«s 
wore l^lue badges, and were entertained in a 
suite of rooms on the second floor of Hall's 
brick building, corner of Main and South 
Streets. 

Reception committees were at the vaiious 
trains for the purpose of directing the guests to 
their proper rendezvous. The distinguished 
State and national officers were received at ex- 
Governor Parker's residence. The whole house 
was thrown open for the occasion. About ten 
o'clock the first guests began to arrive; these 
were soon followed bv the arrival of Governor 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



493 



Al)bettand his staff, escorted by the Freehold 
Coruet Band, with the Institute Cadets as aids. 
'l^Iieu came General Plume and staff, and soon 
tlio house was filled with distinguished guests. 

The following is a list of some of those who 
wei'e received and entertained at ex-Governor 
Parker's : Governor Leon Abbett, Private 
Secretary William C. Fisk, Adjutant-General 
William S. Stryker, Quartermaster-General 
Lewis Perrine, Surgeon-General Theodore Var- 
ick, Inspector-General Weston, Inspector-Gen- 
eral Rifle Practice Bird W. Spencer, Judge 
Advocate-General Garret Ackerson, Assistant- 
Adjutant-General S. M. Dickinson, colonels 
and aids-de-camps, C. D. Hendrickson, E. A. 
Stevens, W. F. Taylor, Eckford Moore, Otto 
Iloppenheimer, C. W. Thomas, J. W. Romaine, 
Charles Agnew, Daniel J. Betchel, Chancellor 
Runyon, Justices Supreme Court, David A. 
Depue, B. Van Syckle, E. W. Scudder, Rear- 
Admiral United States Navy, Charles H. Boggs, 
Gifford Stanley Simms, Clerk Supreme Court, 
Franklin B. Ijcwis, Judge Court of Errors and 
Appeals, Honorable George A. Halsey, John 
T. Vancleaf, Richard A. Herijert, James N. 
Stratton, Professor John Enright, Rev. Frank 
Chandler, D.D., Captain and Judge- Advocate, 
Franklin C. Woolman, Colonel W. A. Morrel, 
Lieutenant-Colonel (t. E. P. Howard, Dr. S. 
H. Hunt, John J. Toffey, Major and Judge- 
Advocate, Frederick Frelinghuysen, Henry M. 
Herbert, James Bishop, General Gershom Mott 
and staff. Brevet ]\Iajor-Cieneral Joseph W. 
Plume and staff, Major-(Tener,il William J. 
Sewell and staff, ex-Governor Ludlow, ex-Con- 
gressmen Ross, Peddie and Kean, ex-United 
States Senator Cattell, Charles Parker (brother 
of the ex-Governor), Rev. Charles P. «Glover, 
State Comptroller iVnderson, State Senator John 
S. Applegate, ex-Speaker A. B. Stoney, State 
Senator-elect T. G. Chattle, Judge William J. 
Magic, Judge Brown, of New Jersey Court 
Eri-ors and Apprals, Judges Black, Glasgow 
and Lee, of the Burlington Comnmn Pleas, 
Judges Reed and (iant, of Camden Common 
Pleas, District Attorney Jenkins and Surrogate 
Brown, of Camden, Prosecutor Belmont Perry, 
I if Gloucester County, Judge Stratton, Sin- 
nickson Chew, editor Camden Pres\«, Colonel 



Stratton, Mr. Sims, President Society ot the 
Cincinnati, Judge Fitch, of the same society, 
United States Senator John R. MacPherson, 
Congressman-elect Robert S. Green, Congress- 
man Fiedler, John Y. Foster, ex-Congressmen 
H. S. Harris and Amos Clark, Congressman 
Farrel, Judge Knapp, of N(>w Jersey Supreme 
Court, Charles E. Harris. 

The Board of Chosen Freeholders of Mon- 
mouth County acted as a reception committee at 
the court-house, where a very large number of 
distinguished guests were entertained. 

Among the members of the press who were 
hospitably received and entertained in the 
pleasant suite of rooms in the second floor of 
Hall's lirick building, corner Main and South 
Streets, were gentlemen representing the follow- 
ing-named newspapers : — Rahway Nalional 
Democrat, New York Graphic, Matawan Jour- 
nal, New York Evening Telegram, New Jersey 
Standard, Jersey City Evening Journal, New 
York Herald, New York Times, Coast Demo- 
crat, Shore Gazette, New Yo7-k Evening Tele- 
gram, Philadelphia. Record, Jersey City Sunday 
Tattler, New York Evening Post, State Gazette, 
Newark Register, Burlington Enterprise, Beverly 
Banner, Philadelphia Inquirer, Camden Post, 
West Jersey Press (Camden), Rahvay Censor, 
New Brunswick Fredonian, Delaware Valley 
Advance, Plainfield Times, Key East Key Note, 
Asbury Park Journal, Trenton Emporium, As- 
hury Park Shore Press, New York Morning 
Journal, Newark Press, Newark Evening Netvs, 
New Jersey Mirror, Mount Holly News. 

Mr. William S. Potter, of Somerville, former 
owner of the farm known as the " Battle- 
Ground," and who took a warm interest in the 
erection of the monument and personally aided 
in securing the passage of the bill by the State 
Legislature making the appropriation for the 
monument, was among the visitors on this occa- 
sion. Another visitor worthy of note was Mr. 
Eli Crozier, a ver}- old gentleman, who has at- 
tended all the centennial celebrations of battles 
in the United States, and has written an account 
of them, giving special prominence to the one 
in Monmouth. 

There was some delay in the arrival of the 
i railway train bringing a part of the military, 



494 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



which did not reach Freehold until after eleven 
A. M. Tlie procession then formed on Broad 
Street and marched through the principal streets. 
It was reviewed by Governor Abbett, who, with 
his staft' and a host of dignitaries and distin- 
guished visitors, occupied the reviemng stand 
erected by the county in front of the court- 
house. After the review, Governor Abbett 
and staff and all the officials on the stand joined 
the procession as it marched up Court Street to 
Monument Park. The complete procession was 
composed as follows : 

Grand Marshal, Major J. S. Yard. 

Marshal's Aids : 

William 8. Throckmorton, J . Nelson Conover, Charles 

H. Butcher, Major Alexander A. Y'ard, Samuel 

R. Forman, David S. Crater, William Harts- 

horne, Herman Liebenthal.' 

Brevet Major-General William J. Sewell, Command- 
ing Provisional Brigade, N. G. N. J. 
Brigade Staff: 
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas S. Chambers, Assistant 
Adjutant-General : Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel B. 
Murphy, Inspector ; Lieutenant-Colonel 
Franklin Gauntt, Surgeon; Major Wil- 
liam M. Palmer, Quartermaster ; Ma- 
jor Kenneth J. Duncan, Paymas- 
ter ; Major James E. Hays, 
Judge-Advocate. 
Captain E. A. Gillett, Captain Hamilton Markley, 
Aides-dc-Camp. 



Fourth Regiment, N. G. X. J., Colonel Dudley S. 
Steele, Commanding. 



First Regiment N. G. N. J., Colonel Edward A. 
Campbell, Commanding. 



Seventh Regiment N. G. N. J., Colonel Richard A. 

Donnelly, Commanding. 

Gatling Gun Company B., Captain Robert E. 

Eckendorff, Commanding, with two guns 

drawn by horses. 

Third Regiment N. G. N. J., Colonel E. H. Ropes, 
Commanding. 



The Committee of Arrangements. 
The Monument Association. 
The Monument Commission. 



1 Volunteer aid, representing J. B. Morris Post, G. A. R., 
of Long Branch. 



The Senators and Representatives and Representa- 
tives-Elect of the Congress of the United States. 
The Society of the Cincinnati. 
The Grand Lodge of Freemasons. 
Hon. Leon Abbett, Governor of New Jersey. 
Gova-nor's Staff: 
Adjutant-General Stryker ; Quartermaster-General 
Perrine ; Surgeon-General Varick ; Inspector- 
General Weston ; Inspector-General Rifle 
Practice Spencer; Judge- Advocate-( Gen- 
eral Ackerson ; Assistant Adjutant- 
General Dickinson. 
Aides-de-Camp— Colonel W. E. Hoy, Colonel E. A. 
Stevens, Colonel Eckford Moore, Colonel J. W. 
Romaine, Colonel C. D. Hendrickson, Colonel 
E. A. Stevens, Colonel C. W. Thomas, 
Colonel Otto Heppenheimer. 
Major-General Gershom Mott, Commandant of Na- 
tional Guard of New Jersey, and Staff. 
Brevet Jlajor-General Joseph W. Plume (Command- 
ing Second Brigade) and staff. 
Ex-Governor of New Jersey. 
The Judiciary of New Jersey. 
The State Officers. 
Members and Members- Elect of the New Jersey Leg- 
islature. 
Other Distinguished Guests. 
The Board of Chosen Freeholders. 
The Sheriff and County Officials. 
The Board of Commissioners of the Town of Freehold. 
The Township Officials of other Townships. 
Civic Societies. 
Citizens and Strangers. 

The parade presented a most brilliant and 
imposing appearance. Tlie troops marched 
with the precision and regularity of trained 
veterans. As the procession passed under the 
triumphal arches to tiie sound of martial music, 
the assembled thousands wlio lined the streets, 
filled the reviewing stand, crowded the porti- 
coes, windows and every available sight-seeing 
space in the surrounding buildings, cheered and 
waved their handlvcrchiefs. The scene was a 
grand one, and not soon to be forgotten. 

As soon as the procession reached Monument 
Park the ceremonies of unveiling were opened 
with an invocation of the Divine blessing by 
Eigiit Reverend Bishop Scarborough. Tlien 
followed the formal delivery of the monument 
to the Governor of New Jersey, with a presen- 
tation speech by the president of the commis- 
sion, Mr. Theodore W. Morris, who, on closing 
his address, drew a cord which unveiled the 
bronzes of the monument amid a thunder of 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



49& 



applause frum the vast throng assembled round 
it, while the cannon on Throckmorton's Hill 
boomed forth a Continental salute of thirteen 
guns. The presentation was responded to by 
Governor Abbett in an eloquent and patriotic 
speech, at the conclusion of w'hich the Governor 
introduced the orator of the day, Ex-Governor 
Joel Parker, of Freehold, who then atlvanced 
and delivered an oration, which, replete with 
interesting historic facts, and breathing 
throughout a spirit of lofty patriotism, com- 
manded the closest attention of his great audi- 
ence, and was fre(iuently and heartily applauded. 
When .Judge Parker's oration was finished, 
Governor Abbett announced the couclusion of 
the ceremonies of the day, which were then 
closed by a most impressive benediction, pro- 
nounced by the Rev. George C Maddock, and 
the tiring of a national salute by the artillery 
on Throckmorton's Hill. The vast throng of 
people surged back to the town, where all the 
hotels and other places of entertainment were 
filled to overflowing by the hungry and thirsty 
thousands. The (Jovernor and his staff, the 
generals and their stafTs, the Monument Com- 
mission and Association, the Monmouth County 
Board of Chosen Freeholders and the many 
other distino-uished officials and guests who 
were in attendance ujion the ceremonies of un- 
veiling were dined in fine style at Shinn's Hall. 
Hundreds of visitors dined Ijy invitation at 
jtrivate residences. The troops, who had been 
dismissed before the close of the ceremonies at 
the park, had marched to the barracks, where 
the State of New Jersey had made provision for 
their entertainment. The barracks were two 
long, board -sided, canvas -roofed buildiug.s, 
which had been temporarily erected at the ex- 
pense of the State in the vacant lot just north 
of the Freehold and New York Railway depot. 
Each building was twenty-four feet wide by 
two hundred and forty-eight feet long, and each 
was capable of accommodating one thousand 
men. The First, Third and Fourth Regiments 
arrived at the barracks before the Seventh, and 
their appetites had been so much sharpened by 
their long waiting, marching and fasting, that 
when the Seventh arrived, the provisions were 
almost entirely exhausted, and the wearied men 



of thelatter regiment had no means of appeasing 
their hunger, though tlie want was partially sup- 
plied by the exertions of the few individuals 
who, of all the residents of Freehold, knew of 
the shortcoming. Had it been generally known,, 
the wants of the famishing regiment would 
have been amply supplied. In every other 
particular, except that of the unfortunate mis- 
take referred to, the ceremonies and festivities 
of the unveiling were carried through with 
complete and most gratifying success. 

The day was perfect. The streets and i-oads 
were entirely free alike from mud and dust. 
The weather was neither hot nor cold; the 
atmosphere was clear and invigorating, and the 
breeze was no more than enough to unfold the 
thousand flags that floated over the park and 
town. Good feeling and good order prevailed. 
Scarcely any intoxication was to be seen, and 
there was not a disturbance or accident of any 
kind reported. No great concourse of people 
ever celebrated a public event with more com- 
fort and satisfaction than did the thousands who 
gathered to witness the dedication tif the monu- 
ment of ]Monmouth. The number of troops 
present on this occasion was less than those who 
participated in celebrations of the Monmouth 
battle anniversary in previous years, but of all 
the ceremonies and parades which have ever 
been had in commemoration of the Monmouth 
battle, that of November l;i, 1884, must ever 
remain the most memoralile. 

The first celebration of the battle of Mon- 
mouth, on the field where the conflict took 
place, was held on the 28th of June, 1828, it 
being the semi-centennial anniversary of the 
great event. The principal feature of that 
celebration was a sham fight, carried out as 
nearly as practicable in imitation of the battle, 
and on the same ground \vhere it was fought. 
Neither the number of troops taking part in the 
celebration of 1828 nor any of the particulars 
of that nffiiir (other than the facts stated above) 
have been ascertained. No other celebration 
was held on Monmouth field until Wednesday, 
.June 28, 185-4. As tliat event is still clearly 
remembered by many of the residents of Mon- 
mouth County, it is thought to be not inappro- 



496 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



priate to give the following extract from an 
account of it which appeared in the next issue 
of the Trenton True American. 

" The celebration of the seventj'-sixth auuiversary 
of this important event in the history of our country 
came oft' on Wednesday, June 28th. 

'• At an early hour on Tuesday, strangers from va- 
rious sections of the country began to arrive. The 
insufferable heat which was experienced during the 
day was greatly relieved by a delightful shower which 
occurred in the afternon, laying the dust and re- 
ducing the thermometer many degrees. At an early 
hour in the afternoon an infantry company under 
Captain James S. Yard, editor of the Monmouth Dem- 
ocrat, and a cavalry corps, under Captain Truex, were 
under arms to serve as an escort to the expected vis- 
itors. Captain Yard's company carried the old mus- 
kets used by Lafayette's troops, and presented by him 
to the United States. 

" At about seven o'clock the train came in from the 
east, bringing the following companies : 

"The Independent Continentals, Captain Pearce, 
and Company C of the American Rifles, Captain Hag- 
adorn, from New Y'ork. 

''Jersey Continentals, Captain Pollard; Mont- 
gomery Guards, Captain Farrell ; and Meagher Re- 
publican Guards, Captain Hopper, from Jersey City. 

•' Washington Volunteers, Captain Spear, and 
Greenville Guards, Captain Fisher, from Bergen. 

" National Guards, Captain Tuthill, and Hoboken 
Rifles, from Hoboken. 

" Lafayette Guards, Captain Halsey, from Newark. 

" Two companies of the Fourteenth Regiment, under 
Colonel J. C. Smith, from Brooklyn. 

'• Kearney Guards, Captain North, from Amboy. 

" The nulitary made a most beautiful display, two 
superb bands of music accompanying the visitors. 
They marched in the village in gallant array, and en- 
camped on a field adjacent the town. Their camp- 
fires were kept burning during the night, presenting 
quite an imposing appearance. A council of war was 
held during the night to determine upon the jiroceed- 
ings of the morrow. 

" The Governor and the whole of his military staff, 
Adjutant-General Cadwalader, Quartermaster Ham- 
ilton and a number of other dignitaries, civil and mil- 
itary, arrived in the evening and quartered at Cox's 
Hotel. They were subsequently serenaded by Adkin's 
celebrated band. 

"A number of military gentlemen and others, in- 
vited guests, were handsomely entertained at the res- 
idence of Colonel Davis during the evening. The 
colonel was also serenaded, and the band invited in 
and entertained in a sumptuous manner. 

"At a meeting subsequently held, General E. R. V. 
Wright was selected to personate General Washing- 
ton ; Adjutant-General Cadwalader, of Trenton, Sir 
Henry Clinton ; Quartermaster-General Hamilton, 



General Lee ; Major William Napton, Colonel Monck- 
ton ; and Colonel Joseph A. Y^ard, General Lafayette. 

" At an early hour on Wednesday morning thou- 
sands of persons from the surrounding country began 
to flock to the village to witness the display. About 
eight o'clock the military were formed into line, and 
about nine o'clock the extra train from Trenton ar- 
rived. Our military corps were received by the Free- 
hold companies and escorted to the spot where the 
line was being formed, f^hortly after, the line of 
march was taken up for the railroad depot, where the 
cars were in readiness to convey the companies to the 
battle-ground. 

" Upon arriving at the ground, the companies se- 
lected to represent the British forces took up their 
position upon the old parsonage heights, those repre- 
senting the Americans being posted on the low ground 
in front of Mr. Herbert's house, near by which the 
stars and stripes were unfurled, waving from the iden- 
tical tree upon which they were displayed during the 
battle. The review of the military under Governor 
Price was greatly admired and from the heights pre- 
sented a beautiful spectacle. 

" The crowd waited long and patiently for the sig- 
nal of attack, and was greatly disappointed when it 
was known that the fight was not to come off. Upon 
it being explained that several of the soldiers had 
been affected by sun-stroke, and it having been 
strongly advised by ijhysicians who were present 
against permitting the exercise of the troops under 
the scorching rays of the sun, the dissatisfaction of 
the spectators was soon appeased, and all seemed to 
be of opinion that such a course was the most ]irudent 
one to pursue. 

" The sad accident which occurred in firing a salute 
in honor of the arrival of the Governor and his aids 
upon the ground marred considerably the festivities 
of the day. The accident was occasioned by the per- 
son attending to the hole having incautiously allowed 
the air to get in while the charge was being rammed. 
Abraham Coles, a member of the Lafayette Guards, of 
Newark, had his left hand very much shattered, which 
rendered amputation necessary. James S. Johnson, 
also attached to the Guards, was badly burned about 
the face and arms. The unfortunate men were carried 
to a neighboring house, where every attention was 
paid them. Several members of the Continentals, who 
had been sun-struck, were carried to the same house. 
We were informed that a person attending Adkin's 
band was seriously afl'ected by a stroke of the sun. 

" After the troops had been reviewed, the companies 
on the wings were wheeled on the right and left, so as 
to form three sides of a hollow square. The Governor 
and staft' advanced to the centre, when Adjutant-Gen- 
eral Cadwalader addressed the troops in a brief but 
very appropriate speech. He commenced by assuring 
them, in the name of the commander-in-chief, of the 
pleasure which it afforded him to witness their sol- 
dier-like bearing, their excellent discipline, etc. He 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



497 



then alluded to the occasion which had brought them 
together, and the happy effect of such meetings, as 
tending to renew and strengthen those patriotic and 
generous feelings which had characterized those great 
and good men who fought and bled at the battle of 
Monmouth ; that, as the descendants and heirs of 
those great men, it was our duty to foster the feeling 
of affection for our common country, and to consider 
no sacrifice too great to preserve and defend our in- 
stitutions, and to maintain forever our blessed and 
glorious Union, one and indivisible. In addressing 
the troops, the manner of the general was marked 
with the true characteristics of the veteran soldier. 

" The graceful demeanor and excellent horseman- 
ship of our worthy Governor was greatly admired, 
and formed a theme of universal expression of de- 
light. 

" Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the 
citizens of Freehold for the hospitable and cordial 
manner in which they welcomed and entertained the 
invited guests and strangers attracted to their beauti- 
ful town to participate in and witness the celebra- 
tion. 

" Colonel William Davis, president of the railroad 
company, aided by the agents, were unremitting 
in their exertions to accommodate those who were de- 
sirous of going to and from the battle-ground. The 
worthy colonel was himself at the depot, looking to 
the safetj' and comfort of the many thousand persons 
who were transported back and forth. The trains 
started every fifteen minutes ; and it is remarkable 
that, notwithstanding the rush and crowding of 
anxious men, women and children, not the slightest 
accident occurred. 

" Such, in brief, is the account of the celebration 
which for several weeks past has been the subject of 
conversation. But for the intense heat of the weather, 
everything contemplated and expressed in the pro- 
gramme, would have been fully carried out, and all 
who were present doubtless award to the committee 
. of arrangement the credit of having endeavored, to 
the full extent of their ability, to discharge the duties 
entrusted to them." 

The names of the committee of arrangements 
are given below. It was falsely charged by the 
reporter of the New York Herald, who was 
present at the celebration, that people of Mon- 
mouth County — farmers and others — embraced 
the occasion as an opportunity for money-mak- 
ing by bringing various articles of refreshment 
to Freehold and selling them at high prices. 
The charge was refuted in a card published by 
the committee in the Monmouth Democrat of 
July 6th, from which the following is ex- 
tracted : 
32 



" We wish to cast back with indignation the state- 
ment made by one or two journals of the day, that the 
farmers in the neighborhood ' made a penny ' by 
erecting stands and selling articles of food, etc. None 
of the farmers of Monmouth County had any articles 
for sale, but generously gave, to all who needed, of 
whatever they had. 

" To Doctors De Bow, Freeman, Polhemus, Barclay, 
Conover, Laird and others we tender our sincere 
thanks for their prompt attendance on the sick and 
wounded without making any charge for their ser- 
vices. To Doctors De Bow and Freeman particularly 
for their attention in amputating the arm of the un- 
fortunate Coles. 

"To P. T. Baruum, Esq., and E. K. Collins, Esq., 
of New York, we tender our thanks for the loan of 
flags used on this occasion. 

" To the citizens of Freehold we are unfeignedly 
grateful, for their liberality, kind attention and effi- 
cient aid. To the ' Monmouth Guards ' and ' Monmouth 
Troop ' we are indebted for much assistance, not only 
on the 28th, but previously. They merit and receive 
our warmest regards. 



"J. B. Throckmorton, 
Wra. V. Ward, 
Enoch L. Cowart, 
John Woodhull, 
James S. Yard, 
David M. Rue, 



Henry Bennett, 
A. T. Manning, 
Joseph A. Yard, 
Samuel Conover, 
Wm. D. Oliphaut, 
Daniel Christojiher, 

"Committee.'' 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

David Clakk Perrine. — The great-great- 
grandfather of the subject of this biographi- 
cal sketch was John Perrine, whose death 
occurred between the years 1799 and 1800. 
His children were John, Henry, James, Daniel, 
Joseph, William, Margaret, Rebecca, Han- 
nah and Annie. John, of this number, whose 
birth occurred October 20, 1722, and his 
death April 26, 1804, married, June 3, 1755, 
Mary Rue, who was born jNIarch 7, 1736. 
Their children were Ann, Rebecca, John, Han- 
nah, Peter, Matthew and Joseph. John Per- 
rine, who was born March 30, 1762, and died 
November 17, 1848, married Ann Stout, born 
August 12, 1761. Their children were John, 
David, Lewis, "William I., Enoch, Polly and 
Kate. John Perrine was a second time married, 
to Catharine Perrine, born December 17, 1803, 
whose children were Isaac, Ann Eliza, Mary 



498 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COlLNTi', NEW JERSEY. 



Matilda, Catharine H. and George Wash- 
ington. 

David Perrine, of tiiis number, the father 
of David Clark Perrine, was born Januarv 10, 
1784, and on the 31st of March, 1808, married 
Phebe Baird, whose birth occurred Xovember 
14, 1790. Their children are Lydia, (who mar- 
ried William Snowhill), John D., ISIarv, David 
Clark, Alfred, Ree Baird, Deborah E. (now 
the wife of Gilbert W. Mount), De La Fayette, 



at tlic expiration of which period he was ad- 
mitted as a partner in the tirm of Lippincott, 
Davis & Co. At the end of the second year he 
fiirnicd a new business relation as a member of 
tlio firm of Cowart & Perrine, and in 18o2, 
li;i\iim dissolved this partnerehip, embarked 
;il(iiic in mei-cantile enterprises. Mr. Perrine 
\\a>, (111 tiie 5th of February, 1851, married to 
Hannah Matilda, daughter of David I. Van 
DcrvecT and his wife, ^Nlary Conover. Their 




Caroline (married to Gilbert :Mount), Charles, 
Edwin A. Stevens and Margaret Cook (married 
to James Bowne). David Clark Perrine was 
born on the 20th of October, 1816, at Clarks- 
burg, in Millstone township, INIonmouth ("ounty, 
and received his earliest advantages of educa- 
tion at Hightstown, N. J. On attaining his 
fourteenth year he removed to Freehold, and 
began a business career as a clerk on a salary 
of twenty-five dollars a year, with an advance 
of ten dollars each succeeding year for six years, 



cliildrcii are David Van Derveer, born May 25, 
1S5.'>; .William Conover, born April 16, 1855, 
wliM died May 6, 1856; John Rhea, born May 
2:3, 1857, wiio died March 23, 1861; Mary 
Ciiniiver, born April 17, 1863, who died Febru- 
arv 5, 1S73; and Arthur D., born April 28, 
1S68, whose death occurred August 13, 1869. 
^1)-. Perrine, in addition to his extensive cora- 
iiicrcinl interests in Freehold, has embarked 
laruelv in the business of milling on the Match- 
aiidnix river, in Middlesex County, N. J., and 



THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD. 



499 



may be regarded as the most considerable buyer 
and shipper of grain in the county. His private 
affairs have, however, not jirechided active 
co-operation in the various projects connected 
with the public welfare, as president of the 
Freehold Gas Company, treasurer of the Free- 
hold and Englishtown Turnpike Company, etc. 
He is a Democrat in politics, and zealous for the 
success of his party, though in no sense a poli- 
tician, having filled no important office other 
than that of the first treasurer of the town of 



a reward of fifty guineas for his head, so greatly 
was he feared by I'easou of his bold exploits. 

Daniel S. passed his boyhood days on a farm at 
Pleasant Valley, ]\Ion mouth County, with but 
limited opportunities for obtaining an education ; 
but under the promptingsof an ambitiousand de- 
termined nature, he resolved to begin mercantile 
life in New York City, and at seventeen or 
eighteen years of age entered the employ of 
Conover & Pickett, glass merchants. 

His clerkship was of but limited duration, as 




Freehold. His religious support is given to the 
Presbyterian Church of Freehold, of which his 
wife and son are members. 



Daniel S. Schaxck. — The suljject of this 
sketch, the son of John and ^Miclia Van Hise 
Schanck, was born at Middletown Point, Mon- 
mouth County, N. J., June 3, 1812. 

His paternal grandfather was Captain John 
Schanck, a brave officer in the Continental army, 
of M'hom it is recorded that the British offered 



he soon resolved to embark in business upon his 
own account, and formed a firm which enjoyed 
unbroken success until the decease of Mr. 
Schanck, May 5, 1872. 

Mr. Schanck never lost his affection for or 
interest in those with whom he was associated 
in his boyhood days ; nor did he fail to aid in 
every proper manner the interests of his native 
county and State. 

While a man of large charities, he never 
varied from a rule of unostentation in his gifts, 



500 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



; 



except in tlie case of the erection of an obser- 
vatory for Rutgers College, in which instance 
he permitted the inscription of " The Schanck 
Observatory " to be placed thei-eon. At tlie 
time this observatory was of great value to tiie 
college, and was fully equipped with necessary 
instruments, etc., by Mr. Schanck's beneficence. 
Daniel S. Schanck married INIary Ann 
Smock on the 23d of Marcli, 1842. His 
widow and four children survive him. The.se, 
as heirs of the estate, united in the donation to 



children, among wlioin was Dyouis, mar- 
ried, in 1707, to Elizal)eth Pollieraus, whose 
children were six in number. Their sou Tunis, 
born in 1692, married, first, Helena Van Dyck, 
and second, Frauciske Hendrickson. He sub- 
sequently removed from Long Island to Mon- 
mouth County. Among his children was 
Daniel Denise, father of Jolm S. Denise, for 
more than forty years collector of IMonmouth 
County, who was born in 1748, and married, in 
1771, Jane Schenck, whose birth occurred in 




J^^J^.fC^ 



^-'^nC'i-^'— 



the State of New Jersey of the Monument Park, 
in the village of Freehold, in which is erected 
the monument to commemorate tiie battle of 
Monmoutli. 



John S. Denise. — Tennis Xyssen, the com- 
mon ancestor of the Denise family in America, 
emigrated from Binuinck, in the province 
of Utrecht, Holland, in 1638, and was a 
man of prominence both in his native 
and adopted countries. He married Phcebe 
Felix, of English parentage, and had twelve 



1754. To this union were bora ten children. 
By a second marriage, to Mary Stillwell, were 
born three children, John S. Denise, a son by 
the first marriage, was a native of Freehold, 
his birth having occurred Sejitember 30, 1796, 
on the iiomestoad, whidi has been for a jjeriod 
of one hundred and seventy years, and is still, 
in possession of the family. His youth was 
uneventful, having been varied only by attend- 
ance at school and labor on the farm. He was, 
however, self-taught, and acquired from obser- 
vation and intelligent reading in later life more 



THE TOWN OF FKEEHOLD. 



501 



knowledge than was derived from the study of 
books. He continued a valuable aid to his 
fatlier in his farming enterjjrises until tiie death 
of the latter, wlieu his son inherited a portion 
and purchased the remainder of the property. 
He resided in the township, and continued to be 
one of its most enterprising farmers, until 1859, 
when, having retired from active business, he 
made Freehold his residence. 

He was, on the 3d of February, 1819, mar- 
ried to Catharine, daughter of AMlliam I. 
Thompson, of the same county, and liad ten 
children, — Tunis, William T., Daniel S., Mar- 
garet Ann, Sarah Jane (Airs. Peter Jackson), 
John Henry, Rusha, Sidney C, David D. 
and Rusha (second), of whom but four survive. 
Mr. Denise, aside from his farming; interests, 
was largel}' engaged in real estate operations, in 
which he was remarkably successful. He was 
director of the First National Bank of Free- 
hold, president and director of the Freehold 
and Colt's Neck Turnpike Company, director 
of the Freehold and Manalajian Turnpike 
Company, and actively identified with the 
material interests of both countv and borousrh. 
He was a member of the IMonmouth Countv 
Agricultural Society, and in hearty sympathy 
with its purpose and methods. Mr. Denise 
Mas, in his political views, an Old-Line Whig 
during the existence of that party, and joined 
the Republican ranks on the disruption of the 
former. He never aspired to office, and was 
not active as a politician, though serving as 
town commissioner until he declined further 
election. He enjoyed a reputation for strict 
integrity, and possessed a keen sense of justice. 
In his varied business transactions he neither 
.sued others nor was him.self a party to litigation. 
Mr. Denise was a member of the Second Re- 
formed (Dutch) Church of Freehold, of which 
he was one of the founders, and in M'hich he 
had been during a period of forty years an 
elder. His many acts of charity in connection 
with this church indicated his Christian faith, 
as exemplified in his works. Without ostenta- 
tion and with great judgment he gave, witness- 
ing the results of his liberality during his life- 
time. Mr. and Mrs. Denise celebrated, on the 
5th of February, the fiftieth anniversary of 



their marriage, and five years later their fifty- 
fifth anni\-ersary of the same event. On these 
significant occasions many friends beside the 
immediate tamily circle tendered their congratu- 
lations to this aged couple, who enjoyed a mar- 
ried life of sixty yeai-s' duration. The death of 
Mrs. Denise occurred on the 19th of April, 
1879, and that of Mr. Denise on the 31st of 
December of the fiillowin"- year. 



William Vaughx WapiD, who for more 
than twenty yeai's was a prominent merchant of 
Freehold, and a well-known and public-spirited 
citizen, was a great-grandson of Michael 
Ward, who, as early as 1731, had settled and 
was living at Hightstown, N. J., he being one of 
three brothers who had come to America to- 
gether prior to that time. 

Benjamin, son of Michael and Hannah Ward, 
was born February 7, 1731-32, and died June 
20, 1797. His wife, L3'dia Cheesemau,wasborn 
December 18, 1742, and died November 13, 
1794. They had three sons and four daughters. 
Their third son, On 'Ward, father of the subject 
of this biographical sketch, was born May 13, 
1708. His wife was Rebekah Vaughn. 

AYilliam V. Ward, sou of On and Rebekah 
(Vaughn) Ward, was born October 10, 1816, 
he being the youngest of a family of sixchildreu, 
all of whom except himself lived and died in 
fiercer County. He removed to Howell town- 
ship, Monmouth County, where, in 1841, he 
commenced a mercantile business at Lower 
Squankum, in j^artnershi}) with Abraham G. 
Neafie, ex-sheriif of IMonmouth County. In 
1844 the Inisiness was closed by reason of finan- 
cial difficulties. He then entered the employ 
of his father-in-law, John Hall, where he re- 
mained for some time. The closing of the busi- 
ness at Lower Squankum had left Mr. Ward 
almost wholly without means, but his credit 
enabled him to recommence business, which 
he did, removing to Freehold, and there open- 
ing a store of ready-made clothing, which was 
the first in that line ever opened in the town. 
The business proved very successful, and was 
continued by him for twenty-two years, until 
the time of his death. 

Mr. Ward was married, September 5, 1848, 



502 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



to Catharine K. Hall, daufflitpr of John and 
Rebecca (Knott) Hall. Their children were 
John H., George D. (deceased), Charles E. 
(deceased), Elizabeth H., Everitt, George F. 
and Harry (deceased). Mr. Ward died at 
Long Branch, Jnly 27, 1866. His widow still 
resides at Freeh( ild. Of the snrviving children, 
John H. and Everitt Ward are merchants in 
New York, the former being unmarried ; 
Elizabeth (Mrs. Mount) lives in Freehold ; 
George F. AVard is in the real estate and in- 
surance business in Freehold. 

Mr. Ward was reai-ed in the Baptist faith, 
but after his marriage he became, and continued 
to be, an attendant and supporter of the Presby- 
terian Church, of which his wife was, and now is, 
a member. He was a stanch Democrat and a 
politician, though never a scheming one. 
He was t«'ice elected a member of the 
Legislature, serving in the years 1860 to 
1862. He was appointed State Prison inspector 
by Governor William A. Newell in 1858, 
and served in that office till 186(5, under the 
administration of Governors Newell, Olden and 
Parker, performing its duties in a manner cred- 
itable to himself and advantageous to the State. 

John Hall, the father of ISIrs. William V. 
Ward, was for several years a resident of Free- 
hold village, having previously spent more than 
sixty years in business in Howell township. 
His father was Samuel Hall, who, with his 
brothers Jesse and Jacob, came from England 
to America before the Revolution. Jesse mi- 
grated South, Jacob located in New York and 
Samuel settled at Kingwood, X. J. His 
wife was Ruhama Everitt, and they became the 
parents of twelve children. The youngest son, 
John, was born at Kingwood in 1786. At the 
age of nineteen years he removed to Howell 
township, ^Monmouth County, where he com- 
menced a general merchandising business, as also 
that of tanning and currying leather. After 
about twenty years he discontinued the leather 
business, but remained actively and successfully 
engaged in the mercantile pursuit for more than 
forty years from the time of his commencement. 

In 1825, Mr. Hall was married to Rebecca 
Knott, daughter of Joseph and Catharine Knott, 
of Shark River. Their children were Catha- 



rine K. (Mrs. William V. Ward, of Freehold), 
Ruhama (Mrs. Stoutenburgh, of Xew York), 
Eliza Ann (deceased) and Dr. Charles E. Hall 
(now of Freehold.) In 1 867, Mr. and Mrs. John 
Hall removed ti'om Howell to Freehold, where 
they passed the remainder of their lives. She 
died in March, 1878 ; he in November, 1881. 

The only public office ever held by ]\Ir. Hall 
was that of township collector of Howell, which 
position he filled for more than thirty years, and 
until he positively declined serving longer. He 
was no politician, yet a stanch Democrat in prin- 
ciple and practice, having annually voted that 
ticket, continuously and without an omission, for 
seventy-two years. He was an attendant and 
supporter of the Presbyterian Church, of which 
his wife was an active and consistent member. 





ffl^j^>zy 



Henry Bennett. — The grandfather of 
Henry Bennett was Hendrick, the son of 
William Bennett, born October 15, 1752, 
who died July 28, 1833, in Freehold, N.J. 
He was united in marriage, October 16, 1774, 
to Elizabeth Nowlan, whose birth occurred 
January 27, 1754, and her death August 
29, 1817. Their children were William H., born 
August 1,1775, who died April 20, 1848; 
John, born March 27, 1778, whose death oc- 
curred November 30, 1812 ; Elizabeth, born 
March 11, 1780, who died August 10, 1849; 
and Nancy, born March 24, 1783, who died 
in January, 1784. William H. Bennett mar- 
ried, on the 29th of December, 1800, Jane, 
daughter of Oukey Lefferson, and grand- 
daughter of Letferts and Jannetje Lefiersim. 
The children of this marriage were Sarah, born 
October 11, 1801, and married to Walter W. 
Hart; John, born October 15, 1803; Elizabeth 
Ann, born January 22, 1806 ; William, bom 
August 13, 180"!; Henry, whose birth occurred 
Mai'ch 17, 1811 ; Garret Schanck, born ilay 
13, 1813; Gilbert, born June 18, 1815; Eliza 
Ami, born April 17, 1818; Charles A., whose 
birth occurred June 4, 1820; David V., born 
April 23, 1822; and Hudson, born May 1, 
1825. Henry Bennett was born in the borough 



r 



V^' 



A'^ 

^ 






^/yyru^^ 



FUKKlHil.h TOWNSHIP. 



603 



of Freehold, and received his only eduraiionnl 
opportunities at a school three miles tVom his 
home. At the age of fifteen a serious ao'idcnt 
disabled him and for eighteen months rendered 
jihvsical exertion impossible. On his recovery 
lie was apprenticed to the trade of a tailor, nnd 
pursued successfully for fifteen years the liusincss 
of a raerciiant tailor, when, on the death of his 
father, in 1S4S, he inherited a purtinn of the 
estate. He at once began, and. has continued 
until the present time, to imjjrove the pniperty 
by the erection of dwellings and the sale nf hits 
for building purposes. !Major Beiniett in earlier 
vears manifested an active interest in military 
affairs, and received from Governor Xcwell, in 
18")7, his commission as major of the ( )ceaii nnd 
Monmouth Brigade. He was also appointed pay- 
master on the staif of Governor Parker. He 
rendered efficient aid in the recruiting scr\-ice 
during the late war, and was only precluded from 
active service by his physical condition, which 
rendered the performance of military dnty 
impossible. His political associations are iJeni- 
ocratic, as were also those of his fatJier. Hr 
has filled the office of town clci-k for 
many years, and was for six years treasurer 
of the Monmouth County Agricultural Soci- 
ety, and the first secretary of the society, of 
which he was one of the originators, lie is a 
director of the Freehold Gas LightCompany and 
the Monmouth County Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company of Freehold, and was treasiiicr ofrhc 
Freehold Loan Association from 185-". to l.sii4. 
Major Bennett is a member of the Second 
Reformed Church of Freehold, in which he 
has been deacon, elder, and clerk of rhc 
consistory. He is a member of both tin- .Ma- 
sonic and Odd-Fello\v.s' fraternities, and was for 
twenty-four years treasurer of the lattci- ordiT. 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHl 



The township of Freehold is boumlcd on the 
west and northwest by Millstone and .Manala- 
pan, on the north l)y Marlborough, on the 
east bv the townships of Atlantic aiicl IIowill 



and on the south by Ocean County. Within 
these boundaries lies the town or village of 
Freehold, which is situated in the northern part 
of the township. The Jamesburg and ]<^reehold 
Agricultural Railroad traverses the township 
from northwest to southeast, passing through the 
county town ; from which, also, the Freehold 
and New York Railway passes through the 
north part of the township into Marlborough, 
and thence to Matawan. Freehold township is 
a part of the water-shed lino of the county, and 
from it the head-streams of the Manasipian and 
Metedeeonk Rivers flow towards the southeast ; 
those of Hop Brook and Yellow Brook (trib- 
utaries of Swimming River) flow towards the 
northeast, while from the northwest part of the 
township several small streams flow westwardly 
to unite with the larger tributaries of the South 
and Millstone Rivers. 

Freehold is one of the three original town- 
ships of Monmouth County, although the towns 
of ]\Iiddletowu and Shrewsbury had been recog- 
nized in the public acts of the Governor, 
Council and General Assembly of New Jersey 
several years prior to the passage (if the act of 
October 31, 1693, — then approved liy Governor 
Andrew Hamilton, — by which the ijrovince was 
first divided into townships. By that act it 
was provided and declared that 

" The township of Freehold includes all the land 
from the Head of C'heeseiiuakes Creek, and runs 
along the lines of Jliddletown to the Burlington 
Path; thence along the line of Shrewsbury to the 
line of the Province; thence along the Province Line 
to the line of the county; thence northeast along the 
said county line to where it began." 

The first reduction of the territory of Free- 
hold township was the laying off of the soutli- 
western portion to form the township of Upper 
Freehold, which was done prior to 1730. No 
I'ccord of the erection of Upjier Freehold is 
found, and therefore neither the 2>recise date 
nor tile original boundaries can be given of the 
part taken from Freehold for that purpose. 

An act passed in 1767, "to divide the town 
of Shrewsbury and annex parts thereof to 
the towns of Freehold and Upper Freehold," 
after providing for the formation of the new 
township of Dover (now in Ocean Count}') 



504 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



from the territory of Shrewsbury, proceeds as 
follows : 

" All that part of the aforesaid township of Shrews- 
bury, beginning at the mouth of Passaquanaqua 
Brook where it empties into Manasquan Kiver, and 
from thence running south to the line of the before- 
mentioned town of Dover; thence west along the 
same line to the line of that part of said township of 
Shrewsbury annexed to the town of Upper Freehold ; 
thence north eighteen degrees west to where Burling- 
ton Old Path crosseth the north branch of Tom's 
River, alias Pine Brook ; thence easterly along the 
bounds of Freehold to where it began, shall be, and 
is hereby divided off from the said town of Shrews- 
bury and annexed unto the town of Freehold, and 
forever hereafter shall be accounted part thereof." 

Further reductions of the territory of Free- 
hold were made in 1844 (act of February 
28th) by the erection of Millstone; in 1847 by 
the erection of Atlantic, and in 1848 by the 
erection of Marlboro' and ^lanalapan town- 
ships, all of which took parts of the area of 
Freehold, and to the histories of which (else- 
where given in this volume) reference may 
be had for a description of the Freehold terri- 
tory embraced in their erection. 

The settlements iirst made within the terri- 
tory of the old township of Freehold are re- 
ferred to in a letter written by Lewis ^lorris, 
of Shrewsbury (afterwards Governor of New 
Jersey), to the bishop of London iu the year 
1700, as follows: 

"Freehold was settled from Scotland (Mr. Keith 
began the first settlement there, and made a fine 
Plantation, which he afterwards sold, and went into 
Pennsylvania), and about the one-half of it are Scotch 
Presbyterians and a sober people ; the other part of 
it was settled by people (some from New England, 
some from Jsew York and some from the fore-men- 
tioned towns)' who are, generally speaking, of no 
religion. There is in this town a Quaker Meeting- 
House, but most of the Quakers who built it are come 
off with Mr. Keith; they have not fixt yet on any 
religion, but are most inclinable to the Church; and 
could Mr. Keith be persuaded to go into those coun- 
trys he would (with the blessing of God) not only 
bring to the Church the Quakers that came off with 
him in East and West Jersey, which are very numer- 
ous, but make many converts in that country." 

Oldmixon, writing in 1708, says: "There's 

' Bergen, Acqueckenonck, Elizabethtown, Newark, Wood- 
bridge, Piscataway and Pertli .Vmboy, 



a new Town in the County called Freehold, 
which has not been laid out and inhabited 
long. It does not as yet contain above forty 
Families, and as to its Out plantations, we sup- 
pose they are much the same in number witii 
the rest, and may count it about thirty thousand 
acres. . . . There are several Congrega- 
tions of Church of England Men, as at Shrews- 
bury, Amboy, Elizabeth Town and Freehold, 
whose Minister is M'' John Beak, — his income 
is £65." 

With reference to the first settlements in 
Freehold, it is to be noticed that Lewis INIor- 
ris, in the before-quoted letter to the Bishop of 
London, in 1700, mentions "Mr. Keith" as 
the pioneer settler in the township. In the 
" Records of y^ Highways in y" Countie of 
Monmouth," as laid out March 2, 1687, is 
found the laying of a road, as follows : " And 
Burlington Path beino- the King-'s Hig-hwav 
from Crosswicks Creek, by George Keitli's 
plantation, to John Hampton's, as )'e way now 
goeth, and so to ye Leonards, and thence to ye 
Falls, a.s the way goeth, but it is to be made 
more straight at the Leonard's and at some 
other places betwixt that and ye Falls." In 
other ancient writings it is written that Gcorcre 
Keith was " a Scotch Man who founded Free- 
hold, where he lived .some time. He was a 
Quaker preacher, afterwards became an Epis- 
copalian and started Episcopalian Churches in 
Freehold and Shrewsbury." 

"George Keith, subsequently of considerable note 
as a prominent Quaker,' a missionary of the English 
Church and writer, arrived in East Jersey in 1685, 
having been appointed Surveyor-Genera! of the Prov- 
ince by the Proprietors in Scotland [commissioned 
xVugust 8, 1684]. He did not enter upon his duties, 
however, till some time after his arrival. It is 
thought that his acquaintance with the Scotch Pro- 
prietors grew out of the fact that, in 1683, he was in 
charge of a school which a son of Robert Barclay at- 
tended. He ran the division line between East and 
West Jersey in 1687, but two years afterward removed 
to Pennsylvania, and accepted the superintendence of 
a school in Philadelphia, and soon became eminent, 
both as a preacher and writer, among the Quakers, 
leading to the assumption of the post of a leader and 
the creation of a party which brought about great 
divisions and bitterness in a previously united body. 

' N. J. .irch., Series 1, vol. i. pp. 517-18. 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



505 



His course was publicly denounced at a meeting of 
ministers in Philadelphia in 1(392, but their action 
had no effect upon him. He continued preaching 
and writing in support of his views till 169-t, when 
he returned to England, and soon after, although he 
retained a considerable number of adherents, he ab- 
jured the doctrines of the Quakers and became a 
zealous clergyman of the Established Church of Eng- 
land. He returned to America in 1702 as a mission- 
ary from the Society for the Propagation of the 
Oospel, receiving au allowance of £200 per annum. 
He preached in all the colonies from Massachusetts 
to North Carolina, several places in New Jersey prof- 
iting by his ministrations. Mr. Keith eventually 
returned to England, by way of Virginia, and received 
a benefice in Sussex, where he died, continuing until 
his death to write against the the doctrines of the 
Quakers." 

The place where ^Ir. Keitli preached iu the 
township of Freehold was at Topauemus, which 
is in that part of the township which was sub- 
sequently taken otf to form the township of 
Marlborough. Mr. Thomas Boels is mentioned 
as being then one of the leading men of the 
township, and the one who gave the site for the 
first Episcopal (St. Peter's) Church of Freehold. 
John Reid was also a prominent man at that 
place at that time. He was surve\or-general 
of the province aud one of the justices of 
Monmouth County (in which capacity lie pre- 
sided at the first cc)urt held at what is now 
Freehold, in 1715). He came to reside iu what 
was then the towuship of Freehold as early as 
1690. In 1693, John Johnston was a resident 
of the township and a commi.ssioner of assess- 
ments for it. In 1697, Eichard Salter M'as one 
of the inhabitants of Freehold town.ship, — the 
records showing him to have been such, and 
that iu that year he was appointed " King's 
Attorney" in the courts. In the southerly 
part of the township Cornelius Thomson was a 
resident as early as 1702, iu which year he 
l)iiilt the old stone house which is still standing 
about three miles south of Freehold town, just 
over the ^lanalapan township line, and is now 
occupied by Mrs. Achsah Hendrickson. At 
this old house (then owned and occupied by 
Cornelius Thomson) the township meetings 
were held in 1710, and it was one of the prin- 
cipal places where public meetings were held 
for tweutv years later. 



The first settlers in the old township of 
Freehold were (as mentioned by Lewis IMorris 
in tlie letter to the bishop of London, already 
(juoted) Scotchmen, and, almost as a matter of 
course, largely Presbyterian. Before the year 
1700 they had established a church of that de- 
nomination near the Middlesex County line, iu 
what was then Freehold towuship, " on the old 
way [from Burlington] to Freehold aud Am- 
boy." Of that church the Rev. Joseph Morgan 
became pastor in 1709. With reference to this 
godly man, there is found in " New Jersey Co- 
lonial Documents" (series 1, vol. iv. page 190) 
the following : 

"Letter from Joseph Morgan, of Freehold, New 
Jersey, to the Lords of Trade, — relating to some im- 
provements in modes of navigation. 

"Freehold, in Monmouth County, in y' East divi- 
sion of New Jersey, in North America. 

"Aug. 5, 1714. 
"May it please your Lordships: 

" I hope y' enclosed Work will excuse my Presump- 
tion in writing to your Lordships, & though hitherto 
I am to you unknown, y^ Work inclosed will be never 
y" Worse known, it being y' w'*" will justilj' or con- 
demn it-Self when effectually put to Tryal. 

"What I propose to do by it I know to be true, but 
what y' Benefit of it at Sea ia Calms & contrary 
Winds, I (having never crost y'" Sea) must leave to 
Marrinere to judge ; and I believe yy can give no 
good Judgment till ^-j- have tryed it. The Small cost, 
y" Lightness & little Lumber in a Ship, recommends 
y' Work to tryal. The oars keeping stroke on both 
sides of y" Ship to a hair's breadth, if y'' were an hun- 
dred of y'", & y' Same Machine serving to row w"" 
many or few Oars indifferently, & y'^ Ease of Weald- 
ing y** Oars if great enough to require an hundred 
men to carry one of y", & by consequence Oars big 
enough for a Spanish Galleon or y" Eoyal Sovereign, 
or such great Oars y' a Pair or two (if need require) 
[ Shall be Sufficient for a Ship; (together w'" y» hang- 
ing of y° Oars so y' y" rowling Sea can have no power 
on y") any other way y° only to thrust y« Ships for- 
ward, & y' y' Strength of One man will row as much 
as 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or ten men, according to y' way y' is 
taken, besides y* Addition of y' weight of y' wheel by 
it's motion & y* Swiftness of y' Oars into & in y* 
Water by y' help of Weights or Springs (all w"*" are 
infallibly so) recommend y' Tryal of it against y* 
Wind at Sea, w'"' if good may save many a Ship from 
Ship-wreck, & by weathering points, &c., many weeks 
& Months in voiages & be excellent in War." 

Then follow thirteen descriptions of the mode 
of applying the invention to ships, with pen and 



506 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



ink figures, siiowiiig the wheels, cranks, booms, 
etc., that were to aid men emj)k>yeil in moving 
the oars, which were to project from the sides of 
vessels, as "Found out in y° year 1712 [to 1714] 
by Joseph Morgan, of Freehold, in New Jersey, 
in North America." To the preceding Mr. 
INIorgan adds, in his memorial : " In this Work 
it being as easy to weald Oars for y" greatest 
Ship on y' Ocean, as for y° Smallest Boat, and 
one man's Strength equalizing so many, y° bene- 
fit must be exceeding great for ships y' lye be- 
calmed or Wind Bound, &c." On the 28th of 
August he wrote again to the Lords, inclosing 
fifteen diagrams of methods of applying his 
invention, sending this communication by way 
of Philadelphia, fearing that the eai-lier in- 
closures might have miscarried. Nothing is 
found sho\\ing that the Lords or the Queen took 
any action as to the adoption of his inventions, 
which were certainly a foreshadowing (and per- 
haps the earliest) of the present system of pro- 
pelling vessels by mechanical power. 

In 1763 the Rev. Samuel Cooke was the 
missionary in jMonmouth County of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts, his labors being in Freehold, Shrews- 
bury, Middletown and vicinity, his salary being 
sixty pounds per year. With reference to his 
labors in this region, the minutes of the society 
give the following: 

" The Rev. Mr. Cooke, the Society's Missionary in 
Monmouth County, in his letter dated November 14, 
1763, acquaints the Society that his Congregation at 
Shrewsbury j)urpose to set about enhirging (if not 
entirely rebuilding) their church, and that his Con- 
gregation of Freehold and Middletown are gradually 
improving under his care. In another letter, dated 
October 11, 1764, he writes that besides the regular 
Duties of the Mission, he officiates, as often as Oppor- 
tunity will permit, at Cranbury, Middletown Point. 
&c., where he finds the People well disposed. He 
has baptised since April, six Adults, after they had 
passed publick and very satisfactory Examination; 
five Children between six and ten years of Age, and 
thirty-one Infants." 

The pastor above referred to, left his congre- 
gation and went over to the British in the War 
of the Revolution. During that struggle Free- 
hold township was the scene of many exciting 
and memorable events, which have been men- 



tioned elsewhere in this history. Among these 
is one which has Ijecome historic, viz., the post- 
ing of Colonel Morgan and his riflemen at 
Richmond's Mill on the 28th of June, 1778, 
during the battle of Monmouth. The mill, 
now owned by Charles Van Cleaf, standing on 
one of the branches of IManasquan River, a 
short distance from Blue Ball, is on the site of 
the old Richmond ^lill of the Revolution, 
which, as late as 1825, was the property of 
David Richmond, from whom it passed to 
Aaron Shaw, and afterwards to Joseph Shumar, 
from whom it obtained its present name of 
Shumar's ]Mill. 

Gordon's " Gazetteer " of 1834 says of Free- 
hold township : " Its greatest length, northeast 
and southwest, is twenty-three miles ; greatest 
breadth, eleven miles ; area, 104,000 acres ; 
surface level, soil sand and sandy loam, not 
more than half of which is in cultivation, being 
barren or covered with jjine forest. There are, 
however, some good fai'ms which produce 
abundance of rye, corn, &c. Englishtown' and 
Freehold are villages and post-towns. Popula- 
tion in 1830, 5481. In 1832 the township 
contained about 1100 taxables, 203 house- 
holders, whose rateables did not exceed $30, 
seventy-one single men, eleven stores, eleven 
saw-mills, sixteen run of grist-mill stones, two 
fulling-mills, four carding-machines, sixteen 
tan-vats, fourteen distilleries for cider, 1245 
horses and mules and 2569 neat cattle." 

Follo\ving is a list of the chosen freeholders 
of Freehold township from 1791 to the present 
time, viz. : 

1791. William Lloyd. 
1798-1802. William Lloyd. 
1801-10. John P. Conover. 
1805. George Cook. 
18(6-07. William Lloyd. 
181 9-44. John J. Conover. 
1822-29. John J. Ely. 
1835-39. John M. Perrine. 
1840-41. Barzilla Hendriokson. 
1842. Daniel Erakin. 
1843-44. Barzilla Hendrickson. 
1844-45. William Vandorn. 
1845-48. Richard Hartshorue. 



' Manalapan, Millstone and Marlboro' were taken from 
Freehold several years after the lime here referred to. 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



607 



1846-47. John M. Perrine. 
1848-50. William Snyder. 

1849. John Newell. 

1850. Richard Harishorne. 
1851-52. Job Emmons. 
1853. John Cox. 
1854-55. William Snyder. 
1856-59. John L. Doty. 
1860-62. George W. Patterson. 
1863-65. James S. Yard. 
1866-74. Samuel Conover. 
1875. Barclay Snyder. 
1876-78. Alfred Walters. 
1879-84. John H. Buck. 

East Freehold village is located upon land 
which was owned before the Kevolution by 
William Lane. The first attempt at business 
at this place was made in 1839, when Peter 
Antonides built a blacksmith-shop, in which he 
still continues the business. A school -house 
was erected in 1842, and in 1846 a dwelling- 
house was built. Tlie place remained in this 
condition until 1870, when James S. AValliug 
erected a blacksmith-shop and dwelling. In 
1873, T. B. Halloway opened a grocery, which 
was continued for a short time only. Tiie 
place is a station on the Freehold and New 
York Railway, north of Freehold town. 

West Freehold, which was first known as 
" Mount's Corners," received that name from 
the tavern whicli was kept there by Moses 
]\Iount, who was there as early as 1800. He kept 
it till about 183<), when his grandson, John 
Mount, became the landlord and continued till 
1855. Samuel V. Hankiuson, the present 
landlord, came into possession in 1862. 

About 1812, Job Throckmorton kept a store 
where the wheelwright shop now is, a short 
distance from the Corners. Thomas E. Combs 
opened a store about 1828 at the corner, and 
kept it until he removed to Red Bank, about 
1835. In 1820 the real estate at and near the 
Corners was owned by Elisha Combs and Levi 
Solomon. About 1834, Edmund Connolly 
opened a blacksmith-shop, and was succeeded 
by William Forman. A post-otfice was estab- 
lished a few years since. 

Smithburg village, or settlement, is on the 
Mount Holly road, in the southwestern part of 
the township, at the intersection of the lines of 
Millstone, Manalapan and Freehold townships. 



A tavern is said to have been kept there before 
the Revolution. The property came into the 
possession of Charles Parker before 1800, and 
Joel Parker (since (iovernor of New Jersey), 
was born in the old house. His father, Charles 
Parker, kept it as a tavern several years, and sold 
to Asher Smith, who kept it until 1856, when he 
was succeeded by his son, William M. Smith, 
who sold it in 1863 to Lewis Chamberlain. 
The present owner is ^Morris Bobbins. A store 
was built here in I860 by William Smith, 
whicii was occupied for six years by William 
Seo-oine and four vears bv William M. Smith. 
It is now kept by R. Stricklan. 

At Siloam, otherwise known as Mclutyre's 
Corners, in Freehold townsliip, a school-house 
was built on a lot, sold to the trustees by John 
L. Hendrickson, November 6, 1860. In 1860 
a church was organized at the place and called 
Siloam. A Sunday-school was established in 
the old school-house by the Rev. John H. Bos- 
well. On July 26, 1870, the corner-stone was 
laid for a church building, fifty-two by thirty 
feet, which was completed and dedicated July 
28, 1871. The pastor for a time was Rev. A. 
J. Gregory. The society has been without a 
pastor for several years. 

Clayton's Corners was so called from the store 
established there in 1858 by Clark Clayton, wlio 
continued until 1866, when Gilbert H. Irons 
succeeded him. In 1873, Horatio Clayton, the 
present owner and occupant, began lousiness 
there. 

The Hartshorne Mill, situated about one 
and a half miles north of Freehold town, on 
Spottswood North Brook, is now owned by 
General Charles Haigiit. Richard S. Harts- 
horne built a mill on the site of tiie present one 
in 1816, and owned and occupied it until 1835, 
when William Hartshorne became the owner 
and ran it until 1856, when he sold to John 
V. Hartshorne, his son, who, in 1874, sold to 
Haight & Ellis. The latter sold to General 
Haight, the present owner. 

The poet, Philip Freneau, was a resident of 
Freeiiold township for a few of the later years 
of his life. In 1832 he lived in a house (now 
or recently owned by John Buck) about two 
miles below Freehold town. He died while on 



508 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



his return from Freehold to his home, liaving 
become bewildered and beuumbed l)y cold 

A historic point iu the township is the farm 
which, in Revolutionary times, was owned by 
the Rhea family,— often called the " Carr Farm," 
— and now owned by D. Demarest Denise, situ- 
ated a short distance southwest of Freehold 
town, on the road to Hightstown. The " middle 
ravine," which is frei[uently mentioned in ac- 
counts of the battle of IMonmouth, was on this 
farm. It was then swampy, but now, iu con- 
sequence of undcrdrainiug, not much evidence 
of swamp remains, except depression in the 
ground. This farm belonged to the Rhea family, 
who resided in Freehold,' and the tenant on the 
farm was named Carr, and hence the house 
thereon was called in the accounts of the battle 
the " C'aiT House." This farm extended nearly 
up to the village, and between it and the par- 
sonage farm was the Wikoff farm, so there were 
only two farms between the village and the 
parsonage farm, where the main battle occurred. 
The old house on the Rhea-Denise farm was 
demolished within the past two or three years, 
and iu pulling down the chimney a cannon-ball 
was found imbedded in it, about twelve feet 
from the ground. 

On the Rhea farm, iu the line of the retreat, 
is an old family burying-ground of the Rhea 
family. The oldest tombstone therein marks 
the grave of Janet Rhea, who died in 1715, 
aged ninet}'. Of course she was a Scotch em- 
igrant. Another stone in the old burial- 
ground was erected to the memory of an owner 
of the farm, Robert Rhea, who died January 
18, 1729. Another is that of Vauer Rhea, who 
died January 15, 1761, aged ninety-three years. 
Others are to the memory of David Rhea, who 
died in May, 17(31, aged sixty-four years, and 
to Jonathan Rhea, who died May 28, 1770, aged 
sixty-three yeai-s, this last-named being the latest 
date found. Several children of Robert Rhea 
were also buried Jiere. 

Among the other burial-grounds in the town- 
ship is that now used by the Baptist Society of 
Freehold. This, which is situated a short dis- 



' David Rhea, sheriff (1785), and Jonathan Rhea, clerk 
(1789)', were of this family. 



tance southwest of the town of Freehold, was 
estal)lished when the old Baptist Church was 
erected there, between the years 1762 and 1773. 
In 1822 the Rev. J. M. Challis, pastor of the 
Upper Freehold Baptist Church, speaking of a 
visit to the people in this vicinity, says: "The 
old cJiurch is almost iu ruins." It was soon 
after repaired and used until 1847, when the 
society built a church ia Freehold. Since that 
time the grounds have lieeu used for burial 
purposes only. 

The cemetery of the Reformed Church of 
Freehold, thougli located in the township out- 
side the corporation limits, is the principal ceme- 
tery of Freehold, and is more fully noticed in 
the preceding history of the town. 

About one mile from Freehold town, on the 
east side of the Englishtown road, in Freehold 
township, is the cemetery of the Roman 
Catholic "Church of St. Rose of Lima," of 
Freehold. This ground was purchased by the 
church in 1857, and was laid out and formally 
consecrated in the following year. 

Near the Catholic cemetery is a small plat of 
ground which has been in use for many years 
as a burial-place for colored people. 

The earliest mention of a school-house in this 
section is found in a record of 1705, of the lay- 
ing out of the road leading from John 
Leonard's, near Cherry-Tree Lauding, in jNIid- 
dletown, ]>y way of Tinton Falls, south- 
westerly to a post-road. The exact locality is 
not determined, but, as near as can be ascer- 
tained, it was without tlie old townsliip of 
Freehold, which then embraced several town- 
ships. Upper Freehold then being within its 
limits. The description in which the school- 
house is mentioned is as follows : " Thence by 
Job Throckmorton's; thence, as the road lyes, to 
Combes' Brook, thence as the road lyes to the 
gullev between Thomas Forman and the Scoole 
House ; thence, as the old road was laid out, to 
David Clayton's gully by his fence." 

In March, 1778, Joseph Rue advertised in 
the Nt'ic Jersey Gazette that he " will open a 
Latin School in the house of Henry Perrine, 
Freehold, April 13, 1778." No particulars of 
this school have been found. 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



509 



Across the road from the old Baptist Ceme- 
tery there was built, about 1824, a school-house, 
which remained iu use until 1850, when it was 
abandoned, most of its pupils afterwards 
attending school in Freehold village. 

In 1839, when Freeliold embraced the town- 
ships of Marlboro', Manalapan and Millstone, 
it contained twenty-six full districts and four 
parts of districts. The names and numbers 
are here given, and their localities are easily 
determined, — 



No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 

No. 
No. 

No. 

No. 



1 



— Near Garret D. Hendrickson's. 

, — Jonathan Morgan. 

, — Union Mis.siouary. 

—Union Hill. 

.—Near Abraham's Mill. 

— Session House. 

. — Englishtown. 

— Near Englishtown. 

— Manalapan. 

— West Manalapan. 

. — Sweetman's Lane. 

— Burnt Tavern. 

,— Black's Mills. 

, — Near Thomas Thompson's, dec. 

. — Freehold Corner. 

. — Corner Meeting-House. 

. — Freehold Academy. 

. — Near William Van Dorn's. 

. — Brick Church. 

. — Dutch Lane. 

. — Near Caleb Lockerson's. 

. — Georgia. 

, — New Prospect. 

— Bowman's Bridge. 

. — Near Samuel Garrison. 

. — Near Jackson's Mills. 

Parts of Districts. 
. — Near Bergen's Mill. 
. — Near Bebow's. 
. — Holmdel. 
. — Near Garrett Razo Conover. 



The present township contains eight districts, 
including Freehold town, and has twelve 
hundred and sixty-one children of school 
age. The value of school property is estimated 
at tsventy-seveu thousand five hundred dol- 
lars. The districts are as follows : 

East Freehold, No. 6. — About a mile north- 
east of Freehold an old school-house formerly 
stood which was known as " Dutch Lane School- 
House." It is thought to have been built soon 
after the Eevolution. It was used many yeai-s, 



and stood on land now owned by Holmes V. 
M. Dennis. About 1834, William Lane do- 
nated to Trustees John W. Grig-gs, John S. 
Deuise and AVilliam Campbell about three- 
quarters of an acre of land at the Corners ( now 
East Freehold). Xo school-h(.)use was erected 
upon the site until 1842, when the present edi- 
fice was erected and the old house was aban- 
doned. The district contains ninety-one pupils. 

LoKERSOx District, No. 8. — The lot was 
originally donated for the use of a school, over 
seventy-five years ago, by Jonathan Strickland, 
the elder. In 1 852 the land was leased for thirty 
years, the house torn down and the present one 
erected. The lease expired in 1882, and it was 
again leased foi* tiiirty years. The district now 
contains si.xtv-three children of school aac. 

Georgia District, No. 9. — The first school 
taught in this locality was in about 1796, in a 
small frame house not far from the present site. 
It was continued until 1808, when a house was 
erected ou the site of the present building. It 
was used until about 1842, when another was 
built which served its p'urjiose, and in 1862 
was replaced by the present building. It is 
known also as Pleasant Grove School-House. 
The disti'ict contains sixty pupils. 

SiLOAM District, No. 10. — The present 
school-house \A-as erected in 1870, and first oc- 
cupied in November of that year. A school- 
house had been standing at the place since 1850, 
the lot having been purchased from John C. 
Hendrickson in November of that year, and the 
house erected on it. It stood till 1870, when, 
(as above mentioned) it was replaced by the 
present school-house. The district contains 
ninety-three pupils. 

"West Freehold District, No. 11. — 
The school-house at West Freehold is situated 
on a lot that was donated to tru.stees about 1818 
by Ruloff Schenck. It served its purpose un- 
til the present building was built on tlie same 
site, ^^'est Freehold District, contains eighty- 
eight pupils. 

Thomson's Grove District, No. 12. — 
The school-house situated near the Mount Holly 
road, iu the southeast part of the township, is 
known as above. A school-house known as 
Thomson's was built on the hill between the 



610 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



present house auJ the Mount Holly road before 
1820. In 1824 it was moved to the site of the 
present building, repaired and u^ed until about 
1845, when it was torn down and replaced by a 
larger building, which served its purpose until 
about 1870, when the present edifice was erected 
at a cost of one thousand dollars. The district 
contains seventy-three children. It lies nearly on 
the line between Maualapan and Freehold town- 
ships, and pupils from both townships attend. 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Henry William Parker is the grandson 
of William Parker, who spent his life as a 
farmer in Freehold township. He married 
Sarah Shepherd, whose children were Jesse, 
Lewis, Hannah, Edmund, Thomas, Robert, 
Lydia, James, William and John, all of 
whom, with the exception of Edmund and 
Jesse, emigrated with their mother to the West, 
and became prosperous citizens. Edmund was 




AuMACK District, Xo. 13. — The children 
of Freehold village as early as 1815 attended 
school at a house that then stood near Cornelius 
Aumack's, in the northwest part of the town- 
ship, and which was kuown as " Aumack's." 
After a few yeai-s this school was discontinued. 
A lot was then purchased of Holmes Ellis and 
the present house built upon it. It still retains 
the name " Aumack's," and is designated as 
No. 13. The present number of pupils in the 
district is forty-eight. 



born in 1806 in Freehold township, where he 
continued the employment of his father, hav- 
ing married Sarah, daughter of John T. Smith, 
of INIanalapan township. Their children are 
John S., Henry William, James S., Alfred M., 
' John S., Rebecca Ann, Mary Elizabeth and 
Thomas, of whom James S. and Heniy William 
are the only survivors. The latter was born on 
the 28th of August, 1836, in Freehold town- 
ship, where he has, during his lifetime, been 
associated with the employment of a farmer. 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



511 



His youth was varied by labor and attendance 
at the public schools of the township, after 
which his energies were devoted to the culti- 
vatiou of the homestead, which his brother 
eventually inherited, and the subject of this j 
biography purchased a farm opposite and in 
the same township. He was, on the 8th of 
October, 1867, married to Mary E., daughter 
of James A. Reid, of Manalapan township, i 
Their children are Sarah S., Lvdia R., James 
A., John R., Clarence H., Cornelius B. and 1 



tional Bank. Mr. Parker was a trustee and 
is still a cheerful and lil^eral contributor to the 
support of the Presl>yterian Church of Freeliold, 
where his family ^^'orships. 



Horatio Ely. — The Elysiirst settled in New 
England in the seventeenth century, a branch of 
wiiicii family emigrated to New Jersey and prob- 
ably located in Mercer County. John Ely, tiie 
great-grandfather, purchased in the above county 
an extensive tract of land, upon which he placed 





y^^^ j^^ 



Nellie W. Mr. Parker, though interested, is 
not active in the field of politics. He has, 
however, held various township offices, includ- 
ing that of trustee of schools. His warm 
interest in the cause of education prompted 
him to great activity in the purchase and reor- 
ganization of the Young Ladies' Seminary of 
Freehold, of Mhich institution he is one of the 
trustees and a liljeral supporter. He was 
formerly connected with, but has now resigned 
the position of director of the Freehold Xa- 



his sons, seven in number. Josliua, who resided 
on a farm now included in both Monmouth and 
Mercer Counties, married Ann Chamlierlain, 
whose children were sons, John J. and Joseph, 
and daughters, Rebecca (Mrs. Matthew Rue) and 
Phebe (Mrs. John McKnight). John J. Ely was 
born April 7, 1778, and died January 11, 1852. 
He married Achsaii, daughter of William 
Mount, whose birth occurred February 2, 1780, 
and her death October 13, 1846. Their child- 
ren are Ann, born in 1801 ; Joshua, in 1804 ; 



612 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



William M., iu 1806; Rebecca M., in 1808; 
William M., iu 1810 ; Horatio, March 26, 
1812; Joseph, in 1814; John W., in 1818; 
Henry D., in 1820 ; Tiiomas C, in 1822 ; and 
Adaliue, iu 1825. Mr. Ely was an active and 
representative Whig in politics, luiving been 
twice elected sheriif of his county, and filled a 
term as member from his district to the State 
Leo-islature. He first located as a farmer in 
Freehold t(jwnship, and later removed to Holm- 
del, where his death occvu-red. He enjoyed a 
distinguished reputation for integrity and 
elevated moral character. Iu his religious con- 
victions he was a Baptist, and worshiped with 
that denoniinatiou during his lifetime. His 
son Horatio was Ijorn on the farm he now occu- 
pies, in the vicinity of which his earliest in- 
struction was received, after which he became a 
pupil of the Lennox Academy, at Lennox, 
Mass. Choosing the life of an agriculturalist, 
he returned to the homestead, antl for a series of 
years managed the farm for his father. On the 
3d of December, 1834, he M'as married to 
Helena, daughter of William I. Conover, of 
INIanalapan. Their children are Jane C, born 
in 1835 (Mrs. John H. Denise) ; Achsah, in 
1837, deceased ; John J., in 1839 ; Helen, iu 
1841 (Mrs. Luther R. Smith) ; Adaline, in 
1843 (Mrs. Luther Smith), deceased ; Anna R., 
in 1845 (Mi-s. L. Abrahams) ; Horatio, Jr., de- 
ceased ; Horatio, Jr., in 1849, deceased ; Wil- 
liam I., in 1851 ; Mary H., in 1853, deceased ; 
Emma C, iu 1855, deceased ; Catherine E., iu 
1857, deceased ; and Charles H., in 1859. Some 
years after his marriage Mr. Ely purchased the 
homestead farm, which he has since occupied 
and cultivated. His jjolitical sentiments have 
been always either strongly Whig or Republi- 
can. He was elected by his i^arty sheriff of the 
county in 1837, and has occasionally filled 
offices in the township. He was formerly a 
director of the Freehold Banking Company, and 
now fills the same office in connection with the 
jNIoumouth County Fire Insurance Company. 
He for some years acted as trustee of the Peddle 
Institute, located at Hightstown, N. J., and 
was formerly president of the Freehold and 
Smithburg Turnpike Company. He is also a 
member of the IMonmouth County Agricultural 



Society. A strong Baptist in his religious 
faith, he is a member of the Freehold Baptist 
Church, in which he fills the office of deacon. 



William E. Coxover. — Peter Conover was 
born February 16, 1726, and his wife, Anne, 
on the 30th of December, 1727. Their son, 
Lewis Conover, the grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this biographical sketch, who was a 
resident of Siirewsbury, and later of Free- 
hold township, was active during the Re\()lu- 
tionary War as bearer of dispatches to General 
Washington at the battle of ^Monmouth. He 
married a Miss Scott, whose children were 
El)cnezer, Joseph, Hannah (Mrs. Joseph Rue), 
Ellen (Mrs. David C. Perrine), Deborah (Mrs. 
James Patterson), Helena (Mrs. Jacob Pitten- 
ger) and Ann (Mrs. William Jackson). Eben- 
ezer Conover, a native of Monmouth County, 
resided during his lifetime upon property now 
owned by his sons in Freeliold township. He 
married Mary, daughter of Ockey Leiferson, 
whose children were four sous — William E., 
James S., Arthur L. and John B. — and four 
daughters — Sarah (Mrs. Nathan H. Jackson), 
Rachel (Mrs. A. Conrow), Jane (iNIrs. Levi S. 
Sutphen) and ^lary A. (Mrs. Aaron Sut- 
phen). William E. Conover was born on the 
14th of October, 1815, in the township of 
Freehold, and has been during his lifetime 
associated with the employment of a fiirmer. 
He received in youth a substantial education, 
and rendered invaluable assistance to his father 
in his i-outine of farming. In February, 1838, 
he was married to Charlotte C, daughter of 
Jacob Baker, of the present township of Mana- 
lapan. Their children are Charles H., of Flint, 
]\Iich. ; Ebenezer, whose death was the result 
of au accident ; Jacob B., of Manalapan town- 
ship ; James M., of Freehold township; Xa- 
thau J., a civil engineer ; Mary J. ; Elizabeth 
v., wife of John L. ]\Ianey, of Brooklyn ; 
Anne ; and Frances, wife of William Segoine. 
Mr. Conover having determined to follow the 
pursuit of agriculture, on his marriage pur- 
chased a portion of the homestead farm, made it 
his residence and still cultivates its productive 
acres. He has been, as a business man, enter- 
prising and sagacious ; as a citizen, public- 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



513 



spirited and liberal. His politics have been and 
are in harmony with the principles of the Demo- 
cracy, though aside from his connection with the 
township committee he has held no office. He 
is the leading spirit of the Freehold and How- 
ell Turnpike Company, of which he is 
secretary, treasurer, and superintendent. Mr. 
Conover is in religion identified with the 
Reformed (Dutch) Church of Freehold, in 
which he has served both as elder and 
deacon. 



Thompson, daughter of William Campbell, of 
Freehold township, their children being Wil- 
liam Henry (born March 13, 1849, who died 
February 12, 1881, leaving two children, — 
Mabel W. and William Howell), John Schenck 
(now a farmer in Oregon, whose birth occurred 
January 19, 18ol), Fred. W. (born August 
10, 1859, a student in the Medical Department 
of Columbia College, New York, who died 
May 31, 1884) and Irwin Demarest (whose 
birth occurred August 2, 1867, and his death 




<;^^ £ ^^. 



William Thompson Denise, the grandson 
of Daniel Denise and the son of John S. Denise, 
was born July 12, 1824, in Freehold township, 
and received such educational advantages as 
were obtainable at the school near his home and 
at the academy in Freehold, where he remained 
one year. Having determined to make agricul- 
ture the work of his life, he returned to the 
farm, and until twenty-four years of age assisted 
his father in its cultivation. He was, on the 
27th of January, 1848, married to Miss Jane 



March 26, 1870). Mr. Denise, in 1849, re- 
moved to and for thirteen years cultivated a 
farm in Freehold township, owned by his father, 
after which he purchased the homestead and re- 
sided upon it during the remainder of his life. 
He confined his labors to the general routine 
of farming, engaged in no new departures in 
the science of agriculture, but keeping pace 
with new inventions and mechanical devices for 
lightening the labor of the husbandman. His 
excellent judgment and enterprise at once en- 



514 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



abled him to take rank among the most suc- 
cessful farmers of the county. He was a mem- 
ber of the Moumoutli County Agricultural 
Society and of the Monmouth (Irange, Xo. 92. 
Mr. Denise was a Republican in his political 
convictions, but gave little attention to the pub- 
lic issues of the day further thau was indicated 
by the casting of his ballot. He was more 
largely identified with the moral and religious 
projects in the county, and was at various times 



mouth County, was a soldier of the Revolution- 
ary War, on whose head a price of fifty guineas 
was fixed by the British. He married a ]Miss 
Denise, whose children Avere Garret, John, Wil- 
liam, La Fayette, Daniel, Tunis, Denise, Hen- 
driok, David, Jane (Mrs. Aaron Lane), Polly 
(Mi-s. John Whitlock) and Katy (Mrs. Joseph 
Combs). Tunis, also a native of Monmouth 
County, resided in the present ]Manalapan town- 
ship, where he was a uian of mucli enterprise, 




qyyiAA^ 



both elder and deacon in the Second Reformed 
Church of Freehold, of Avhicli he was an active 
and liberal member. 

The death of Mr. Denise occurred on the 6th 
of June, 1862. 



Tunis V. Schexck. — The genealogy of the 
Schenck family, being elsewhere given in the 
sketch of Rev. Garret S. Schenck, need not be 
repeated here. 

John Schenck, a farmer and native of ^lon- 



manaoiuon at one time a farm, running a saw- 
mill and heinir enoraored in manufaeturiDp;. He 
married Ollie, daughter of David Van Derveer, 
whose children were Maria, (iSIrs. Gilbert 
Lane), Katy (Mrs. Peter Smock), Sarah (Mrs. 
William Robinson), Jane (Mrs. Samuel 
Craig), David, Ruloff and Tunis V., of whom 
but two survive. Tunis V., the youngest of 
this number and the subject of this biographi- 
cal sketch, was born on the 20th of February, 
1807, in IMarlboro', then Freehold township, 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP 



515 



and spent his boyhood at the home of his ma- 
ternal grandfather, David Van Derveer, remov- 
ing with liim, at tlie age of twelve years, to his 
residence, in the township of Fi-eehold. His 
education was derived from schools near his 
home, one at Lawrenceville, X. J., after which 
he acquired a knowledge of farming. Being 
more fortunate than most lads, he, at the age of 
seventeen, inherited the property now owned by 
him, and for many years cultivated the land; but 
as advancing years rendered hard labor irksome, ' 



his party, nor sought the rewards of office, his 
own interests having engaged all his time and 
attention. His religious association has been 
with the Reformed (Dutch) Church of Freehold. 
The death of Mrs. Schenck occurred July 12, 
1848. 



Henry Wikoff, now one of the oldest citi- 
zens, and one of the most substantial farmers of 
Freehold township, in which he has had his resi- 
dence for three-quarters of a century, is a lineal 




^ ^yt^-tX^ 



rented the farm, reserving an interest in the an- 
nual revenue from the crops. Mr. Schenck was, 
on the 31st of May, 1827, married to Mary Ann, 
daughter of Richard S. Hartshorne, of the .same 
township and county. The children of this 
marriage are Elizabeth A., Susannali U. (de- 
ceased), M. Jane, Hannah H., (Mrs. John W. 
H. Conover), Lucy W. and Eleanor (:\rre. D. 
Arthur Van Derveer). A Democrat in his polit- 
ical predilections, Mr. Schenck has never been 
actively identified with the working phalanx of 



descendant of Cornelius WikofF (or Wykoff), 
who came from Holland in the year 1636, on the 
ship " King David " (Captain D. DeVries, 
master), and settled on Long Island, where he 
died, and where his sou, Peter Claussen Wikoff, 
lies buried under the pulpit of the Reformed 
Church at Flatlands, L. I. His descendants re- 
moved from Long Island to Monmouth County, 
N. J. Among them, four or five generations 
down from Cornelius Wikoff, the first ancestor 
in America, was Garret Wikoff, whose place of 



516 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



residence was in what is now the township of 
Marlborough, a little west of Marlborough vil- 
lage. Two of his sons, Peter and Samuel 
Wikoff, settled on farms near Imlaystown. 
Their half-brother, Auke Wikoff, was a lieuten- 
ant-colonel in the army of General Washington, 
and Peter Wikoff was one of the guides to the 
commander-in-chief at the battle of Monmouth. 
Samuel, brother of Peter, was the father of 
Jacob Wikoff, whose son Henry is the particu- 
lar subject of this biography. 



Jacob Wikoff, second son of Samuel and Ger- 
trude, was born on his father's farm, near Im- 
laystown, March 29, 1765. His wife was Alice 
Green (daughter of William and Ann Green), 
who was born December 15, 1772. The chil- 
dren of Jacob and Alice Wikoff were William, 
Ann, Samuel, Henry, Garret, Jacob, Gertrude, 
John,. Joshua Bennett, and Ezekiel. The eldest 
son, William, lived in Middletown township, 
where he died about 1870, and where his widow 
is still living, eighty-five years old. The sec- 




The children of Samuel and Gertrude Wikoff, 
were six in number, viz., — Garret (who lived 
and died at Griggstown, Somerset County, 
N. J.), Jacob (father of Henry), Samuel (who 
removed from Upper Freehold to Ohio, where 
he died), Olive (who married John Hendrick- 
son, of Upper Freehold), Catharine (who mar- 
ried William Croxson, and lived near Allen- 
town) and ]\Iary (who married Thomas Saxton, 
who lived in Upper Freehold township, near 
New Egypt). 



ond son, Samuel, lived and died on his father's 
homestead farm in Freehold township. Grar- 
ret, now eighty years of age, is living near 
Galesburg, Knox County, 111. ; Jacob died at 
his father's home aged about eighteen years ; John 
is now living near Galesburg, 111., seventy-eight 
years of age ; Joshua Bennett Wikoff nevei- 
married, and died at the Wikoff homestead about 
1855 ; Ezekiel removed to Knox County, 111., 
where he died, and where his widow and chil- 
dren still reside ; Ann married Daniel Denise, 



FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



517 



of Freehold township, and died in 1 831 ; Ger- 
trude was horn April 9, 1809, married John 
Hallowell, December 20, 1838, and died June 7, 
1841. 

Henry WikoiF, son of Jacob and Alice (Green) 
Wikoff, was boru in Upper Freehold township, 
August 25, 1802. In 1810 he removed with 
his parents to a farm which his father had pur- 
chased in Freehold township, about two miles 
from the court-house, on the old Colt's Neck 
road. On this homestead farm, where his par- 
ents passed the remainder of their lives, Henry 
Wikoff lived for more than twenty years. On 
the 13th of January, 1831, he was married to 
Emaline West, and then settled on a farm of 
one hundred and thirty acres on the Colt's Neck 
road, one mile east of Freehold, which he had 
purchased in 1830, and which has now been his 
home for fifty-four years. After a married life 
of forty-one years, his wife died at their home, 
April 10, 1872. She was a daughter of Elisha 
and Rachel West, born August 20, 1810, on her 
father's farm, near Long Branch, where she re- 
sided until her marriage. The farm is now 
owned by John Hoey. 

The children of Henry and Emaline (West) 
Wikoff have been William Henry (born July 
21, 1833, and now living in the town of Free- 
hold), John W. (born May 23, 1835, and died 
September 17, 1838), Jacob S. (born December 
12, 1837, and died August 27, 1838) and 
Charles Edward Wikoif (born November 19, 
1843, and now living on the homestead farm of 
his father). 

Henry Wikoff has been from early manhood 
a member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, of 
Freehold, and Mrs. Wikoff was also a member 
of the same church until her death. When 
they first settled on their farm, in 1831, they 
occupied a small house, which is a part of Mr. 
Wikoff's present residence, it having been sub- 
sequently enlarged and remodeled. Besides this 
farm of one hundred and thirty acres, Mr. Wi- 
koff now owns the two hundred acre farm which 
was his father's homestead, situated about two 
miles from Freehold. He has always been a 
farmer, and has followed no other vocation. 
Politically, he has always opposed the Demo- 
cratic party, never failing to vote the Whig or 



Republican ticket. He has, however, never 
sought or wished for public position, and has 
held none, except such township offices as no 
good citizen feels justified in declining when 
called on to serve in them. 

William Henry Wikoff, eldest son of Henry 
and Emaline Wikoff, was married, in December, 
1857, to Margaretta, daughter of Garret P. Con- 
over, of iSIatawan. They are both members of 
the Presbyterian Church of the town of Free- 
hold, which is their place of residence. Their 
children are two sons, Henry and Frederick. 

Charles Edward, youngest son of Henry Wi- 
koff and his wife, Emaline West, was married, 
November 29, 1864, to Sarah Anne Forman, 
daughter of Richard Throckmorton Forman, 
and granddaughter of the celebrated Dr. Sam- 
uel Forman, on whose estate, near Freehold, she 
was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Charles 
E. Wikoff are members of the Presbyterian 
Church of Freehold. They have had two chil- 
dren, — Frank Forman Wikoff (born September 
28, 1865, and now living with his parents at the 
homestead) and George Henry Wikoff (born 
September 26, 1877, and died January 1, 1880). 



Sidney Thompson. — Joseph Thompson, 
the grandfather of Sidney Thompson, who 
was of English descent, and born December 
11, 1743, was a pi-osperous farmer in the 
present township of Manalapan, Monmouth 
County. He married Sai'ah, daughter of 
Peter and Leah Conover, who was born 
December 22, 1744, and had children, — 
Thomas, whose birth occurred August 13, 1767; 
Peter, born April 12, 1769 ; Elias, July 11, 
1771 ; Joseph, Noveml)er 27, 1774 ; John, 
September 29, 1776 ; William I., March 19, 
1779; Lewis, January 31, 1783; Cornelius, 
August 3, 1785 ; and Charles, July 18, 1788. 
William I. Thompson married Margaret, 
daughter of Denise Denise, who was born 
March 24, 1775. Their children are Catha- 
rine, born April 1, 1800, married to John S. 
Denise ; Denise, born September 23, 1802 ; 
Joseph C, October 23, 1804 ; Cornelia, October 
3, 1806, married to David Buck ; Sidney, De- 
cember 7, 1808 ; William, March 6, 1816. The 
death of William I. Thompson occurred March 



518 



HISTORF OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



25, 1843, and that of wife July 5, 1856. Sid- 
ney, tlieir third sou, was born in Upper Free- 
hold township, Monmouth County, and received 
his education first at the schools of the neigh- 
borho(.)d, and later at Princeton, where he 
devoted three years to study, but, returning in 
feeble health, engaged for tlie time in no active 
employment. In 18-43, on his recovery, he 
assisted in the cultivation of his father's farm^ 
and in 1846 purchased his present home in 
Freeliold township, where he has since been 



formerly an Old Line Whig in politics, and on 
the organization of the Republican party found 
its platform in accord with his opinions. 
He has refused office, though for ten years 
justice of the jjcace of his township, during 
which period he amicably settled all disputes 
between his townsmen and never encouraged 
litigation. He was formerly connected by mem- 
bership with the old Tennent Church, but now 
worships at the Reformed Church of Freehold, 
and has been a member of its consistory. 




tZT^^^i^eA^ ykiH^i^'f^ 



O'-'^^T^ 



devoted to the labor of an agriculturist. He 
was married, on the 10th of December, 1856, to 
Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth 
Hendrickson, of Upper Freehold township, 
their children being Mary Ellen, born June 24, 
1858, married to J. VannestDu Bois, of Manal- 
apan township ; William Denise, born No- 
vember 11, 1859, and residing with his father; 
and Eliza H., born December 8, 1860, who 
died August 10, 1861. Mr. Thompson was 



CHAPTER XVII. 

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 

MiDDi.ETOWN is one of the three original town- 
ships of Monmouth County, the others being 
Shrewsbury and Freehold. The first settle- 
ments in the county were made within the orig- 
inal limits of Middletown, by five families (two 
of which were those of John Bowne and Rich- 
ard Stout), who came in the year 1664, about 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



519 



one year before the first settlements were made iu 
Shrewsbury, and nearly twenty years before the 
township of Freehold received its first settlers. 
During all that period IMiddletown and Shrews- 
bury were called the " Two Towns of Xavesink." 
Of the early settlements made iu these two 
townships under authority of the ^Monmouth 
patent, granted by Governor Richard Nicolls, 
an extended account lias already been given in 
tlie chapter on Early Settlements and Land 
Titles. 

The original division of Monmouth Countv 
into townships was made by an act ' passed in 

1 Prior to this (in 1675) the boundaries of Middletown 
had been vaguely described and (as was then supposed) 
established; but this was done merely by a "town-meet- 
ing" held under authority of the "Moumouth I'atent," an 
authority which was afterwards entirely ignored and dis- 
avowed by the proprietary government of New Jersey. The 
record of this action in the matter of establishing the 
boundaries of Middletown, is here given verbatim : 

"June the .29. KuS 
" At alegall towne meting it was Agreed upon the maior 
part then present that Jonathan Holmes John Throgmorton 
John willson John Smith Thomas whigtloc them or the 
maior part of them are chosen for to goe in to the woods 
about the 30th of this instant for to see and take a vew 
and consider were aboutes it will be most couveant for the 
Southwest and sutherd parts of midelltowne boundes 
should Runn and to give there Result 

"Testis Richard Hartshorne Towne clarke." 

"July the .10th. 1075 
"At a legall towne meting it was by the maior part then 
present demanded of Jonathan Holmes John Throgmorton 
John Smith John wilson Thomas whitloc there Result con- 
cerning the southwest and southerd parts of midelltowne 
bowndes and there Result was as followeth : viz from the 
southerdmost part of Richard Hartshorne meadow which 
was formerly water walles which lyes at the hed almost 
of wakeake creeke begining at an oke tree marked by the 
creek side ovre aganest the above sade medow and soe 
along upon a straight line till you com to an oke tree that 
is marked standes northwest side of Seeperamek [?] from 
thence upon a straight line to an oke tree that is marked 
that standes on the southwest side of memtokeameck that 
is neare the hed of the littell hop river and soe along the 
river till you come to a chesnut tree marked and from 
thence to the hed of a swampe that lyes betwene jumping 
Creeke swampe and the nut swampe and soe along the Run 
in that swamp in to the new sand Rear 

" Testis Richard Hartshorne Towne Clarke." 

A town-meeting, held January 1, 1677, made some 
change in the bounds thus loosely settled by the agreement 
of 1675. The latter meeting resolved that "whereas by 
that agreement it was concluded that the boundes should 



1693, approved by Governor Andrew Hamil- 
ton on the 31st of October in that year. The 
part of that act which has reference to Middle- 
town is as follows: "In the County of Mon- 
mouth the township of Middletown includes all 
the land from the mouth of Neversink's River, 
and runs up .-<aid River and Swimming River 
and Saw-mill Brook to Burlington Path ; tlieuce 
over to the upper end of AVilliam Lawrence's 
land on Hop River; thence up the run which 
divides said Lawrence and John Johnston, to 
the head thereof; thence to the lower end of Rich- 
ard Salter's land on Hop Brook ; thence up the 
said brook to the head thereof; thence to the meet- 
ing of Gravel and Watson's Brooks ; thence to the 
head of Matawan ; thence to the liead of Gheese- 
quakes Creek ; thence down stiid Creek to the 
Biiy, and thence roimd along the shore to where 
it began." 

The Ijoundaries above described included not 
only the territory now embraced in Middletown, 
but also all that of the present townships of 
Raritau, Holmdel and INIatawan, and a part of 
that of Atlantic township, erected in 1847. The 
history of that township gives the description 
of its boundaries, including the territory taken 
from Middletown to form it. In 1848 tlie 
northwe.stern part of the territory of Middle- 
town was taken to form the township of Rari- 
tan, which, at its erection, included also all that 
is now included in Holmdel and Matawan. The 
description of the territory then taken from 
Middletown (reducing it to its present limits) 
is given in the history of Raritan township. 
The present boundaries of Middletown township 
are: On the north, Sandy Hook Bay; on the 
east, the Atlantic Ocean," Navesink River and 
Shrewsbury township; on the south, Navesink 
River and the townships of Ocean,* Shrews- 
bury and Atlantic ; on the west, Sandy Hook 
Bay" and the townships of Holmdel and Rari- 

run from the litell hop river along the said rever to a 
chesnuttree and now by the maior vote concluded to 
runne from the chesnut tree by the hopriver along the 
said hop river in to the swimming Rever and soe in to the 
new said Rever in to the mane ocean. 

" Testis Richard Hartshorne town clarke." 
'^The boundaries given above — viz. : east by the Atlantic 
Ocean, south by Ocean township and west by Sandy Hook 
Bay — have reference to the peninsula of Sandy Hook. 



520 



HISTORY OF MONxMOUTH COUNTY, NEAV JERSEY. 



tan. The principal stream of the township is 
Navesiuk River, whicli flows into Sandy Hook 
Bay. The upper portion of it is called Swim- 
ming River, and still higher up it becomes Hop 
Brook. Into this stream several small tribu- 
taries flow southwardly through the township. 
There are also several small streams flowing 
from the north part of the township into Sandy 
Hook Bay. Two railway line.s jmss through 
the township: viz., theNew Jersey Southern, of 
which the northern terminus is at Port Mon- 
mouth (Shoal Harbor), on Sandy Hook Bay ; 
and the New York and Long Branch Railroad, 
which crosses the township in a southeasterly 
direction from its west line (against Holmdel) 
to the Navesink River, which it crosses at Red 
Bank. The sea-shore line from Long Branch 
to Sandy Hook also has its northern terminus 
within the township jurisdiction of INIiddletown. 
The population of this township by the United 
States census of 1880 was 5059. 

The first election of freeholders in Middle- 
town was held in IMarcli, 1710, at the house of 
M. Depuy. The Board of Freeholders was 
created by au act, passed in that year, requiring 
the building and repairing of court-houses and 
jails in the several counties, and providing for 
the raising of moneys for that purpose. The 
act authorized the inhabitants of each town and 
precinct to assemlile on the second Tuesday of 
March, yearly, and choose two freeholders for 
the ensuing year ; which said freeholders, 
together with all the justices of the peace of each 
county, or any three of them (one whereof being 
of the quorum), should meet together and ap- 
point assessors and collectors, to assess the in- 
habitants and collect the taxes. In case any 
town or precinct should neglect to elect free- 
holders, the justices were authorized to appoint 
them. The board thus constituted continued to 
have the care and charge of the ooiuity l)usiness 
until the year 1798, when an act was passed 
incorporating the Board of Freeholders to act 
alone and independent of the justices, and with 

■which, though in possession of the United States govern- 
ment, is still, for township purposes, a part of Middletown. 
The southern boundary of this territory is a line across 
the neck, three-fourths of a mile below the Highland Sta- 
tion, at the drawbridge across the Xavesink Hivcr. 



the powers and functions which that board has 
since exercised. 

Following is a list of chosen freeholders of 
Middletown township from the time when 
that body became an independent board to the 
present, viz. : 

1799-1804. Tobias Polhemus. 
1800-12. John Stillwell. 
1805-10. Garret Stillwell. 
1827-42. Daniel Holmes. 
1832^2. Edmund Burrowa. 
1843-44. Hendrick Wikoff. 
1843-47. William W. Bennett. 
1845-47. James Patterson. 
1848. Richard A. Leonard. 

1848. William Griggs. 
1849-55. James Patterson. 

1849. John Hopping. 
18.50. William Griggs. 
1856. Daniel Herbert. 
1857-59. Elias W. Conover. 

1860. Joseph G. Mount. 

1861. Andrew Brower. 

1862. Joseph Conover. 

1863. Andrew Brower. 
1864-69. William B. Hendricksoa 
1870-72. Samuel H. Patterson. 
1873. Thomas S. Field. 
1874-75. William T. Conover. 
1876. John West. 

1877-78. George W. Crawford. 
1879-80. Derrick G. Campbell, 
1881-84. William H. Thompson. 

Old Middletown village, situated in the west- 
ern part of the township, is 'the point where 
the first settlements were made within its pres- 
ent limits by the Monmouth patentees and their 
associates, as has already been mentioned some- 
what in detail elsewhere in this history. 

The Monmouth patent was granted by Gov- 
ernor Richard Nicolls in 1665, and some of the 
settlers had even a few months before that time 
located on some of its lands, under an Indian 
purchase, but it was not until 1677 that Mid- 
dletown was laid out as a village, as is shown 
by the original records of the township which 
are now in possession of Edward Hartshorne) 
and from which the following extracts referring 
to the laying out and to the " out lots" adja- 
cent, are made, viz. : 

" December 30, 1667.— The lotts of Middletown all 
layd out being numbered thirty-six : begining at the 
west end upon the south side with number one and 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



521 



ending at the west end north side with number one 
and ending at the west end north side with no. thirty- 
six. . . . The south side 



John Rucman : Nu 
Edward Tartte . . 
John Wilson . . . 
Walter Wall. . 
John Smith . . . 
Richard Stoutt . . 
Richard Gibbins . 
Thomas Cox . . . 
Jonathan Hulmes 
George Mount . . 
William Chesmau 
Anthony Page . . 
Samuel Holeman . 
William Laiton . 
William Corapton 
James Grover . . 
Steven Arnold . . 
Samuell Spicer. . 
John Stout . . . 
Obadiah Hulmes . 
Beniamen Deuell . 



m: 1 
2 
3 

4 



. S 
. 9 
. 10 
. 11 
. 12 
. 13 
. 14 
. 15- 
. 1(5 
. 17 
. 18 
.19 
. 20 
. 21 



Job Throckmorton . . 22 
James Ashton .... 23 
John Throckmorton . 24 
William Goulding . . 25 
William Reape . . . .26 
Edward Smith .... 27 

John Bowne 28 

Beniamen Burden . . 29 
Samuell Spicer. . . . 30 
William Lawrence . . 31 
Danell Estall .... 32 
Robert Jones .... 33 
Thomas Whitlock . . 34 
Richard Sadler .... 35 
James Grover .... 36 



Ded Mc 
Bot 



[Torn off] 



" December 31, 1667.— It is ordered and Agreed 
unto that James Grover shall take a survay of the 
land that is to bee laid outt and to lay it out in to 
lotts: and likewise Richard Stoutt and James Ashton 
are chosen to asist him in doing of the same. 

" The lotts that are in the Poplar feild and mount- 
any feild are numbered as followith begiuiug at the 
west end upon the south side . . . 



Richard Sadler . 
William Reape . 
John Rucman . . 
Thomas Whitlocke 
John Stoutt . . . 
Obadiah Hulmes . 
Jonathan Hulmes 
James Ashton . . 
John Bowne . . 
Beniamen Deuell 
Edward Smith . . 
Richard Stoutt . 
Samuell Holeman 
William Compton 
James Grover, senio 
Samuell Spicer 
Richard Gibbins 
John Throckmorton 
George Mount . . 
John Wilson . . 
Thomas Cocks . . 
William Chesman 
Beniamen Burden 
Samuell Spicer . 
James (irover, junior 



. 9 

. 10 

, 11 

, 12 

, 13 

14- 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 



Steven Arnold .... 26 
William Golding ... 27 
William Lawrence . . 28 
Daniel Estall .... 29 
These lots have a private 
cartway : runs thereon 
from the west end to the 
east end: wch way is two 
rods: broad: running 
east : northeast nearest : 
the lotts turning from the 
said way south and by 
east : and one the north 
side: north by west : other 
two lotts lie at the south- 
east corner of the poplar 
fteild : and other 5 lotts : 
are by choncsissupus Run. 
William Laiton ... 30 
Anthony Page .... 31 
Walter " Wall .... 32 

John Smith 33 

Edward Tartt .... 34 
Robert Jones .... 35 
Job Throckmorton . . 36 



" January 6th, 1667.'— At a court holden in the towne 
of Middleton consisting of Richard Gibbins : Consta- 
ble: William Lawrence Jonathan Hulmes: overseers 
It is ordered That all fences shall bee made sufficient 
by the loth of April next upj)on the penalty of 6 
pence a rod that shall bee found defective : it is like- 
wise to bee understood that .all fences shall be foure 
ffoot and 3 inches high at the least. . . It is like- 
wise ordered That noe person whatsoever shall fell 
timber uppon any man's land that is laid out yet 
every man that hath flalln any timber that is in any 
man's lott hath liberty to take it away in three 
months Ordered That if any one shall ffell timber 
upjjon the common and shall lett it alye three monts 
it shall bee lawfull ffor any one to make use of it ; 
provided it bee neither Hewed nor cloven Overseers 
for the fences John Wilson and Thomas Cocks are 
chosen overseers of the fence for this yeare 

" Testis James Grover Town Gierke." 
" December : 16 : 1668 This agreement made with the 
overseers of this towne and James Grover, concerning 
the laing out of the meadows: that is: that the sd 
James is to lay all the meadows out into lotts bee- 
tweene this and the first of June next, and the said 
James Grover is to have three sufficient men to goe 
along with him : till the worke bee fully done, and 
James Grover is to have for every acre that is layd 
out, one pound of good merchantable blade tobacco: 
it is to bee understood that the meadows that are to bee 
laid out are onely such that the towne shall thinkeffitt. 
• . . Signed by James Grover." 

"December 25:1669 In a legall towne meeting: 
it was ordered by the maior vote that the lotte in the 
poplar feild belonging to Thomas Cox shall bee made 
good with 6 acres of good upland wch addition was 
made by the Judgement of William Lawrence and 
Steven Arnold and this to bee made before any other 
land be laid out. 

"The whole quantity of upland of the lott : num- 
ber : 16 : was this day by the present Poscsor : viz : 
James Grover: Senior: surrendred to the towne: 
the towne upon the surrender at the request of the 
said James did grant the full quantity of upland of a 
towne lott to lye one the southward side of the mill 
streame begining at the southward end of the mill 
damme and soe running 40 Rods up the hill : and soe 
(in length) towards the river (to make up the whole 
complement of upland, 

" Testis Edw Tartt, Town Clearke." 

" April ith 1670 The Constable and Overseers with 
the assistance of the towne Deputies Considering a 
nessesity of the recording of lands to prevent future 
disturbance wch may arise by meanes of land markes 
beeing gone or defaced doe hereby order : that an ex- 



' Old style is here used. The- real date, according to 
the present style, should be January 6. 1668. 



522 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



act record shall bee taken of every particular parcell 
of land belonging to the inhabitants of this towne by 
the Towne clearke : both the length : breadth : and 
number of acres : the forme and manner how it lies 
as exactly as may bee : and the same to bee recorded: 
and the clearke to receive eight pence for every such 
piece of land soe recorded." 

" April 9th 1(570 In a legall towne meeting it was 
this day ordered and agreed upon : that the way wch 
was formerly layd out by James Grover thorow the 
mountany feild and Poplar ffeild shall bee enlarged 
with the allowance of two pole of thebredth of every 
mans lott flronting the said high way to make the sayd 
way full six pole in breadth: and it is likewise ordered 
that James Ashton and Jonathan Hulmes shall bee 
Imployed to treat with John bowne about changing 
of the lott number (14) for the like enlarment." 

"Testis: Edw : Tartt: Town Clearke." 

" Enlargement of the way wch was the length of 
some lots viz: number: 12: and number : 13: these 
above said to Joyne with James Grover for the doing 
of the same. 

" It was likewise ordered and agreed upon : that for 
as much as the lott in the poplar feild (number 23) 
considering the badnes of it being throwne up to make 
good some other lotts : wch said lott did formerly be- 
long to Beniamin Burden : in consideration of wch 
liberty was this day granted to the said Beniamin to 
take up the full quantity of 9 acres of upland any 
where on the common : with in the town shipp pro- 
vided that the said Beniamin takes it up without the 
limitts of the Town : beyond the utmost extent of a 

160 Rods. ^, , „ 

" Testis Edw Tartt Town Clearke." 



"flfebruary: 11: 1671.— In a legall towne meeting : 
Ordered The whole quantity of the upland of the lott 
number : 14 : was this day by the present possessor 
Viz: John Browne: surrendred to the towne: at the 
second division of land lying about the poplar feild : 
the towne : upon the surrender (at the request of the 
said John :) did grant to the said John : Bowne the 
lott number (15 :) of the same division of land : for- 
merly surrendred to the towne by James Grover sen- 

" Testis Edw: Tartt." 

Six of the ISIiddletown lots, which were laid 
out as mentioned in the proceeding, and which, 
in 1699, were owned by Kichard Hartshorne, 
are now embraced in the farm of Dr. Edward 
Taylor. They were designated as home lots, 
and contained, respectively, sixteen, ten, thirty- 
two, sixteen, twenty and sixteen acres, and all 
were described as bounded on the north by the 
highway. The original owners of them were 
Samuel Spicer, Jonathan Holmes, AVilliam 



Cheeseman, William Bowne, Stephen Arnold 
and William Laiton. Fifty acres of other land 
adjoining James Grover were also owned by him 
at that time on that side of the King's high- 
way. These lots came to Richard Hartshorne, 
and were sold by him, December 4, 1699, to 
William Wilkins. One of the sixteen-acre lots 
contained the reservation of six rods of ground 
in the northeast corner for a burying-place. 

In the year 1G70, and for some time after- 
wards, during the continuance of the l)loady 
Indian atrocities in New England, which cul- 
minatetl in the general hostilities known as 
King Philip's War, and ended only with the 
death of that savage chieftain, the alarm conse- 
quent upon those hostilities spread through 
New York and New Jersey, and was so great 
in Monmouth and Middlesex Counties that 
forts or block-houses were built at several points 
for shelter and defense against savage attacks, 
the fear of which for a time kept the inhabitants 
in constant dread and alarm,' though it was 
afterwards found that tliere had never been any 
occasion for such fears, and that the Indians in 
this region had never entertained any hostile 
intentions towards their white neighbors. 

One of these block-houses was built in ^lid- 
dletown village, on the site of the present Episco- 
pal Church. This block-house was used as a 
jail after the alarm was over. The first jail of 



iThe following, from the old Middlelown record, shows 

something of the alarm which was felt at that time as to 

danger from Indians ; 

"September: 17:1670. 

" The Constable and Overseers with the assistance of the 
Towne Deputies for the present preservation and safe- 
guard of the Towne doe hereby order and Enact that if 
any person or ■persons shall sell or trade any kind of 
amunition to any Indian or Indians within the liberties of 
this towne : he or they soe doing shall be liable to pay 
the forfeiture of five pounds for every such defalt : wch 
(after due process made) shall be forthwith levied upon his 
estate : the one halfe to the informer the other halfe to bee 
disposed of at the discretion of the court : and this order 
to stand forcible till further order. 

"Testis Edward Tartt, Town Clearke. 
" Ordered 
" upon Rumors and reports of the Indians Rising in armes : 
that a watch shall be kept in the towne consisting of six 
men in one night : and for every defect of not watching 
by any in the list shall forfeit ten shillings." The night 
watch was continued in Middletown during the cjntinu- 
ance of the Indian alarm. 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



523 



the county was built on the same site in 1684 
and used until 1715. Four negroes — Jeremy, 
Tom, Mingo and Ctesar — were tried for murder, 
and executed at this place. Mingo was con- 
victed May 29, 1700, and sentenced " to be 
hung by the neck at the jail in INIiddletown ; " 
Tom was executed in 1698 ; Jeremy, for the 
murder of Lewis ^lorris of Passage Point (now 
Black Point, in Shrewsbury), was hung in 
1696 ; and Ctesar was hung in 1691 for the 
murder of Mary Wright. 

It is said that these negroes were hung in 
the wide road in front of the jail on the old 
block-house site, in Middletown. There is 
also a tradition that the negro executions took 
place on the high hill north of the village, a 
little distance west of the present residence of 
Charles I. Heudrickson, and on land now owned 
by Mrs. Dr. Edward Taylor. "Which of these 
statements is correct cannot now be determined. 
The sentences of two of the negro culprits were 
that the right hand should be cut off and burned 
before them ; they were then to be hung until 
dead, and their bodies burned to ashes. 

Soon after the settlement of Middletown 
measures were taken to build a grist-mill. 
Concerning the site of the mill built at that time 
even tradition is silent ; and nothing is known 
as to its location, but it is supposed to have 
stood on the stream that passes a little to the 
south of the King's highway, and near the 
toll-house. If it was located there, the stream 
must have had a much greater volume of water 
at that time than at present. Reference to the 
building of this mill is found in the old town- 
ship records, as follows : 

" Aprill: 21 : 1668 it is mutually agreed by the 
maior partt of the inhabitants this day assembled to 
gether in a legall towne meeting : that the ffull and 
whole agitation about a mill building bee wholly 
refferred to Eichard Gibbins : Richard Stoutt : Wil- 
liam Lawrence and Jonathan Hulmes wholly to agi- 
tate with Robert Jones : concerning giving and taking 
land as all, soe in disposing the townes former grant 
to the said Jones as tirst 3 hundred gilders in Seawan : 
2d the drawing of the whole mass of timber pertain- 
ing to his house and mill : 3d and the use of a towne 
share of land keeping his mill in repaier for the 
townes use : 4th and ten acres of upland adioyning 
to the mill 5th : and Helpe to raise the worke when 
it is framed : 6th and the twelfe bushell tolle: all wch 



is granted to the above sayd Jones in consideration of 
his building a mill and keeping her in repayre for the 
townes use at the place commonly called and knowne 
by the natives of the countrey Choncis sepus. . . , 
"Testis Edward Tartt deputed clerke for that pres- 
ent." 

"Aprill 28 In a legall towne meeting the maior part 
beeing present the 4 men viz : Richard Gibbins : 
Richard Stoutt: William Lawrence and Jonathan 
Hulmes (to whom the full and whole agitation in the 
townes be halfe was comitted to agitate with Robert 
Jones a bout a mill building this day reported to the 
towne what they had acted with the said Jones the 
towne upon this report : (owning their actings) did 
unanimously agree: and further ordered: That all 
such engagements as have passed under their handa 
in the towne be halfe to the said Jones shall bee made 
good by the whole towne. 
"Testis Edw: Tartt deputed clerk for that present." 

" July 22 1668 The lott number 33 with all the appur- 
tenances and priviledges thereunto belonging : to- 
gether with ten acres of upland adjacent to the mill: 
both wch are given and granted unto Robert Jones, 
of New Yorke his heires successors or assignes for 
ever : together with the water streame whereon the 
mill shall liee sett: for him the said Jones: to have 
and to hold as his ffree owne land of inheritance: 
with all and singular priviledges as any of this towne 
can or may Inioy by any purchase : gift : or grant 
whatsoever : allwaies provided : that the abovesaid 
Robert Jones his heires : successors: or assignes doe 
build : and maintaine a good sufficient mill : and that 
the above said Jones his heires : successors : or as- 
signes is hereby engaged uott to sell : or give any 
partt or parsell of the above said land rt'rom the mill 
but that it bee kept intire to it. . . . 

'Testis James Grover Towne Clerk." 

The "Towne Mill" was built by Robert 
Jones. In December, 1669, it was in possession 
of James Grover, as is shown by the following 
from the township record : 

" December : 25 : 1669 In a legall towne meeting: 
the maior partt beeing present : This day : James Gro- 
ver requested of the [town] an inlargement of land 
to the mill promising to performe the conditions ffol- 
lowing 

" Viz : 1 : to manntaine the mill in good repaire to 
grind the corne for the inhabitants of middletou .... 

" 2 : to grinde the townes corne before any from 
other townes if demanded 

" 3 : to grinde the townes corne for the twelfe bush- 
ell : tolle : 

" 4th : to make as good meale for the townes people 
as is usually made within this province or within the 
goverment of New Yorke : provided the corne bee in 



524 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



good condition to make good meale and having water 
sufficient: 

" 5th to keepe the enlargement of lands : granted : 
and nott to dispose of ony partt ; or jmrsell .... 

" 6th to bee bound both him : and his heirea for the 
perfourmance of the above named conditions In con- 
sideration of the perfourmance of the above sd condi- 
tions the use of 30 acres of upland was by the maior 
vote : (onely Jonathan Hulmes dissenting) granted to 
the present posesor of the mill : (James Grover) run- 
ning 70 rods along by the Eunne and soe in bredth 
up into the woods : toghether with the quantity of two 
acres of low ground lying upon the northward side of 
the mill pond 

" Testis : Edw : Tartt Town Clearke." 

By reference to the account of " lotts laid out," 
it will be seen that John Rucman (Ruckman) 
had No. 1 of " Home Lotts " and Lot No. 
3 of the " out lots " or " Poplar field lots." 
The lots are now occupied by Edwin Beekman 
and Ezra Osborne ; the latter place still bears 
the name of " Ruckman's Hill." 

John Ruckman, Sr., was a great hunter. 
In his lot was the Cocowder Spring, a favorite 
stopping-place for the Indians and still famed 
for its excellent water. He was buried at the 
foot of the hill northeast of the spring. The 
property passed to John Taylor, sheriif ofthe 
county, in 1760. He built the Mansion House, 
now owned by Edwin Beekman. Joseph Tay- 
lor, his son, settled upon Ruckman Hill, where, 
in 1814, he built the house now occupied by his 
daughter, Mrs. Ezra Osborne. On the 10th of 
June, 1792, John Taylor sold ninety-six acres, 
embracing the Taylor mansion (now Beekmau's), 
to George Crawford, then a merchant in Mid- 
dletown. The old house was remodeled in 1845, 
retaining, however, many of its old distinctive 
features. In 1833 a daughter of George Craw- 
ford married the Rev. Jacob T. B. Beekman, 
who soon after removed to the house, and whose 
son still owns it. 

The first of the name of Taylor who came to 
this county was Edward, whose brother Mat- 
thew came to this country for the purpose of 
speculating in lands in New Jersey, under the 
patronage of Sir George Carteret, one ofthe pro- 
prietors of East Jersey, with whom he was dis- 
tantly connected by marriage, and dying in New 
York in 1G87, without issue, he bequeathed his 
lands to his brother Edward, then living in Lon- 



don, and who came over in 1692 and purchased 
an additional tract of about one thousand acres 
at Garret's Hill, Middletown, and settled on it ; 
he died in 1710, and left four sons and one 
daughter. George, one of his sons, settled at Gar- 
ret's Hill, and died there leaving three sons, — 
George, Edward and John. On the 10th of 
January, 1716, George Taylor, then living at 
Garret's Hill, purchased the six lots before men- 
tioned (now the farm of Dr. Edward Taylor) 
of William Wilkins. They were kept by him 
until May 1, 1739, when he conveyed them to 
his son, Edward Taylor, who soon after erected 
the present house of Dr. Edward Taylor, who 
is a descendant. John Taylor, known as 
'Squire John, was also a son of George Taylor. 
His daughter Mary married Dr. Absalom Bain- 
bridge, and was the mother of Commodore Wil- 
liam Bainbridge, of the United States navy, in 
the War of 1812. Edward Taylor, to whom the 
farm was conveyed in 1739, built the present 
house (now Dr. Taylor's) soon after that time. 
He was a large land-owner. His possessions at 
one time extended from near Garret's Hill to 
the upper bounds of the Middletown village, 
to the west ; northerly to Arrowsmith's Mill 
(which he originally built), and southerly, beyond 
Nut Swamp, to the Errickson property. 

The John Taylor who was sheriff of the 
county, and who, about 1760, settled on the 
Ruckman property (now Beekman and Os- 
borne), was a son of the Edward Taylor of Mid- 
dletown. Dr. Edward Taylor is in the line of 
Colonel George Taylor, whose son, Captain Ed- 
ward, was the father of Dr. Edward Taylor. 
The family of Taylors that are now living in 
Upper Freehold are descendants of Joseph and 
William, sons of Edward Taylor, the first ofthe 
name in INIonmouth County. 

John Wilson, one of the original proprietors 
of the Middletown lots, took up Lot No. 3, on 
the .south side of the King's highway, aud Lot 
No. 20 of the lots in tlie " Poplar field." He 
settled on tlie lot, and was made a justice ofthe 
peace of the township August 22, 1723. His 
son James was married to Hannah Smith, Octo- 
ber 7, 1697, by Peter Tilton, justice. His sons, 
Joseph and John, are also mentioned in the 
town-book. The family remained in Middle- 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



525 



town. William Wilson, one of the family, was 
born in 1766. He built the tavern in 1797, 
which was kept by him until his death, and is 
now the residence of George Bowne, whose wife 
is a daughter of William Wilson. Her ances- 
tors on her motlier's side are descended from 
William Laiton, who was owner of Lot No, 14 
in the original " lots " and Lot No. 30 of tlie 
" Poplar field lots." 

John Bowne and Richard Stout were of the 
original lot-owners of Middletown village. The 
story of the first coming and remarkable adven- 
tures of Penelope Stout (Richard's wife) is told 
in the general history of the county ; it is omit- 
ted here. His descendants are numerous in the 
county. 

Captain John Bowne (says the Hon. Edwin 
Salter) came to Middletown, N. .J., from Grave- 
send, L.I. He was one of the twelve men named 
in the noted Monmouth patent of 1665. He was 
one of the original settlers of Middletown, and 
one of the founders of the Baptist Church there 
— the oldest of that society in the State. Until 
his death, in the early part of 1684, he seems 
to have been the most prominent citizen of the 
county, esteemed for his integrity and ability. 
He appeared as a deputy to the first Assembly in 
Carteret's time, which met May 26, 1668, the 
members of the Lower Hoasethen being; called 
" burgesses." He was deputy again 1675, after 
Philip Carteret's return from England ; and in 
the first legislature under the twenty-four pro- 
prietors, 1683, he was a member and Speaker, 
and acted until the December following. He 
held other positions of trust. March 12, 1677, 
a commission was issued to him, as president of 
the court, to hold a court at Middletown. In 
December, 1683, shortly before his last illness, 
he was appointed major of the militia of Mon- 
mouth County. He died in the early part of 
1684. 

Captain Bowne was a large land-owner in this 
townsliip and in others adjoining. Lands be- 
longing to him on the Highlands were left to 
Daniel Brown. They embraced a part of Nave- 
sink village and Atlantic Highlands. 

Other mention of Captain John Bowne will 
be found in the general history, and in that of 
Holmdel township. 



William Lawrence was from Long Island, 
and came to this county before 1667, as in that 
year he selected Lot No. 81 of the Middletown 
lots and Lot 28 of the Poplar field lots. He 
was elected constable of the township, but did 
not serve. He did not live here for any length 
of time, if at all, but settled on a tract of land 
on Hop River, where he had a house, an 
orchard and a fulling-mill. He also owned a 
large tract of land at Wakake, which he left to 
his son, Elisha Lawrence, who settled and lived 
there until 1717, when he moved to Upper 
Freehold, where he and his family were promi- 
nent for many years. His son William settled 
at Middletown and married Ruth Gibbons, 
daughter of Richard Gibbons, one of the 
original settlers, June 24, 1 686 ; the births of 
his children are all given in the town-book. 
William Lawrence, the elder, died in 1701, and 
his will wa.s proved December 3d in that year. 
His children were William, Joseph, Elisha 
John, James and Benjamin. John also went to 
Upper Freehold. James received by will a 
part of the home farm on Hop River, including 
the fulling-mill, which he had been running 
previously. Later he went to Crosswicks. 
Joseph settled upon lands on Manasquan beach, 
which he inherited from his father. Of Benja- 
min no account is obtained. 

In 1685, William Lawrence, Richard Harts- 
horne, John and Joseph West, Edward Lafetra 
and others took up two thousand five hundred 
acres of land on the coast from Wreck Pond to 
the head of Barnegat Bay, under the name of 
the Manasquan Beach Company. Their lands 
were in several cases occupied many years by 
the descendants of the original purchasers, and 
by others were sold soon afterwards. 

Richard Hartshorne, of whom much is said 
in connection with Wakake, in Raritan town- 
ship, and the Highlands of Navesink, bought 
considerable land on both sides of the Kino;'s 
highway, in the village of Middletown, before 
1699. In that year he sold his land on the 
south of the highway to William Wilkins, who 
in 1716 sold it to George Taylor. He owned 
the lands on the north side, and soon after 170S 
moved to Middletown and built the house now 
standing on the north side of the street, near the 



526 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Baptist parsonage. In that liouse he lived until 
his death, in 1722. In his will, proved May 
24th in that year, he gave for a hurial-place " a 
half an acre on the street, in the orchard east of 
the house where I now live." On this plat of 
ground he was buried, as were also many of his 
descendants. 

A "General .Assembly" held at Portland 
Point, November, 1668, enacted that, "In 
consideration of the Inconveniences that do 
arise for the want of an Ordinary in every 
Town within this Province : It is ordered that 
eveiy town shall provide an Ordinary for the 
Relief and Entertainment of Strangers, — Pro- 
vided, that the Ordinary keeper is to have a 
License from the Secretary, and oblige himself 
to make sufficient Provision of INIeat, Drink 
jind Lodging for Strangers; and for Neglect 
hereof in any of the Towns, they shall forfeit 
Forty Shillings Fine to the Country for every 
Month's Default after Publication hereof; 
and that none shall retail Drink of what sort 
soever, under the quantity of two Gallons, ex- 
cept tiie Ordinary keeper ; and no person what- 
.soever (as well the Ordinary keeper as others) 
shall retaile any sort of Drink as aforesaid 
under the Quantity of two Gallons, under the 
Penalty of paying Ten Shillings Fine for every 
such defeult, to the country." ' 

In the previous year (October, 1667) th^ As- 
sembly had enacted: "That no Ordinary 
keeper shall by the Gill exceed ten shillings 
and eight pence the Gallon Strong Liquors ; if 
by the Quart two shillings and six pence ; good 
Wine after the Rate of seven shillings the Gal- 
lon ; Cyder four Pence the Quart ; eight Pence 
a Meal for Victuals ; sis Pence a Day natural 
for Pasture for Horse in the Summer and the 
like for Winter ; and nine Pence a Peck for 
Oats ; the Ordinary keeper be left at Liberty 
for such as will bespeak their own Provision." 
In March, 169-3, Robert Hamilton was 
licensed to sell strong drink and keep an inn 
at Middletown.2 On March 3, 1716, Isabrant 

' Learning and Spicer, page 87. 

^ In 1700, Lewis Morris, (hen president of tlie Council, 
addressed a letter to the bishop of London, describing the 
condition of the colonies of East Jersey. Of Middletown 
he says, — 



Van Cleef was licensed to sell strong drink in 
his house at Middletown, and for one mile 
around. As this village was at that time the 
longest settlement in the township, there is no 
doubt that the taverns were in the village of 
Middletown, but the locations of them are not 
known. It is said that a tavern-house was 
built in 1729 on the-site of the hotel now kept 
by Rieiiard Lufburrow. It was burned in 
1809, and another was built on the site, which 
was kept in 1812 and for many years thereafter 
by John Truax. 

In 1797, William Wilson opened a tavern 
(now the residence of George Bowne), which he 
kept until after 1840. 

About 1831-32, William Murray built a store 
opposite Dr. Edward Taylor's present residence, 
and, with his sou, William W. Murray, kept a 
store there until about twenty years ago. 
Georg-e Crawford sold his store to Aaron and 
Henry Seabrook, who aftei-wards sold to Os- 
borne & Burroughs, who ccktinued several 
years and sold to Wilson Brown, who, about 
1835, closed out business and moved to Key- 
port. About 1820, Charles I. Hendrickson 
built a store (nearly opposite the present one), 
which was kept by Hendrickson & Seabrook. 
The former sold to Seabrook about 1826, who 
continued for a time and sold to Samuel I. 
Taylor, who kept for many years and sold to 
Harvey Conover, who remained there until the 
l)uilding was destroyed l:)y fire. Elias Conover 
then erected the present brick store, which was 
occupied by Harvey G. Conover, who sold to 
Osborne & Thomas. The store is at present 
kept by Joseph D. Thomas. 

William Murray, who was appointed post- 
master in 1812, held the office for many years. 
His /successors have been Samuel I. Taylor, H. 
G. Conover and Joseph D. Thomas, the present 
postmaster. 

The jNIiddletown Baptist Church is the 

"It is a large township; there is no such thing as 
Church or Religion amongst them; they are p'h.aps the 
most ignorant and wicked People in the world ; their 
meetings on Sundays is at tire Publick house, where they 
get their fill of Rum and go to fighting and running of 
races, which are practices much in use that day all the 
Province over." 






MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



527 



oldest cinircli of that denomination in the State 
of New Jersey, and was constituted in 1668 by 
the following-named persons, all of whom were 
of the Monmouth patentees : Richard Stout, 
John Stout, James Grover, Jonathan Brown, 
Obadiah Holmes, John Ruckman, William 
Cheeseman, JoJm "N^'ilson, Walter Wall, John 
Cox, Jonathan Holmes, - George Mount, Wil- 
liam Layton, William Compton, James Ashton, 
John Bowne, Thomas Whitlock, James Gro- 
ver, Jr. 

It is stated by Morgan Edwards, in his "His- 
tory" of the Baptists, written in 1792,that"The 
first who preached at Middletown was Mr. John 
Bown, of whom we can learn no more than he 
was not ordained, and that it was he who gave 
the lot on which the first meeting-house was 
built. Contemporary with him was Mr. Ash- 
ton." It will be noticed that the name of James 
Ashton appears among the constituent members. 
He was one of the original settlers of the village 
of Middletown, and had No. 23 of "Home 
Lotts," and Lot No. 8 of Poplar fields, in the 
first division, December 30, 1667. The records 
of Middletown liave the following mention of 
him : 

" May the 25th, 1669, James Ashton : Jonathan 
Hulines : James Bowne were this day by the plural- 

ites of votes chosen deputies to act witli the pattentees 
at the geuerall courttor tlie adiourmeuts thereof to bee 
held at Porttland point the 27 of May 

" Testis Edw : Tartt Town Cleark^' 

" January : 1 : 1672 
" In a legall towne meeting the marior partt beeing 
present . . . The summons under liand : and seale^ 
of the province (bearing date the tentli of December 
1672) for choice of Deputies or representatives was 
tliis day read in open towne meeting upon wch the 
towne resulted to answer the summons and further 
concluded : that : (acording to the directions of the 
summ'ons) a true certificate of the ohoice beeing an 
exact of the Record : shall bee forth with sent to the 
■Governour : : wch is as ffolloweth ... A legall 
vote this Day passing : William Lawrence and James 
Ashton were this day (by the pluraliter of votes) 
chosen Deputies or Representatives for this following 
yeare." 

"August: 26: 1673: Stilo novo 
Upon receipt of an order : from the commanders in 
cheife andcounsell of warre: Resident in fortt Wil- 
liam Hendrick at New Orange: (for choice of six per- 
sons being Inhabitants of the towne to bee presented 



to the comanders as above sd : to take three for towne 
maiestrates) as alsoe for choice of two Deputies to act 
at woodbridge (acording to the tennor of the above said 
order) the towne : this day convented toghether for 
election : and upon perfect vote the choice was as fol- 
loweth — John Bowne Jonathan Hulmes James Asten 
John Throcmorton Edward Smith : James Grover 
were by the pluraliter of votes Chosen maiestrates 
acording to the tennor of the order ... Ed : Smith 
and Edward Tartt were chosen Deputies to act at 
woodbridge Acording to the tennor of the aliove sd 
order" 

" midelltowne the first of January 1675 
"At a legall towen metting Johnathan Holmes and 
James Ashton was by the raaior vote chosen debities 
to meet the governor and councell on the 4th of Aprill 
next enseuing at Elizebeth towne to consult and con- 
clude of such thinges as shall be found nessary 

" Testis Richard Hartshorne Towne clarke." 

These extracts show that James Ashton was 
a man of influence in the township, and he was 
probably ordained a minister. James Ashton, 
Jr., is mentioned September 25, 1(593, in the 
records, and was then of age. From the records 
of Upper Freehold is extracted the following, 
which indicates that James Ashton, the settler, 
and the Rev. James Ashton were one and the 
same person. " James Ashton, son of Rev. 
James Ashton, of Middletown, was the first 
settler in this part of the country, viz. : Cros- 
wicks." 

James Ashton was probably ordained in 
1688, at the time the church was recognized. 
The Rev. Thomas Killingsworth assisted m 
the services at that time. It is probable that 
Ashton died before the meeting of the council 
hereafter mentioned, as his name does not ap- 
pear in the list of signers or non signers on that 
occasion. Morgan Edwards savs, — 

"But in the year 1711 a variance arose in the 
church, insomuch that one party excommunicated 
the other and imposed silence on two gifted brothers 
that preached to them, — viz., John Bray and John 
Okison. Wearied with their situation, they agreed 
to refer matters to a council congregated from neio-h- 
boriug churches. The council met M.ay 12, 1712. It 
consisted of Rev. Messrs. Timothy Brooks, of Cohan- 
sey; Abel Morgan' and Joseph Wood, of Pennepeck; 



' The Abel Morgan here mentioned as a member of the 
council held in 1712 was not the person of the game name 
who afterwards became pastor of this church, the latter 
having been born in 1713. The Rev. Abel Morgan, Sr., 
was born in Cardiganshire, Wales, about the year 1673. 



528 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



and Elisha Thomas, of Welsh Tract ; with six elders, 
— viz., Nicholas Johnson, James James, Griffith Mills, 
Edward Church, William Bettridge and John Man- 
ners. Their advice was, 'To bury the proceedings 
in oblivion and erase the records of them;' accord- 
ingly four leaves are torn out of the church-book.' 
' To continue the silence imposed on John Bray and 
John Okison the preceding year.' One would think 
by this that these two brethren were the cause of the 
disturbance. ' To sign a covenant relative to their 
future conduct ; ' accordingly forty-two did sign and 
twenty-six refused ; nevertheless most of the non- 
signers came in afterwards; but the first forty-two 
were declared to be the church that should be owned 
by sister churches. ' That Messrs. Abel Morgan, Sen., 
and John Burrows should supply the pulpit till the 
next yearly meeting, and the members should keep 
their places and not wander to other societies,' for at 
this time there was a Presbyterian congregation at 
Middletown and mixed communion in vogue." 

The successor of the Rev. James Ashton was 
the Rev. John Burrows, of whom Edwards 
says, — 

"He was born at Taunton, in Somerset, and there 
ordained ; arrived in Philadelphia in the month of 
November, 1711, and from thence came to Middle- 
town in 1713, where he died in a good old age. He 
left but one child behind him, and she married into 
the Eussel family. Mr. Burrows is said to have been 
a happy compound of gravity and facetiousuess : the 
one made the people stand in awe of him, while the 
other produced familiarity. As he was travelling one 
day a young man passed by him in full speed ; and, 
in passing, Mr. Burrows said, ' If you consider whither 
you are going you would slacken your pace.' He 
went on ; but presently turned back to enquire iuto 
the meaning of that passing salute. Mr. Burrows 
reasoned with him on the folly and danger of horse- 
racing (to which the youth was hastening) : he gave 
attention to the reproof. This encouraged Mr. Bur- 
rows to proceed to more serious matters. The issue 
was a sound conversion. Here was a bow drawn at a 
venture ; and a sinner shot flying ! Mr. Burrows's 
successor was Rev. Abel Morgan, A.M. He was born 
in Welshtract, Apr. 18, 1713 : had his learning at an 

When he was nineteen years of age he began to preach and 
was ordained at Blaenegwent, in Monmouthshire. He was 
a, brother of Enoch Morgan, of the Welsh Tract Church, 
and half-brother of Benjamin Griffith, of Montgomery 
Church. He was a son of the renowned Morgan of Rhyd- 
darch of Griffyd of Dafydd. He came to America in Feb- 
ruary, 1711, and preached alternately at Pennepek, Pa., 
and Philadelphia. He died December 16, 1722, aged forty- 
nine years, having served the Pennepek Church continu- 
ously from the time of his arriv.al in America. 
' The church-book is in possession of the pastor. 



academy kept by Rev. Thomas Evans, in Pencader : 
ordained at Welshtract church in the year 1734 : be- 
came pastor of Middletown in 1738: died there Nov. 
24, 1785. He was never married : the reason (it is 
supposed) was that none of his attention and attend- 
ance might be takeu off of his mother, who lived 
with him, and whom he honoured to an uncommon 
degree. Mr. Morgan was a man of sound learning 
and solid judgment. He has given specimens of both 
in his public disputes and publications on the subject 
of baptism : at Kingwood, Rev. Samuel Harker chal- 
lenged him on the subject. The other dispute was at 
Cape-may in 1743. The occasion was as follows: 
about 1712 there was at the Cape a remarkable stir of 
the religious kind: this stir was owing partly to the 
preaching of Baptist ministers and partly to the la- 
bours of Presbyterian ministers of the new light order : 
but some of the one party's converts joining the 
other party caused a howling among the losing shep- 
herds, and issued in a public challenge: Mr. Morgan 
accepted the challenge : — his antagonist was Rev. 
(afterwards Dr.) Samuel Finley, the contest ended as 
usual, viz. in douljle triumph : but two things hap- 
pened to mar the glory of the day ; one was a remark 
that a stander by was heard to make : he was a deist 
and therefore a disinterested person : ' The little man 
[said he] is thrown down, and his antagonist will not 
let him rise for another tussle.' Another damper 
was that an elder and deacon, &c., were convinced 
that the cause of the one party was naught by the 
labours used to support it." 

In the old churcli-book is the following 
record, made at the time of Mr. Morgan's 
death : 

"The Rever'd Mr. Abel Morgan was born in the 
State of Delaware, April the 18th, 1713. He departed 
this life November the 24th, 178.5, near 6 o'clock in the 
afternoon, in the township of Middletown, county of 
Monmouth, State of New Jersey. 

"After five months' sore and tedious afflictions of 
several bodily disorders, this eminent servant of God 
and faithful minister of the Gospel of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ gave up the Ghost. The last 
enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 'O death, 
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' 
(1 Cor. 15 : 55.) ' Say ye to the Righteous, that it shall 
be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their 
doings.' (Isa. 3:10.) 

"This great man died in the 73d year of his age. 
His age in particular was 72 years, seven months and 
six days. In his public ministry he was faithful, 
great and engaged in the service of his Lord and 
Master; in his private life a kind friend to the jjoor, 
a great advocate for the oppressed, a father to the 
fatherless, agreeable in his life and conversation. 
Upon the whole we may say this in truth of him, — 
he was an example of examples. 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



529 



"Fifty -one years of the Rever'd Mr. AbelJVIorgan's 
life were spent in the public ministry; forty-seven 
years of his lifetime he was minister of the Church at 
iMicUlletown. He was called early in life to that 
sacred function. 

"'One that feared Gud and eschewed evil.' (Job 
1:1.) Further, David saith : ' Blessed is the mau that 
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth 
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the 
scornful; but hi.s delight is in the law of the Lord, 
and in His law doth he meditate day and night.' (Ps. 
1:1.) 

"The Rever'd Mr. Abel Morgan's funeral sermon 
was preached on Sunday, the 27th day of November, 
in the meeting-house, in Middletown, by Mr. Peter 
AVilson, from the 4th chapter of the 2d Epistle to 
Timothy, 7th and 8th verses. 'I have fought a good 
tight,' &c. (both verses quoted). 

"After sermon, the body of the Rever'd Mr. Abel 
Morgan was decently buried before a respectable 
number of people in the Presbyterian yard, in Mid- 
dletown." 

Tlie "yard" referred to lies on the south side 
of the broad street runnini!; throuirh the village, 
iu the northeast corner of Dr. Edward Taylor's 
farm, and adjoining Mrs. Adeline Hendrickson's 
on the west. Here, among the old graves, a 
plain slab of marble marks the last resting- 
place of this man of God. The in.scription on 
the stone is a whole volume: 

"In memory of Abel Morgan, p.istnr of the Baptist 
church at Middletown, who departed this life Novem- 
ber 24, 1785, in the 73d year of his age. His life was 
blameless, his ministry was powerful; he was a burn- 
ing and shining light, and his memory is dear to the 
saints." 

The Rev. E. J. Foote, a former pastor of the 
church, in an article on ilr. Morgan, says, — 

" He was a strong man in this regard, so considered 
by his co-workers. The Middletown Church held its 
associational connection with the churches in and 
about Philadelphia; was one of the five churches 
which formed that association in 1707. There were 
able men in that body in Mr. Morgan's day, but the 
Middletown pastor seemed to be looked up to, and of- 
ten to be put forward to preach the annual sermons 
and give the address on important occasions. In a 
printed volume of the minutes of the Philadeli)hia 
A.ssociation for the first hundred years, Mr. Morgan is 
seen to be one of the leading men of his denomination. 
His papers are sound in doctrine, clear and logical. 
He was often elected to fill the oiBces of the body, 
.".nd pai'ticularly in the later yearsof his ministry does 
he seem to have been more highly honored by his 
brethren. 
34 



"Mr. Morgan was a strong defender and an earnest 
propagator of the doctrines of his denomination. At 
one time he held a discussion for two days on the sub- 
ject of baptism, at Kingwood, with the Rev. Samuel 
Harker. At another time he had a long controversy 
at Cape May with Rev. Samuel Finley, afterward 
president of Princeton College. This controversy was 
of Mr. Fiuley's seeking, he proposing to Mr. Morgan 
a public debate, each preaching a sermon alternately. 
It was a spirited discussion, lasting some days, and 
was finally transferred to the press. On Mr. Morgan's 
side the discussion grew into two volumes, the second 
of which we have in his library, which hegave to the 
church. The perusal of these works shows a strong 
and logical mind, a cultivated talent for writing and a 
clear grasp of Scripture truth. As a matter of course, 
the IViends of each disputant claimed the victory, but 
Mr. Edwards reports the remarks of a 'standerby,' 
a Mr. Lcman, ' a deist and therefore a disinterested 
person.' 'The little man (said he) is thrown down, 
and his antagonist will not let him rise for another 
tussle.' Mr. Finley was the little man. An elder and 
a deacon of Mr. Finley 's were convinced and went 
over to Mr. Morgan's side. It was one of the notable 
discussions of the day. Mr. Morgan's books were 
printed by Benjamin Franklin and I). Hall, in Mar- 
ket Street, Philadelphia, 1750." 

" Mr. Morgan was an ardent patriot in the times of 
our Revolution. There were many Tories iu thisjjart 
of the State ; some in his church, as the records 
show, but there was no double-face nor dough-face in 
the preacher. His sermons, which are still preserved, 
show this, — on Dec. 18, 1777, he preached from Hosea 
X. 12: ' It is time to seek the Lord.' Among the 
reasons presented why it was time to seek the Lord 
was the 'Dispersion among the churches occasioned 
by the enemy's coming in among them, of discord and 
contention among neighbors, relations and people, of 
war in our land, our bleeding, weeping land.' This 
was preached ' on a day of humiliation appointed by 
the Continental Congress on account of the war, and 
also to give thanks to God for victory over the 
enemy.' 

"In a sermon preached Mar. 15. 1778, speaking of 
God as delivering from imminent dangers and death, 
he says, — 'Such as in this town from our combined 
enemies; in this continent by the defeat and impris- 
ment of a whole division of an army with their Gen- 
eral, Burgoyne ; a most remarkable escape from 
death.' 

" May 28, 1778, he preached ' in a funeral of a 
young man, John Pierce, who was slain by the enemy.' 
And May 29th, 1778, ' in a funeral of Leonard Hotfe, 
slain by the enemy murderously.' 'June 22, 1778, at 
the Court-House, in Freehold, at the request of some 
prisoners, I preached to eight under the sentence of 
death — a moving sight.' ' Text — 1 Timothy 1 : 15. 

1 Two or three days after this, on intelligence being re- 



530 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



On June 28th, 1778, Mr. Morgan preached from Ps. 
62 : 8,—' Trust in Him at all times.' This was the day 
the battle of Monmouth was fought, and probably the 
roar of cannon was heard during the services. Mr. 
Morgan made this record on the sermon, — 'At Mid- 
dletown, the very day the English array came into the 
neighborhood in the evening.' It was a sermon to in- 
spire hope and trust in God ; what those who heard 
needed most to hear at that time, for doubtless their 
sons and husbands, brothers and fathers were on the 
fields where those cannon were booming. 

"The enemy came into the vill.age in the evening of 
th.at Sabbath, pouring down Rnckman's Hill, where 
are now the Osborn and the Bcckman mansions. On 
July 5, 1778, the next Sabbath, Mr. Morgan made this 
record, — ' There was no meeting on this Lord's day, 
because of the enemy passing thro' our town the week 
past, jjutting all in confusion by their ravaging and 
plundering wherever they went.' On July 19, 1778, 
he preached from Ezra 9 : 13-14, — ' And after all that 
has come upon us for our evil deeds,' &c., — and puts 
this note upon his MSS., — 'At Middletown, in mine 
own barn, because the enemy had took out all the 
seats in the meeting-house in town.' He preached 
twice in 'mine own barn ' that day, from the same 
text. From this he preached in several places up to 
Aug. 16, 1778, when again he preached in his barn. 
Aug. 30t!i, he preached in the meeting-house, after 
which there is no further reference to war disturb- 
ances. 

" At an earlier date we find some references to the 
French war in which England was engaged, in which 
Sir. Morgan shows his loyalty to the Crown. We 
give these two: 'Nov. 22, 1759, at Jliddletown, on a 
day of thanksgiving appointed by his Excellency, 
Francis Bernard, Esq., through the Province on ac- 
count of the success given to His Majesty's arms, &c,' 
'Mar. 23, 1760, at Middletown, on a day of Thanks- 
giving appointed by our Governor, by order from our 
King George, on account of successes by sea and by 
land.' 

''Abel Morgan preached the truth of God all over 
this part of New Jersey, and a hundred years after he 
has gone his power for good is felt. At Middle- 
town, Freehold, Crosswicks, Holmdel, Middletown 
Point, Cheesequakes, Piscataway, Bordentown, Eng- 
lishtown, Hightstown, Shrewsbury and many other 
places, and in many private houses did he preach the 
Word, as the records on his sermons show. He scat- 
tered the good seed w ith a wide hand. He preached 
on his journeys where he stopped for the night, or 
would spend a few days and preach several times. 

oeived of the appro.ach of the British army from Phila- 
adelphia, the prisoners here referred to were hastily 
removed by Sheriff Nicholas Van Brunt from Monmouth 
Court-IIouse to the jail of Morris County. After the 
battle of Monmouth they were brought back, and some or 
all of them were executed near the court-house. 



When he had been forty years at Middletown, he had 
preached 4493 times, as the number on his MSS. 
shows, an average of nearly 110 sermons a year for the 
whole time. 

"Mr. Morgan was never married. His mother, for 
whom he cherished great love and reverence, kept his 
house till she died, at an advanced age. He owned 
his own home, situated, as it is understood, near the 
residence of Mr. William Conover, son of Colonel 
Elias Couover,about one mile from the church." Athis 
death Mr. Morgan willed all his property, his library, 
sermons, &c., to the church which he had served so 
long and so faithfully. The house and grounds were 
sold after a time for one hundred and fifty pounds, 
and this was all he had saved for himself in a life- 
time. 

" In his feebleness and old age the church cared for 
him. In the old records of the church we find this: 
' Agreed, there should be a man hired at the expense 
of the said church members, lor one, two or three 
months, as the occasion may require, for the benefit 
and service of the Rev. Mr. Abel Morgan, in his in- 
firm and low state of body, and the expense of wages 
for the hire of said man so employed shall be levied 
on each member according to their estate.' 

"Of the last days of this eminent servant of God 
we have no further account than that he 'departed 
this life November 24, 1785, near 6 o'clock in the 
afternoon, in the Township of Middletown, County of 
Monmouth, State of New Jersey.'" 

The Rev. Mr. ilorgan left hii? library aud 
sermons to the church, which still has theni in 
its posses.sion. The library contains many rare 
and curiotis books, the oldest of which was 
printed in 1574. The sermons are rather notes 
of sermons, and are written on paper the size of 
foolscap. They are all carefully preserved in 
the library of the parsonage. 

The Rev. Abel Morgan was succeeded 
by his nephew, the Rev. Samuel Morgan. He 
was born in Welsh Tract August 23, 1750; 
called to the ministry in Virginia; ordained at 
Middletown November 29, 1785, at which time 
he took ou him the cai-e of the church. No 
account of Mr. ISIorgan's death or resignation 
has been obtained. 

He was, however, succeeded by the Rev. 
Bonjamin Bennett before 1793, as in that year 
the church was incorporated under an act of k 

Assembly, passed March 16, 1786, under the ' 

I 

"The old house of the Rev. Abel Morgan is now the 
parsonage of St. Mary's Catholic Church of New Mon- 
mouth. I 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



531 



inime of'Tlie Baptist Church of Mkldletown." 
Tlie following are the names signed to the cer- 
tificate, June 20, 1793, followed by the record 
of the election of trustees : 



Eichard Crawford, 
John Stilhvell, 
Samuel Ogborne, 
William Blair, 
Rebeccali Stillwell, 
Anna Chasey, 
Sarah Bostwick, 
Samuel Bray, 
James Patterson, 
Daniel Ketcham, 
Jonathan Stout, 
Asher Holmes, 
Cornelius Hulshart, 
William Green, 
James Grover, 
Jehu Patterson, 
George Hunt, 
Thomas Burrows, 
David Burge, 
Dauicl Hill, 
Phillip Walling, 
John Taylor, 



Anthony Smith/ 
John vSmock, 
John Walling, 
Joseph Stillwell, 
James Bowne, 
Cornelia Dennis, 
Mary Holmes, 
Obadiah Holmes, 
Jacob Covenhoven, " 
Phabe Ketcham, 
James Walling, 
Joseph Brown, 
William Murford, 
Cornel's Hulshart, Jr., 
Thomas Jetl'reys, 
Thomas Stillwell, 
Benjamin Hulshart, 
Benjamin Bennett, 
John Bowne, 
Silvester Applegate, 
John Wall, 
Daniel Hendrickson. 



" This is to certify that at a meeting of a number of 
signers for the incorporating the Baptist Church at 
!Middletown, of which Benjamin Bennett is pastor, we, 
the following persons, were chosen as trustees for said 
church, to wit : John Smock, Jacob Covenhoven, 
Joseph Stillwell, William Blair, John Stillwell, Jon- 
athan Stout, and Daniel Ketcham, of whom Joseph 
Stillwell was by the others chosen president ; and hav- 
ing taken the oaths necessary as the law directs, and 
taken upon us the nameofthe trustees for the Baptist 
Church at Middletown, with the seal marked Mx. 
B.C., do request the same to be recorded as the law in 
that case directs. As witness our ha ids and seals, the 
16th day of December 1793. 

Signed, "JoHX Smock, [l.s.] 

'' Jacob Covenhoven, [l.s.] 
" Joseph Stillwell, [l.s.] 
" William Blair, [l.s.] 
"John Stillwell, [l.s.] 

"JoXATBAN StoCT, [l.S.] 

" Daniel Ketcham. [l.s.]" 

The Rev. Benjamin Bennett was succeeded 

about 1818 by the Rev. Kiuj;:, who, in 

1823, was followed by the Rev. Thomas Roberts, 
who served the churcli with fidelity until 
1837, when the Rev. D. B. Stout became pastor. 
He remained pastor until his death, in 1871. 
He was buried in the graveyard adjoining the 
church. 



In 187G the Rev. E. J. Foote accepted a call 
to the pa.storate, and served until April 1, 1883, 
The present pastor, the Rev. F. A. Douglas, 
was installed December 20, 1883. The church 
has a membership of two hundred. 

The church, according to Morgan Edwards, 
met first in a private house belonging to John 
Stout, one of the first settlers ; " but it does not 
seem as if they held worship there longer than 
while a public place was in building ; for when 
the first house was taken down, in 1734, the tim- 
ber was rotten, and therefore old ; and there were 
but sixtv-seven years between the beginnins of 
the settlement and the taking down of that 
house." The lot on which it was situated was a 
part of the present lot. On April 27, 1734, 
Robert Hartshorne deeded to the church, as a 
gift, nineteen hundred and ninety- eight square 
feet of land adjoining, and on this lot, in that 
year, the congregation erected a house of wor- 
ship thirty-two by forty-two feet in size, which 
was used until 1832, when the present house of 
worship was built. 

Christ Church (Episcopal) of Middletown 
and Christ Church of Shrewsbury are so closelv 
connected in their early annals that the history 
of the latter (in Shrewsbury) has been written 
to include that of the Middletown Church until 
1854, up to which time the two were, in fact, 
identical. 

At the time of the division of church property, 
in 1855, the Rev. Harry Finch was the rector. 
The Middletown Church received as its portion 
a part of the large farm ' on Swimming River, 
which wa.s left to the two churches by William 
Leeds in 1735. Upon the formation of thi.= 
church into a sejjarate parish the Rev. Charles 
Woodward became the minister and missionary. 
The Rev. Eli Wheeler began labor as mini.ster 



' By an act passed May 2, 1854, to divide the farm 
property of Christ Church of Shrewsbury and Middletown, 
embracing four liundred and tliirty-eiglit acres of land, 
mostly in Middletown, George House, Peter R. Smock and 
John B. Crawford were appointed commissioners to divide 
the properly. Each took title to their church lot and 
edifice, and the farm was divided nearly equally, Christ 
Church of Middletown taking that portion of the farm 
lying west of the road leading from Leedsville southward 
into .Atlantic township. 



532 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



on Ea.ster Sunday, 1858, and resigned October 
1, 1859. The Rev. William N. Dunnell was 
called to be the rector in 1859, and began his 
labor Ajiril 1, 18(30, and served ten years. He 
was succeeded iu July, 1871, bj^ the Rev. Peter 
M. Jacques, who remained two years. The 
Rev. C. ]M. Parkman became rector early in 
1874 and resigned April 1, 1877. The Rev. 
Samuel Edson became the rector, and occupied 
the pulpit for the first time on Easter Sunday 
in 1878. He continued until succeeded by the 
])reseut rector, the Rev. Joseph T. Jowitt, in 
September, 1882. The church has at present 
but twelve members. 

ThL^ first mention of Episcopal Church service 
in Middletowu is in " George Keith's Jour- 
nal." On the 17th of June, 1702, he visited 
Middletowu and preached a sermon on "lufant 
Baptism," and the Rev. John Talbot, a mission- 
ary who came to this country M'ith him, read 
prayers. He says most of the audience were 
Anabaptists. 

The Rev. Alexander Innes became a resident 
of Middletown before 1693, and after the de- 
parture of George Keith he preached occasion- 
ally to the churches in the vicinity. He gave ten 
acres of land, on which the Episcopal Church 
now stands, and by his will he left five pounds 
each to the churches at which he preached. 

The Rev. Thomas Thompson, who came here 
as a missionary in 1745, says of the church 
buildings iu the county, — 

"As to the church buildings, I have found them all 
much out of condition, especially the church at Mid- 
dletown, which was begun to be built but the year 
before I came there, and had nothing done on the 
inside, not even a floor laid. So that we had no 
place for the present to assemble in Divine worship, 
only au old house which had formerly been a meeting- 
house. 

"In the year 1746 the church at Middletown, 
which had stood useless, being, as I have before men- 
tioned, only a shell of a building, had now a floor 
laid and was otherwise made fit to have divine wor- 
ship performed in it. The congregation of this 
church was but small, and as the service could not be 
oftener than once a month, it was morally impossible 
to increase the number much, especially as there was 
a weekly meeting of Anabaptists in that town, so that 
it was the most I could propose to prevent those 
that were of the church from being drawn away by 
dissenters." 



This church was used, with repairs, until 
1 835. It was rebuilt in that year, and conse- 
crated January 19, 183(3, by the Right Rev. 
Bishop Doane, assisted by the Rev. George E. 
Hare. The church building is still in use, and 
the parish is in charge of Trinity Episcopal 
Church of Red Bank. 

The Presbytekian Chxjech of Middle- 
town had its commencement before 1706, and 
a church edifice was soon after erected on the 
old Presbyterian burying-ground lot. The 
congregation was under the care of the Rev. 
John Boyd, of the Scots Church (now Ten- 
nent). He was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph 
Morgan, in 1710, who preached here until 1728. 
It is stated that the church edifice in ]\Ir. Mor- 
gan's time was an old, dilapidated building, 
even then abandoned and left to decay. Its 
neglected condition annoyed him, and when 
riding by, if he saw the door or window open, 
he would stop, and, dismounting his horse, rev- 
erently close the open door or window before 
proceeding on his way. It was repaired under 
the Rev. Samuel Dennis, who took charge of 
the church in 1738. In September of that 
year, Shrewsbury and Middletown Presbyterian 
Churches called the Rev. Samuel Blair, who 
remained until September 5, 1739. From that 
time they were without a pastor until ^lay, 
1761, when the Rev. Elihu Spencer, D.D., 
became pastor and remained until May, 1764. 

In March, 1767, the Rev. Charles McKnight 
who was ]iastor of the church at Allentown, 
was called to the pastorate. The churches 
under this charge at that time were ^liddletown, 
Shrewsbury, Shark River and jNIiddletown 
Point, at each of which places a church edifice 
was built. Rev. Dr. McKnight remained in 
charge of the churches until his death, in 1778. 
He lived at iliddletown and served his several 
churches from there. While visiting the Mid- 
dletown Point Church, in 1777, a party of 
British troops, led by Lieutenant Moody, at- 
tacked the place, burned the church and made 
the pastor and others prisoners. They were 
taken to New York and confined in a prison- 
ship, where Mr. McKnight was kept for some 
time, and then released. His sufferings while a 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



533 



prisoner caused his death soon after his release. 
He was a native of tiie north of Ireland, and 
became a prominent friend of American liberty. 
His son, Dr. Charles McKuight, was a surgeon 
in the army, and his son Robert was a captain. 
In the Trinity Chujchyard, in New York City, 
is a tablet bearing tiiis inscription, — 

" To the memory of the Rev. Charles McKnight, 
for many years a beloved pastor of the Presbyterian 
Church in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He 
departed this life January 1, 1778." 

After the death of Mr. McKnight the Mid- 
dletown Presbyterian congregation became dis- 
persed. Morgan Edwards, in his " History of the 
Baptists of New Jersey," says of this place, in 
May, 1790, — "Tlie Presbyterian congregation 
is broken up, and their house is converted to ano- 
ther use." This is the end of the history of the 
ancient Presbyterian Church at jNIiddletown. 

The Reformed Church of JMiddletown 
was organized July 4, 1836, from members 
cliiefly of the Reformed Church of Holmdel. 
A meetins: of citizens friendlv to the erection 
of a Reformed Church in Middletown was 
held at the public-house of AVilliam Wilson, 
February 25, 1836, and resolved to buikl a 
house of worship forty by forty-seven feet in 
size. The lot on which tlie school-liouse at 
that time stood, on the King's Highway, was 
purchased, and the corner-stone of a church 
was laid in June of the same year. The Rev. 
Abram Messier, of Somerville, delivered the 
address. The church was dedicated December 
9, 1836, the Rev. Jacob T. B. Beekman offici- 
ating. The cliurch was organized in the pre- 
ceding July, at wliich time John Harris, Jolm 
C. Lyster and Robert P. Morris were chosen 
elders, and James C. Robinson, Frederick Dor- 
set and Peter Lyster were elected deacons. The 
consistory offered the pews of tiie church for 
sale December 14, 1836. The cluirch was 
remodeled in 1880. The present parsonage 
was built in 1873. 

The Rev. Jacob T. B. Beekman, residing here, 
became a supply of the church until 1839. In 
September of that year John B. Crawford, a 
recent graduate of the Reformed Dutch Semi- 
nary of New Brunswick, M'as called to the 



pastorate, and began liis labors November 16, 
1839, and closed tiiem in 1841. The Rev. 
Alexander C. Millspaugli was called Decem- 
ber 7, 1841, was oi'dained on the loth, and 
served until March 31, 1866. The Rev. George 
Seibert was called May 31, 1866, ordained 
August 12th, in the same year, and resigned 
January 8, 1873, preaching his last sermon 
March 2d, following. The Rev. Luther Van 
Doren was called August 9, 1873, became pas- 
tor, and remained in service until his death, 
in October, 1876. The church was then served 
by supplies for a short time. On the 21st of 
Marcii, 1877, the Rev. Charles D. Buck, D.D., 
the present pastor, was called, ac<-epted and 
was installed May 21st following, ' The cluirch 
lias a present membership of eighty. 

Tlie early physicians practicing in Middle- 
town and vicinity were Dr. Jacobus Hubbard, 
of Tinton Falls, and Dr. Edward Allen, of 
Shrewsbury. Dr. Edward Taylor, a descendant 
of the George Taylor who purchased land 
where Dr. Taylor now lives, studied medicine 
in New Brunswick, and began practice in his 
native place in 1826, and contiuucd until 
about 1874, when he retired, and is still living 
on tlie old homestead. His son, Dr, Edward F. 
Taylor, a graduate of the ^Medical Department 
of the university, located in iSIiddletown in 
1852, and is still in practice there. 

In 1812 Middletown village contained two 
stores, a post-office, two taverns, the Baptist 
Church and Christ Church of the Episcopalians. 
William Murray was keeping a store on wliat is 
now a vacant lot, opposite the parsonage of the Re- 
formeil Cluirch. He was appointed postmaster 
January 22d in tliat year, and ke])t the office 
in the store. George Crawford, who was keep- 
ing store in 1792, was still keeping it in 1812 
in tlie store near his residence (now Edwin 
Beekman's). 

The Highlands of Navesink are embraced in 
the Indian purchase which was made by John 
Bowne, Richard Stout and others in the winter 
of 1663-64, as has been more fully noticed in 
the chapter on Settlements and Land Titles. 
That purchase was of the "three neckes of land," 



53-1: 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



which the natives called Newasiuk, Navarum- 
sunk and Poutapeck. To the purchasers of 
these Indian lands Governor Eichard Nicolls, 
in 1G65, granted the Monmouth patent, covering 
the same lauds, and a great area of territory be- 
sides, — embracing nearly all of the present 
county of Monmouth. Afterwards the pro- 
prietors of East Jersey granted the lands 
to the patentees, ignoring the title of th.e 
Monmouth patent. Itichard Hartshorne came 
to New Jersey from Loudon in September, 
1669, and made his first purchase of land 
at and on the "Weikee" (Wakake) Creek, 
and built a house, and resided there until 
the year 1700, as is shown in various affi- 
davits and official records. In an affi- 
davit dated December 20, 1670, he says: 
"I, Richard Hartshorne, of Weikee," etc. 
November 25, 1672, " William Goulding, of 
Graves End and Richard Hartshorne, of Wei- 
kee," came before E<lward Tartt, town clerk, 
and declared their consent to the recording of a 
(;ertain deed. 

The proprietors granted William Lawrence, 
December 22, 1700, ten acres of land on the 
east side of Wakake Creek, bounded by the 
creek and land of Richard Hartshorne, aud 
"fifteen acres of unappropriated sedge and 
meadow on ye ea-st side of said creek from 
Hartshorne's residence to ye mouth of ye 
creek. . . ." 

Mr. Hartshorne had been in possession of the 
Highlands from about 1670, and a house was 
upon the land in 1687, as in a road record dated 
March 2d in that year mention is made of the 
road as passing " through Richard Hartshorne's 
land, as the way now goes, to his house, and 
thence to the most northerly point of Sandy 
Hook." Mr. Hartshorne came to the possession 
of the Highlands by patent from the proprietors, 
with an additional grant of five hundred acres 
of land, also from the proprietors. The large 
tract contained two thousand three hundred 
and twenty acres, including Sandy Hook. 

In an affidavit, made by Hartshorne in 1716, 
he says he was seventy-five years of age, by 
which it would appear he was born about 1641, 
and about twenty-eight years old when he came 
here. He was appoiuted high sheriff of Mon- 



mouth County in 1683, but declined the office. 
He held various positions of trust in the 
county, — was deputy for several years, Speaker 
in 1686, a member of the Council in 1684, 
1698-99, etc. In the minutes of the General 
Assembly, pages 122-123, it is stated that Gov- 
ernor Dougan, of New York, issued a writ, 
addressed to the authorities of New Jersey, 
ordering the arrest of Richard Hartshorne, then 
Speaker, aud thai he be taken to New York 
for trial, \\hich the Council refused to execute. 
What was the offense charged against him is 
not stated. 

In the year 1703, Richard Hartshorne made 
a deed of gift of the Highlands estate, including 
Sandy Hook, to his son, William, who lived at 
the place now cidled Portland. After this trans- 
fer Richard Hartshorne moved to Middletown 
village, where he had purchased lots at differ- 
ent times from May 24, 1670, and resided in 
the house, now standing, adjoining the Baptist 
Church parsonage. He lived in the house until 
his death, in 1722, aud was buried iu the burial- 
ground adjoining the house, and which he had 
set apart for that puri)ose. William, his son, 
lived at Portland until his death, iu 1748, and 
left the Highlands estate mostly to his sons, 
Robert and Esek. John, another son, was left 
two hundred acres on Claypit Creek and Nave- 
sink River (which are now occupied by the 
Misses Hartshorne, who are descendants of Rich- 
ard), also a large tract of land in Rumson Neck. 
The Highlands estate of Hartshorne remained 
intact until 1762, when Esek released to Robert 
all his title to lands south of a line drawn east 
and west through the Highlands, making each 
tract about seven hundred and forty -seven acies, 
aud each retaiuing a half-interest in Sandy Hook. 
The projierty of Robert (being the south ])art) 
lies on Navesink River. It M-as kept by him 
until his death, in 1801. His son Richard, born 
iu 1765, came to the estate of his father, aud 
lived at Portland until his death, in 1831. His | 
son, Robert, born in 1798, also lived at Port- \ 
land till his death in 1877. The property is 
now owned by his sons, — Benjamin M. Harts- 
horne aud Edward Hartshorne, of Portland. 

The north part of the Highlands estate of I 
Esek Hartshorne was sold by his executors, ■ 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



335 



Jiiue 8, 1797, to Tylee Williaais, including an 
undivided half-interest in Sandy Hook, the 
whole being- about eight hundred acres. The 
south part of this tract, containing one hundred 
and seventy acres, came to the possession of 
Nimrod Woodward before 1812. His executors 
sold it, in 1830, to Peter W. Schenck. On the 
same date the west part was sold to James 
Patterson. A portion was still retained by the 
family, and is now the eastern part of the At- 
lantic Higlilauds. 

On Navesink River, near Portland, is the 
club-house of the Neptune Club, of New York. 
The club was chartered in 1858, and erected a 
house on laud of Benjamin M. Hartshorne. 
They number forty members. 

The first settlement on the east side of what 
is now the Highlands of Navesink was made 
by Nimrod Woodward, who built a hotel there 
before 1812. It was kept by him and his fam- 
ily until March, 1830, when Peter W. Schenck 
bought the farm (consisting of one hundred and 
.seventy acres) of the executors of Woodward. 
Peter W. Schenck was a son of William Schenck, 
who served in the Revolutionary War, after 
which he settled temporarily at Middletown 
Point, and was then appointed keeper of the 
Sandy Hook light-house, which position he re- 
tained until his death.' Peter, his son, had 
charge of the grounds from that time until 1831, 
when he removed to this place and kept the 
hotel. In 1841 he enlarged it and remained 
there until 1849, when Joseph I. Thompson 
rented it and conducted it until 1851, when he 
purchased eight acres of land south of the hotel, 
and on it erected the Atlantic Pavilion, of 
which he is still the proprietor. 

On the l8th of February, 1830, an act of the 
Legislature was approved incorporating the 
MonuKjuth Steamboat Company, with a capi- 
tal of twenty thousand dollars. The corpora- 
tors were Martin Chandler, Peter W. Schenck, 
Joseph King, Thomas L. Parker and Jeremiah 
Chandler. The steamboat " Saratoga " was 

' Peter W. Schenck was the pioneer in the wrecking 
business on this and Long Island coast, and had control 
of it for many years. He and his brother, Henry, took 
otf over sixty square rigged vessels and forty schooners 
and sloops. 



built and run by Captain Joseph King between 
New York and Sandy Hook and the Highlands, 
at what is now Highland Bridge. The hotel 
w;is then owned by Woodward, and the next 
year was bought by Peter W. Schenck. The 
boat ran for several yetirs. 

In 1865, when the sea-shore railroad was 
built on the Sandy Hook peninsula, a ferry ^vus 
established across the river by James Schenck, 
and was continued until the bridge was com- 
pleted in 1872. A small steamboat was also 
used in the summer season. 

A dock was built by Peter W. Schenck, in 
1834, in front of the East View House and 
south of the present bridge. It was washed 
away and rebuilt by the government in 1846. 
This afterwards shared the fate of the first, and 
since then has not been rebuilt. After the death 
of Peter W. Schenck the business was con- 
ducted by his son, Peter F. Schenck, until 1859. 
The hotel (now the East View House) passed to 
his mother, Mrs. Sarah A. Schenck. It is still 
kept as a hotel. 

In 1852 a post-office was established at the 
Highlands, with Peter F. Schenck as post- 
master. It was not continued over two years, 
but was restored about 1872, with Charles Van 
Berner as postmaster. He was succeeded by 
Mortimer Johnson, and on February 13, 1882, 
the present postmaster, J. H. Brainerd, ^vas ap- 
pointed. 

The Sea View HoiLse, o\v"ned by jNIrs. .Jarvis, 
was erected between the East View House and 
the Atlantic Pavilion. At this house James 
P. Donnelly murdered Albert S. ISIoses, on 
the 1st of August, 1857, for which he was 
hung at Freehold January 8, 1858. 

In 1879, Benjamin M. Hartshorne built on the 
shore the Swift House, which was kept by 
Thomas Swift. It was destroyed by fire 
January 26, 1884, and rebuilt by Thomas 
Swift, ^\•ho is tlie ])resent proprietor. 

The Highland Bridge Company was incor- 
porated in 1871, and erected a drawbridge 
across the Navesink River at this place, four- 
teen hundred and fifty-two feet in length, 
eighteen feet in width, with a draw of one hun- 
dred and eighty- six feet. The co.st of the 
structure was thirty-five thousand dollars. It 



536 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



was formally opened December 5, 1872, and 
continued in use until July 1, 1875, when a 
schooner ran into the di-aw and disal;>led it. 
The bridcje remained in thi.s condition three 
years, and was then sold on foreclosure. The 
Navesink Bridge Company was formed, bought 
the bridge, repaired the draw, making it one 
hundred and ninety-four feet in length, and 
opened it for travel June 27, 1878. 

The Jackson Club have a building on the 
coast on a small plot of ground purchased by 
them several years ago. In 1866 this club 
began to make this their annual summer camp- 
ing-ground, and in 1868 thev leased ground of 
Peter F. Schenck and built upon it. On the 
expiration of lease they moved to the house they 
now occuj^y. 

An actors' colony has sprung up at the Xave- 
sink Highlands, just above the mouth of the 
Navesink River. Three or four summers asro 
Mr. John Webster was at the Hig-hlands, visit- 
ing his friends, and he became very much 
interested in the various atfractions of the place. 
Up on the hill, just below the Highland Twin 
Lights, he bought an eligible building site, upon 
which he erected a fine mansion. Next on the 
right is the country- palace of W. B. Havden, 
manager of Thomas W. Keene, the tragedian, 
one of tiie most picturesquely situated of seaside 
residences. Mr. Wheelock's cottage flanks the 
Webster house on the other side. From all of 
these houses, situated some four hundred feet 
above the water's edge, there are very fine 
views. The buildings on Coney Island can be 
easily distinguished, as can also, in clear 
weather, the great Rockaway Hotel. Furtlier 
down the road is the handsome summer resi- 
dence of Mr. Neil Burgess. Not far from his 
house is the cottage of Horace McVieker, who 
usually manages the starring tours of Edwin 
Booth. Mr. INIcVicker's wife is professionally 
known as Miss Affie Weaver, and her parents, 
Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Weaver, occupy a portion 
of the large, white jNIcVicker cottage. At the 
base of the bluff along which these actors' sum- 
mer houses are stretcherl runs the Navesink 
River. On the other side of the stream there is 
a strip of land just wide enough to contain the 
tracks of the New Jersey Southern Railwav. 



Beyond the sand strip the ocean rolls upon as 
fine a beach as there is alono; the shore. 

Parkertown lies at the head of Sandy Hook 
Bay on a level piece of ground at the foot of the 
Highlands. It contains a Reformed Church, a 
store and forty or fifty dwellings. It was set- 
tled by people who made fishing a business, and 
it is still carried on exteusively. 

In 1873 the Rev. A. W. Allen, a Congre- 
gationaiist minister in failino; health, came to 
the Hiirldands and settled. He bey-an teaching 
children and visiting the people from house to 
house. Religious services w^ere held in this way, 
several were converted and a church was organ- 
ized. The majority decided to bring the chmxli 
under the care of the Reformed Church Classis. 
The church was organized February 9, 1875, 
with twelve members. Mr. Allen was called to 
be their ])astor, and labored with them until his 
death, in December, 1884. A church building 
was begun in 1874, and completed in 1875. 

On the Navesink Highlands, the first light 
or beacon was put up in 1746, when the Brit- 
ish and French governments were at war with 
each other, and the merchants and people of the 
city of New York were in a state of alarm, in 
expectation that French ships might enter the 
bay and destroy the city. At a meeting of the 
Council of New Jersey at Perth Amboj', Au- 
gust 13, 1746, President John Hamilton received 
a communication from the New York author- 
ities requesting that a lioacon be erected on the 
Highlands to give warning of the approach of 
hostile ships. On receipt of this communication 
the Council took action, which is shown Ijy the 
tenor of the president's instructions to the col- 
onel of the Monmouth County militia, as fol- 
lows : 

" I am this day advised by His Majesty's Council 
that it will be for the security not only of this Prov- 
ince, but also of the City and Province of New York, 
that a proper Beacon be Sett up and Erected upon 
the most Convenient Part of the Highlands of Never- 
sinks in Order to Give the Erlyest Alarm of the Ap- 
proach of an Enemy, And Do therefore, in pursuance 
of the said Advice, Order that a proper Beacon be Erec- 
ted upon the Said Highlands of Neversinks in such 
place and in such manner as you shall think most prop- 
er. And I do hereby further Order and Direct that You 
Give or Cause to be Given Orders to the Severall Per- 
sons who shall be appointed to Keep Watch near the 



MIDDLETOWX TOWNSHIP. 



537 



said Beacon, when Erected, that they do not Presume to 
Sett Fire to it without Your Order or the Order of one 
of the Field Officers of the Regiment under Your Com- 
mand, or the order of Richard Sal tar, Nathaniel Leon- 
ard or Robert Hartshorne or of any one of you or 
them ; but upon the approach of Six Ships or more, 
the Person then upon the Watch is immediately to ap- 
ply to some one of the Persons above mentioned, who 
upon Such application, is Requested to Proceed to the 
Said Beacon, and if he Judges the said Ships to be 
Eneniys, he is then to order the said Beacon to be fired, 
and is to send Immediate Notice to You or to one of 
the Field Officers of the Regiment of the said County, 
who is hereby Required, upon Receipt of Such Intel- 
ligence, to Send Notice thereof to Me or to the Com- 
mander-iu-Chief of the Province for the time being." 

On the same day tliat these orders were issued 
"the Board being informed that John Little, 
Esq., Lieuten't-Coll'l, and John Bedford, Esq., 
IMajor of the Regiment of the County of 
Monmouth, were in Town, Requested their At- 
tendance," to give information as to how far the 
militia officers of that county had carried out 
the orders and instructions given in a proclama- 
tion by the late Governor Lewis Morris for the 
establishment and keeping up of watch-stations 
at several points along the Monmouth sea-coast. 
The lieutenant-colonel and major thereupon 
came to the Council meeting and " Informed His 
Honour and the Board that, Pursuant to the 
said Proclamation, on the '2Sth and ;)Oth Days 
of April Last Watches were Stationed at Squan, 
Deal, and the Highlands of Xeversink, all 
ujjou the Sea-Coast, and that these Watches 
have been from Time to Time Relieved, and 
are at present supply'' from the Regiment of 
Foot of the County of Monmouth; that the 
Instructions o;i\-en to these Watches are to give 
Notice to the next Commanding officers, who 
have orders upon such Notice to Call together 
theirCompanys, and to send forward the Alarme 
to the Commanding Officer of the County." 

It was expected that the lighting of the bea- 
con would be seen in New York, and the alarm 
communicated thence by the authorities to the 
commandino; officers of the militia of Bersren 
and Essex Counties, who had instructions there- 
upon to march their commands to the assistance 
and defense of the city without delay. But 
about a month afterwards one of the beacons on 
the Highlands was set on fire (by' accident, as 



was stated), and no notice taken of it in New 
York, which called forth a letter from Presi- 
dent Hamilton, of New Jersey, to the Council 
of New York (dated September 27, 1746), in 
which, after mentioning the fact of the acci- 
dental fii'ing' of the beacon, he said : " However 
Lucky it may be thought that Your Province 
has Escaped a false Alarm, Yet I make no 
Doubt but that you are of Opinion with Me 
that an Alarm from any Quarter, when Rightly 
Given, must be of the Utmost Importance, and 
therefore hope you will, for Our Mutual Secur- 
ity, take such Steps in Regard to your Watches 
as will Effectually Prevent the Like Neglect 
for the Future." But this affair destroyed con- 
fidence in the efficacy of the beacons for the 
timely communication of alarms, and it does 
not appear that they were successfully used (or 
needed) as against a French invasion ; but years 
afterwards, duriuo; the Revolution, thev were in 
almost constant use when the British fleets were 
in the bay or the offing, and they often did good 
service in calling the militia of the count}' to 
threatened points upon the bay and ocean coast. 

The first permanent light-house on the High- 
lauds was erected a short time prior to 17()5. 
Smith, in his ''History of New Jersey," pub- 
lished in that year, says: "At the Highlands 
of Navesink the New York merchants have 
lately erected a commodious light-house for the 
security of navigation." 

The "twin light-houses" on the Highlands 
were built by the United States government on 
land purchased for the purpose of Nimrod 
Woodward, July 26, 1826. The first appro- 
priation for the Highland light-houses was 
made in an act of Congress approved May 18th, 
in that year, which authorized the Secretary of 
the Treasury to have them built by contract. 
They were first in use in 1828, rebuilt in 1840, 
and again in 1 862. The two towers stand one 
hundred yards apart. The lights are two hun- 
dred and forty-eight feet above the level of the 
sea; heights of towers frona base to light, fifty- 
three feet. The lanterns are first-class lens, 
both fixed, visible over twenty-two nautical 
miles, at an elevation of fifteen feet above the 
level of the sea. The north tower is octagonal, 
and the south one square. The lights are farther 



538 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



above the level of the sea than any on the At- 
lantic coast. 

At the twin lights a signal code of numbers 
was used to communicate from the place to the 
bluifs on Staten Island and to Holt's Hotel 
(now the United States Hotel). A signal tele- 
graph station, one hundred and eight feet in 
height, was erected between the keeper's dwell- 
ing-house and the south light, from which the 
signals were shown on large arms. This Mas 
used until the telegraph superseded it. The 
keeiJers of the Highland lights since 1828 have 
been, — ^Joseph Doty, James Wilson, Joseph Lo- 
pez, Jose})h I. Thomp.son, James D. Hubbard, 
Samuel ^Mullen, Gordon Sickles, Smith Cono- 

ver, Taber Chadwick, Van Allen and 

Captain Daniel Calkins, who is the present 
keeper. The cannon that lies on the brow of 
the hill near the light-house was found there 
wheu the laud was cleared of timber. 

Navesink post-office village is a small settle- 
ment lying west of the Highlands and near the 
head of Clay-pit Creek. The lands of this 
place and vicinity are west of those which 
formed the extensive Highland estate of Rich- 
ard Hartshorne more than a hundred and eighty 
years ago. These lands were owned by John 
Bowne, and in 1765, David Burdge had pur- 
cliased a tract of land and built a saw-mill on a 
branch of Clay-pit Creek. In 1795 one John 
Bowne .sold to Jacob Burdge a small piece of 
land on Clay pit Creek, on which was situated 
the "old .saw-mill dam." He bought a small 
tract the year before of James Lewis, adjoining 
his brother, Benjamin Burdge, who purchased, 
June 28, 1786, of Jo.seph Brown and his wife 
and Rachel Maclise. As early as 1820, Rice 
Hatsell came to the place now called Navesink, 
and opened a store. The place was allied 
Riceville until 1867, when the post-office name 
M'as changed to Navesink, as at present. It 
contains a post-office, with John M. Johnson, 
postmaster, a Methodist ChuYch, Baptist Church, 
the All Saiuts' Memorial Chapel, and a public 
hall, which was built in 1879. 

The Navesink Baptist Church,^ pre- 



' By Edward Hooper. 



viously known as the Second Middletown Bap- 
tist Church, was the outgrowth of the First 
Baptist Church of Middletown. It was occu- 
jiied as an out-station or missionary field by the 
First Church ; and, as far as can be ascertained, 
the first pioneer or mission-work was com- 
menced in this part of the large territory of the 
First Church by Rev. Thomas Roberts, in his 
settlement with the First Church in 1823. This 
part of the country at that time was thiuly 
settled ; large tracts of land were held by pat- 
ents and grants from the mother-country by 
the Hartshornes and others; very few of the 
inhabitants were found to be in sympathy with 
the Scriptural principles of the Baptists ; High 
Churchism and Antinomianism strongly pre- 
vailed ; yet there were a few prominent and earn- 
est Baptists; such were Deacon John D. Burge, 
the sisters Debowe, Captain W. Leonard and 
others who were always foremost in good words 
and works. 

About this time the first Sunday-school was 
e.stablisiied, with a limited means and inexper- 
ience, but which proved an important element 
in building up a strong Christian sentiment in 
both the past and present generations. Father 
Roberts, as he w;is kno^n, labored in this part 
of the field under many difficulties, having no 
house for public worship, preaching in a school- 
house and in private houses in the different 
neighborhoods, holding service every two or 
four weeks, in the evenings during winter and 
afternoons in the summer. 

Here the first temperance society was formed, 
called High Point Temperance Society. Alco- 
hol reigned supreme ; no household was without 
it; it even entered into the sanctity of the 
pulpit ; engrafted, in fact, into all the phases of 
society. Entrenched as it was by long usage, 
it was not so formidable a foe but that these few 
devoted followers of truth and right ventured to 
make an attack upon it; and in a few years a 
marked change had takeu place, which had 
been accomplished through their unostentatious 
labors. The good work progressed until public 
sentiment compelled the evil to di.sapi)ear from 
the sideboards, etc., and a healthier Christian 
feeling began to prevail, the meetings began to 
be better attended and larger uumbei-s added 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



539 



to the church. A large number of the mem- 
bers traveled five or six miles, almost every 
Sunchw, to hear the preaching of the Word. 
About this time Father Roberts resigned, and 
the Rev. D. B. Stout was called; he accepted, 
and commeuced labor with distinguished honor 
to himself and usefulness to the community. 
R. A. Leonard, co-operating with the pastor, 
began to hold what was called a two or three 
days' woods-meeting; large revivals were the 
result; weekly prayer-meetings were started; 
preaching iu the public school-house was com- 
menced on every Sunday afternoon in the sum- 
mer, and evenings in the winter; and a series 
of meetings in the fivll or winter, i-esultiug in 
the conversion of large numbers. 

The school-house accommodations having be- 
come too small, a large number of the members 
determined on the erection of a house of wor- 
ship, which object was accomplished. Weekly 
Sunday-school was commenced and kept open 
the year round; weekly prayer and conference 
meetings also. Many remarkable revivals were 
witnessed, and scores were added to tlie church. 
The way was now ojien for a change; many of 
tlie members determined to avail themselves of 
this part of the field for the organization of 
another church ; steps were immediately taken 
for the accomplishment of this object. 

The First Baptist Church of Middletown 
met at their meeting-house for business July 
30, 1853; fifty-five members of said church, 
living iu Riceville and vicinity, requested to be 
dismissed, to constitute a Baptist Church at 
Riceville, on the 3d day of August following. 

"Middletown, July, 1853. 
" To the First Baptist Church in Middletown :— A 
number of the members of this church invited their 
pastor to meet with them in the meeting-house in 
Riceville, to take into consideration the propriety of 
organizing a Church of Jesus Christ at that place for 
tlie benefit of brethren and sisters living too remote 
from Middletown for constant attendance there, and 
alai) for others who incline to favor Baptist principles. 
Our beloved pastor s])oke decidedly in favor of the 
design as laudable and Christian in its character; for 
we had no design of taking any stejj in the business 
without his approbation and the cordial concurrence 
of the church. Therefore, we, whose names are here- 
unto appended, respectfully ask to be dismissed for 
the purpose above stated. We have no self-interest 



to answer ; the Gospel of God and the good of souls 
are the objects which we seek to advance ; and, as we 
believe this church to be equally interested in the 
promotion of the cause of Christ with ourselves, 
therefore, we submit the matter to your decision. If 
an organization is needed there, and you say to us, go 
there and labor for God, in His strength we will go. 

"And may the Spirit of our ascended Redeemer go 
with us, and also remain with you, that both may 
live and labor in perfect love and harmony and know 
no other interest but that of Christ. 

"We remain affectionately yours, 

"R. A. Leonard. 



"Richard A. Leonard, 
Sarah Leonard, 
Richard Garhart, 
Catharine Carhart, 
R. A. Leonard, Jr., 
Mary E. Leonard, 
Thomas Leonard, 
Mary A. Leonard, 
Elizabeth Leonard, 
James H. Leonard, 
Catharine Debowe, 
Alice Debowe, 
Joseph Davis, 
Sarah Davis, 
George Davis, 
Sarah Davis, 
Anna Tilton, 
Nathaniel Roberts, 
Phebe M. Roberts, 
James Brown, 
Susan Jenkins, 
Jonathan Maxson, 
Sarah Maxson, 
William Roop, 
Vilimpa Roop, 
Matthias C. Roop, 
Joana Roop, 
Charles Merrit. 



Elizabeth C. Roop, 
Martha N. Carhart, 
Louisa Carhart, 
Edward Hooper, 
Thomas Bowue, 
Elizabeth Bownc, 
Rev. Th<:imas Roberts, 
Eleanor Roberts, 
Harriet (Solly, 
Walter Maxson, 
John Morris, 
Elizabeth Brown, 
Valeria Skidmore, 
George Eldridge, 
Mary Ann Eldridge, 
Ursula Hooper, 
Mary A. Tilton, 
Julia Yarraw, 
Tenbrook Davis, 
Nehemiah Brow.er, 
James Applegate, 
Letitia Applegate, 
Lydia Smith, 
George Alley, 
Catharine Alley, 
Joseph Maxson, 
Maria Maxson, 



"Therefore, on the 30th of July, 1853, at Middle- 
town, it was moved, seconded and carried that the 
above said members be dismissed to be constituted a 
regular Baptist Church of Jesus Christ, at Riceville, 
in the township of Middletown, iu the county of 
Monmouth, and State of New Jersey. 

" Done by order and in behalf of the Church. 

"James Frost, Church Clerk." 

A council was held in the meeting-house at 
Riceville, August 3, 1853. Rev. D. B. Stout 
appointed president; R. Middlediteh, vice- 
president; E. Hooper, secretary. The Rev. 
Mr. Votcy, of Eatoutown, opened the meeting 
with ])rayer. Sermon by Rev. R. Middlediteh, 
of Red Bank. Recognition, Rev. Mr. Jenkins. 



5i0 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The cluirch represented by R. A. Leonard. 
The chureli to be called the Second Middletown 
Baptist Church. 

An adjourned meeting was held on the 20tli 
of August, 1S5."], for the election of officers for 
the church. The Rev. Thomas Roberts was 
appointed moderator ; E. Hooper, clerk. By 
a unanimous vote, Messrs. R. A. Leonard and 
Thomas Leonard were elected deacons, and E. 
Hooper clerk. At this meeting was unani- 
mously adopted the New Hampshire confession 
of faith and covenant. The members of this 
infant church, possessing many elements which 
secure prosperity, were, nevertheless, men and 
women of limited means. The house belonged 
to the parent church. A committee was ap- 
pointed by the church to confer with the First 
Church in regard to it. The committee re- 
ported, conveying to the church the house of 
worship, together with the lot of ground upon 
which it is erected, without any incumbrances. 
In October of the same year the following 
persons were elected trustees : R. A. Leonard, 
David B. Swan, (xeorge Carhart, Daniel 
Roberts, Richard Carhart, Joseph Davis, Silas 
Tilton. 

A call was tendered to the Rev. W. V. Wil- 
son to become jiastor. He accepted and com- 
menced work October, 1853. After one year's 
service he resigned, October, 1854. 

The aged and venerated Father Roberts, 
after many years of absence, returned to ilid- 
dletown and became a member of this church, 
which now being without a pastor. Father 
Roberts consented to serve as a supply imtil 
the church should call a pastor. He success- 
fully served the church four yeare. Twenty- 
four were added to the church by baptism. 

The church extended a call to the Rev. E. S. 
Browe, which he accepted, and commenced his 
pastorate July, 1858. After four years of labor 
he resigned, January, I8(j2. Twenty- one 
baptisms. The church now remained a few 
months without a pastor. Rev. W. B. Harris 
became pastor, and entered upon his duties July 
13, 186-2, and served nntil March, 1867. 
Baptisms, forty-eight. 

It was during the pastorate of Mr. Harris 
that the death of Father Roberts occurred. 



After preaching the gospel for more than fifty 
years (four yeai-s of which he spent among the 
Cherokee Indians) he died, on September 24,1865. 
In the usual letter to the association, the Second 
^Middletown (now Xavesink Baptist Church) 
writes : " One event has occurred within our 
church which is of interest to the members of the 
association. Our aged and venerated brother, 
Thomas Roberts, has gone from our midst to 
his rest above. We can truly say that his place, 
probably, can never be filled. Aged, wise and 
experienced ; lovely in spirit and life, generous, 
and devoted to Christ and His cause; always 
readv, as far as the infirmities of age would per- 
mit, for every good work. He has lived long 
among us, and ever exhibited the spirit of the 
jourueving pilgrim, expecting to reach the land 
of rest. Suddenly his journey ceased, and the 
aged pilgrim entered the gates of pearl, leaving 
his brethren and numerous family the legacy of 
his meek, laborious and persevering example." 

The church was without a pa.stor until .lanu- 
ary, 1868, when Rev. J. J. Baker was called to 
the pastorate. He served the church over eleven 
years; resigned February, 1879 ; baptisms, sixty. 
He sei-ved the church longer than any other one. 
Before his settlement the church owned a par- 
sonage, three-quarters of a mile distant, pur- 
chased at the time of Rev. E. S. Browe's set- 
tlement ; it was sold and a new parsonage bought 
in the village, near the church, the Rev. J. J. 
Baker being the first occupant. Other changes 
were made during his ministry. The relation 
with the East New Jersey Baptist Association 
was changetl to the Trenton Baptist Association 
May 29, 1872; also the name of the church, 
and, according to the new act of the Legislature 
ofthe State coueerningBaptist Churches, changed 
the corporate name of the Second ^liddletown 
Baptist Church to the corporate name of Xave- 
sink Baptist Church. 

The following trustees were elected ]\Iarch 
24, 1877 : Thomas Leonard, R. A. Leonard, 
N. H. Roberts, William H. Posten, George 
Davis, James H. Leonard. At the same meet- 
ins R- A. Leonard, Jr., was elected deacon. 
Among the events of interest occurring during 
this period, and one of the most important, as 
well as afflictive, was the death of the senior 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



641 



deacon, Richard A. Leonard, born in February, 
1812, and died on May 5, 1877, in his sixty- 
fifth year; baptized by Father Roberts, April 
4, 1834 ; was a constituent member of the church, 
and elected deacon in 1853, which office he j 
filled with rare fidelity until his death. At the 
very outset of his Christian career he actively 
engaged in every good word and work ; the 
cause of temperance had in him a firm and con- 
sistent advocate, especially among the young, 
and of the Sunday-school he was superintendent 
from the first until his death. 

The present pastor, Rev. Charles T.Douglass, 
was settled over the church June 1, 1879. The 
present membership of the church is one himdred 
and forty-six. 

,4bout 1866 a Methodist Church was formed 
at Xavesink, and the Chapel at Chapel Hill was 
sold and a new church edifice built at this 
place. The pastors w4io have served at this 
church have been A. J. Gregory, E. J. Lippin- 
cott, L. M. Atkinson, S. F. Gaskill, G. R. Sny- 
der and L. A. Lavelle. 

All Saixts' Memorial (Episcopal) 
Church is located on the Maclise Creek, 
southwest of Navesink village. On tlie 16th 
of October, 1861, the rector of Trinity Church, 
at Red Bank, began week-night services in the 
school-house at Riceville (now Xavesink), and 
continued them for a time. In .June, 1862, 
Chai-les E. Miluor, Esc^., residing in Riceviile, 
g-athered his own and some of his neiy-hboi's' 
cliildren together on Sundays and gave them 
religious instruction ; other childreu aud teach- 
ers gathered in, and the desire for a church be- 
came great. The death of Mrs. James A. 
Edgar caused her father, John H. Stejihens, 
to erect a memorial to Mrs. Edgar and other 
deceased members of the family. A parochial 
organization was effected in 1863, and iu Octo- 
ber of that year the corner-stone of All 
Saints' Memorial Church in the Highlands 
was laid by the Right Reverend William H. 
Odenheimer, D.D., bishop of New Jersey. The 
church was consecrated October 7, 1864. Soon 
afterwards the Rev. McW alter B. Noyes became 
rector of the parish. He was succeeded by 



the Rev. Theodore M. Riley, whose successor 
was the Rev. Mr. Muri'ay, who accepted in 
February, 1869, and resigned iu November, 
1871. Tlie Rev. J. S. Weills became rector 
September 1, 1872. He remained until 1875. 
His successor was the Rev. Samuel Edson, who 
was, in tui-n, succeeded by the Rev. Dr. ^IcKim, 
the present rector. 

The church lot was purchased, and the 
Memorial Church erected on it complete, 
by John H. Stephens, Eleanor P. Stephens, 
James A. Edgar, Charles E. Milnor, and 
others connected with Mr. Stephens' fam- 
ily. The church is of field stone of dark 
orange tint, with Dorchester stone trimmings. 
It was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, an 
architect of New York. The windows are all 
memorial. The All Saints' Mission School and 
the rectory were completed before 1872. 

The Atlantic Highlands ai'e on Sandy Hook 
Bay, to the northwest of the Highlands of 
Navesink, which latter, together with the At- 
lantic Highlands and all the elevated lands ex- 
tending south and east from the bay to Clay- 
Pit Creek and the Navesink River, were known 
in the days of the early settlements as Portland 
Heights ; and at the same time the locality 
now called the Atlantic Highlands was named 
Portland Point, from which place westward to 
Point Comfort the bay was called Shoal Harbor. 

On the 12th of June, 1669, "at a legall 
towue meeting " of the town of Middletowu, it 
was voted "that the meadows that lies only 
about Shoal Harbour necke shall for present 
bee laid out into thirty-six lotts, the rest to bee 
laid out betweene the 29th of September and 
the 2oth of December." James Grover was 
appointed to lay out the meadows. June 14th, 
at a meeting, it was ordered " that the meadows 
shall bee fenced with a general fence by the 
whole inhabitants, being thirty-six in num- 
ber . . . the fences to bee made and mayn- 
taind." 

On the loth of December, 1667, fifteen days 
before the Middletowu lots were laid out, ten 
lots had been laid off at Portland Point, a 
record of which is found iu Book A of Deeds, 
as follows : 



542 



HISTORY OF MONMOIJTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" The Lotts on Portland Poynt being . . . . 
into No. 10 are layd out and are in breadth 20 yds 
lach Lott and run up from the banek into the woodes 
upon A strait line W. & N. with Sor nar as the land 
is Good About (30 or 70 poles, the further west lott 
one the south side No. 1 ' No. 2, James Bounds ; No. 
3 Richard Richardson's. The Lott one the north side 
the swamp or valley. The first is Randall Huetts Sen- 
ior, No. 4 ; the next lott, is Henry Pixsey, No. 5 ; No. 6, 
John Binds [Bowne]; No. 7, Randall Huetts Junior; 
No. 8, Willi.am Bounds; No. 9, William Shakely 

" Aud further it was granted unto the inhabitants 
aforesaid att portland point att the time of y' Cort 
. . . . and laying out off ye above named ten 
Lotts December 15, 1GG7, that in regard off the small 
quantity of land to those the said Lotts Belonging att 
present, that if hereafter any more land remaint at 
hand bee found iitt for planting the inhabitants above 
said shall have the benefitt thereof for y° further In- 
largment of the above said Lots of Land." 

"June 15 : 1669 It is further agreed that the men 
That are deputed to asist James Grover in the laying 
out the meadows shall bee satisfied in soe many dayes 
workes as they are out upon the service : and these 
dayes workes to bee perfourmed by the rest of the In- 
habitants at such times as they are upon the service 
Themselves bearing an equall part with the rest. 

" James Ashtou making a satisfactory excuse to the 
Towne of nott iisisting James Grover in laying out the 
meadows John Smith was chosen to supply his roome 

" It was further ordered that the equality of the divis- 
ion of the meadows is putt to the Judgement of James 
Grover : Richard Stoutte : and Jonathan Hulmes. 

"It is likewise ordered that as many lotts: as ac- 
cording to Judgement are found defective: that upon 
Just complaint: the three men: viz: James Grover : 
Richard Stoutte : and Jonathan Hulmes: shall take 
a view : of the said defective meadows : and accord- 
ingly shall give the choice in this second division to 
the owners of the defective meadows : and further 
that according to the degree of the defect of any ones 
meadow in the first division : viz : (shoale harbour 
meadows) soe have they full power (by vertue of this 
order) to dispose of successively : wch disposall of the 
three above named : by agreement of the towne shall 
stand for Equality. 

"Ordered: that upon debate : of putting fresh lotts 
to salt lotts acording to the desire of some who thinke 
it equaltj- is left to decide : when an exact cognizance 
of the meadows is taken wlien the)' are divided : and 
the fresh and salt lotts in the first and second division 
of meadows well veiwed. 

"Testis: Edw: Tartt: Town Clearke." 

On these Portlaud Point lots a considerable 
number of houses were built, and courts were 

' The lot No. 1 was owned by John Thornben-y. 



held there many times during two or three 
years following, — Nov-ember 2, 1669, at the 
house of Richard Richardson, and July 5, 1670. 
Courts and "General Assemblys" were also held 
at the house of Randall Huett, at Portland Point. 
Randall Huett, Sr., died in January, 1669, 
and his widow, Margaret, became the wife of 
Bernard Smith before July 14, 1673, as on 
that date she appeared before John Bowne, 
justice of the peace, as " the wife of Bernard 
Smith, formerly wife to the late deceased Ran- 
dall Huett," and consented to the saleof her lands, 
goods and cattle, which were sold as follows : 

" To all people to whom these presents sh:ill come I 
Bernard Smith of Portland point in the province of 
New Jearsy send greeting: Know Yee : that I the 
affbresaid Bernard Smith : for: and in consideration 
of a valuable summe of monney : beeing part of a 
Debt owing from my Predessesor Randall Huitt late 
deceased : to Cornelius Stenwicke : Merchant of new 
Yorke as apeares by obligation bearing date the 20th 
of may : 1658 of wch valuable summe of monney I doe 
acknowledge my selfe fully satisfied contented and 
paid: and thereof : doe exonerate acquitt : and dis- 
charge: the said Stenwicke) have hereupon absolutely 
sould : infeofed : and confirmed : and by these pre- 
sents : doe sell infeofe and confirme : all that my 
towne share of land : wch was formerly procured from 
the Pattentees : by my predessesor Randall Huitt late 
Deceased : wch towne share of land is comprehended 
in one of the three purchased neckes: Viz : newsinke 
Narramsun and Potepecke : as may apeare in the 
booke of Records of the said three necks : like wise I 
the afforesaid Bernard Smith in consideration of the 
above said valluable summe of monney have sould to 
the said Cornelius Stenwicke all that my share of that 
land commonly called the gift land belonging to my 
predessesor Randall Huitt as may apeare in the said 
Records all wch towne share of land : and share of 
gift land as apeares in the said Records : with all the 
apurteanances and priveledges thereunto belonging or 
apertaining : I the afforesayd Bernard Smith from 
mee : my heires : unto the afforesaid Cornelius Sten- 
wicke and his heires for ever : and by vertue hereof 
doe make good the purchase : warranting the sale 
from any that shall lay clairae thereunto : by vertue 
of any right: title: or interest: (claimed from the 
grand pattent and booke of Records : or any else : 
from : by : or under mee : in wittnes hereof I have 
hereunto sett my hand andseale this sixt day of ffeb- 
ruary 1672 

"Signed : Sealed and De- Signum talis 
livered in the presence Bernard B Smith 
of Edward Tartt Signum t.ilis 

Towne clearke Margret m Smith 
the seale was affixed." 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



54S 



Tlie Portland Point ssttlement for some rea- 
son did not thrive, and tiie greater portion of 
the land on the west part came into tlie posses- 
sion of John Bowne, by whom it was left by 
will to Daniel Brown, November 25, 1768 ; 
sold it to Mary Brown ; it was adjrtining the 
Esek Hartshorne traet. It was left to Uriah 
Brown, who, A])ril 14, 1800, sold to Joseph 
Hooper a part of it, described as "situate on 
Sandy Hook Bay, being the westernmost point 
of Portland Heights." The other part was 
sold to the Leonards, who still occupy a part 
of it. 

About 1834, William Brown built a landing 
at the place which had been Portland Point. 
The property came to the possession of Thomas 
Leonard, and his son, Thomas H. Leonard, lives 
in the old Brown farm-house. About 1877, 
Thomas Leonard and others built a dock and 
ran the steamer " JNIarion " to Now York for 
freight and passengers. This dock was later 
extended by the Atlantic Highlands Association 
into the bay about three-cpiarters of a mile to 
deep water. 

In 1879 the Atlantic Highlands Assoociation 
w'as formed to purchase and lay out lands for 
camp-meeting purposes. About three hundred 
acres of laud was purchased of Thomas Leonard, 
Edward Hooper, Nathaniel Koberts, Charles 
AVood^ard, John L. Patterson, Jacob Swan and 
John Dye. Improvements wei-e at once made, 
and the grounds were formally opened July 27, 
1S80. 

On the 11th of February 1881, the association 
liecame incorporated with a capital of two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars. The corpora- 
tors were the Rev. Stephen C. Baldwin, D.D., 
of New-ark ; Rev. J. E. Lake, of Seabright ; 
Thomas Leonard, of Leonardsville; Somers T. 
Champion, of Pleasantville, Atlantic County; 
Rev. S. Wesley Lake, of Atlanticville; and 
Robert Emory, of Seabright. The corner-stone 
of a jNIethodist Episcopal Church was laid 
December 23, 1882, which was finished and is 
now in use as a house of worship. 

Several hotels were erected, the largest of 
which is the Grand View. A fire company 
was organized January 9, 1883, as the Everett 
Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1. Many 



fine residences are built at the Atlantic High- 
lands. A pavilion and large auditorium have 
been built for religious services in summer; the 
lalter has a seating capacity of four thousand 
23eoj)le. 

The Navesink Park Company was formed in 
1879, and purchased two hundred and sixty 
acres of woodland southeast from Atlantic Hiffh- 
lands. It embraces within its limits Mount 
Mitchell, from the summit of which a fine view 
of the bay and ocean are obtained. A wharf 
was built; also a pier thirty feet in width, which 
extends one thousand feet into the bay. The 
lands were laid out by Egbert L. Viele, the 
landscape engineer of Central Park, New York. 

The Hillside Park Improvement Company 
was incorporated June 22, 1883, with a capital 
of thirty-five thousand dollars, with the object 
of improving land on the Atlantic Highlands. 
Their lands lie back of the Atlantic Highlands 
and north of Navesink village. It is intended 
to develop it as a place of summer resort. 

Leonardsville is situated in the northeast 
part of the township, near the bay. It is a little 
hamlet, w'hich received its name for the family 
of Leonard, who came to what is now this 
county, and built for James Grover the iron- 
works at Tinton Falls, then called the " Falls 
of Shrewsbury." James and Henry Leonard 
came from England, in 1642, to Taunton, Ma.ss., 
and from that time to about 1667 were enorasred 
in constructing iron- works in the eastern colo- 
nies. James Grover, one of the Monmouth 
patentees, settled at Middletown in 1667, and 
while surveyor of the to^^-nship, a few years 
thereafter, discovered traces of bog-ore at or 
near the Falls of Shrewsbury, on the line be- 
tween Middletown and Shrewsbury. He sent 
for the Ijconards to come to New Jersey and 
construct iron-works, which the}' did, as men- 
tioned. The name of Henry Leonard occurs 
frequently in the records for many years. The 
first mention is August 27, 1697, of "Henry 
Leonard's saw-mill, on Saw-Mill Brook, on the 
Manasquan road." March 6, 1706, a road was 
ordered laid from Iya^vreuce Mill, on Hop 
Brook, to Leonard's Mill. Mention is again 
made in 1709, as Henry Leonard's saw-mill in 



5U 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Middletown ; and many times as " ye Leonard's 
mill." Samuel Leonard was a justice in 1700. 
An old tide-mill was standing many years ago 
on Mine Run, the site of M'hieli is now out in 
the bay. The Leonard family lived many years 
at Shoal Harbor, and are still living at the place 
called Leonardsville. 

A store was opened at the place many years 
ago by Thomas Leonard, and a post-office was 
established. Soon after the opening of the At- 
lantic Highlands it was moved to that place. A 
Baptist chapel was erected in 1883, and dedi- 
cated in June of that year. It is under charge 
of the Navesink Baptist Church. 

On the bay, near Leonardsville, is " Apple- 
gate's Dock," located on a part of a large tract of 
land lying along the bay, which, in 1674, was 
the subject of a dispute between Bartholomew 
and Thomas Applegate and Richard Sadler on 
one part, and John Bowne and others of the 
Monmouth settlers on the other. The case is 
explained with tolerable clearness in the fol- 
lowiuiT extract from the minutes of "A Council 
held at Fort Wiliem Hendrick (New York 
City), on Thursday, the 8th of March, 1674, 
and presided over by the Dutch Governor-Gen- 
eral, Anthony Colve." This was during the 
brief reoccupation of New York by the Dutch, 
in 1673-74. The extract is here given, viz.: 

" Read and considered the petition of Bartholomew 
Appelgadt, Thomas Appelgadt and Richard Sadler 
requesting in substance that they may be allowed to 
purchase from the Indians a tract of laud situate 
about two leagues on this side of Middle Towne, near 
the Nevesings, fit for a settlement of 6 a 8 fomilies, 
etc. Whereupon it is ordered: The Petitioners' re- 
quest is allowed and granted, on condition that after 
the land be purchased, they take out patents in form 
for it, and actually settle it within the space of two 
years after having eftected the purchase, on pain of 
forfeiture." 

At another council held by Goveruor-Geueral 
Colve on the 18th of the same month, 

"John Bound [Bowne] and Richard Hartshooren 
[Hartshorne], residing at Middletown, both for them- 
selves and partners, give notice that the land granted 
to Bartholomew Appelgadt, Thomas Appelgadt and 
Richard Sadler on their petition, is included in their, 
the Petitioner's, patent, requesting therefore that said 
land may again be denied to said Appelgates: Or- 
dered : Petitioners shall, within six weeks from this 



date, prove that said land is included within their 
patent, when further order shall be made in the pre- 
mises." 

There is little doubt that the Applegates sus- 
tained their claim, as some of the family lived 
and owned land in tiiat vicinity for many gen- 
erations. 

Port Monmouth is in the north part of the 
township, on Shoal Harbor, and at the northern 
terminus of tiie Raritan and Delaware Bay 
Railroad, now the New Jersey Southern. 

Prior to 1854 the place, which afterwards be- 
came P(jrt Monmouth, was known in geueral 
terms as Shoal Harbor. In this year a plank- 
road was Iniilt from Middletown village, through 
Chanceville (now New Monmouth), to the 
point then for the first time called Port Mon- 
mouth. The land on which it is situated was 
a part of the Thomas Seabrook estate. 

The Port Monmouth Transportation Com- 
pany was incorporated April 5, 1855, with a 
capital of fifty thousand dollars, and with the 
following-named directors : Charles Morford, 
Aaron Seabrook, Jacob Conover, "William Mor- 
ford, John B.Crawford, Garret Van Dorn, Elias 
Morford and William ^Y. Murray. This com- 
pany built a long pier out into the bay to deep 
water, and built the steamboat "Eagle," to run 
from their pier to New York. A large hotel 
was also built, called the Port Monmouth 
Hotel. 

Upon the opening of the Raritan and Dela- 
ware Bay Railroad to this point, making a route 
to New York by the coimecting steamers, a 
large business was done, particularly during the 
War of the Rebellion. The steanrers " Tama- 
nend," "Jesse Hoyt" and others ran at different 
times on the line from the railway terminus to 
New York. During the time in which the 
railway traffic and travel passed by way 
of Port Monmouth it was a place of ex- 
tensive business, but after the opening of the 
New York and Long Branch Railroad it de- 
clined raiiidly, and is now a place of nuich less 
importilnce than formerly. 

The ^Methodist Episcopal Church of 
Port Monmouth was organized in 1864, and the 
present church was erected in 1866. The 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP 



645 



pastors have been the Rev. Ananias Lawrence, 
C. C. EastUick, y. H. Asay, J. F. Heilenman, 

E. T. Tunnicliff, J. Garrison, W. A. Massey, 
W. Franklin, E. Waters, L. A. Beeman and J. 

F. Seachrist, the present pastor. Harmony 
Church is now connected with this church, and 
the membership of Ixith is one hundred and fifty. 

The Port Monmouth post-office was estal)- 
lished at the terminus of the raih-oad in 1861, 
with the Re\'. William A". Wilson as postmas- 
ter. He still holds the office. 

An enterprise was begun along the shore in 
1871 of packing menhaden (fish) in oil. The 
business was ca,rried on by Coit & Co., Ameri- 
can Club Fish Company and Stanley & Co. It 
was carried on for four or five years, but finally 
abandoned. A. Osborn & Son, David Vail and 
Daniel Vail are now using large quantities of 
menhaden, extracting the oil for painting and 
selling the refuse for fertilizing purposes. 

Leedsville is in the south part of the township, 
a short distance from Swimming River, which 
there forms the boundary against Shrewsbury. 

In this locality William Leeds purchased of 
the proprietors a large tract of laud on Swim- 
ming River, and March 29, 1680, he purchased 
the Indian right of Cherewas-Melileth, Cherlcs, 
Puropa, Lendreck, Iraseef, Mestoa, Poruras, 
Lcoples, Secoes and Metopeek. Iraseef was 
called the sachem of Wickoton. Upon this 
tract of laud William Leeds built a house which 
is mentioned in a road record of 1687 as "Wil- 
liam Leeds' new house." A great portion of this 
land was left by Leeds in his will to the Epis- 
copal Church of Shrewsbury, at that time em- 
bracing Christ Church of Middletown. This 
was held by the two congregations in common 
until 1855, when the property was divided. 

Tlie village of Leedsville is on the northern 
boundary of the Leeds tract, and as early as 
1800 it acquire<l the name of Sandy New, by 
which it was known man)' years. Heudrick 
Bennett kept a tavern at the place from 1800 to 
1820. It was later kept by Benjamin Lever- 
son and by Gilbert Clayton, who was the last. 
In 1841, John H. Adlem bought the tavern 
property, and still owns it. Joseph Stillwell 
erected the present hotel about 1829. 
35 



A post-office was established here in 1841. 
The postmasters have been Samuel T. Holmes, 
Joseph Thomson, Cyrenus Thompson, Frank 
Ryan, Henry H. Adlem, Constant Ingling and 
Tenbrook Davis. The office was abandoned 
several years ago. 

The Bai'tlst Chukch at Leedsville was 
organized in 1846, and October 10th in that 
year elected James Grover, John N. Johnson, 
Daniel Polhemus and Horace Gleason trustees. 
The society was incorporated February 25, 
1847. A site was procured and timber was 
made readv for the raising of a meetina-hduse 
when some financial difficulty occurred and the 
project of building was abandoned. It was 
again started in 1868 and a chapel was built, 
which was dedicated February 17, 1869. In 
1876 the society was involved in financial diffi- 
culty and the house was sold to John Bergen 
and John Sutton, two Baptists of Red Bank, 
and in 1880 the society purchased and now own 
it. The puli)it has been supplied by the Red 
Bank Baptist Church from the first, and it is 
now a part of that church. 

New Monmouth (formerly Chanceville) is 
situated in the western part of the township, 
north of Middletown village. 

The land on which New Monmouth stands 
was in the hands of the Morford family before 
1 840, when William and Charles Morford opened 
a store and kept it from that time for many 
years. A 2:)ost-office was established and Henry 
Morford became the postmaster. He afterwards 
went to Keyport and published the New Jersey 
Standard, and became a writer of some note. He 
was succeeded as postmaster by Howard Van 
Tassell, and H. J. Frost, who Ls the present 
postmaster. 

The Baptist Church at Chanceville 
was organized in 1854, largely from members 
of the First Baptist Church of Middletown. In 
the next year the present church building was 
erected and also a chapel. The church was re- 
modeled and enlarged in 1860. The present 
membership is one hundred and forty-four. The 
Rev. William V.Wilsou, of Port Monmouth, has 
been pastor of this society from its organization. 



546 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



St. Mary's Catholic Church was organ- 
ized in 1876 and has a membership at present 
of six liundred souls. The corner-stone of the 
church was laid June 21, 1 878. A mission was 
begun here several years before by Father 
Danielson, and in 1876 Father John J. F. 
O'Connor became rector, and is now in charge. 
Morrisville Catholic Church is also under his 
care. 

At " Holland," on the west line of the town- 
ship, stands the Lyster house, which was 
built in 1730 by one of the family who 
came from Long Island and settled there. Dur- 
ing the Revolution there were two bi'others, 
Peter and Cornelius Lyster. The latter was 
the grandfather of Hendrick V. Lyster, now 
living near there. Peter lived and died on the 
homestead. John P., his son, was a soldier in 
the Revolution. Emma and Catharine Lyster, 
granddaughters of Peter, now live in the old 
homestead house. 

Morrisville is a settlement on the township 
line between Holmdel and iliddletown. The 
place has a store, a school-house and a few 
dwellings. 

Prior to 1833 a Methodist Society was or- 
ganized at Scott's Corners (now INIorrisville), 
and on ]\farch 30th in that year it was incor- 
porated and trustees chosen. A lot was pur- 
chased not far from the Corners and a meeting- 
house erected upon it, which was also used for 
school purposes. On the 28th of ISIarch, 1845, 
the lot was sold by John B. Crawford, Samuel 
H. Smith and David H. Bennett, trustees of 
the church, to the school trustees. No perma- 
nent organization seems to have been held from 
this time. 

Chapel Hill village is in the northern central 
part of jNIiddletown township, two miles east of 
Middletown village and nearly the same dis- 
tance south from the shore of the bay. This 
place had been known as " High Point " for 
many years prior to 1800. Soon after that 
date it began to be called by its present name, 
because of the erection there of a Baptist meet- 
ing-house or chapel. 



The Baptist Church at what was soon 
afterwards known as Chapel Hill was organ- 
ized as the " Independent Baptist Society and 
congregation at High Point, Middletown." 
June 17, 1809, the following-named trustees 
were elected : Rev. John Cooper, John Stillwell, 
Henry Johnson, Job Layton, Willialn Norris 
and John Johnson. A meeting-house was 
erected which was known as High Point 
Chapel. How long the Rev. Mr. Cooper re- 
mained in charge has not been ascertained. The 
society was not incorporated until January 14, 
1829. 

A Methodist Episcopal Church was organ- 
ized and incorporated at the place October 13, 
1828, with the following trustees: James Lewis, 
William Baker and John Taylor. This society, 
early in 1829, purchased the High Point Chapel, 
and used it until the Methodist Episcopal 
Church was erected at Nav'esink, when it was 
abandoned and the house sold to Deacon An- 
drew Brown, of the First Middletown Baptist 
Church. Among the ministers of the Method- 
ist Church were Revs. Loudenslager, Andrews, 
Jaquett, and in 1859-60, William A. Brooks. Af- 
ter the purchase of the chapel by Deacon Brown 
services were held occasionally by the pastor of 
the Middletown Baptist Ch urch, and upon Dea- 
con Brown's decease he left the chapel, by will, 
to the First Baptist Church of Middletown, who 
now use it a'* a place of worship. 

A post-office was established at Chapel Hill 
about 1850, with Cornelius Mount as postmas- 
ter. He was succeeded by Alexander Waters, 
who kejjt store at the place. In 1882, Peter S. 
Conover succeeded him and is now postmaster. 
D. S. Bennett occupies the store in which the 
post-office is kept. The Chapel Hill beacon is 
near this place. 

In 1684, .John Loof burrow was in possession 
of a mill on Maclise Creek. As late as 1815 
the creek was navigable for sloops and schoon- 
ers within a half-mile of the mill. The farm 
is still in possession of the family ; the mill 
passed into other hands about twenty years ago. 

Harmony Methodist Episcopal Church 
is situated near the west line of Middletown 
township, northwest of Middletown village. 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



647 



In 1829, Miss Hannah Herbert (afterwards 
jNIrs. Joseph Collins) opened a Sunday-school 
at her house, in Harmony, and also invited 
preachers to visit her house and preach. Among 
those who did so were the Revs. Bartholomew 
Weed, Thomas G. Stuart, James Moore, James 
Long, Isaac Felch and IMulford Day. A so- 
ciety was organized soon after 1829, which was 
incorporated February 23, 1835, with John B. 
Dennis, James C. Polhenuis, Peter C. Dennis, 
Joseph Johnson and Stephen Pangborn trus- 
tees. A lot was bought June 24, 1840, of Silas 
Newman, under the condition that a church 
should be erected thereon. It was built soon 
afterwards and was used until 1864, when it 
was enlarged and repaired. At this time it was 
under the pastoral charge of Rev. G. H. Neal. 
It was dedicated November 3, 1864, l)y Bishop 
Simpson. The pastors since that time have 
been Revs. Ananias Lawrence, C. C. Eastlack, 
S. H. Asay, J. F. Herbert, J. T. Heilenman, 
E H. Tuunicliff, J. Garrison, \V. A. Massey, 
E. Gifford, A. J. Gregory, J. Wagg and J. T. 
Seachrist, the present pastor. This church is 
under charge of Port Monmouth. 

The Fair View Cemetery is situated on rising 
ground between Middletown and Red Bank. 

The Fair View Cemetery Company was in- 
corporated March 28, 1855. The grounds are 
finely laid out into lots, walks and avenues, and 
well set with evergreens and deciduous trees. 
They were laid out by Ezra Osborne, of Mid- 
dletown. 

Oak Hill Nurseries (owned by Elnathan 
Fields) ai"e situated west of Hedden's Corners 
and north of Nut Swamp. Fruit-trees, ever- 
greens and deciduous trees and shrubs of all 
kinds are raised for the market. 

The peninsula of Sandy Hook, from its 
northern extremity southward to a point three- 
fourths of a mile below the Highland bridsre 
across the Navesink River, is within the juris- 
diction of Middletown for townsliip purposes, 
though it is the property of the United States 
for military and other public uses. 

The first owner of the lands of Sandy Hook 
was Richard Hartshorne, who came to this part 
of the country in September, 1669. In 1703 



he made a deed of gift of the Highlands and 
Sandy Hook to his son ^Yilliam, who died in 
1748, and left it to his sons Robert and Esek. 

In 1762 the light-house on Sandy Hook was 
established. On November 16, 1790, an act 
was passed declaring " That the jurisdiction of 
this State in and over a lot of land situate at the 
point of Sandy Hook, in the County of Mon- 
mouth, containing four acres, on which a light- 
house and other buildings are erected, shall be, 
and the same is hereby ceded to and vested in 
the United States of America for ever here- 
after." 

The title of the property passed to the 
United States February 26, 1806, from Richard 
Hartshorne (son of Robert), Tylee Williams 
and Nimrod Woodward, who owned the portion 
formerly owned by Esek Hartshorne. In 
March, 1846, an act was passed giving to the 
township of ]\Iiddletown jurisdiction in and 
over all Sandy Hook, owned by the United 
States, lying north of an east and west line 
through the mouth of Young's Creek at low 
water, and extending across the island or cape 
of Sandy Hook from shore to shore. 

The Sandy Hook lightr-house was established 
in 1762 and refitted in 1857. The light is 
ninet\' feet above the level of the sea : height of 
tower from base to light, seventy-seven feet. 
Its lantern is of third order lens, fixed, and at 
an elevation of fifteen feet above the sea visible 
fifteen nautical miles. It is said to be the 
oldest established light-house in the United 
States, with the exception of Brant Point light, 
a small affair near Nantucket, Mass., which was 
built in 1759. During the Revolution the 
Sandy Hook light-house was fortified by the 
British, inclosing a camp or cantonment which 
was occupied by Tory Refugees (black and 
white), and known as " Refugees' Town." The 
east and west beacon lights, on Sandy Hook, 
were established in 1842. The east beacon is 
forty-eight feet above the level of the sea. It 
went out in 1850 and was rebuilt. In 1880 a 
new iron tower was built on the site, and the 
light was used for the first time on the 15th of 
!March in that year. A first-order steam fog 
syren signal, giving blasts of six seconds at 
intervals of forty seconds, is attached to the east 



548 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



beacon light, north point of Sandy Hook. The 
west beacon tower is forty-five feet above the 
level of the sea and thirty feet from the base to 
the focal plane. 

The Sandy Hook light-ship lies nearly due 
east from Sandy Hook light and the Highland 
lights about fourteen miles, and is the first of 
the Sandy Hook lights to be discovered by 
ships coming in from sea. It was first placed 
there in 1823 and rebuilt in 1862. It has two 
lights, each forty-five feet above the level of 
the sea, and is provided with a fog-bell. 

A fort was begun on Sandy Hook by the 
United States government during the War of 
the Rebellion, but was never completed. A 
signal-service tower is also at the place. The 
Hook is used by the government as a ground 
for heavy gun experimental practice. Life- 
Saving Station No. 1 is located at this place. 

Spermaceti Cove is about half-way from the 
Highland bridge to the northern point (if Sandy 
Hook. At this jjlace, before 1812, a tavern was 
built, and called the Cove House. It was kept 
by Thomas Martin, and was destroyed by fire in 
1854. 

At the " Horee-Shoe " on the Sandy Hook 
isthmus, and about one mile south of the light- 
house, is the terminus of the Long Branch and 
Sea-Shore Railroad, where are located the steam- 
boat wharf, depot, engine-houses and water- 
tanks. 

Besides the beacons on Sandy Hook, there are 
three others in Middletown township, viz. : 
Point Comfort, Chapel Hill and Conover. 
Waackaack beacon is in Raritan township, rang- 
ing with Point Comfort. They are all range 
lights established by an act of Congress approved 
August 31, 1852. The report of the Light- 
House Board says they were all completed in 
185(3. Point Comfort beacon is forty-five feet 
above the level of the sea, AVaackaack seventy- 
six feet, Chapel Hill two hundred and twenty- 
four feet and Conover sixty feet. Chapel Hill 
and Waackaack have second order lens and the 
other two third order. 

Point Comfort beacon is located near the shore 
on Point Comfort, while Waackaack, with which 
it is in range, is inland, on the east side of 
Wakake Creek. Conover beacon is on Sandy 



Hook Bay, near the Leonardsville dock, and is 
in range with Chapel Hill beacon, which stands 
on Chapel Hill, about two miles inland. 

Schools in Middi.etowx.— The township 
contains thirteen school districts and has school 
property valued at sixteen thousand two hun- 
dred dollars. Fourteen hundred and thirty- 
nine children of school age are registered 
in the township. Xavesink District No. Sit, 
embraces the territory on Clay-Pit Creek 
south and east of Navesinlc, where, in what was 
known in early days as ^\ itch Hollow, a school- 
house was standing as early as 1800 and was 
there as late as 1820. " Master John Stevens," 
grandfather of Edward A. Stevens, of Hoboken, 
was a teacher there. About 1840, a school-house 
was built at Navesink, which was repaired from 
time to time and afterwards rebuilt. It is a 
large frame two-story house, and is now occupied 
by the school. This district now contains two 
hundred and twelve children of school age. 

Chauceville Disti'ict, No. 60, was formed 
under the present system April 23, 1857. The 
school-house in this district was built over fifty 
years ago and was rebuilt about 1858, and is 
now used. The district contains at present one 
hvindred and three children of school age. 

Harmony District, No. (Jl, has seventy- 
two children of school age. A school-house was 
built near the Harmony Methodist Episcopal 
Church before 1837. In that year it was known 
as District No. 3. Daniel C. Hendrickson, 
Andrew Wilson and John Eastmond were trus- 
tees. A meeting was held May 25, 1842, to 
consider the expediency of moving the school- 
house. A motion was made to change the site, 
which was carried. At a meeting June 1 1th, the 
action was reconsidered and vote again taken, 
and it was decided not to change. In Februarj^, 
1857, another meeting was held, and the citizens 
were called upon to vote upon two sites, — the 
old one by Harmony Church and the lot near the 
corner of Jacob Halsey's land. The vote was 
taken and again lost. Soon after this time the 
school house was burned. No record of any ac- 
tion for rebuilding on the old site is found. A 
lot was purchased of James Willet ; the present 
house was built, and, with repairs, is still used. 

Middletown District, No. 62, embraces 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



549 



old ^liddletown village, where the first English 
school in the province of New Jersey was taught 
by John Smith, who was an associate with Roger 
Williams in his exilement to Rhode Island. He 
came to Middleto\\n and took up Lot Xo. ") in 
the " Town Lotts." He opened a school in the 
new village, and \\as married by John Bowne, 
justice of the peace, January :>, 1672. He evi- 
dently retired from teaching a ievr yeai-s later, 
for it is of record, June 22, 1678, that "John 
Smith, late schoolmaster, of Middletown in the 
province of East New Jersey, purchased a tract 
of laud called by the Indians Mengache, but 
hereafter to be ciilled amongst the English by 
tiie name of Smith's Field." It is not ascer- 
tained when John Smith taught in ^liddletown 
village, nor where " Smith's Field " was located. 

A school-house which was in use in Mid- 
dletown in 1785, was doubtless the one that 
stood on the Dr. Edward Taylor fiirm and in 
which he attended school in 1812. This house 
stood there until about 1830, when it was moved. 
Of the teachers in this old house were John 

Grant, Asher McQuiu, Buell and Robert 

L. Austin, who was the last. He continued in 
the new house, which was built on the site of the 
present Reformed Church lot. ^^llen it was 
decided to build tlie churcli, the school lot was 
thougiit the most desirable, and it was purchased 
from the trustees in 1835. 

After that sale, there being then no school-house, 
a stock company was formed to build an acad- 
emy, to be called Franklin Academy. April 
19, 18.36, John L. Hendrickson, William Wil- 
ling, Ezra Osborn, Dr. Edward Taylor, J.^. B. 
Beeknian, Robert Hartshorne and James Pat- 
terson were elected trustees. 

The present two-story academy was built, and 
Robert L. Austin became the first principal. 
School was kept in this building as an academy 
for several years. About 1851, it was turned 
over to the district, and is still used. The dis- 
trict now contains one hundred and twenty- 
seven children of school age. 

Hedden's District, No. 63, is in the neighbor- 
hood of Hedden's Corner, in the south part of 
the township, between Red Bank and Middle- 
town village. Jonathan McClane, the father of 
James McClane, used to relate the tradition 



that in McClaue's Swamp, about half a mile 
below Hedden's Corner, there formerly stood a 
school-house in M'hich an Irish teacher, in pun- 
ishing a scholar who was kept after school, 
killed him and buried him under the school- 
house. The swamp for many years after, and 
within the recollection of some now livinsr, was 
called Haunted Swamp. 

As early as 1785 a school-house was built on 
the site at Hedden's Corner, at which Jonathan 
McClane attended. Jacob McClane also attended 
it in 1816. A new school-house was built 
about 1860, which was remodelled a few years 
ago. The district at present contains one hun- 
dred and eleven children of school aare. 

Leedsville District, No. 64, is located in the 
southwest corner of the township. In 1818, 
an old school-house .stood on a knoll northeast 
from Jephiah Clayton's house, at which Mr. 
and Mrs. Clayton, William Jewell and Eliza 
Ogden attended. The house is now on the 
farm of Jephiah Clayton. About 1830, Cyrenus 
Thompson gave a lot of ground for school 
piu-poses, and on it the present house was built. 
It was rebuilt about 1855. The district at pre- 
sent contains one hundred and three children of 
school age. 

Nut Swamp District is in the south part of 
the township, southwest of Hedden's Corner, 
west of Red Bank and east of Morrisville. 
"Within the territory of this district the question 
of building a school-house was brought up in 
1840, and on the 10th of March, 1841, a meet- 
ing of citizens was held at the store of Edward 
and John Michaus, at which time and place 
Joseph S. Applegate, John Michaus, AVilliam 
Smith, George Bowne and Thomas S. Field 
were elected trustees of the Association for 
Promotion of Learning. The society was in- 
corporated November 27, 1841. A lot was 
purchased and the present house wa.« built upon 
it and called the Union School-House. It 
is still used for schools. The district contains 
fortv-niue children of school age. 

Chapel Hill District, No. 66, embraces the 
little village or settlement of Chapel Hill, east 
of the centre of the township. The first school- 
house in what is now the Chapel Hill District 
was built in 1817 on Grarret Hill. The lot 



550 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



(one-sixth of an acre) was purchased Novem- 
ber 4, 1816, for ten dollars. It was bought of 
William Stillwell by William Morford, John 
Stout and James Hopping, trustees of the " Gar- 
ret Hill School." This house was used at the 
place until 1848, when it was moved to Chapel 
Hill, where it is still occupied by the school. 
The district contains at present eighty-one 
children of school age. 

Highland District, No. 67, embraces the Nave- 
sink Highlands. The first school-house was 
built here, in 1834, by Peter W. Schenck and 
used for a private school for fifteen years, then 
abandoned. In 1845 the Highlands became 
a district, and Peter W. Schenck and Colonel 
William Jones erected a school-house on 
Jones' property, which was used for many 
years and then abandoned. In 1867 Ed- 
ward Hartshorne erected a school-house 
near the Twin Lights. This was used un- 
til 1878, when it was sold to the Catholics, 
who occupied it as a chapel. Soon after the sale 
of this lot the district bought the present school 
site of Andrew Mount and built on it, and in 
1880 the district voted two tliousaud dollars 
for the erection of a school-house. In 1884 it was 
decided to enlarge the house, and two thousand 
five hundred dollars was voted for that purpose. 
The house was enlarged to forty by eighty 
feet. It is well furnished with all modern im- 
proved furniture. The district now contains 
one hundred and ninety-six children of school 
age. 

Port Monmouth District, No. 68, embraces 
territory in the north part of the township, along 
C'om])ton's Creek and Shoal Harbor. The first 
school-house was built there about 1858, and 
was used until 1 883, when it was rebuilt. The 
district at present contains one hundred and 
fourteen children of school age. 

Bay Shore District, No. 69, now em- 
braces the Atlantic Highlands, known in 1670 
as " Shoal Harbor," and also as " Portland 
Point." On the 28d of March, 1807, Anthony 
Smith sold to Thomas Seabrook, Jacob Coven- 
hoven and Humjjhrey Tilton, trustees, nine 
perches of land for four dollars, for the purpose 
of erecting a school-house thereon. A house 
was erected which was called the Shoal Har- 



bor School-House. In 1883 a large and com- 
modious house was erected at a cost of six tliou- 
sand dollars, fitted with modern school furniture 
and dedicated November 9, in that year. The 
district now contains one hundred and twenty- 
one children of school age. 

Brown's Dock District, No. 70, was taken 
chiefly from Chapel Hill District soon after the 
Garret Hill School-House was moved to Chapel 
Hill. It has been kept in good condition and 
is still used. The district contains forty-two 
registered scholars. 

Seabrook District, No. 71, was taken from 
Bay Shore, and was named after Thomas Sea- 
brook, who was one of the trustees of the Shoal 
Harbor School District in 1807. The present 
school-house was erected in 1862 and additions 
were made in 1884. The district now contains 
one hundred and eisrht children of school age. 

Holland District, No. 54, and Morris- 
ville District, No. 57, are both located on 
the dividing line of Holmdel and ISIiddletown, 
and embrace territory in both townships. They 
are reported by Superintendent Lockwood in 
Holmdel, and are mentioned in the histoiy of 
that township. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Joseph Field. — Mr. Field is descended from 
English ancestry. The early members of the 
family resided on Ivong Island, from whence 
Elnathan, his grandfather, who died in his 
ninety-seventh year, removed to Monmouth 
County, where he purchased an extensive tract 
of land and became a farmer. He married 
Mary Willet, whose children were Thomas, 
Elnathan, Caroline, Mary and Huldah. Thomas 
was born on Long Island, and removed when a 
lad to Monmouth County, and spent his youth 
as a farmer in Middletown township. He mar- ' 
ried Rebecca, daughter of Captain Moses Shep- ' 
herd, of the same township, to whom were born 
children, — Joseph, Thomas, Mary (wife of 
Daniel West), Caroline (married to James L. 
Wilson), and Rebecca (wife of Elnathan Field). ' 
Joseph was born on the 26th of September, 
1792, on the homestead in Middletown, in the i 
vicinity of which his life has been spent. Re- '. 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



551 



ceiving: such edupation as the district school 
aiforded, he, when a youth, made himself useful 
on the farm, and later purchased the land on 
which he now resides, the original tract embi'ac- 
ino- one hundred and fifty acres, to which he has 
at various times added until it now embraces four 
hundred acres of arable land, which is devoted 
to general farming. Mr. Field has found it 
advantageous to let the farm, as the infirraities 
of ase rendered labor difficult, and now as- 



liberal towards all religious denominations, he 
inclines towards the Baptist faith. 



Charles J. Hendricksox. — The great- 
grandfather of Mr. Hendrickson, was John Hen- 
dricksou, whose son Daniel was born in 1735, 
and married Nellie Van Mater, who was born in 
August 4, 1735. Their children were Anna, born 
February 14, 1761, married to Charles Dubois; 
Cyrenius, born May 3, 1766; and John, born 







sumes no responsibility in connection with its 
management. He was, in 1867, married to 
Miss Uretta, daughter of John Hedden. Their 
children are Josepli, Uretta and Rebecca. IMr. 
Field, while a former Whig and uow a Eepub- 
lican in politics, is not strongly partisan, and 
votes for men of integrity and ability, irrespec- 
tive of party, always, however, declining offi- 
cial position. He is a director of the Middle- 
town and Red Bank Turnpike Company and 
identified with other township interests. Though 



June 13, 1773. John resided upon the home- 
stead, which is still in the family, having married 
]\Iary Lloyd, daughter of John Lloyd. She 
was born October 17, 1772. Their children 
were Eleanor, Daniel, John Lloj'd and Charles 
J., the subject of this biographical sketch. He 
was born Xovember 12, 1805, in the house 
which has for years been associated with the 
history of the family. At the age of twelve 
years he was sent to New Brunswick, N. J., 
and enjoyed the advantages of a thorough Eng- 



552 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



lish education, from whence he removed to 
New York, and began a mercantile career as 
clerk, acting for three years in that capacity. 
Mr. Hendrickson M'as, in 1826, married to Julia 
Ann, daughter of Rev. John Schuremau, D.D., 
professor in the Theological Seminary at New 
Brunswick, and granddaughter of Colonel 
Elias Conover. Their children are Julia 
(deceased), Mary Matilda, John Schureman, 
Lousia (deceased), ]\Irs. Edward ]\I. Harts- 
home and Ella. ^Ir. Hendrickson, on his 



Covenhoven, who emigrated from Utrecht, 
Holland, to America in 1630. In the direct line 
from one of his three sons. Garret by name, 
was Hendrick, great-grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this biographical sketcli. To his son, 
also Hendrick, who married a Miss Conover, 
were born children, — Garret H., Peter, Mary, 
Williampe, Jacob, and others who died in 
youth. Jacob, a native of Marlboro' township, 
resided within its limits during the greater 
part (if his life, having married Eleanor, 



^^^^^ 



-■%. 



/; 




-^U ^^^!^/^ yf yy^^>^ a^c^ ^/t^^ 



marriage, removed to the farm inherited from 
his grandfather, which is his present residence. 
Finding active business more congenial to his 
tastes, he, in December, 1837, made Philadel- 
phia his residence, and for twenty years pur- 
sued a mercantile life, after which he retired to 
his farm in Middletown. 



AzARiAH Conover. — The Conover family 
so numerously represented in INIonmouth County 
are all descended from Wolf hert Gerritsen Van 



I daughter of Barnes B. and Lydia Longstreet 
Smock. Their children are Mary (Mrs. John 
I. Taylor), Henry H., Azariah and Lydia 
(Mrs. John L. Bennett). Azariah was born on 
the 14th of February, 1821, in Marlboro', then 
Freehold township, and in infancy became an 
inmate of the household of his uncle. Garret 
Van Dorn, of iSIiddletown township, then re- 
siding on the ])r(>perty now owned by Mr. 
Conover. After a period of instruction at 
home, he became a pupil ot the Lenox 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



553 



Academy, at Lenox, Mass., and later gave his 
attention tf) tlie cultivation of the farm, for 
several years superintending its varied inter- 
ests. On the death of his uncle he purchased 
the land of the estate, and has since that time 
been actively engaged in farming of a general 
character, ranking among the successful agri- 
culturists of the township. Mr. Conovorwas, in 
1846, married to Miss Emily P., daughter of 
Thomas Sherman, who resided in the vicinity 
of Long Branch. Their children are Charles 



Turnpike Company and the Middletowu and 
Red Bank Turnpike Company. He is also a 
member of the Monmouth County Agricultu- 
ral Society, of which he was one of the organi- 
zers, and has been for years on the board of 
manasrement. IMr. Conovcr's religious convic- 
tions are in harmony with the tenets of the 
Reformed Dutch Church, with which he and 
his family worship. 



Rev. William Y. Wilsox was born 



in 




c^^^o^^^lA. -tS^, 



E., of Xew York, married to Carrie, daughter 
of Peter Chanfrau, of Long Branch ; Thomas 
(deceased) ; Williampe Yan Dorn (Mrs. Sam- 
uel Rogers), of New York ; and Jacob, who 
resides with his parents. Mr. Conover's politi- 
cal sympathies are with the Republican party, 
though he has never been an as])irant for any 
offices beyond those connected with the township, 
such as member of the township committee, 
township clerk and inspector of elections. He 
is a director of the Keyport and ^liddletown 



Hunterdon County, X. J., November 18, 1811, 
was ci)nverted when about eighteen, and joined 
the church at Sandy Ridge in 1818. He had a 
thorough education, including a full course at 
Princeton Theological Seminary. On gradu- 
ating, he became a missionary of the New Jersey 
Baptist State Convention in Middlesex County. 
He was pastor at Keyport and of the Second 
Middletown Baptist Church, and in 1854 became 
pastor of Port Monmouth Baptist Church, where 
for more than thirty years he has fulfilled his 



554 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



I 



ministry. He has been treasurer of the New 
Jersey Baptist Education Society, and Ls now 
(1885) its president. With preaching talents 
he combines an unusual aptitude for business, 
and he has freely and successfully used this for 
the cause of God. He succeeded in tJie almost 
inpossible work of extricating Peddie Institute 
from its financial difficulties, and has frequently, 
by his counsels and labors, helped to raise money 
needed for benevolent opei-ations. His pub- 
lished sermon on giving, and other discourses 



His father was a millwright by trade, and 
for many years a lumberman in Pike County, 
Pa., in which business this son was ensraeed in 
his earlier days. His father died at the ad- 
vanced age of ninety-six and his mother at 
eighty-one. 

The subject of this sketch knew full well the 
struggle with poverty in obtaining an education, 
his own hands in great part supplying the neces- 
sary means. 

His life, so far, has been a very busy one; 




and writings, have stirred up the people to great- 
er consecration of their means and larger efforts 
to spread the gospel. 

Soon after his settlement at Keyport he mar- 
ried into the Seabrook flimily, at Siioal Harbor 
(now Port Monmouth), where he has made his 
home ever since. This family and their ancestors 
have occupietl this spot for near Uvo hundred 
years. Deeds are in their possession, of land now 
wholly covered by the waters of the Lower Bay 
of New York. 



full of labor, physical and mental. There is 
hardly any business outside of his profession 
in which he has not had a share, — railroading, 
steamboating, farming and general education, 
and withal a postmaster for the last twenty-four 
years. 



Captain Charles Morford. — William 
Morfurd, the father of Captain Charles Mor- 
ford, was born in 17(54, and in 1788 married 
Lydia Stout, whose birth occurred in 1768. 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



555 



Of their twelve childreu, nine survived and 
grew to mature years. Charles, of this number, 
the seventii son, was born March 27, 1807, in 
Middletown township, and enjoyed such oppor- 
tunities of education as were afforded near his 
home, supplemented by judicious reading and 
study at home. Develojjing earh' a taste for 
mechanics, he M'ent to New York City, and 
learned the carpenter's trade, which was on his 
return to his home followed successfully for 
several years, in connection with farming. He 



which Charles was made president, when a 
steamboat was built for the purpose of facilitat- 
ing the shipment of produce from the adjacent 
country. The vessel, which made regular trips 
from Port ^loumouth to Xew York, was under 
command of ^Ir. Morford as the first captain, 
and sailed daily from a substantial pier erected 
for the purpose. 

Captain Morford was, on the 25th of Septem- 
ber, 1832, married to Susan, daughter of Daniel 
and jVfargaret Herbert, of the same township, 




'y'Afi.T^] Ov^y/o 



later engaged with his brother William in mer- 
cantile pursuits^at Chanceville, now New Mon- 
mouth. Thomas Morford was soon added to 
the firm, and the first lumber and coal-yards 
were opened in this vicinity. These brothers 
were also instrumental in starting the first line 
of packets between the section of the bay-shore 
now known as Port Monmouth and New York, 
and for many years a very considerable business 
was done in sailing-vessels. A " Transportation 
Company " was afterward incorporated, of 



iry-i^' 



their children being John, married to Z. Maria 
Brown ; Caroline ; Almira, wife of David S. 
"Wyckoff ; Lydia, married to S. T. Hendrick- 
son ; Margaret H.; Charles H., married to Laura 
M. Worthley. In 1858, Captain Morford re- 
linquished to his son John the homestead farm 
at Xew ]\Ionmouth which he owned and culti- 
vated, and removed to the one in Middletown 
village now occupied by his widow and son, 
Charles H. Morford. He was identified with 
the leading enterprises of the county, and with 



556 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



every movement which advanoed the interests 
of the community. An early Whig in politics, 
he later indorsed the principles of the Republi- 
can party, and although much interested in the 
advancement of its principles, invariably de- 
clined the most urgent solicitations to accept of- 
fice. He was one of the incorporators of the Mon- 
mouth County Agricultural Society, and vice- 
president of the Fairview Cemetery Association, 
in which he manitested an active interest. He 
was also at the time of his death, which occurred 
June 7, 1874, president of the Red Bank and 
Middletown Turnpike Comjiany. He was in 
his religious convictions a Baptist, and both a 
member and trustee of the Middletown Baptist 
Church. A comprehensive estimate of the char- 
acter of Captain Morford is embodied in the an- 
nexed t]-ibute from a fi-ieud, published soon after 
his death: 

" His Christian character, in the ordinary sense 
of the word, was fully conceded and warmly 
indorsed by all who knew him in that relation; 
there yet remains his rare and honorable singu- 
larity. Captain Morford was unlike the body 
of men with the talent and power of accumula- 
tion in hwicir.g, better than most men, how to 
make his means a servant and not a tyrant. All 
know how difficult it is for the man who has, 
to use the ordinary phrase, ' made his money,' 
to avoid holding it too highly. Captain Mor- 
ford learned years ago (and this is the especial 
subject of admiration) to make his money a 
mercy and not an evil, — to use it as if it had 
been made for his use. Ripening with age and 
experience, he surrounded himself with the 
highest comforts and many moderate luxuries, 
making his residence notable for its moral as 
well as physical atmosphere of enjoyment ; he 
considered wealth never better expended than 
in his family, with the result of having won 
around him oue of the happiest and most 
unitfid families within the writer's knowledge. 
He traveled much on the American continent 
and in Europe during the Paris Exposition year 
of 1867 as a personal enjoyment and enlarging 
his knowledge of men and the world, laying up 
memories and friendships equally pleasant ; and 
all this without holding back one tithe from 
the causes of religion and local benevolence. 



with which he has been so long and honorably 
associated. 

" The writer has believed that to this especial 
feature of Captain Moi'ford's life — his ripening 
and broadening with years, instead of narrow- 
ing, as so many do — attention deserves to be 
more especially called, than others might call it, 
for the sake of the honorable example aiforded, 
and in the hope that that example may not be 
unfruitful." 



Richard A. Leonard. — Nathaniel Leon- 
ard, Gentleman, received a commission in 1739, 
the thirteenth year of His Majesty George the 
Second's reign, appointing him lieutenant of 
Middletown Middle Company. He, and his 
wife. Deliverance, had four sons, — John, born 
in 1738, emigrated to Cuba and married a 
Spanish lady; Nathaniel, born in 1739, 
there is no trace of; Joseph, born in 1743, 
married Annie Bray and had children : Sam- 
uel (married to Lydia Madden), Sarah and 
^Vnnie ; Thomas, the great-grandfather of the 
present generation, born in 1753, married Alice 
Lawrence, whose children were Elizabeth, AVil- 
liam and Joseph. \A^illiam married Elizabeth 
Applegate, and afterwards Elizabeth Conover. 
To the first marriage were born children, — Rich- 
ard, Mary, Thomas, John S., William and 
Elizabeth A. Captain Leonard, as he was 
familiarly called, in early life followed the 
water, plying between New York and Middle- 
town, and occasionally extending his voyages to 
Virginia. Soon after his marriage he became 
both a farmer and merchant, and was for years 
activelv enwaged in business. His son Thomas 
resided on the homestead of his grandfather, 
Thomas, whose property is now in possession of 
the widow of Richard A. Leonard, the eldest 
son, who was born on the 17th of February, 
1812, in Middletown township, and spent his 
youth on the farm owned by his father, to the cul- 
tivation of which his time wa.s devoted, with the 
exception of the period spent at school. At 
the age of twenty-one years, being ambitious 
for a more independent life than was possible 
on the homestead, Mr. Leonard removed to his 
grandfather's farm, purchased for him by his 
father, William Leonard, where he resided 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



557 



during the remainder of iiis life. He was, on 
the 14th of March, 1833, married to Elizabeth, 
eldest daughter of Rev. Thomas Roberts, whose 
children are Richard, married to Delia F. Pat- 
terson ; tSarah (Mrs. Charles McC'leese) ; and 
Emma, wife of George Sherman. ISIrs. Leon- 
ard's death occurred on the 8tli of February, 
1S48, and he was again married, February 28, 
1849, to iSarah, daughter of Rev. Thomas Rob- 
erts, of Middletown. The children of tliis mar- 
riage are Charles T., married to Annie Grover ; 



the projectors of the New Jersey Southern Rail- 
road. He was also one of the founders of the 
Peddie Institute at Hightstowu. The follow- 
ing tribute paid his memory by the executive 
committee of the New Jersey State Temperance 
Alliance conveys a just estimate of his charac- 
ter as a Christian citizen : 

" The subject of this brief sketch, vice- 
president of the New Jersey State Temperance 
Alliance for Monmouth County, departed this 
life ]May 5, 1877, in the sixty-fifth year of his 







yji^ 




^i'T^C C^' 



William J., married to Fannj' M. Clark ; and 
Ella S. Mr. I^eonard was, though an influen- 
tial citizen of his township, seldom an office- 
holder, his leisure time having been devoted 
mainly to the inauguration and support of 
movements in behalf of reform and the uphold- 
ing of morality' and religion. He was largely 
interested in the success of the Agricultural 
Society of the county, of which he was one of 
the founders ; one of the incorporators of the 
First National Bank of Red Bank, and among 




^^-en>^c 



age. He became a decided Christian in early 
life, and united with the First Middletown Bap- 
tist Church, holding the offices of deacon, Sun- 
day-school superintendent and trustee for 
fifteen years. When the church at Navesink 
was organized, in August, 18o3, he was chosen 
one of its deacons, which office he filled with 
rare fidelity and integrity until his death. He 
was a man of great activity and energy, as his 
manner of attending to both secular and j-eli- 
gious affiiirs fully exemplified. He succeeded 



558 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



in acquiring considerable property, but was sel- 
dom so busy as to prevent prompt attention to 
his religious duties. He had a warm heart and 
a ready hand for every good word and work. 
In addition to strict fidelity as a Christian, a 
church member and officer, there were two de- 
partments of" labor in which he took a special 
interest, — he was a warm friend of, and active 
worker in, the Sunday-school, but he was es- 
pecially distinguished as a life-long and uncom- 
promising enemy of the iniquitous licpior traffic. 
If a temperance meeting or convention was to 
be held, a petition or remonstrance circulated, 
the gi'anting of a license defeated, a viola- 
tor of the law prosecuted, or money raised to 
meet expenses, Richard A. Leonard could be 
relied upon as among the foremost in the work. 
It is also said that ' he used frequently to gather 
the youth of the neighborhood in the school- 
house, teach them temperance songs and 
enlist them in the work.' Nor did his zeal 
abate with his years, but remained unflagging 
to the end. 

" His death produced a profound sensation in 
the community. At his funeral, the services of 
which were conducted by four different minis- 
ters, a large concourse of peoi>le attested their 
high appreciation of his character and worth. 
Bv honoring such men we honor ourselves." 

Ella S. Leonard, youngest daughter of Rich- 
ard A. and Sarah R. Leonard, entered Peddie 
Institute, Hightstown, in 1876, and rapidly 
rose to high rank in her class, winning the first 
prise for declamation at the commencement 
exercises in 1877 ; also the following year for 
excellence in elocution. In 1879 she graduated 
with the valedictory, in 1881 entered Vassar 
College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and was soon after 
appointed assistant editor for the period of her 
whole course of study. She was advanced each 
year, and finally became senior editor of the 
Vassar Miscellany ; subsequently, in connection 
with Miss Caroline Lingal, purchasing the At- 
lantic Highlands Herald, and founding the 
Atlantic Highlands Indepeiulent. Afler enjoy- 
ing all the honors the college could bestow, in 
May, 1884, she sailed for Europe, and made the 
tour of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, 
returning in the fall to complete her college 



course, where she still remains engaged in study, 
graduating June 10, 1885, as class poet. 



William V. Conovee, whose grandfiither, 
Daniel Conover, was a resident of Atlantic 
township and a farmer, was united to Margaret 
Rezo, a lady of French descent. Their children 
were Daniel D., Garret, Tylee, Eleanor, Eliza- 
beth and Margaret (wife of John Van Dorn). 
Tylee was born on the 1st of January, 1791, in 
Atlantic (then Middletown) township, and 
united in marriage to Maria, daughter of Garret 
Schenck, on the 9th of December, 1812. Their 
children are Sarah Ami (Mrs. John A. Mor- 
ford), born in I8l4; Daniel, in 1820; William 
v., January 6, 1824; Garret S., in 1831 ; Ty- 
lee, in 1836 (deceased). Mr. Conover, on his 
marriage, removed to the farm in Middletown 
now owned by his son, William V., which he 
cultivated until his death. He was a strong 
Democrat in his political sympathies, and mani- 
fested much interest in public affairs, his ojjinion 
on matters of public or private imj)ort being 
regarded with respect. William V., whose 
birth-jjlace was the homestead, remained until 
seventeen under the paternal roof. Desiring 
then to enter into business, he removed to Long 
Branch, and engaged, as clerk, with a merchant 
of that jilace, who, at the age of twenty-one, 
admitted him to a copartnership, inider the 
firm-name of Conover & Morford. He re- 
mained thus engaged until the death of his 
father, in July, 1847, when circumstances influ- 
enced his return to the farm situated on the at- 
tractive bank of the Shrewsbury River, where 
he has since resided. He was, on the 22d of ~ 
December, 1853, married to Catharine, daughter 
of John Bennett, of Middletown township. 
Their children are John Bennett, born August 
9, 1854. and married to Annie A. Morris ; 
Sarah Maria, born March 22, 1856 (wife of 
Joseph Applegate) ; William Tylee, born No- 
vember 19, 1857, married to Annie A. Cooper ; 
and Henry Hudson, born December 12, 1860, 
who died August 19, 1861. Mr. Conover has 
made farming his legitimate pursuit, but since 
the age of nineteen has been an active worker 
in the field of politics. A Democrat in his po- 
litical faith, he has acted as freeholder and filled 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, 



559 



all the important offices in hiw township. In 
1875-76 he represented his constituency in the 
State Legislature, serving on the committees on 
railroads and canals, fisheries, engrossed bills, 
agriculture, etc. He is director and president 
of the Ked Bank and Eatontown Turnpike 
Company, and prominently identified with every 
important movement in his townshij). In such 
services as are performed by trustees and guard- 
ians his experience is found invaluable. Mr. 



a tract of land on Rumson Neck, on which 
he remained until his death. To his wife, 
a Miss Butler, were born children, — 
Lucy, Elizabeth, Martha W. and John. The 
latter was born in England (as were all the 
(children) on the 31st of January, 1781, his na- 
tive county being Lancaster. He emigrated 
with his father and engaged in various employ- 
ments during his active life, being in turn 
teacher, merchant and farmer. He married 





/ 



Cui^^-i, 




'^^^ly(M^^l^ 



Conover, though reared in the faith of the 
Reformed (Dutch) Church, is at present a sup- 
porter of the Presbyterian denomination. 



William H. Grant.— Edward Butler Thos. 
Grant, the grandfather of William H. Grant, 
emigrated to the United States in 1793, 
and resided two years on Long Island for 
the purpose of becoming an American citi- 
zen. He then sailed for France, and three 
years later, returning to America, purchased 



Ann Hance, born October 10, 17.S6. Their 
children are Thomas, born in 1809 ; Martha, 
in 1810; John, in 1813; Edward, in 1815; 
Catherine, in 1818 ; William H., on the 24th 
of December, 1820 ; and Elizabeth. The sub- 
ject of this biography, whose birthplace was 
Rumson Neck, spent his youth at this point 
and in adjacent portions of the county. In 
1831 he removed to his present farm, which 
was included in the original tract secured by his 
father. On the death of the latter he inherited 



560 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



seventy-five acres, and has at various times 
added to its area until the farm u(j%v embraces 
two hundred and ten acres under cultivation. 
He has been a farmer from his youth, and is 
thoroughly practical in his methods ; hence he 
has been successful, and while raising the usual 
products of the county, has given much attention 
to fruit-culture. ^Ir. Grant was, in 1S54, mar- 
ried to Anna, daughter of Jarret Mortbrd, of 
Red Bank. Their two children were Laura 
(deceased) and T. Henry, a civil engineer on the 



ation for the Monmouth battle monument. He 
served on the committees on agriculture, unfin- 
ished business and the joint committee on com- 
merce and navigation. He is a member of the 
State Horticultural Society, and active in pro- 
moting its objects and interests. Mr. Grant is 
in his religious associations an Episcopalian, and 
member and vestryman of Christ Protestant 
Episcopal Church of Middletown, of which he 
has been, for nearly a quarter of a century, 
business manasrer. 







New Jersey Central Railroad. Mrs. Grant's 
death occurred March 5, 1868, and he was again 
married, April 22, 1875, to Mrs. Eliza Jane 
Watson, daughter of Thomas Hendrickson, of 
New York City. Mr. Grant's interest in the 
county and township of his residence has led 
to his nomination to many responsible offices. 
He was, in 1884, elected, as a Republican (in a 
Democratic district), to the State Legislature, 
and was instrumental in securing the appropri- 



Geoeoe Crawford Hendricksox. — Mr. 
Hendrickson is the great-great-grandson of John 
Hendrickson and the great-grandson of Daniel 
Hendrickson, born in 1735, who married Nellie 
Van ]\Iater. Among their three children was 
John, wliose birth occurred June 1.3, 1773. 
He resided on the family estate, having married 
Mary Lloyd, who was born October 17, 1772. 
Their second son, John Lloyd, was born March 
3, 1801, in Middletown township, and settled 




'tryAMTHUUe' 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



561 



on the property now the home of his widow, 
in that township, his death having occurred 
September 25, 1845. He was married, on the 
16th of December, 1822, to Adaline, daughter 
of George Crawford, of INIiddlctown, and had 
(ihildren, — Eleanor, born October 9, 1823, who 
died, October 22, 1837; Anna, born September 
26, 1825, deceased; George C, whose birth 
occurred March 8, 1829; and Mary Louisa. 
George Crawford Hendrickson M'as born on 



bition for positions of trust and honor among his 
fellow-men. He gave little attention to enter- 
prises of a public character, and rarely interested 
himself in matters apart from his own farm, 
which was successfully conducted and very 
productive. He greatly loved the quiet of his 
fireside. No man was more hospitable, more 
kind or generous to his workmen or more true 
to his friends. His heart ever responded to the 
calls of benevolence or religion. Though not a 




',--/-^^ 



-^^.^J^ 



/' 



7 



^^' 



the old homestead, and pursued his studies at 
Flushing, Long Island, after which he entered 
the academy at Middletown. He determined 
upon agriculture as the business of his life, and 
on the death of his father managed the property 
in the interest of the family. This work he 
continued during the remainder of his life, 
giving some attention to the raising of fine cattle 
and sheep. He was among the most substantial 
and respected citizens of the township, though 
his life was unassuming and free from am- 
36 




member of the church, he was a strong supporter 
of all Christian movements and a regular at- 
tendant of the Baptist Church. His death, 
which was universally deplored, occurred Oc- 
tober 12, 1875. 



Sidney McCi.ane. — Jacob McClane, the 
grandfather of Sidney McClane, was a native of 
Bucks County, Pa., and during the Revolution- 
ary War the owner of a farm and ferry on the 
Delaware, the latter of which was intimately as- 



562 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sociated with the struggle for independence, 
in which Mr. McClane partici{)ated as a 
soldier in the battle of Germautown. He mar- 
ried Martha Burdge, whose children were Moses, 
David, Solomon, Jonathan and Martha. Jon 
athan was born in Bucks County, Pa., and re- 
moved with his parents to Monmouth County, 
his father having given him a farm on the 
Shrewsbury River, where his life was chiefly 
spent. He married Eleanor, daughter of Ben- 
jamin Burdge, whose grandfather, David Burdge, 
emigrated from England and secured an exten- 
sive tract of land in Middletown township. 
The children of this marriage are Jacob, Wil- 
liam, Theresa, (Mrs. John S. Leonard), Sidney, 
Warren, Eleanor (Mrs. S. B. Close), Benjamin 
B. and Susan (Mrs. William M. Smith). 
Sidney, of this number, was born on the 27th of 
September, 18'i0, in Middletown township, and 
spent his youtii with his parents, having been a 
pupil in boyhood of the neighboring public school, 
after which he interested himself in the cultiva- 
tion of his father's farm. He eventually became 
owner of a portion of the homestead land, and 
remained upon it until 1866, the date of the 
family's removal to the attractive property now 
owned l)y his widow, where his death occuired 
on the 2d of July, 1874. He was married March 
11, 1858, to Anne Smith, daughter of Joseph 
M. Smith, of Middletown township, whose 
children were six in number, three of whom are 
now deceased. Mr. McClane, though successful 
in all departments of farming, made horticul- 
ture a study, and devoted much of his time to 
the raising of choice varieties of fruit. He was 
formerly a Whig in politics, and later became a 
Republican, though never a participant in the 
active scenes of a political campaign. He was 
one of the originators, as also a trustee, of the 
Fair View Cemetery, and a director of the Mid- 
dletown Turnpike Company. He was connected 
by membership with the Red Bank Baptist 
Church, of which he was a trustee. A man of 
modest bearing, and domestic in his tastes, his 
pleasures were found within the circle that gath- 
ered around his own fireside. 



William M. Smith was born in Middletown 
township, Monmouth County, N. J., in 1803, 



and died at his home on the 25th of February, 
1879, within a quarter of a mile of his birth- 
place, the family homestead, which he himself 
owned at the time of his death. He was the 
son of Daniel Smith, long and favorably known 
as deacon of the Baptist Church in Middle- 
town, with one or two exceptions the oldest 
in the State. Daniel Smitli's death occurred in 
1850. His father, grandfather and great-grand- 
father, three generations, all bore the name of 
William, the first William being tiie son and 
chief heir of John and Mary Smith, who arrived 
in New York in the year 1670 and bought a 
plantation in Middletown, the warrant of which 
is dated 1676. The will of Joiin Smith bears 
date December 29, 1714, and enumerates seven 
children, William being the eldest. His son, 
the second William Smith, was married, about 
the year 1728, to Mary Compton, and died in 
1770. Among his ten children was the third 
William Smith, the father of Daniel Smith and 
the grandfather of the subject of this biography. 
The third William Smith married, in Novem- 
ber, 17G2, Mary Layton and had ten children. 
He lived in an era that " tried men's souls," and, 
the records state, suffered, among other depri- 
vations, a loss of £138 16s. 6rf. through the 
British. His son Daniel, the father of William 
M., was born June 5, 1768, and married, in 
March, 1793, to Anne Maxon, one of the truest, 
noblest and best of women, whose father, Rich- 
ard Maxon, was an officer in the War of the 
Revolution. Their twelve children were Joseph 
Maxon, Maria, Anne, Daniel, William M., Mary, 
Eliza, Theresa, Lucinda, Jack.son, Amanda and 
Lydia, four of whom are still living. Perhaps 
the best estimate of the life and character of 
Mr. Smith may be gained from the expressions 
of the press on the occasion of his death. The 
Red Bank Standard spoke of him as spending 
his whole life in that community, and expressed 
the general regret at the loss sustained, saying : 
"Few farmers were more thrifty, few husbands 
more affectionate, few fathers more indulgent, 
few neighbors more obliging, few church mem- 
bers more devoted." Though a busy, stirring 
man, much absorbed in the cultivation and im- 
provement of his fine estate. Deacon Smith never 
neglected his duties as a Christian. Converted 



iMIDDLETOWxV TOWNSHIP. 



563 



at the age of twenty-three, he became a member 
of the Baptist Church at Middletowu, but finally 
brought his letter to the Baptist Church of Red 
Bank, of which he was a trustee at tlie time of 
his death. His life became very closely asso- 
ciated with all its spii-itual and temporal inter- 
ests, and while he substantially aided luanv other 
churches besides his own, the upbuilding of his 
own rested heavily upon his heart, many of his 
last days having been spent in planning tlie 



and said of him: "He had a splendid farm, 
and was among the most prosperous men of the 
county, giving his time and attention to the 
improvement of his property until it was one 
of the most attractive places in this part of the 
State. He was honest, upright and thrifty, and 
leaves a good name behind as a reward of many 
years of honest labor and toil." He was for- 
merly a Whig in politics, and afterward became a 
warm adlicrent of tlie Republican piirty. He was 




CC'Ti'^'^ ^, 



■M G?^?/^ 



advancement of its best interests. He was espe- 
cially anxious to see a parsonage erected, and 
not only donated for the purpose a lot, but also 
a liberal subscription. His long and painful 
illness was endured with patience and Christian 
fortitude, and as night brings out the stars, so 
those weary months of illness develojjed the 
brightest lustre of his Christian character. The 
Monmouth Inquirer spoke of him as a devoted 
and energetic member of the Baptist Church at 
Red Bank, which he had helped in many wavs, 



on the 24tli of December, 185(3, very happily 
married to Susan IMcClane, who now survives 
him. She was the daughter of Jonathan McClane, 
one of the most prominent and respected citizens 
of the county, whose attractive residence was 
situated on the north shore of the Shrewsbury 
River. The children of this union were Willie M. 
and Charles J. M. Smith, the eldest of whom, 
a child of uncommon promise, died in youth. 
Charles J. M. Smith, the youngest and surviv- 
ing son, is now living on the homestead, which 



564 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



has not been allowed to deteriorate, but is con- 
stantly being improved, in a way which indi- 
cates both good taste and executive ability. 
Mr. Smith was interred at Fairview Cemetery, 
in a circular lot, inclosed with granite. The 
monument commemorating his death is said to 
be the largest in the State. It is of Quincy 
granite, bearing the appropriate inscription, "I 
know that my Redeemer liveth." 



Joseph I. Thompsux is the grandson of 



ceived such educational advantages as the dis- 
trict school afforded. He chose the blacksmith's 
trade, and became an apprentice in Middletown 
township, afterwards conducting his trade at 
Black's Mills, Manalapau township. In 1844 
he received the appointment of attendant of the 
light-house at the Highlands of Navesink, and 
remained for five years thus occupied, building 
at this point the favorite resort known as 
Thompson's Atlantic Pavilion. Desiring to 
become interested in agriculture, he, in 1867, 




J^/(*%^ty/j t/^ /^^-<f'^'7^t.f^cr-,.^^_J 



Joseph Thompson, a farmer on an extensive 
scale in Freehold township, who married Sarah 
Conover. Among their children was John I., 
born in 1776, who married Margaret Walton, 
born in 1780, daughter of Elisha Walton, of 
Revolutionary fame. Their children were Wil- 
liam, Emeline, Joseph L, Elisha, Mary Ma- 
tilda (Mrs. John Little), Sally and Ann (Mrs. 
Uriah Smalley). Joseph I., the second son, was 
born on the 24th of February, 1811, at Mount's 
Corners, near Freehold, where in youth he re- 



purchased his present farm of one hun- 
dred and twenty-five acres, in Middletown 
township, and has since been absorbed in its 
cultivation. He was, on the 28th of December, 
1834, married to Eleanor Schureman Johnson, 
granddaughter of Cornelius Johnson, and 
daughter of Dr. Cornelius Johnson, a gradu- 
ate of Princeton and of the leading Philadel- 
phia medical college of his day, whose only son, 
James Schureman, was a graduate of Rutgers 
College, New Brunswick. Mrs. Thompson is 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



565 



the maternal grauddaughter of James and 
Eleanor Schureman. The children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Thompson ai-e John I.; Eleanor J., wife 
of Eugene W. Benton; Cornelius J.; and Mar- 
garet M. (Mrs. John N. Riker). 

Mr. Thompson has alwaj'S been identified in 
politics with the Democratic party. His popu- 
larity in the county led to his election, in 1859, 
to the office of sheriff, though aside from this 
distinction he has declined all proffers of official 
position. He was formerly director of the 



His education, under not very efficient teachers, 
was necessarily limited, the absence of 
his father, during his frequent voyages, making 
an active and industrious life a necessity with 
the older children. Each assisted on the farm 
or in the store, Thomas being, until twenty 
yeare of age, chiefly employed upon tlie farm. 
He then entered his father's store, and in 1840 
succeeded him in business, the latter retiring to 
his farm, where he resided until his death, July 
19, 1872. On the 5th of February, 1840, 




Sandy Hook and Long Branch Railroad, and 
interested in other business projects, tliougli liis 
time is principally given to his farm and liotel 
enterprises. He is a contril)utor to tlie support 
of the Middletown Reformed (Dutch) Church, 
of which Mrs. Thompson is a member. 



Thomas Leonard, son of William and Eliz- 
abeth (Applegate) I^eonard, was born Septem- 
ber 5, 1815, on the property at present occupied 
by him, which has been his lifetime residence. 



I Thomas Leonard married Mary A., daughter 
of James and Patience Ho{)ping, of Middletown. 
Their children are James H. (born January 8, 
1841), Thomas H. (June 30, 1843), Edward 
H. (February 13, 1853) and John J. (born 
March 6, 1856). Mr. Leonard, by his influence, 
succeeded at this time in having a post-office 
established at Leonardsville, and received the 
appointment of postmaster, with the office located 
in his store. In 1882 he retired from business, 
his son, TCdward H., being his successor on the 



566 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



site which has been coutiuiiously occupied by 
the family for a period of seventy years. The 
remaining sons are established in successful 
business enterprises at Atlantic Highlands. Mr. 
Leonard, on the organization of the Atlantic 
Highlands Association, was elected its treasurer, 
and fills the same office in connection with the 
New York and Atlantic Highlands Railroad. 
He was formerly, in his political associations, a 
Democrat, but later became a Republican. He 
has been, like his brother, Richard A., actively 



years of age. Having worked upon a farm 
from the time he was thirteen until about seven- 
teen, he spent three years in learning the 
cooper's trade. Before the age of twenty he 
had completed his apprenticeship, and shortly 
after went to England. Very soon, in a way 
undiseerned by himself, the Lord began to 
direct his steps to the land wherein many 
labors, trials and triumphs awaited him. He 
sailed in 1803 from Dublin for America, and 
after a passage of five weeks readied New York 




THOMAS ROBERTS. 



identified with the temperance cause, to which 
he has given his means and influence for more 
than one-half a century. His religious creed is 
that of the Baptist Church, in which he has been 
for years a deacon and an exemplary member 
for more than half a centurv. 



Rev. Thomas Roberts was born in Den- 
bighshire, North Wales, on the 12th of June, 
1783. His father died when he was aliout five 



In May, 1804, he sailed for Madras, in the 
East Indies, in company with four Baptist mis- 
sionaries ; from there to Prince of Wales Island, 
near the Straits of Malacca, and thence to 
Madras, from which city they returned to New 
York in 1805. AVhile in New Jersey, Mr. 
Roberts met and married Elizabeth, daughter 
of John Rutan, ^lay 25, 1806. To this union 
were born ten children, — Thomas (married to 
Mary (iriggs, of Freehold), Elizabeth (wife of 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



567 



Richard A. Leonard), John (married to M. 
Lavina Patnam), Eiisha (married to Naomi 
Jones), Mary (wife of Edmund Morris), Wil- 
liam S. (who died in youth), Nathaniel (married 
to Phcebe M. Rowlands), Sarah (married to 
Richard A. Leonard), Daniel (married to 
Eleanor V. Arrowsmith) and a daughter who 
died in infancy. 

Mr. Robei'ts was baptized on the 8th of 
March, 1807, and lieing urged to use his gift in 
exhortation, complied, without the most distant 
idea of preaching the gospel. In 1808 he re- 
moved to LTtica, and united with the First Bap- 
tist Church, laboring meanwhile in Utica, Tren- 
ton and Holland Patent. He also preached at 
Albany to the few Baptists who assembled in 
the court-house, conducting service in the morn- 
ing in English and in the evening in Welsh at a 
private house. He subseijuently removed to 
the Great Valley (Pa.) Baptist Church, and for 
eight years laltored fervently with this people. 
In 1821, under the auspices of the Acting Board 
of Foreign Missions, he organized a mission to 
preach the gospel and establish schools among 
the Cherokee Indians, where he labored for two 
years, when it was deemed necessary for him to 
return to present the claims of the mission. 
While traveling in New York and New Jersey 
to solicit aid among the churches for the 
Cherokee mission, he visited Middletown, Mon- 
mouth County, where he was afterwards called, 
and remained in this chosen field for thirteen 
years, preaching with marked acceptance and 
profit to the church and community. In 1837 
he removed to South Trenton, N. Y., and took 
charge of the Holland Patent Church, also 
preaching for two years at South Trenton and 
at Deerfield Corners. In April, 1843, he re- 
moved to Utica to be near his charge, and on the 
18th of October of the same year was deprived 
of the companionship of his most devoted wife. 
Removing, in May, 1844, to Middletown, in the 
fall of the same year he took charge of the 
Pennypack Church, in Pennsylvania, where he 
continued four years as pastor, having married 
Eleanor, widow of Rev. David Jt>nes, the 
former incumbent. He devoted the following 
three years to the pastorate of the Holmesburg 
Church, and in 1851 retiiriiecl with his wife to 



Middletown. He supplied the Navesink Bap- 
tist Church until a pastor was installed, after 
which he preached, by invitation, among the 
many churches of his acquaintance. His wife 
having died in 185!t, Mr. Roberts found a 
home with his youngest son, continuing to 
preach, as strength permitted, for the churches in 
the %'icinity, and as a patriarch among his 
children was welcomed with veneration and 
love. After eighty-two years of pilgrimage the 
messenger for whom he had patiently waited 
came. On the 24th of September, 1865, his 
spirit passed to the Saviour, whose death and 
glorious resuri'cctiou he had proclaimed so often 
and earnestly, leaving his brethren the legacy 
of his meek, laborious and persevering example. 

William B. Hendrickson is a grandson 
of Daniel Hendrickson, a Revolutionary soldier, 
who resided upon land now owned by the sub- 
ject of this sketch. His children were Daniel 
D. and William, both of whom settled in Mon- 
mouth County. The former, born in 178(5, 
who figured conspicuously as captain of the 
largest company raised in the county for the 
War of 1812, though by trade a cabinet-maker, 
was also a successful farmer. He married Cath- 
arine, daughter of Thomas Bedle, of the same 
township. Among their thirteen children is 
William B., the twelfth in order of birth, who 
is a native of Middletown township, and was 
born February 10, 1830, on the homestead, 
where he has since resided. With the exception 
of the limited period in youth devoted to in- 
struction at the neighboring public-school, his 
life has l)een a busy routine of labor peculiar to 
the farmer. After becoming thorousrhlv familiar 
with all departments of agriculture he, at the 
age of eighteen, assumed the charge of his 
father's interests, and continued thus engaged 
until the death of the latter, when, by in- 
heritance and purchase, he became owner of 
the property, to which he has since at various 
times made considerable additions. Always a 
farmer, Mr. Hendrickson, though interested in 
the raising of the staple grains, has met with 
signal success in fruit-culture, to which much 
labor and attention is given. He was, on the 
24th of November, 1852, married to Miss 



568 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Catherine L., daughter of Joseph S. Applegate, 
of the same township, their children being Eva 
Lilly, who graduated at the Freehold Young 
Ladies' Seminary, and Daniel D., a graduate of 
the Medical Department of the University of 
Pennsylvania, engaged in practice in his native 
township. Mr. Hendrickson has been for years 
identified with public aflairs in both township 
and county, having been for six years a chosen 
freeholder, and, in 1872, elected to the State 



George Morford. — The Morford family 
are of English descent. William Morford, the 
grandfather of George Morford, resided in that 
portion of Middletown township now known as 
New Monmouth, where he was engaged in the 
employments of a farmer. He married Lydia 
Stout, whose children were twelve in number, 
the survivors being ^\"illiam, Thomas, Charles, 
Elias, Lydia (Mrs. John Taylor), Sarah (Mrs, 
Grover Taylor), Mary (Mrs. Walter Parsons) 





^^^?^rF 




Legislature, as a Democrat, in a district strongly 
Republican, and by a flattering majority. He 
was an active member of various important 
committees. He has, however, been more re- 
cently engrossed in the management of his pri- 
vate business interests, and gives little time to 
public matters. Mr. Hendrickson is a liberal 
supporter of the Middletown Baptist Church, 
of which Mrs. Hendrickson is a member. 



and Lucy (Mrs. James J. Taylor). William Mor- 
ford was born September 23, 1796, on the home- 
stead, and married Elizabeth Willett, whose 
birth occurred February 14, 1794. Their chil- 
dren are James, born in 1819 ; Henry, in 1823 ; 
Elizabeth (Mrs. Benjamin Frost,) in 1830; and 
]\Iargaret, in 1832. Mrs. Morford's death 
occurred in January, 1835, and Mr. Morford 
was again married, in October, 1836, to Joanna, 
daughter of Nicholas and Mary Johnson, whose 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



569 



•children are Margaret, born in 1840, and George, 
( )ctober 18, 1844. Henry, thesecond son in order 
of birth, attained distinction as an author, having 
founded tiie Neio Jersey Standard, at ilatawan, 
which for several years he edited, subsequently be- 
coming editorially connected with the New York 
Atlas. Among his publications are " Rhymes 
of Twenty Years," " Over Sea " and " Paris 
and Half Europe." He also held the appoint- 
ments of reader for the New York Board of 
Aldermen and clerk of the City Court. His 



a pronounced Whig, and later a Republican, 
holding the office of justice of the peace, and 
wielding an extended influence in public affairs. 
He was connected by membership with the 
Middletown Baptist Church, from which he 
transferred his connection to the Port Monmouth 
Church of the same denomination. His death 
occurred April 28, 18(J8, in his seventy-second 
year. The birth of his son George occurred on 
the homestead, where his life has chiefly been 
spent. Receiving such instruction as the neigh- 






C^^ 



ileath occurred in August, 1881. William Mor- 
ford, soon after his marriage, removed, to the 
house now occupied by his son George, at New 
Monmouth, where he engaged in mercantile 
pursuits, continuing thus employed for a period 
of more than forty years, and at a later date 
embarking with his brothers in the coal and 
lumber business. He was one of the originators 
of the earliest transportation company, and 
largely identified with township and county 
matters. In his political predilections he was 




7^ 



boring public school afforded, he at once en- 
gaged in farming, and on the death of his 
fether assumed the management of the property, 
which has been continued until the present time. 
He was, on the 20th of November, 1867, married 
to Miss Emeline, daughter of Jacob H. and 
Hannah Masker, of Newark, N. J. Their 
children are William, born July 3, 1869 ; 
George, July 11, 1874 (decea.sed) ; Alice, August 
19, 1877 ; and Harry, August 19, 1881. Mr. 
Morford is actively engaged in business interests 



570 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



aside from farming, as director of the First 
National Bank of Red Bank, and as director 
and former president and treasurer of the Port 
Monmouth Steamboat Company. He is also a 
member of the Monmouth County Agricultural 
Society. A Republican in his political associations 
and an influential representative of the party, 
having for years been a member of the exec- 
utive committee of the county, he has invariably 
declined office other than that of trustee of the 



dependence from British aggression. After 
acquiring the trade of a carpenter he removed 
to Monmouth County in 1801, where he for 
some time followed that vocation, but subse- 
quently became a farmer and also a distiller. 
He was married to Mary Whitlock, and to 
them were born eight children, five sons and 
three daughters, viz. : John W., Lydia, Wil- 
liam, Edmund, Richard, Benjamin, Marj- and 
a daughter who died in infancy. 





^/^/Q^^^ 




school district of his township. He adheres to 
the religious faith of the family, and is a mem- 
ber and trustee of the Port Monmouth Baptist 
Church. 



Captain Benjamin Griggs. — Benjamin 
Griggs, the grandfather of Captain Benjamin 
Griggs, was born in the county of ^Middlesex, 
N. J., in the memorable year of 1774, directly 
preceding the struggle of the colonies for in- 



William, the second son, was born November 
20, 1808, at Freehold, and followed the trade of 
a blacksmith. He married Lydia A. Holman, of 
Monmouth Countj^and wasthe father of afamily 
of seven children, of whom Benjamin, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was the third. The children 
of this union were William A., Augustus (de- 
ceased), Edgar, Benjamin, Henry, Adelia (mar- 
ried to Daniel B. Frost) and Augusta. Mr. 
Griggs was prominently identified with local 



MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP. 



571 



political affairs and was one of the first pioneers 
in steamboat enterprises. William Griggs died 
March 21, 1878. 

Benjamin Griggs was born at New Mon- 
mouth, formerly Chanceville, on July 10, 1842. 
He received in his youth the education gener- 
ally obtained at the common schools, and after- 
wards followed the life of a farmer for some 
years. In 1869 he became clerk upou the 



He was elected a member of the State Legis- 
lature in 1881, and has served on the commit- 
tees on fisheries and passed bills. He is 
prominently identified with all matters of public 
interest in his locality and is a public-spirited 
citizen of worth and one that is universally 
respected by his neighbors. Captain Griggs is 
a member of the Monmouth County Agricultu- 
ral Society, and worships at the Baptist Church 





freight-boat "Orient," plying between Port Mon- 
mouth and New York City. His application 
and the confidence he inspired by his ability 
raised him in a short time to the command of 
the boat, of which he became captain in 187.3, 
which position he successfully filled up to the 
year 1880, when he built a new vessel. He 
continues to follow the profession of a mariner, 
and owns shares in vessels other than that 
which he commands. 



of New Monmouth, of which he is a trustee. 
On January 2, 187;3, he was united in mar- 
riage to Martha S. Wilson, daughter of the Rev. 
W. V. Wilson, of Tort Monmouth. 



Captain James H. Leonard, the eldest son 
of Thomas, above mentioned, was born on the 
homestead of his grandfather, at Leonardsville, 
where the years of his boyhood were spent. 
After a period at school he entered his father's 



572. 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



store as clerk, and remained four years thus em- 
ployed ; but preferring a less sedentary life, 
abandoned for the time mercantile pursuits 
and retired to the farm. He was, on the 17th 
of November, 1863, married to Emma C, 
daughter of James J. Taylor, of Atlantic town- 
ship. Their children are Mary, born April 8, 
1 866 ; George T., born August 3, 1872, who died 
in his second year ; and Albert T., whose birth oc- 
<'urredMarch 27,1875. Captain Leonard, after 



est in a very productive farm in Middletown 
township. Captain Leonard is in politics a 
stanch Republican, and has wielded an ex- 
tended and t^alutary influence in his township 
on questions of public import. He was, in 1 875, 
elected to the ofSce of assessor, and the year fol- 
lowing chosen to represent his district in the 
State Legislature. He used much of his time and 
I means in the successful effort to obtain railroad 
1 and steamboat accommodations to Atlantic 




his marriage, purchased and removed to a farm 
in Middletown, which he cultivated for a period 
of fifteen years. This property was subse- 
quently sold and divided into lots, and is now 
included in a portion of Atlantic Highlands- 
He also became interested in a steamboat line 
plying between Atlantic Highlands and New 
York, and for three years acted as captain of 
the vessel. He, in 1882, embarked again in 
mercantile enterprises, but still retains his inter- ! 



Highlands and vicinity. He is connected by 
membership with the Navesink Baptist Church, 
in which he fills the office of trustee. 



Edward Hooper. — Mr. Hooper is of Eng- 
lish descent, his grandfather having been Jo- 
seph Hooper, a lineal descendant of William 
Hooper, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. He first settled in IVIiddlesex 
Couutv, and afterwards removed to Monmouth 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



573 



County, N. J., meanwhile marrying Elizabeth 
Hartman, whose children were Joseph, Wil- 
liam, Samuel and Rebecca. Samuel, who was 
born in Monmouth County, served in the W^ar 
of 1812 as captain in one of the New Jei-sey 
regiments, and subsequently became a farmer. 
He married Ursula, daughter of Jonathan 
Bowne, whose children are Richard, Eleanor, 
Edward, William, Samuel and Jonathan. Cap- 
tain Hooper was prominently associated with 
the social and business interests of the county, 
and exerted no little influence in matters of a 
public character. His sou Edward was born 
October 6, 1820, on the fiunily estate in Mid- 
dletown township, his father having been the 
owner of an extensive tract of land there located. 
His son, the subject of this biographical sketch, 
enjoyed thorough advantages of education, and, 
desiring to engage in active out-of-door employ- 
ments, assumed supervision of the farm. This 
property was eventually embraced in the popu- 
lar seaside resort known as Atlantic Highlands, 
Mr. Hooper being the leading spirit in this en- 
terprise. He has manifested much liberality in 
all matters pertaining to the development of the 
place, always stipulating that the traflSc in liquor 
should receive no encouragement from its resi- 
dents. From his youth to the present time Mr. 
Hooper has been a stanch advocate of the tem- 
perance cause, which has received from him 
substantial support and aid. He is identified 
with all movements having for their purpose the 
encouragement of morality and the suppression 
of vice in the community. Mr. Hooper was for- 
merly a member of the Baptist Church of Mid- 
dletown, and later of the Navesink Baptist 
Church, of which he is now the clerk. He was, 
in 1884, married to Miss Elizabeth Mansfield. 
Miss Rebecca Hooper, whose death occurred in 
1830, aged fifty -five years, was no less favorably 
known for her superior mental endowments 
than for her attractive social gifts. She enjoyed 
the acquaintance of many distinguished people, 
and rendered her home the centre of a refined 
hospitality. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SHREM'SBURY TOWNSHIP AXD THE TOWS OF 
RED BANK. 

Shrewsbury was one (Middletown being the 
other) of the " Two Towns of Navesink" in which 
the first settlements in what afterwards became 
Monmouth County were made, under the con- 
cessions ofthe" Monmouth Patent," granted by 
Governor Richard Nicolls, to William Goulding 
and associates, in 1665. An extended account 
of these pioneer settlements in Shrewsbury and 
Middletown has already been given in the chap- 
ter on Early Settlements and Land Titles. 

In 1693 the three original townships of Mon- 
mouth County— Shrewsbuiy, Middletown and 
Freehold — were laid out and erected by an 
act passed by the Provincial Assembly, and 
approved by Governor Hamilton on the'sistof 
October in that year. The part of that act 
which has reference to the formation of Shrews- 
bury is as follows: "The township of Shrews- 
bury includes all the land from the mouth of 
Neversink River, and runs up the said rivei- 
and Swimming River and Saw-Mill Brook 
to Burlington Path ; thence, the neai-est way, 
over to Manasquan River or brook, where Pis- 
canecticunck Brook comes into the same ; thence 
the nearest way, to the Pines, and along the 
edge of the Pines to Burlington path, and along 
Burlington Path to the Pine Brook, and along 
the edge of the Pines to the line of the Province, 
and along the Province Line to the Sea, and 
thence along the Shore to where it began." 
Thus the old township of Shrewsbury embraced 
all the eastern part of the county, from 
Navesink River southward to Little Egg Har- 
bor, including the greater part of the territory 
of the present county of Ocean. 

In 1749 the southwest part of Shrewsbury 
township was cut off and erected into the town- 
ship of Stafford (now in Ocean County) bv 
patent from King George the Second, signed b"v 
Governor Jonathan Belcher, dated at Burling- 
ton, March 3d ofthe year named. The patent 
recites and declares : 

" That we, of our especial grace, certain knowledge 
and mere motion, have given and granted, and by 



574 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



these presents do give and grant, for us, our heirs and 
successors, to the inhabitants of the southwestern part 
of the Township of Shrewsbury, in the county of Mon- 
mouth, in our Province of New Jersey, within the fol- 
lowing boundaries, to wit : Beginning at old Barnegat 
Inlet, and from the north end of the beach lying to 
the southward of the said Inlet, running over the Bay 
north, forty-six degrees west, five miles and thirty- 
seven chains to the mouth of Oyster Creek, and then 
west eleven miles and seventy chains to a Pine tree 
in the southwest plain in the old partition line of East 
and West Jersey, formerly run by George Keith ; 
thence bounded by the old division line south, nine- 
teen degrees east, nineteen miles and sixty chains to 
the south stationary point of division between East 
and West Jersey, at the main sea; thence northeasterly 
to the place of beginning, according to the plan hereto 
annexed; to be and remain a perpetual township and 
community in word and deed, to be called and known 
by the name of the township of Stafford." 

After this reduction of its territory, Shrews- 
bury still embraced all from Navesink River 
southward to the south side of Barnegat In- 
let. This was a source of great inconvenience 
to a large number of the inhabitants of 
Shrewsbury, who, in 1767, presented a peti- 
tion to the Assembly, then in session at Bur- 
lington, setting forth the difficulties under 
which they labored " by reason of the large 
extent of said Town," and asking for relief 
by a division of its territory ; upon which an 
act was passed " to divide the town of Shrews- 
bury and annex parts thereof to the Towns of 
Freehold and Upper Freehold," which act 
provided, — " That all that part of said Town 
of Shrewsbury beginning at Cranberry Inlet 
and running thence up the Bay to the mouth 
of Metetecunk Eiver ; thence up the said River 
to the first bridge, which now is over the said 
River ; thence west until it shall intersect a line 
to be run south, eighteen degrees west, from the 
place where the Burlington Old Path crosseth 
the north Branch of Tom's River, called Pine 
Brook ; thence from the intersection of the 
said lines south, fifty-six degrees west, to the 
old division line called Keith's line ; thence 
along said Keith's line to the line of the Town 
of Stafford ; thence along the same to the main 
sea or ocean ; and thence, bounded by the sea, 
to the above mentioned beginning ; shall be, and 
is hereby, divided off from the said Township, 
and made a separate Town, to be called by the 



name of the town of Dover." By other sections 
of the same act, portions of Shrewsbury township 
lying in what is now Ocean County were an- 
nexed to Freehold and Upper Freehold, as is 
more fully mentioned in the histories of those 
townships. 

The area of Shrewsbury was further reduced 
by the taking of parts of its territory to form 
Howell township in 1881 ; Atlantic township 
in 18 17, Ocean township in 1849 and Eaton- 
town township in 1873. The histories of those 
townships include descriptions of the territory 
thus taken at the times mentioned, by wliicli 
Shrewsbury was reduced to its present limits. 
The township as it now exists is bounded north 
by Navesink River. Swimming River and Hop 
Brook, which separates it from Middletown ; 
east by Shrewsbury River and the townships 
of Eatontown, Ocean and Neptune; south by 
Shrewsbury River and the townships of Eaton- 
town and Wall ; and west by the townships of 
Wall, Atlantic and Middletown. The only 
streams of importance in Shrewsbury township 
are the Navesink and Shrewsbury (sometimes 
called the North and South Shrewsbury) Rivers, 
both of which flow in a northeasterly and then 
a northerly course, and, uniting their waters, 
empty into Sandy Hook Bay. The railway 
lines of Shrewsljury are the New York and 
Long Branch Railroad, which crosses the town- 
ship in a southeast direction from Red Bank ; 
and the New Jersey Southern, which enters the 
township at Red Bank, runs thence south into 
Eatontown, then re-enters Shrewsbury and 
crosses it, running in a southwesterly direction 
into Atlantic township, on the route to Farm- 
ingdale, Lakewood and Tom's River. The 
population of Shrewsbury township by the 
United States census of 1880 was six thousand 
five hundred and twenty-six. 

Fol lowing is a list of chosen freeholders of 
Shrewsbury township, from the time when the 
board Ijecame an independent body ' to the pres- 
ent, viz. : 



' The Board of Freeholders became an independent 
body in 1798. Prior to that time they had exercised their 
ofBci.il powers in conjunction with the justices of the 
county. 



SHKEWSBUKY TOWNSHIP. 



575 



1798-1804. Theophilus Little. 
1796-1802. Jacob Holmes. 
1805-9. Robert Evilman. 
1806-7. Thomas Morford. 
1827-47. Elislia LippiufOtt. 
1839-46. William R. Maps. 
1847-48. Henry AVolcott, Jr. 
1848. Henry Howland. 
1849-50. Michael Taylor. 
1849-53. John R. Couover. 
1854-55. Samuel T. Hendrickson. 
1856. John E. Norris. 
1857-59. Robert W. Brower. 
1860-62. John W. Parker. 
1868-64. Samuel T. Hendrickson. 
1865-72. William T. Conover. 
1873-74. Corlies W. Thompson. 
1875-77. Richard Applegate.~ 
1878-80. James S. Throckmorton. 
1880-84. Jacob Shults. 



The old village of Shrewsbury lies about one 
and a half miles south of Eed Bank, at a 
" four corners " formed by the crossing of the 
Red Bank and Eatontown turnpike and the 
Tiuton Falls and Rumson Neck road, which 
latter is at this point identical with a King's 
highway which was laid out as such by the 
road commissioners of ]\Ion mouth County in 
1685, — just two centuries ago, — to pa.ss through 
the Shrewsbury settlement, which, even then, 
was twenty yeai-s old, and contained a Friends' 
Meeting-house, which had been erected in 1672, 
The successor of that old meeting-house still 
forms a part of the village, and there are also 
here two other churches (Presbyterian and Epis- 
copalian) which date their origin hack to years 
prior to 1790. 

In 1695 the land in the northeastern angle 
of the Shrewsbury four corners was owned by 
Jbhtt Lippincott, except that lot which he sold 
(for a nominal sum) to the Friends for a meet- 
ing-house. In 1706, Nicholas Brown owned 
the southeast corner and sold to the Episcopa- 
lians, a part of his farm on which Christ Church 
was erected. John West also lived near here 
and owned the " Great House," at which place 
the first election for freeholders of the town- 
ship took place, in March, 1710. Samuel 
Dennis also lived here. He was a judge of the 
courts from 1704 to his death. He was buried 
in Shrewsbury, and his tombstone gives his 
history as follows : 



" Here lies, in hopes of a joyful resurrection, Samuel 
Dennis, who came from Great Britain to this place 
A.D., 1675, and lived here to the day of his death, 
which was the 7th of June, 1723, aged seventy-two 
years and si.\ months, leaving issue two sons and 
three daughters by his only wife. Increase, who de- 
parted this life twenty-eight years before him." 

Jedediah Allen lived on the northwest corner, 
where Dr. Edmund W. Allen, a great-grandson, 
was born, in 1788, and where he lived until his 
death, in 1867. His son Joseph now residas 
on the homestead. 

Among the prominent men who settled in 
Shrewsbury was Samuel Breese, whose father, 
Sidney Breese, was a merchant in New York, 
but who owned considerable property in this 
county. Samuel married Elizabeth, daughter 
of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, and came to 
this village and settled in 1767. She died the 
next year, leaving a daughter, who afterwards 
became the wife of the Rev. Jedediah Morse, 
whose school geography is well known. From 
this family Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the 
discoverer of the magnetic telegraph, was de- 
scended. The second wife of Samuel Breese was 
a daughter of John Garland, of New York 
City. He was for many years a ruling elder in 
the Presbyterian Church. He was also a colonel 
of provincial troops during the Revolution. He 
died in 1801, and wa.s buried in the Presby- 
terian Churchyard. His son, Samuel S. Breese, 
resided in the village, and was the postmaster 
appointed upon the establishment of the office, 
January 1, 1796. 

About 1732, Theodosius Bartow, a counselor- 
at-law, settled at Shrewsbury, where he died 
October 5, 1746, and was buried under the 
right aisle of Christ Church. His wife was 
Ann Stillwell. He received a promise from 
her on his death-bed that their unborn child 
should be named after himself The child was 
a girl and was named Theodosia, who after- 
wards became the wife of Colonel Frederick 
Prevost and subsequently the wife of Aaron 
Burr, and from whom their ill-fated daughter, 
Theodosia (the wife of Governor Allston, of 
South Carolina), took her name. Theodosius 
Bartow was a son of the Rev. John Bartow, of 
England, a missionary from the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. 



576 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



He married Helena, daughter of John Eeid, of 
Freehold township, in 1706, and settled as 
rector of St. Peter's Church, in Westchester, 
N. Y., where he died in 172(3. 

An old house which stood on the north of 
and adjoining the Friends' Meeting-iiouse lot, 
and which was taken down in 1879, is believed 
to have been built in 1746, as in tailing it down 
a brick was found in one of tlie chimneys bear- 
ing the words and figures : " Michael White, his 
brick, 1746." In 1800 the house belonged to 
Jacob Holmes, and in 1821 it passed to Benja- 
min Stevens, who was the fatiier of John L. 
Stevens, the author. There are now in the old 
village many elegant residences and finely laid- 
out grounds, along the quiet roads, which are 
shaded with sycamores, whose great size indi- 
cates that they were contemporary with the 
churches and old residences. 

The post-office at Shrewsbury was established 
January 1, 1796, with Samuel S. Breese, post- 
master. He was succeeded, March 3, 1804, by 
Benjamin White, Jr., who served until about 
1833. He was succeeded by E. H. Van Uxem, 

Joseph Allen, Lippiucott, Theodore Sickles, 

George D. Bradford and the present incumbent, 
A. H. Borden. 

The Fkiends' Meeting and Meeting-house 
at Old Shrewsbury were in existence more than 
two centuries ago. Concerning them, the ear- 
liest information is gained from the journals of 
Jolin Burnyeate and George Fox, distinguished 
members of the Society of Friends ; in company 
with them were Kobert Withers, George Pati- 
son and others, some of whom returned by the 
same route a few months afterwards. These 
noted Quaker preachers left Maryland in the 
latter part of February, 1672, and arrived at 
New Castle, Del., about the 1st of March. 
The following is George Fox's account of the 
journey and also of his return trip : 

"We departed thence from New Castle, Del., 
and got over the river not without great danger of 
some of our lives. When we were got over we were 
troubled to procure guides, which were hard to get 
and very changeable. Then had we that wilderness 
to pass through since called West Jersey, not then in- 
habited by English ; so that we have travelled a whole 
day together without seeing man or woman, house or 



dwelling-place. Sometimes we lay in the woods by a 
fire and sometimes in the Indians' wigwams or houses. 
We came one night to an Indian town and lay at the 
King's house, who was a very pretty man. Both he 
and his wife received us very lovingly, and his attend- 
ants (such as they were) were very respectful to us. 
They laid us mats to lie on ; but provision, was very 
short with them, having caught but little that day. 
At another Indian town where we staid, the King 
came to us and he could speak some English. I spoke 
to him much, and also to his people, and they were 
very loving to us. At length we came to Middletown. 
an English plantation in East Jersey, and there were 
friends there, but we could not stay to have a meeting 
at that time, being so earnestly pressed in our spii'its 
to get to the half-yearly meeting of Friends of Oyster 
Bay, Long Island, which was nearathand. We went 
with a friend, Kichard Hartshorne, brother to Hugh 
Hartshorne, the upholsterer in London, who received 
us gladly to his house, where we refreshed ourselves,. 
and then he carried us and our horses in his own boat 
over a great water, which held us most part of the day 
in getting over, and set us u]ion Long Island." 

From thence Fox proceeded to Gravesend,. 
L. I. In June following he returned to New 
Jersey. Of his return trip he writes as follows : 

"Being clear of this place we hired a sloop, and 
the wind serving, set out for the new country now 
called Jersey. Passing down the bay by Conny Is- 
land, Naton Island and Stratton Island, we came to 
Richard Hartshorne, at Middleton harbor, about break 
of day on the 27th of sixth month. Next day we 
rode about thirty miles into that country, through the 
woods and over very bad bogs, one worse than all the 
rest, the descent into which was so steep that we were 
fain to slide down with our horses and then let them 
lie and breathe themselves before they go on. This 
place the people of the place called Purgatory. We 
got at length to Shrewsbury, in East Jersey, and on 
First day had a precious meeting there, to which 
Fi-iends and other people came far, and the blessed 
presence of the Lord was with us. The same week 
we had a men and women's meeting out of most parts 
of New Jersey. They are building a meeting-place 
in the midst of them, and there is a monthly and a 
general meeting set uji, which will be of great service 
in tliose parts in keeping up the gospel order and gov- 
ernment of Chri.st Jesus, of the increase of which 
there is no end, that they who are faithful may see 
that all who profess the holy truth live in pure re- 
ligion and walk as becometh the gospel. While we 
were at Shrewsbury an accident befel, which for a 
time was a great exercise to us. 

"John Jay, a friend of Barbadoes, who came with 
us from Rhode Island, and intended to accompany us 
through the woods to Maryland, being to try a horse, 
got upon his back, and the horse fell a running, cast 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



577 



him down upon his head and broke his neck, as the 
jicojile said. Those that were near him took him up 
as*dead, carried him a good way and laid him (m a 
tree. I got to him as soon I could, and feeling him, 
concluded he was dead. As I stood pitying him and 
his family, I took hold of his hair, and his head turned 
any way, his neck was so limber. Whereupon I took 
his head in both my hands and setting my knees 
against the tree, I raised his head and perceived there 
was nothing out or broken that way. Then I put one 
hand under his chin and the other behind his head, 
and raised his liead two or three times with all my 
.strength, and brought it in. I soon perceived his 
neck began to grow stiff again, and then he began to 
rattle in his throat, and (juietly after to breathe. The 
people were amazed, but I bade them have a good 
heart, be of good faith and carry him into the house. 
They did so, and set him by the fire. I bid them get 
him something warm to drink and put him to bed. 
After he had been in the house a while he began to 
speak, but did not know where he had been. The 
next day we passed away and he with us, pretty well 
about sixteen miles to a meeting at Middletown, 
through woods and bogs, and over a nver where we 
swam our horses, and got over ourselves upon a hollow 
tree. Many hundred miles did he travel with us 
after this. 

"To this meeting came most of the people of the 
town. A glorious meeting we had, and the truth was 
over all, blessed be the great Lord God forever ! After 
the meeting we went to Middletown harbor, about 
five miles, in order to take our long journey next 
morning through the woods ton-ards Maryland, hav- 
ing hired Indians for our guides." 

It is shown by these extracts that at that time 
the Friends were building a meeting-house at 
Shrewsbury. The exact locality of their first 
meeting-house is not known. Mention is also 
made of a " monthly and general meeting " be- 
ing "set up." The society is now of the 
Shrewsbury Monthly, the Shrewsbury and Eah- 
way Quarterly and the New York :Monthly 
Meetings. 

On the 5th of March, 169.1, the Trustees of 
the Friends' Meeting of Shrewsbury — Jede- 
<^Jiah Allen, Peter Tilton and Remembrance 
Lippincott — purcha,sed of John Lippincott "all 
that piece or parcel of land situate and Ijeing at 
the southeast corner of tlie .said Lippincott's 
great lot joining to Thomas .^i^?^' land, whereon 
his dwelling-house now stands, m breadth eight 
rods easterly, and in length twenty rods north- 
erly, from thence running easterly eight rods, 
and from thence southerly twenty rods, to tlie 



place of beginning," abutting southward upon 
the highway, east and north on John Lippincott 
and westward upon the highway, containing one 
acre of land, in trust " for the poor people 
called Quakers." Upon this lot the Friends 
erected a brick meeting-house, which was used 
until 1816. 

George Keith, wiio came to this country in 
1685, was at that time a member of the Society 
of Friends. He was prominent in the erection 
of the Friends jNIeeting-House at Topanemus, 
in 1692. Soon afterM'ards he returned to Eng- 
land, and while there became a convert to Epis- 
copalianism, and in April, 1702, returned to 
this country as a missionary for that church. 
He came to this society and pro.selyted among 
them, winning many over to the Episcopalian 
faith, some of whom were of the founders of 
Christ Church. 

On the 19th of August, 1717, the Friends 
bought of Preserved Lippincott, a half-acre of 
ground adjoining their land, and in 1816, when 
the present meeting-house was built, it was 
erected on both lots. It is a frame building 
forty by sixty feet in size, and shingled on the 
sides as well as on the roof. 

The division among the Friends in 1827-28 
reached this society. The Hicksites retained 
the meeting-house and lot, and the Orthodox 
rented a building, in which they worshiped 
until 1842, when they purchasetl a lot on the 
turnpike leading to Red Bank, and erected a 
meeting-house, which they used until April, 
1880, when it was sold. The building was 
moved across the road, and is now Library 
Hall. The Orthodox Society is nearly extinct. 
The Hicksites have a membership of about sev- 
enty. The speakers who have preached here 
have lieen Elizabeth Hunt and Ann Hopkins, 
who began about 1820 ; Joseph Wolcott began 
speaking about 1828. He was followed by 
Joseph Lafetra, Sarah Underwood and Rachael 
C. Tilton, the last mentioned of whom is now 
speaker. 

Chri.st Church (Episcopal) of Shrewsbury i^tc 
and Christ Church of Middletown are identical 
in that part of their history extending down to 
1854, when the church property wa.s divided, 
and each became a separate parish. 



578 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Probably the most zealous churchman in this 
county in 1700 was Lewis Morris, of Tinton 
Manoi', afterwards Governor of New Jersey. 
He was a son of Richard Morris, of IMorris- 
ania, N. Y., and a nephew of Colonel Lewis 
Morris, who purchased a large tract of land at 
the Falls of Shrewsbury (Tinton Falls), and 
died in 1092, leaving his estate to this nephew, 
Lewis Morris, who settled upon it. In the year 
1700 (being then president of the Council of 
East New Jersey) he addressed a letter to the 
bishop of London concerning the state of reli- 
gion in the two provinces. After writing of 
the province in general, he mentioned each of 
the ten towns of East New Jersey. Of Free- 
hold he said : " It was settled from Scotland 
(]\Ir. Keith began the first settlement there and 
made a fine jilautatiou, which he afterwards sold 
and went into Pensilvania), and about the one- 
half of it are Scotch Presbiterians and a sober 
people ; the other part of it was settled by Peo- 
ple (some from New England, some from Now 
York and some from the fore-mentioned 
towns) who are generally of no religion. There 
Ls in this town a Quaker Meeting-house, but 
most of the Quakers who built it are come off with 
Mr. Keith ; they have not fixt yet on any re- 
ligion, but are most indinalile to the Church, and 
could Mr. Keith be perswaded to go into those 
countrys, he would (with the blessing of God) 
not only bring to the Church the Quakers that 
come off with him in East and ^yest Jersey, 
which are very numerous, but make many con- 
verts in that country." Of Shrewsbury, he 
says it was "settled from New England, Rhode 
Island and New York ; there is in it all' thirty 
Quakers of both sexes, and they have a meeting- 
house ; the rest of the People are generally of 
no religion ; the youth of the whole Province 
are very debauch'd and very ignorant, and the 
Sabbath-day seems to be set apart for Rioting 
and Drunkenness. . . . There was, in the 
year one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven, 
some endeavours to settle a maintenance in that 
country for ministers, and the greater part of 
the House of Commons then were for it ; but 
one Richard Hartshorne, a Quaker, and Andrew 
Brown [Bowne], an Anabaptist, found means to 
defeat it that session, and before the Assembly 



could sit again arriv'd one Jeremiah Bass, an 
Anabaptist Preacher, with a commission from 
the Proprietors of East Jersey to be their Gov- 
ernour, and with instructions and orders from 
them not to consent to any act to raise a main- 
tenance for any minister of what persuasion so- 
ever, so that there is no hope of doing anythino- 
of that kind till that Gov'ernm is in other 
hands." 

Morris closed his letter by saying: "I shall 
now suggest some measures w'" may conduce to 
y' bringing over to the church the People in 
those Countrys. First. That no man be sent 
a Governour into any of those Plantations but 
a firm Churchman, and, if possible, none but 
Churchmen be in his Counsel and in the Masris- 

o 

tracy. 2°'"'. That Churchmen may have some 
peculiar privileges above others. This (if prac- 
ticable) must be done by Act of Parliament. 
3'"^. That there may be some measures fallen 
upon to get ministers to preach gratis in America 
for some time till there be sufficient numbers of 
converts to bear the charge." 

The communication of Lewis Morris was laid 
before the then recently organized' Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 
and, at the same time, there was received bv the 
society a letter from the Rev. George Keith, 
containing the followins: : 

"In East Jersey I have several friends that 
came off with me in the separation from the 
Quakers, and so continue, and, as I have been 
informed by a worthy gentleman, Cokmel ~Slor- 
ris, formerly my scholar, \vho has a family and 
a good estate in that Province, they are well 
prepared to receive a Church of England Min- 
ister among them. The fittest places to set up 
a Church congregation are Amboy and the Falls 
in Shrewsbury, where Colonel Morris has his 
house and estate. There is not one Church of 
England as yet in either AA'est or East Jersev, — 
the more is the pity; and, except in two or three 
towns, there is no place of any public worship 
of any sort, but the people live very mean, like 
Indians." 

The Rev. George Keith was appointed the 



' The society was chartered by William III. of Englanii, 
June 16, 1701. 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



579 



first missionary of the society, with instructions 
to visit America. Lewis Morris visited Eng- 
land on official business in 1701-2 and sailed 
for America in the same vessel ("Centurion ") 
with Keith, the Rev. Patrick Gordon, another 
missionary, and Colonel Dudley, Governor of 
New England. They embarked April 24, 
1702, and landed at Boston, June 11, 1702. 
The chaplain of the "Centurion," John Talbot, 
was so deeply impressed with Mr. Keith's un- 
dertaking that he left the ship and aocompa- 
nietl him (m his mission. On the 10th of 
October they arrived at Topanemus, where 
thev officiated on the following dav. The 
preaching at this place resulted in the formation 
of St. Peter's Church at Topanemus (now at 
Freehold). The following extracts are from 
Mr. Keith's journal: 

" Sunday, October 17th, 1702. — I preached at Mid- 
dletown, in East Jersey, where, before sermon, Mr. 
Talbot read the Church Prayers, and I preached on 
Matt. 28 : 19-20, one main part of my sermon being 
to prove Infant baptism to be included in the Apostle's 
commission, as well as that of adult persons, their be- 
ing several of the audience who were Anabaptists, 
who heard me civilly without interruption ; but most 
of the auditory were Church people or well affected 
to the Church. 

"October 24th, 1702. — I preached at Shrewsbury, at 
a house near the Quaker Meeting-House, and it hap- 
pened it was the time of the Quaker Yearly Meeting 
at Shrewsbury. My text was 2d Peter, 2 : 1-2. The 
Church Prayers being read before sermon, we had a 
great congregation, generally well affected to the 
Church, and divers of them were of the Church, and 
that day I sent some lines in writing to the Quakers 
at their Yearly IMeeting ; whicli Mr. Talbot did read 
to them in their meeting, wherein I desired them to 
give me a meeting with them some day of that week 
before their meeting was concluded ; in which meeting 
I offered to detect great errors in their Author's books, 
and they should have full liberty' to answer what they 
had to say in their vindication. But they altogether 
refused my proposition, and several papers passed be- 
twixt us. In some of their papers thej' used gross 
reflections on the Church of England as much as on 
me. We continued our meeting three days, as the 
Quakers did theirs. And the second day of our meet- 
ing at the same house, where we had formerly met, I 
detected Quaker errors out of their printed books, par- 
ticularly out of the Folio Book oi Edward Burroughs' 
Works, collected and published by the Quakers after 
his death, and did read quotations to the Auditory, 
laying the pages open before such as were willing to 



read them for their better satisfaction, as some did 
read them. 

" October 26th. — I preached again at Shrewsbury, 
on Matt. 7 : 13. In these meetings in Shrewsbury, 
Middletown and Toponemes, or where else in the 
Nethesinks, Mr. Louis Morris and divers others of the 
best note in that county frequented the congregations 
and places where we preached and did kindly enter- 
tain us at their houses, where we lodged as we travelled 
too and again, particularly at Mr. Morris, Mr. Inness, 
Mr. Johnson, Mr. Boels and Mr. Eead. Mr. Inness 
being in Priest's orders often preached among them 
and by preaching and conferences frequently with the 
Quakers and other sorts of people, as also by his 
pious conversation, has done much good among them 
and been very instrumental to draw them off from 
their errors and bring them over to the Church." 

INIr. Keith left Monmouth about the last of 
October, 1702, for Burlington and elsewhere. 
He returned in Decemlier, and savs, — 

" December 20th, 1702.— I preached at Dr. John- 
ston's at Nethersinks, on Rev. 22 : 14. 

"Dec. 25th, Friday, being Christmas. — I preached 
at the house of Mr. Morris, on Luke 21 : 10-11. And 
after sermon divers of the auditory received with us 
the Holy Sacrament ; both Mr. Morris and his wife, 
and divers others. Mr. Talbot did administer it. 

" December 27th, Sunday. — I preached at Shrews- 
bury Town, near the Quaker Meeting-House, at a 
Planter's house, and had a considerable auditory of 
Church people, lately converted from Quakerism, 
with divers others of the Cliurch of best note in that 
part of the country. My text was Heb. 8 : 10-11." 

" January 3d, 1703. — I preached again at his bouse 
on the same text, and before sermon Mr. Talbot 
baptized two persons belonging to the family of John 
Read, formerly a Quaker, but was lately come over to 
the Church, with all his children, one son and two 
daughters. His two daughters were baptized by Mr. 
Talbot, October 20th, 1702 ; as also the same day waa 
baptized William Leads (Leeds?) and his sister Mary 
Leads, late converts from Quakerism to the Church.' 
And some days before, at the house of John Read, Mr. 
Talbot baptized the wife of Alexander Neaper and his 

'William Leeds died in 1735, and by his will, made June 
20th in that year, he left all his houses and lands to " the 
venerable and honourable Society for the Propivgation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and to their successors for- 
ever, to and for the use and purpose following : that is to 
say, for the use and purpose of a perpetusil glebe for the 
use and habitation of a Minister or Clergyman of the 
Church of England, as it is now by law established, that 
shall be a Missionary of the said Society, to preach the 
Gospel to inhabitants of Middletown and Shrewsbury." 
This land was in Middletown, and was equally divided in 
1854. 



580 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



been 



three children. Both he and his wife had 
Quakers, but were come over to the Church." 

Mr Keith after this proceeded to Burlington, 
Philadelphia, and so on to Maryland, Virginia and 
elsewhere ; in October, 1703, he returned to Mon- 
mouth and of his services here he adds in his journal 
the following: '^ October 17th, 1703.-I preached at 
Shrewsbury, near the Quaker Meeting-House there 
on Psalms 103: 17, 18. October 24th.-I preached 
again there, on Heb. 8 : 10, _1 1 , and Mr. Inness bap- 
tized two men and a child." 

On the 31st of October, Mr. Keith preached at 
Aniboy, after which he proceeded to New York and 
New England. On his return he says : "January 
9tlj 1704 _I preached at the house of Dr. Johnston, 
in Neverthesinks, on Psalms 119: 5, 113, and had 
considerable auditory. January lOth.-I preached at 
Mr Morris's house at the Falls of Shrewsbury, in East 
Jersey, on 2 Cor. 5 : 17. January 23d.-I preached 
ao-ain at Mr. Morris's house, on 2 Peter 1 : 5." 



It ^^'ill be noticed that Mr. Keith, uuder date 
of October 26, 1702, mentious Mr. Innes as 
"being in priest's orders" and preaching among 
the people. This wa-s Alexander Innes, of 
Middletowu, whose name is mentioned in the 
records of that township in 1689. After the 
departure of Keith and Talbot he continued 
preaching in Freehold, Shrewsbury and Middle- 
town until his death, which occurred about 
1713. He had given ten acres, on wliich Christ 
Church of Middletown now stands, and he left I 
by his will five pounds each to the churches to 
which he preached. It was during his ministry 
(in 1708) that Queen Anne gave to the church 
of Shrewsbury and ]\Iiddletown the communion 
service which is still used. The records of the 
church from the time of his death to 1733 are 
lost, and it is not known who ministered to 
them. In 1733 the Rev. John Forlies was 
sent out as a missionary and labored until 1738. 
He was succeeded by the Rev. John Miln. The 
charter of the ciuirch was granted by Gover- 
nor Burnet for George II., June 3, 1738. The 
following-named were appointed vestrymen: 
William Leeds, Henry Leonard, John Throck- 
morton, Samuel Osboru, Thomas Morford, 
James Hutchins, Jeremiah Stillwell, John Red- 
ford, Jacob Dennis, Patrick Hill, Benjamin 
Cooper, Pontius Still, Samuel Pintard, Anthony 
Pintard and Josiah Holmes. 

Mr. Miln was followed, in 1746, by the Rev. 
Thomas Thompson, who was sent out as a mis- 



sionary of the Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts. He kept a 
journal of his work, which was luiblished,' and 
"from which are taken the following extracts 
pertinent to this church : 

"In the spring of the year 1745 I embarked for 
America, being appointed Missionary of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 
1 upon recommendation of my Reverend Tutor, Dr. 
I Thomas Cartwright, late Archdeacon of Colchester 
I and a member of the Society, myself then a Fellow of 
Christ's College, Cambridge. I went in a ship called 
the 'Albany,' belonging to New York, which sailed 
from Gravesend on the 8th day of May, and providen- 
tially escaping some instant dangers on the passage, 
arrived at New York on the 29th of August. The 
Sunday following I preached both Morning and Af- 
ternoon at the Episcopal Church in that city, whereof 
the Reverend Mr. Commissary Vesey had then been 
rector more than forty years. On the next Sunday I 
passed over to Elizabethtown, in New Jersey, on my 
journey to Monmouth County in the Eastern Divi- 
sion where I was appointed to reside and have the 
care of Churches in that county, being also licensed 
thereto by the Right Reverend the late Lord Bishop 
ofLondon. 

" Being come to the place of my mission I presented 
my credentials and was kindly received and took the 
first opportunity of waiting upon the Governor, Lewis 
Morris, Esq., at his seat at Kingsbury, which is m the 
Western Division, and took the oath of allegiance and 
I supremacy and also the abjuration oath and sub- 
scribed the Declaration in presence of his Excellency. 
Upon making inquirv into the state of the churches 
within mv District, I found that the members were 
I much disturbed and in a very unsettled state, inso- 
much that some of them had thoughts of leaving our 
communion and turning to the Dissenters. The par- 
ticular occasion of this I forbear to mention. 

" As I came to gather more information, it presented 
to me that many of those who frequented the Church 
worship had never been baptized; some heads of 
families and several others of adult age, besides a 
number of young children and Infants. 

"After sometime they began to bring their children 
to Baptism, and when some had led the way, the rest 
followed, and presented those of their children which 
were under years of maturity, to be received into the 
Church and I christened thirteen in one day. After 
this it went on regularly. Parents had their children 

1 ' • An Account of the Missionary Voyages by the Appoint- 
ment of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Forei-n Parts. The one to New Jersey in North America, 
and then from America to the coast of Guiney. By Rev. 
Thomas Thompson, A.M., Vicar of Reculver. in Kent. 
London : printed for Benjamin Dod at the Bible and Key, 
in .\Ye Mary Lane, near St. Paul's, MDCCLVIII." 



SHKEWSBUEY TOWNSHIP. 



581 



baptized as soou after they were born as conveniently 
could be done, and one whole family, the man (whobe 
name was Joseph West' ), his wife and nine children 
were baptized all at one time. 

" The churches which I served were well filled every 
Sunday and divers families that lived out of the 
county came to Divine service from several miles dis- 
tance and were very constant devout attendants. 
Besides these, some of the Dutch Church often made 
a considerable addition to the number of my hearers. 
I h id three churches immediately in my charge, each 
of them situated in a different township, wbich had 
regular duty in such proportion as were agreed 
upon and subscribed to at a general vestry meeting 
soon after my coming there. The names of the town- 
ships are Freehold, Shrewsbury and Middletown. I 
also officiated at AUentown, in Upper Freehold, while 
that church was destitute of a minister, which was 
afterwards supplied by Mr. Michael Houdin, a con- 
vert from the Church of Rome and a worthy clergy- 
man, now the Society's missionary. These four town- 
ships comprise the whole county, although 40 or 50 
miles in length, and in some parts of it considerably 
wide. I also did occasional duty at other places, as 
will be further mentioned. 

" The Church of England worship had, at Shrews- 
bury, been provided for by the building of a church, 
before there was any other in the county ; but this 
church was now too small for the numerous congre- 
gation. People of all sorts resorted thither and of 
the Quakers, which are a great body in that township, 
there were sevei-alwho made no scruple of being pres- 
ent at divine service and were not too precise to un- 
cover their heads in the house of God. 

" I went sometimes to a place called Manasquan, 
almost twenty miles distant from my habitation, where, 
and at Shark River, which is in that neighborhood, 
some church tamilies were settled, who were glad of 
all opportunities for the exercise of Religion. I bap- 
tized at Manasquan two Negro brethren, both ser- 
vants to Mr. Samuel Osborne, an eminent and very 
worthy member of the church, in whose family they 
had been taught good Christian principles. The hone-st 
men were so gratified that each of them oft'ered me 
a Spanish dollar iu acknowledgment, and would have 
thought themselves more obliged if I had not refused 
their presents." 

In closing the account of his work in this 
county he makes tiie following remarks : 

" I had now seen a great change in the state of my 

'The volume from which these notes are taken is owned 
by James Steen, of Eatontown, and on the margin of the 
page on which this incident is mentioned is the following 
in pencil : " Joseph West was my great-grandfather, and 
I rememher seeing him. 

"Edmond West, March 9lh. 1881. 90 years old<^' 

Mr. West is still living near Oceaoport. 



m'.ssiou within the space of three years, through the 
grace of God rendering my labors effectual to a good 
end; in particular as to the peace and unison which 
the church members, after having been much at vari- 
ances among themselves, were now returned to, and 
the ceasing animosities betwixt them and thos.' of 
other societies ; for these I account the most valualile 
success that attended my ministry. 

" After this the churches continued to flourish, and 
in the latter end of the year 17.50, having then been 
above five years in America upon this mission, I 
wrote to the venerable and honorable society a letter 
requesting of them to grant me a mission to the coast 
of Guiney, that I might go to make a trial with the 
natives and see what hopes there would be of intro- 
ducing among them the Christian religion. The sum- 
mer following I received an answer to that letter i'rom 
the Rev. Dr. Bearcroft, ac(iuainting me that the So- 
ciety had concluded to support me in the design of 
that voyage and would appoint another missionary in 
my stead for Moumouth County. And the next Sep- 
tember Mr. Samuel Cook, of Caius college, arrived 
with his proper credentials and I delivered up my 
charge to him. 

" Having took my leave of the congregation, I set 
out on the 13th of November, 1751, for New York, 
from thence to go upon my voyage to Africa, and at 
Elizabethtown waited on Governor Jonathan Belcher, 
Esq., who succeeded Colonel Morris, to pay ii.y respects 
to him before I left the province." 

The Rev. Thomas Thompson was succeeded, 
as is shown above, by the Rev. Samuel Cooke. 
He was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, 
England, and came to America as a missionary 
of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in Foreign Parts, in September, 1751, locating 
in Shrewsbury, as successor of Rev. Thomas 
Thompson, in the care of the churches in Free- 
hold, Middletown and Shrewsbury. The Rev- 
olution divided and dispersed his flock. As a 
minister of the Church of England, he thought 
it his duty to continue his allegiance to the 
crown, and so joined the British in New York, 
where for a time during the war he was chap- 
lain in the brigade of guards. 

Among other persons in Shrewsbury tdwn- 
ship whose property was confiscated and adver- 
tised to be sold by the Americans at Tinton 
Falls, March '29, 1779, is found the name of 
Samuel Cooke. In 1785 he settled at Freder- 
icktown, New Brunswick, as rector of a church 
there. Iu 1791 he wascommisstuy to the Brit- 
ish of Nova Scotia. He was drowned in cross- 



532 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ing the riv^er St. John in a bircihen canoe, in 
1795. His son, who attempted to save his life, 
perished with him. 

It was during his time, in 1766, on the 1st 
day of October, that an important convention 
was held in the church, for the purpose of dis- 
cussing the necessity of establishing an American 
Episcopate. Of those who were present were 
the Eevs. Chandler, Jarvis, Seabury and Inglis. 
The large Bible still used in the church was 
presented during Mr. Cooke's rectorship (the 
next year after he assumed the duties) by Rob- 
ert Elliston, controller of customs in New York. 
The old Prayer-Book was presented by Gover- 
nor William Franklin, in June, 1707. 

It was during the rectorship of Mr. Cooke, 
also, that the present church was built at 
Shrewsbury. At a meeting of the vestry on the 
10th of July, 1769, there was a difference of 
opinion as to "where the northeast corner of the 
building should be located." It was finally de- 
cided to place it two feet south of the front of 
the old building. When the present church 
was erected, an iron crown, a copper vane and a 
gilt ball were placed on the spire. During the 
Revolution some American soldiers used the 
church as a barracks, and being angry at seeing 
the English crown over their heads, they shot at 
it, nicking it in many places, but did not bring 
it down. They finally built a fire in the church 
and would have destroyed it, but for William 
Parker, a Quaker, who rushed in and smothered 
the flames with his coat. The iron crown is 
still there, bearing evidence of severe usage from 
the patriots. 

It has been stated that the first Episcopal 
Church in Shrewsbury was built in 1703 or 
1704, but it is evident the church was not yet 
built in 171 1, as in that year Governor Jeremiah 
Basse, in writing to the bishop of London, used 
the following language : " I had no doubt you 
had expected to have heard of a church at the 
Falls of Shrewsbury, built and owned by one of 
your members, Colonel Lewis Morris, but I re- 
gret to tell you there is no such thing, not so 
much as a stick or a stone on the ground." 

The deed for the lot on which the first church 
was built, and on which the present church now 
stands, was deeded May 20, 1706, by Nicholas 



Brown, to " y= Rev'' & Honorable Society for 
y" propagation of y" Gospel in Foreign Parts," 
in trust " forever to y" use, intent and purpose 
hereafter expressed & declared, & to no other 
use, intent or purpose whatsoever. That is to 
say, for y° service & worship of God according 
to y' way & manner of y' church of England, 
as it is now by law established." The church 
lot so conveyed was " all that part or parcel of 
land lying and being in y' town of Shrewsbury, 
in y' county and province aforesaid." The 
starting point in the description of the tract is 
thus described, — "Beginning at Nicholas Brown's 
northwest corner at a walnut stiunp, bearing 
southwesterly twelve degrees westerly from y' 
Quaker's Meeting-House Chimbley, and from 
John, West's great house chimbley north fifty- 
1 eighL degrees easterly." The deed was exe- 
cuted in presence of Thomas Bills, John West, 
i Samuel Dennis and Joanna Gaunt, but it was 
i not acknowledged until July 9, 1 714, when 
Nicholas Brown and Samuel Dennis, one of the 
subscribing witnesses, appeared before Thomas 
Gordon, one of Her Majesty's Council, and 
acknowledged the instrument. 

The first church was undoubtedly built the 
next vear (1715) after the recording of the deed, 
which was probably one of the steps taken be- 
fore its erection. As to the exact location of the 
building on the lot, it is inferred, from the dif- 
fereni'C as to locating the corner at the vestry 
meeting held July 10, 1769, that it fronted on 
the road, the same as the present church. 

The centennial anniversary of the laying of 
the corner-stone was held June 21, 1869, with 
imposing ceremonies. Bishop Odeuheimer of- 
ficiated, aided by the Rev. William Otis, rector 
of the church, and fifteen other ministers. The 
President of the United States was present on 
the occasion. 

In the history of Christ Church, written by 
the rector, the Rev. William Otis, the church 
building is described as follows : 

" The church is a building capable of accommo- 
dating about four hundred people. Its exterior is ex- 
ceedingly plain. It is shingled all over, and has a 
modest little steeple, surmounted by an old iron crown, 
put up there before the Revolution. The interior is 
that of an English country church of the old time, but 
is most neatly furnished throughout. The chancel, 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



583 



which occupies the southern end, is raised about four 

feet from the floor, the pulpit being just in front of it. 
The windows are of stained ghiss, that in rear of the 
chancel being one of the most beautiful in the country. 
" It was the gift of Mr. George De Hart Gillespie, of 
New York, in memory of his ancestors, many of whom 
are buried here. The chairs in the chancel were made 
from the wood of the old oak which stands in the 
yard. This relic of ages past and gone is an immense 
tree. It measures sixteen feet two inches in circum- 
ference three feet from the ground, and one hundred 
years ago its branches and heavy foliage made a shel- 
ter for the people who collected on this spot to witness 
the laying of the corner-stone of the church. The 
largest of the chancel chairs is beautifully carved, and 
is known as the ' Bishop's Chair,' and never used on 



bridge, England, in 1760, and presented to the Shrews- 
bury Church by Governor William Franklin in 1767, 
during the rectorship of Rev. Samuel Cooke ;the other 
is a large Bible printed by John Basket, at Oxford, Eng- 
land, in 1717. This was the gift of ' Robert Elliston, 
Gent., Controller of His Majestie's Customs of New 
York in America,' and bears the Elliston coat of arms 
with the motto, ' Det bene Deris.' It is filled with il- 
lustrations designed by J. Thornhill, and engraved on 
copper by Du Bose. Another valuable relic here is 
a silver cup and platter given to the church by Queen 
Anne, in 1708." 

Since this wa.s written (in 18S2) the ehurch 
wa.s fre«coecl and the furniture renewed. A 
new altar font and eagle lectern have been 




CHBIST CHURCH, 

Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, N. J., built 17G9. 



public occasions by any one but the bishop of the di- 
ocese. In the southeast corner of the chancel stands 
a monument to the Rev. Harry Finch, who was for 
thirty-four years the rector of the church. It is a 
splendid piece of work, and consists of a white mar- 
ble cross entwined with ivy. This stands ujion a black 
marble base, and this upon a white marble pedestal. 
It bears the name of the deceased rector, and the 
mottoes ' Semper Paratus ' and ' Semper Fidelia ' 
■carved on the gides. There are two canopied pews, 
one on each side of the church and near the chancel, 
which, years ago, were occupied by the G ivernor of 
the province and the rector. The ' Governor's i)ew ' 
now contains the organ, and the old organ-loft serves 
as a gallery. In the pulpit are two valuable books — 
one a ' Book of Common Prayer,' printed at Cam- 



added a-s the donation of Mr. (ieorge De Hart 
Gilk'sj)ie. 

In 1 788, the Rev. Henry Waddell was inducted 
into the rectorship, by the church warden, as the 
first rector after the Revolution. He was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. Andrew Fowler, in 1799, who 
continued in the rectorship until 1805. In 1809 
the vestry called the Rev. John Croes, Jr., who 
remained faithfully and successfully performing 
his duty until 1824, when he Avas followed by 
the Rev. Eli Wheeler, who had a successful 
ministry of about six years, during which time 
a bell was added to the church. It had been 



584 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sent from France to a Santo Domingo Eoman 
Catholic Church. There it remained until the 
revolution that deposed Soulouque, when it 
was sent to New York by its captors. Bought 
by Mr. Van Zandt, of Little Neck, L. I., it 
called the faithful to prayers, but a hill between 
the church and ]Mr. Van Zandt's house pre- 
vented him hearing it plainly, so he sold it to 
Eector Wheeler, of the old church at Shrews- 
bury. It has a bas relief of the JJeur de Us, the 
coat-of-arms of France and the date 1788. 

In 1830 the Eev. Harry Finch became 
rector, and labored faithfully until his death, 
February 14, 18G4, serving this and the adjoin- 
ing parishes nearly thirty-four years. A monu- 
ment erected to his memory by his parishionere 
stands in the churchyard. During his ministry 
three separate parishes were formed out of the 
mother-church : at Navesink, in the Highlands, 
Red Bank and Tjong Branch. Since that time 
another parish has colonized from it at Eaton- 
town. 

In 1864, the Rev. William B. Otis was 
called by the vestry, and continued in the 
rectorship until 1875, wheu he was succeeded 
by the present rector, the Rev. B. Williams. 

The graveyard of Christ Church contains 
many old headstones bearing names now familiar 
all over the land. Ancestors of the Lloyds, 
the Lippincotts, the Holmes, the jMorfords and 
scores of other well-known families lie here, 
and some of these lived to a good old age. 
Hannah Morforddied at ninety-three ; Elizabeth 
at eighty ; Jarrett, eighty-one ; Thomas, eighty- 
one ; Rebecca, seventy-seven ; Maria, seventy- 
one ; Elizabeth De Hart lived to enjoy eighty- 
four years ; another Elizabeth, eighty-four ; 
Mary, eighty-seven ; Margaret, ninety-nine ; 
ISIauritz, seventy-seven ; Balthazar, seventy- 
eight; another ^lauritz, eighty-eight, — all an- 
cestors of Mr. Gillespie named above. Mrs. E. 
M. Clark, his mother, died at the age of seventy- 
two, and Elizabeth Crossly, the old family ser- 
vant, lived one year longer. Not far from these 
graves is that of Charles Carville, a grandson of 
De Witt Clinton, and here, too, lie the Stelles, 
one of whom was buried in 1723, another in 
1730. Their graves are at either side of the 
front entrance to the duirch. Here, too, is the 



monument of the Rev. John Croes, A.M., son 
of Bishop Croes. He died in 1849, at the age 
of sixty-seven, after having served faithfully as 
rector of Christ Church thirteen years. A 
number of the Aliens lie here, too, and the 
Throckmortons and the Voorhees family. 
Several graves are marked with names now ex- 
tinct in this locality. Many of the Halsteds, 
members of the church for one hundred years, 
sleep here, and all of the Jones family. Aarou 
Jones, the father, died in 184(1. His grave 
occupies one end of his family plat, and at the 
other is the grave of his daughter Eleanor, who 
died at the age of nineteen, — the only child out of 
eleven who lived more than ten days. Between 
these two graves are ten little ones, all of the 
same lenu;th,and each marked with a little wliite 
stone bearing the letter J. It is shown by the 
church register that these ten little ones each 
lived ten davs, all dying at exactly the same 
age. 

The Presbyter I ax Church of Shrews- 
bury had its origin in the earliest days of the 
settlement, but did not have a house of worship 
at Shrewsbury until about 1727. The first 
settlers of Shrewsbury were mostly Congrega- 
tionalists from New England, who settled on 
Rumson and Town Neck. There are evidences 
of a Congregational Church having existed at 
Rumson. The site was undoubtedly on the 
old graveyard near Rumson nurseries, in which 
is the Parmely vault. The ground is filled 
with unmarked graves. The oldest slab stand- 
ing, bears date February 4, 1 723. The grounds 
have been used in later times and many tomb- 
stones have been erected within the last thirty 
years. It is mentioned as being a Friends' 
burial-ground, but there is nothing to indicate 
that the society had established a burial-i)lace 
there. They had a meeting-house at Shrews- 
bury as early as 1672, and their burial-place 
wa-s near the church. Several of the early 
settlers in this section were not of the society, 
but succeeding generations, by intermarriage 
witli Friends, have now become so thoroughly 
identified with them as to induce the belief that 
their ancestors were all Friends. This is the 
case with the descendants of John Hance, one 



SHKEWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



585 



of the original Monmouth patentees. He was 
a justice of the township and was appointed 
"Schepen," or magistrate, under the Dutch rule 
in 1673. George Scott, in his "Model of the 
Government of East Jersey," says that the peo- 
ple were in the habit of holding service in the 
villages of the colony and conducting their own 
services ; that " they were a pious sort of people, 
most like the Presbj-terians." As early as 1684 
they had lost control of the town-meetings 
and were without any settled pastor. The tide 
of Scotch Presbyterians set in about this time 
and occupied their places, though they differed 
from the Congregationalists but slightly. The 
Presbyterians in this part of the county were 
ministered to l)y John Boyd, who was licensed 
by the court in 1705 and by the Presbytery in 
1706. He said he found the congregations 
scattered and weak, but apparently united in the 
endeavor to maintain services. 

The E,ev. Joseph ^lorgan succeeded the Rev. 
John Boyd in the "Scots' Meeting" (now Ten- 
nent Church), and serv-ed until about 1730. 

On the 1st of June, 1727, Nicholas Brown 
(who, in 1706, sold the present Christ Ciiurch 
lot to the Episcopalians) conveyed the present 
lot on which the Presbyterian Church is located 
to Alexander Napier, John Johnston, Jr., and 
others, to be used for a burying-ground and 
Presbyterian meeting-house. At this time dis- 
senting churches could not hold titles, and prop- 
erty for their use was conveyed to individuals. 

On February 21, 1*49, Governor Jonathan 
Belcher granted (in the King's name) a charter 
for the Presbyterians of Monmouth County. 
The following-named persons are named therein 
as corporatiirs: John Little, Jr., Christopher 
Longstreet, Jonathan Forman, Esq., James 
Robinson, John Henderson, Stephen Pangborne, 
Esq., Robert Imlay and Tobias Polhemus. 

The Presbyterian Church building was 
erected at Shrewsbury soon after the purchase of 
the land, and stood until after the death of the 
Rev. Charles IMcKnight, when it was in such a 
ruinous condition that it was untit for use, and 
it was accordingly sold. The church from this 
time was in a weak condition until about 1840, 
when, under the Rev. Rufus Taylor, it took on 
a new growth. 



In the year 1805 application was made to the 
Legislature of the State for permission to open 
a lottery for the purpose of raising money with 
which to build a house of worship. For some 
reason this did not succeed, and nothing further 
was done until 1821, when the present edifice 
was begun, and was completed in 1823. It was 
enlarged in 1845, and is still in use. 

From the retirement of the Rev. Joseph 
Morgan from the Scots' Meeting, about 1 728, 
the churches in this section were supplied from 
that church, the Rev. John Tennent succeeding 
to his charge. In 1734 the Rev. Samuel Blair 
began his labors in this place, having as preach- 
ing-places Middletown Point, Shark River and 
Middletown. He remained as pastor until Sep- 
tember 5, 1 739. The church seems to have been 
without a regular pa.stor from that time to May, 
1761, when the Rev. Elihu Spencer was set- 
tled and remained in charge until May, 17(i4. 
The church was then without a pastor for three 
years. On the 21st of May, 17()7, the Rev. 
Charles McKnight, formerly pastor of the 
church in Allentowu, began his labors as pastor. 
At this time there were four Presbyterian con- 
gregations under his charge, each of which had 
a church edifice, viz. : Shrewsbury, ^liddletown, 
Middletown Point and Shark River (now Ham- 
ilton or Coburg). He remained in the service 
of these churches until his death, January 1, 
1778. He resided at Middletown village. A 
more full account of him will be found in the 
history of the extinct Presb^'terian Church of 
that place. 

From that time, for a period of fifty years, 
the church was without a pastor, and had stated 
supplies but two years during tJiat time. The 
sacrament was administered occasionally by Rev. 
Dr. John WoodhuU and others. After a church 
edifice was built, in 1821-23, the Rev. Horace 
Pratt was sent here by a Female Missionary So- 
ciety of Princeton, and remained four years. 
The church was attended for several yeai-s by 
ministers who acted as .stated supplies. Efforts 
were made to settle a pastor, but without suc- 
cess until November 11, 1840, when the Rev. 
Rufus Taylor was induced to become the pastor. 
Under his ministry the church sprang into new 
life and activitv. He remained until 1852, when 



586 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



he resigned. In October of the same vear the 
Rev. Thaddeus Wilson, the present pastor, be- 
gan his ministry at this church. The church at 
present has a membership cf one hundred and 
thirty, eml)raeiug Eatontown, at which place a 
church edifice has been erected. 

The Shrewsbury Library Association was 
organized in 1861 and was incorporated in 
June, 1873. A library was procured and kept 
in private houses until 1880, when the asso- 
ciation purchased of Joseph Stillwell the old 
Orthodox Friends' Church, and moved it across 
the street upon a lot donated to the association 
for that purpose and no other. The building 
was fitted up for the purpose, and is called Li- 
brary Hall. The library contains about two 
thousand eight hundred volumes, and is under 
the care of a board of trustees, viz. : .J. Preston 
Lafetra, (president) James Steen, 1j. W. Sleeper, 
George D. Tallman, Jr., .John Traftijrd. 

TiNTON Falls was known prior to l(j73 as 
the " Falls of Shrewsbury." The land in its 
vicinity was first located by James Grover, one 
of the original Monmouth patentees. He had 
settled at Gravesend, Long Island, in 1646. 
On account of his opposition to the Dutch 
government and proclaiming in favor of Crom- 
well in 1655, he left Long Island, disposing of 
his plantation to Thomas Delavall in 1666. The 
following year he appears at Middletown, in this 
State, as one of the original patentees of the 
Monmouth patent, and is chosen the first town 
clerk and surveyor of the township. The 
position afforded him excellent opportunity for 
inspecting all the territory included in the pat- 
ent, and enabled him to locate such lands for 
himself as he might select. Within a few 
years after taking up his portion of the land 
grant it was decided that the wet, boggy mead- 
ows contained valuable deposits of iron-ore, 
and he, with others, took means to secure a large 
tract of laud at that place with a view to its de- 
velopment. He sent to New England for James 
and Henry Leonard, who were millwrights, and 
well skilled in the erection of iron-mills, furna- 
ces and forges, and who had assisted in the 
construction of most of the iron-works in the 
Plymouth colony. 



At this place began the first mining of iron 
ore in New Jersey. Soon after the building of 
the furnace by .James (irover and others, they, 
under date of October 25, 1675, conveyed to 
Lewis Morris, of the island of Barbadoes, a 
triangular piece of land containing three thou- 
sand five hundred and forty acres, being part of 
the original patent obtained in 1667. This 
grant gave the purchaser and his associates 
" full liberty to dig, delve and cany away all 
such mines for iron as they shall find or see fit 
to dig and carry away to the iron-works, that 
shall be found in that tract of land that lies 
enclosed between the southeast branch of the 
Raritan river and the Whale pond on the sea 
side, and is bounded from thence by the sea and 
branch of the sea to the eastward to the Raritan 
river, he or they paying all such just damages 
to the owners of land where they shall dig, as 
shall be judged is done by trespass of cattle, or 
otherwise sustained by the carting and carrying 
of the .said mine to the works." 

From the earliest town records and other 
public documents it is ascertained that the smelt- 
ing furnace and extensive iron-works in opera- 
tion on this "ore tract" employed during 
1680 seventy negroes and many white servants. 
The ore used was found in wet meadows and" 
swamps, known as "bog ore," being a hydrous 
peroxide of iron, containing forty per cent, of 
metallic iron. These and other similar ores 
dug from undrained marshes of the eastern 
coast of the State furnished much of the ma- 
terial for the early iron-works of Massachusetts 
and Pennsylvania during the colonial times. 

The iron made here was said by the resident 
proprietors to be of very good quality, and the 
trade was of great benefit to the province of 
East Jersey. The usual price obtained for 
a ton of the iron-ore was six dollars and a 
half, and a ton of bar-iron at that time brought 
in London eighteen pounds sterling. Of so 
much importance were these works thought to 
be for the development of the territorj' that, in 
response to a petition of the owner to the ])ro- 
vincial authorities for public protection and 
encouragement, special legislation was adopted 
in his favor. By a vote of the General As- 
sembly, April 6, 1676, it was enacted "as 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



587 



touching Colonel Morris' request, tlie Deputies 
are willing the 1 in Is and works belonging prop- 
erly to the Iron-Works .shall or may be rate- 
free for seven years, excepting in e.xtraordiuary 
cases, as war or the like." 

It appears, from letters of early settlers in 
the towns of Siirewsbury and ^liddletown to 
their friends and relatives in England and 
Scotland, that during the whole length of time 
these iron-works were exempt from taxation 
(1676-1683) Colonel Morris was successfully 
pursuing this industry, encouraging skilled 
workmen and affording employment to a large 
number of laborers. 

Colonel Lewis Morris was originally from 
Monmouthshire, England, and there inherited 
the paternal estate of Tintern. He raised a 
troop of horse for Parliament, for which 
Charles the First confiscated his estate. In re- 
turn for his losses Cromwell subsequently indem- 
niried him. He early embraced Cromwell's 
cause, and having .signalized him.self on sev- 
eral occasions .so as to win Cromwell's regard, 
he was selected, in 1654, to proceed to the West 
Indies with an expedition intended to secure the 
mastery of these seas. While there he received 
a colonel's commi.ssion, and was second in com- 
,mand upon the attack on Jamaica. Having a 
nephew settled at Barbadoes, he was induced to 
purchase an estate on that island, and not 
deeming it advisable to return to England after 
the restoration, he subsequently became part 
owner of the Island of St. Lucia, and took up 
his abode permanently in the West Indies, re- 
maining there until the death of his brother 
Richard in New York, when he came to that 
city in 1673. On his arrival he assumed the 
guardianship of his infant nephew, Lewis Mor- 
ris, who was previously under the care of the 
Dutch government. 

To the plantation which Colonel Morris 
bought of James Grover and others he gave 
the name of Tintern Manor (later corrupted to 
Tinton), after tlie family estate in Monmouth- 
shire, Wales. He was appointed a justice of 
the court, and held the position several years. 
He was active in the organization of the county, 
and gave to it the name " Monmouth," from his 
native county in Wales. He was a member of 



the Council until August 16, 1683. In Feb- 
ruary of the following year the minutes state 
that Colonel Lewis Morris "being mostly ab- 
sent and living in New York," and Captain 
Palmer and Laurens Andriessen not able to at- 
tend, others were selected in their places. Upon 
his settlement in New York he was appointed a 
member of Governor Dongan's Council, and was 
such until 1686. He died in I\Iay, 1691, at 
"his plantation over against Harlem " (meaning 
Morri.sania, N. Y). 

The iron-works were described in 1680 by 
Secretary Nichols, when speaking of Colonel 
Morris' plantation, as "his iron-mills, his man- 
ours and divers other buildings for his servants 
and dependants, togetlier with sixty or seventy 
Negros about the mill and hu.shandry." The 
description of East Jersey by the proprietors in 
1682 says: "What sort of mines or minerals 
are in the bowels of the earth after-time must 
produce, the inhabitants not having yet em- 
ployed themselves in search thereof; but there 
is already a smelting furnace and forge set up 
in the colony where is made good iron, which is 
of great benefit to the country," this having 
reference to Colonel Morris' iron-works at 
Tinton. Oldmixon, writing in 1708, says: 
" Between this town [Shrewsbury] and Middle- 
town is an Iron-Works, Init we do not under- 
stand it has been any great benefit to the Pro- 
prietors." 

It is evident that the works were not of much 
profit at this time. In 1714, Lewis Morris (af- 
terward the Governor), to whom the prof)erty 
came from his uncle, asked " the Lords of Trade 
to encourage the Iron Interests in this Province." 
This is the latest mention found of the Morris 
iron-works, and it is jirobable that they were 
allowed to go down soon afterwards. 

The property of Colonel Lewis Morris, who 
settled at Tinton Manor (now Tinton Falls) in 
1673, was left by will to his nephew, Lewis 
jNIorris, the son of Richard. He had given or 
sold to " Lewis Morris, of Passage Point " (an- 
other nephew, and the sou of Thomas Morris), 
a tract of land on Navarumsunk Neck, which 
was then known as Passage Point (now Black 
Point). This last-named I^ewis Morris was 
appointed high sheriif of Monmouth County 



588 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



March 14, 1682-83, but did not serve. He 
was appointed commissioner of highways soon 
afterwards. He was a justice of the courts from 
1691 to his death, in 1696. He is mentioned 
both as " Lewis jNIorris, of Passage Point," and 
as " Lewis Morris, Jr." 

Lewis Morris, to whom Tinton INIanor was 
left by Colonel Lewis Morris, was born at 
Morrisania, N. Y., in 1671. Bereft of his 
father and mother when very young, he was 
taken in charge of the Dutch government. 
Soon after the arrival of Colonel Lewis Morris 
from the Island of Barbadoes, in 1673, he 
assumed charge of the estate of his brother, 
Richard Morris, and of his nephew, the infant 
Lewis Morris. As he grew up, his strong pas- 
sions and erratic disposition brought him into 
trouble with his uncle, and he ran away to Vir- 
ginia and from thence went to the Island of 
Jamaica, but after a year or two returned and 
became reconciled with his uncle. His name 
first occurs in the records under date of June 
25, 1689, when, at a Court of Sessions held at 
Middletown, information was presented by 
Benjamin Hick against John Jennings, John 
West, Edward Williams, IjCwIs Moi-ris, Caleb 
Allen, Clement Masters, John Lippiucott, Jr., 
William Hulett, Peter Parker and Thomas 
Wainwright " for running of races and playing 
at nyne-pins on the Sabbath Day." 

On the 3d of November, 1691, he was mar- 
ried to Isabella, daughter of James Graham, 
Attorney-General of the province, and settled 
at Tinton Manor. In 1692, at the age of 
twenty-one years, he w;is appointed judge of 
the Court of Comnjon Right of East Jersey 
and became at the same time a member of Gov- 
ernor Andrew Hamilton's Council. He soon 
developed those qualities which in after-life 
gave him great influence in public affairs. On 
the arrival of Jeremiah Basse, in 1698, claim- 
ing the Governorship of the province by the 
appointment of only ten proprietors, instead of 
the requisite number of sixteen, Mr. Morris 
ranged himself with those who would not ac- 
knowledge his authority, and refused obedience 
to the legal tribunals and to those officials who 
upheld his claims as the chief functionary of 
the province. Basse's proclamation of his com- 



mission was made on the 8th of April, 1698, 
and a mouth thereafter Mr. Morris was fined 
fifty pounds for contemning the authority of 
the Court of Common Right, in session at Am- 
boy. On the return of Andrew Hamilton as 
Governor, in 1700, Mr. Morris was appointed 
president of the Council. Soon after\\ards he 
addressed a letter to the bishop of London con- 
cerning the state of religion in the two prov- 
inces, and censuring the people of Middletown 
in particular for their immorality and evil 
practices. 

This account of Lewis Morris (says Hon. 
George C. Beekman), should be received with 
considerable allowance, not alone because of his 
animosity to the people of this region, who had 
so fieqnently presented him' and ignored his 
authority, but at the same time he wrote this 
letter he was anxious to secure the appointment 
of Governor from the British crown. He sought 
the influence of the Church of England, which 
would likely have some power. Andrew Bowne, 
whom he styles an Anabaptist, resided in Mid- 
dletown township, as did also Richard Harts- 
horne, whom he styles a Quaker. Both of 
these men were prominently mentioned for the 
appointment of Governor. In this letter he 
adroitly poisons the minds of the great digni- 
taries of the Church of England against them, 
and parades his own zealous efforts in behalf of 
the church. He also gratifies his hatred of the 
people by abusing them. Lewis Morris was an 
ambitious and crafty man, and w^ould have put 
the yoke of priestly tithes on the people of 
Monmouth without any scruples if it would 
have advanced his own interests. But the 
people of the county had as poor an opinion of 
him as he had of them, and when they broke 
up his court and arrested him they treated him 
like a common malefactor, holding both him 
and his court in the greatest contempt. 

Mention of Lewis Morris is found in a com- 
muniaition by the Rev. Jacob Henderson, a 
missionary from London, dated June 12, 1712, 
and giving a representation of the state of the 

' Several limes (and while he was one of the justices on 
the bench) the grand jury of Monmouth had presented him 
for fencing up the road from Middletown to Freehold, and 
for other misdemeanors. 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



589 



Church of England in New York and New 
Jersey, viz. : 

"In New Jersey . . . the plurality of the Queen's 
Couucil are good churchmeu, and have always op- 
jjosed any attempts made to her prejudice by y° Qua- 
kers or other Dissenters, who have at their head one 
Coll. Lewis Morris, a professed churchman, but a man 
of noe manner of principles or credit; a man who 
calls the service of the church of England, Pageantry ; 
who has joyned in endeavours to settle a conventicle 
in the city of New York, and whose practice it is to 
intercept letters, and let such as please him pass, and 
those y' doe not he destroys, as can be fully proved. 
This Coll. Lewis Morris, with the present Governour, 
Coll. Hunter, have written to the Lords Commission- 
ers of Trade, to turn out of the Council sis church of 
England men, and put in six other's in their room, some 
of them Dissenters, and those that are of are such as 
will run into all the measures of the Assembly, and 
therefore of the worst consequences to the church 
in that Province." ' 

In 1703, ^lorris was appointed a member 
of the Council of Lord Cornbury. He soon 
became prominent in opposition to the Governor, 
and in 1704 was suspended from tlie Council. 
He at once assumed the leadership of an oppo- 
sition, being ably seconded by Thomas Gordon 
and Samuel Jennings. A remonstrance was 
made to the Queen setting forth the grievances 
imder which they labored, and also a remon- 
strance to the Governor. This called forth 
from the Governor, in reply, a bitter denunci- 
ation of the men to whose agency he right- 
fully attributed the adopting of those views 
which so decidedly militated against the su- 
premacy of his individual will. The member 
from Perth Am boy was referred to in disparag- 
ing terms as " one Thomas Gordon " and 
Morris and Jennings were stigmatized as men 
^' known to have neither good principles nor 
good morals," notorious as "disturbers of the 
quiet and peace of the Province, possessed with 
passionate heats and the transports of most 
vindictive tempers." Lieutenant-Governor In- 
goldsby and eight of the members of the 
Council presented a counter-memorial to Lord 
Lovelace, in which they said : "As to Mr. 
Morris, the whole County where he lived, 
namely the County of Monmouth, are witness 
to his troublesome temper, whereby he is a 

> Col. Doc, i. 4, 156. 



perfect torment to his neighbours ; those who 
know him best have most reason of complaint, 
And since he came to write man, hath been 
Eminently concerned, if not Principall in all 
the Kebellious and disorders that have been in 
this Province, as may appear by his own hand 
writing . . . there is hardly a county in the 
Eastern Division wherein he did not succeed 
to stirr them to dangerous and notorious Riotts 
and Rebellions, but only the countv of Bergen, 
where he did not faile for doing mischiefe for 
want of good will. But that the Dutch People 
therein were wiser, and treated him with that 
Contempt his Evill Designs Required. . . . 
It was a werke they had no liking to, and so 
they closed their Resolutions among them- 
selves, that they would not have to do with the 
Spiker-maker; that was the very term of Con- 
tempt (being Dutchmen) they used towards 
Morris, grounded upon the Iron-Works his 
Unkle left him." Elsewhere Morris and Sam- 
uel Jennings are characterized as " men known 
to be uneasy under all government, never con- 
sistent with themselves, and to whom all the 
factions and confusions in the governments of 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania for many years 
are wholly owing." 

Mr. Morris was appointed chief justice of 
New Jersey in 1712, and of New York in 1720. 
In 1733 he was removed from the position of 
chief justice by Governor William Cosby, who, 
in giving his reasons for the removal, said, — 

" But at another time, Mr. Morris having opened 
the Court, he adjourned it, according to his customs, 
to the next morning, but sitting up all that night and 
drinking hard, he lay abed all the next day till near 
sunsett, when the people growing more uneasy at his 
delays, some of his friends, or his servants, awakened 
him, he got up, and Company being admitted into his 
Chamber, he asked what hour it was, they answered 
almost night; how can that be, said the Chief Justice, 
the sun has but just risen ; and saying so he took up 
his Fiddle and played the Company a tune. These 
particulars, I assuie you, Iliad from some of the Law- 
yers who were there at the times, and from several 
other persons of good Credit ; the County was very 
uneasy, but not knowing how to get redress, were 
obliged to bear it." 

Towards the close of 1 734, the proceedings of 
Governor Cosby so exasj^erated his opponents 
that they determined to lay their grievances be- 



590 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



fore the King, and they made Mr. Morris their 
messenger. He soon after visited England 
upon that mission, and remained until the death 
of Cosby in Mai'ch, when he returned home and 
reached Morrisauia October 7, 1736. The prov- 
ince was disturbed in its gubernational relations 
from that time to February 1738, when Lewis 
Morris was appointed Governor of New Jersey, 
he being the first Governor of the province 
separate from New York. 

From about 1710, Lewis Morris was a resi- 
dent of Morrisania, N. Y., though during his 
Governorship of New Jei-sey he resided at 
Kingsbury, near Trenton, where he died May 
21,1746. He was buried in the family vault 
at Morrisania. His property in Monmouth 
County was left to his son, Robert Hunter Mor- 
ris, from whom it passed a few years later. In 
1765 the mill property was owned by Daniel 
Hendrickson ; later by Reuben Shive, and by 
William Rerasen, who, in 1838, sold the mills to 
Pierson Hendrickson, who still owns them. 
After the property had passed from the Morris 
family there was a small foundry in operation 
upon it, at the Falls, for many yeai-s. 

The first tavern at Tinton Falls was on the 
site of Nimrod Baulsir's residence. It was kept 
by Nicholas Van Brunt, who was sheriff of the 
county during the Revolution. In 1808 it was 
kept by Jacob Van Arsdale, and later by For- 
man Throckmorton, Gilbert Clayton, John 
Mount, Holmes Messier, and last by Nimrod 
Baulsir, from 1872 to 1883. The present hotel 
was changed to that use from a store about 1870, 
and kept by Edward Wilson, and at present by 
William Hendrickson. 

The Tinton Falls post-office was established 
about 1840 with Pierson Hendrickson as post- 
master. He was succeeded by Daniel Holmes, 
William Smith, Nicholas Wilson, Samuel Ben- 
net, David Haner and Benjamin Scott. 

Tinton Falls was the home of Dr. Jacobus 
Hubbard, who is mentioned in a road record as 
residing there in 1713. His sou, Jacobas Hub- 
bard, also became a physician and also lived at 
Tinton Falls. Dr. William H. Hubbard, now of 
Red Bank, was a nephew of Dr. Jacobus Hub- 
bard and settled at Tinton Falls in his early 
practice. 



The mineral spring at the Falls is said to 
have been reserved by the Indians in their sale 
to the white settlers. It is strongly impregnated 
with iron, and is equal in flow and temperature 
in all seasons and weather. In 1838, Robert 
Morris opened a boarding-house within three 
hundred yards of the Spa Spring. In ] 867 a 
company was organized to develop the property, 
and was later incorporated ; nothing was done, 
and the company expired by limitation. The 
spring is now o\v'ned by men in New York. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church at 
Tinton Falls stood originally about half a mile 
south from the Falls, on land now owned by 
John Dean. A lot was given for the purpose 
in 1815 by James Withei-s. Trustees were ap- 
pointed, but it does not appear that it was built 
until several years later. It was then used at 
that place until 1868, when it was moved to 
Tinton Falls, and used until 1872, when it was 
rebuilt, and was rededicated February 5, 1873. 
The pastors from that time have been James 
Moore, J. Lavelle, A. M. North, N. J. Wright, 
A. J. Gregory, W. H. Allen, and S. T. Grimes. 

The Macedonian Ziox African Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church wa.s organized in 
1854, and erected a building on Pine Brook, 
south of Tinton Falls, and on the line between 
Shrewsbury and Atlantic townships. The 
society was incoi'porated April 16, 1855. The 
church was placed under charge of the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Eatontowu and 
is still in that connection. The house was used 
until 1884, when a new house was built, and 
dedicated December 14th in that year. The 
pastor in charge is the Rev. E. Hammett. 

Centreville is a settlement on the line of 
Shrewsbury and Ocean townships, south of 
Eatontown village. A hotel was built at the 
place in 1846 by John Brown, and kept by 
him for many years. In 1865, James H. 
Dangler became the landlord aud kept it till 
1884, when it was discontinued as a hotel. Mr. 
Dangler, in 1873, built a store, which he occu- 
pied and still keeps. A carriage-shop was 
built by E. L. Havens in 1874. 

RuMSON Neck comprises all that part of 
Shrewsbury township lying between the Nave- 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



591 



sink and Shrewsbury (or otherwise Shrewsbury 
and South Shrewsbury) Rivers, and is the 
" Navarumunk Neckc " sold by the Indians to 
the white settlers in 1C64. Otherwise the name 
was spelled Narurasunk and Narumson, which 
last is found in an Indian deed of the year 
mentioned. 

One of the first settlers on the neck was John 
Hance, who is mentionc<l as deinity and over- 
seer at a court held at Portland Point December 
28, 1669. He settled on Rumson Neck and 
owned a tract of land reaching from river to 
river. During the Dutch rule he was appointed 
" schepen," or magistrate, in 1673, having been 
a justice before that time. He lived and died 
on his estate, and is probably buried in the old 
cemetery which is at the Rumson nurseries. 
The oldest slab in this yard bears this inscrip- 
tion : " Here lyes ye body of Joyce Hance, 
wife of John Hance, who died February ye 
4th, 1722-3, aged 39 years." She was proba- 
bly the wife of the son of the original settler. 
From this John Hance sprang all of the family, 
many of whom, by intermarriage with Friends, 
are now of that denomination. 

Joseph Parker, an early settler upon Rumson 
Neck, came to this county with Peter Parker, 
John Slocum and Eliukim Wardell about 1667, 
and with them sis^ned the oath of alleffiancc. He 
received a patent for a large tract of land on the 
upper end of the neck, reaching from river to 
river. He was appointed a judge of the court 
in 167(3 and als) a deputy to the Assembly. In 
the minutes of the Assembly of 1683 is a state- 
ment of matters of difference between the pro- 
prietors and Council on one hand, and Joseph 
Parker, John Bowne and Richard Hartshorne 
on the other, relating to the disputes between 
the first settlers of Monmouth, who claimed 
their titles under the patent granted by Gov- 
ernor Nicolls, 1665, and also by purchase from the 
Indians. He died in 1685 and left his prop- 
erty to his sou Joseph, who was born in 1670, 
and who married Elizabeth, daughter of Re- 
membrance Lippiucott. They had two children, 
Joseph and Deborah. Joseph was the father of 
William Parker, better known as " Rich Billy," 
who was born in November, 1736, and married 
Mary White. He lived near Shrewsbury 



village, and his vast landed estate made him very 
wealthy. Many stories are told of his eccen- 
tricities. He belonged to the Society of Friends, 
and yet dressed with considerable ostentation, 
for the buttons on his waistcoat and outer coat 
were made of silver dollars. He lived durinsr 
the Revolution, and the following story is told 
of him : 

"Richard Howell, who was a major in the 
Second Regiment, Continental army, until 1779, 
and afterwards Governor of New Jersey from 
1792 to 1801, was on terms of intimacy with 
Parker, and one time, when he was in Parker's 
neighborhood, accepted the hospitalities of his 
house. One evening, while lie was out, a party 
of Refugees stopped at Parker's house and de- 
manded supper. While they were eating, Major 
Howell, not knowing they were there, entered 
the room. Parker, with presence of mind, 
IjromjDtly exclaimed : 'Good evening, Dick! 
why is thee so late ? I cannot attend to that 
business to-night. I am engaged with some 
friends. Call in the morning and I will settle 
it.' Parker was so self-possessed that the Ref- 
ugees never suspected that he was talking to 
an American officer. As to Howell, he took 
the hint and at once retreated to less dangerous 
quarters." 

" Rich Billy " Parker had several sons, of 
whom Joseph, born in 1760, settled in Eaton- 
town and was a merchant there many years. 
William settled on Rumson, where his descend- 
ants still live. His daughter Phoebe became the 
wife of Thomas White ; Polly, another daughter, 
married first a Holmes and later a Crawford. 
Deborah Parker married Benjamin Corlies. 
Benjamin C. White and Abner Allen were her 
grandsons. 

William Parker, called " Boatman Billy," to 
distinguish him from "Rich Billy," was a 
grandson of Peter Parker, who settled at what is 
now Long Branch, came to Rumson Neck and 
settled near what was afterwards named Parker- 
ville, from this family. William had a son 
William, whosettled on the homestead, where his 
grandsons now live. Michael Parker, now 
(December, 1884) more than eighty years of 
age, is a son of William Parker, Jr. 

On the north part of the eastern point of 



592 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Ruinson Neck is a tract of land, now called 
Black Point. It is a part of the lands that came 
to the possession of Colonel Lewis Morris, of 
Tinton Falls, about 1674. On the 15th of 
Api-il, 1<)89, he conveyed it to Lewis Morris, a 
son of his brother Thomas, who lived in Lon- 
don. The Lewis Morris here mentioned resided 
there and was a man of influence.' He is men- 
tioned in the old records as " Lewis Morris, of 
Passage Point," by which name the point went 
for many years. 

At a court held at Middletown in September, 
1694, "Lewis Morris, of Passage Point," was 
indicted for the offense that he, " with several of 
his negroes, did feloniously take away the hay of 
AVilliam Shattock." The indictment was " re- 
moved by writ of habeas corpus to the Court at 
Perth Amboy," and Lewis Morris, of Tinton 
Manor, became his bondsman. At the next 
court, held at Shrewsbuiy, December 25th, the 
same }'ear, Lewis Morris, of Passage Point, was 
indicted for striking Nicholas Sarah, of Free- 
hold. 1 he court ordered him to appear at next 
court, to be held at Middletown, March 27, 1695. 
At that term Lewis Morris "did inform the 
court, how matters were and submitted himself 
to the bench and was by them dismist." It was 
not long after this time that he was murdered 
by negroes (in 1696). At a subsequent term of 
court it was ordered " that the negroes that ai-e 
in the gaol for the murdering of Lewis Morris, 
of Passage Point, shall be conveyed by the 
sheriff to Perth Amboy, to attend the Court of 
Common Right." 

The tract of land (about seven hundred acres) 
owned by Lewis Morris, of Pa.ssage Point, where 
he lived, passed to his cousin, Lewis Morris, 
and in time came to Richard Salter, who, on 
July 27, 1753, conveyed it to John Salter and 
John Hartshorne. The latter was a son of AMl- 
liam Hartshorne, of the Navesink Highlands. 
Many years later it was in possession of Dr. 
Eleazer Parmley, who, September 17, 1832, sold 
it to Seabury Treadwell. The place has now 
nothing of any importance upon it. The south 
part of the point is rising ground and is well 
built up with elegant residences surrounded 
with finely laid out grounds. It is facing on 
the Shrewsbury River and Pleasure Bay, and is 



connected with Seabright and the railroad-sta- 
tion at that place by an iron bridge, which gives 
the residents (most of whom are business men) 
easy access to the city. Above, or west of the 
Salter and Hartshorne tract of seven hundred 
acres, was the large tract of Richard Salter; 
still farther west, and reaching across the neck 
from river to river, was the Borden tract ; still 
farther west, and adjoining, was a part of Joseph 
Warden's tract, which, about the close of the 
Revolution, came into the possession of William 
Bingham, a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia 
and United States Senator from Pennsylvania. 
He built an elegant country-seat on an elevated 
piece of ground commanding a view of the 
neck, Shrewsbury and Navesink Rivers and the 
ocean in the distance. His wife was a leader 
of fashion in Philadelphia, and during the sum- 
mer season many of the fashionable people of 
that city were invited to the hospitalities of his 
seaside house. The property afterwards passed 
to Dr. Eleazer Parmley, whose son is still in 
possession of a part of the estate. 

Parkerville (now Little Silver) is situated 
a little south of the middle of Rumson Neck, 
and not far from Little Silver Creek. About 
1820 the people in the vicinity began to be 
regularly visited by Methodist ministers who 
traveled in this vicinity. Meetings were held 
at the house of Michael Parker and of Mrs. Eras- 
mus, who lived opposite, where the church now 
stands. In 1822, Michael Parker gave the lot 
on which the present store stands for a church; 
Mrs. Ei-asmus donated timber, and, by other 
contril)utions from those interested, a meeting- 
house was built, and called the Embury Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. The district at that 
time was under the cliarge of the Rev. John 
Walker and William Lummis. In 1829-30, 
Rev. John Wollaston was on the circuit. In 
1844, Rumson became a separate charge, and 
was placed under the care of the Rev. AYilliam 
W. Perry, who was the next year at the church 
of Red Bank. The pastors who have served 
since 1874 have been W. S. McCowen, 1874; 
W. Franklin, 1875-77; J. E. Lake, 1878-80; 
W. A. Massey, 1881-83; S. Townsend, 1884. 

In 1866, the church being too small, the 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



593 



school-house lot was bought, and in 1868 the 
present frame lueeting-house, thirty-five by sixty 
feet in size, was erected. , 

In 1845, Jacob C. Parker opened a store a 
short distance east of the present store, which 
is the old chiircli building. A post-office was 
established in 1875, with B. F. King, the present 
postmaster, in charge. 

About 1871, Charles Habrougli began the 
business of carriage-making at the place, and 
built the present shops. He was succeeded, in 
1876, by R. B. Campbell, the jiresent owner, 
who now keeps about eight men constantly 
employed. 

In 1878, J. T. Lovett began setting out a 
tract of one hundred acres at Little Silver as a 
nursery, making a specialty of small fruits. He 
also has fifty acres, at Deal Beach, in stock. 
During the busy season he has employed a 
hundred men, and ships his stock to all parts 
of the United States. 

The Rumson Nurseries were first opened in 
1854, on the old Hance homestead farm, by 
Asher Hance, and were held by him and his sons 
until 1879, when the farm wassold to William W. 
Conover, ■who continued till 1882, when it came 
under the management of Hance ct Borden, by 
whom it is continued, and who now iiave four 
tracts under cultivation, — one on the original 
site, on Rumson Xeck road; one at Albert Bor- 
den's residence, at Little Silver ; a peach nursery, 
about half a mile north of Little Silver Depot; 
and the Riverside uui-series. 

The Village of Oceanic lies on tlie north 
side of Rumson Neck and on the Navesink 
River, a mile or two above Black Point. In 
1840, Martinus Bergen owned a large tract of 
land on the neck, and in that year sold 
one hundred acres to Thomas Hunt, of Long 
Island. At that time there was a farm-house 
on the place, — the same now occupied by Augus- 
tus Ligier as a hotel. About a mile below tiiis 
farm the Friends of Rumson Neck liad, a year 
or two previous, built a pier for their own ben- 
efit, which was destroyed in 1845. j\Ir. Hunt 
then built a pier and a hotel, which last was 
named Port Washington Hotel. One or two 
houses were erected jirior to this time, and 
a church, which was for the use of all denomi- 



nations, was erected and dedicated May 1, 1842. 
Mr. Hunt established a line of steamers — 
the "Confidence," "Cricket" and "Thomas 
Hunt "—in 1845. These ran from Port Wash- 
ington Dock for several years. The " Cricket" 
was seriously damaged on the bar, and the 
others were t^iken off. 

A " private" post-office was established at Port 
W^ashington in 1845, with Samuel Harvey as 
postmaster. The mails were brought from Red 
Bank. The name was afterwards changed to 
Oceanic, when the office became regular, and 
Alvin Harvey was appointed postmaster. He 
was succeeded by .lames Bruce, the present 
incumbent. 

In 1845 Mr. Hunt erected a l)uilding near 

the end of the wharf for Hammond, who 

opened a store ; also, a shoe-shop for Samuel 
Harvey, who, in 1859, built a store, which 
he kept many years. The present store was 
opened about 1859 by John Jeffrey, wiio kept it 
five years. It is now kejit by Enright Brothers, 
who also have a store at Seabright. The large 
hotel, formerly known as the Port Washing- 
ton Hotel and now as the Oceanic, is kept by 
Victor Ligier. 

The Presbyterian Church of Port Wash- 
ington was organized by the Presbytery of Mon- 
mouth in April, 1861, and was constituted of 
members from Red Bank and Shrewsbury 
Churches. The church building that was erected 
in 1842 was placed in their charge, and they 
have since occupied it. The chapel, which was 
built in 1880, at Seabright, is placed in charge 
of this church. The pastors and their terras of 
service are here given, — Alfred B. King, Octo- 
ber 22, 1861, to July 1, 1862; Alexander 
Clement, November 17, 1865, to March 14, 
1868; James McFarlane, April 30, 1868, to 
April 23, 1871 ; Charles S. Newhall (supply), 
June 20, 1874 ; S. B. Dodd, to 1881 ; Samuel 
Miller, 1882 to 1883 ; W. S. Knipe, 1883 to 
1884. 

The GooDW^LL Methodist Episcopal 
Church was organized in 1875 and erected 
the Goodwill Chapel in that year. It is under 
the care of the church at Seabright. 

St. George Episcopal Church stands on 
the corner of Believue Avenue and the Ridge 



594 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



road. It is a stoue structure, built in 1874 by 
the summer residents on the neck. The first 
rector was the Rev. William Bordeu, who was 
succeeded by the Rev. AMlliam O. Embi-ay. 
The church at Fair Haven and at Little Silver 
are both under the charge of this churcli. 

St. John'.s Episcopal Church, on Little 
Silver, was originally a mission of Trinity 
Church, of Red Bank. In 1878 the present 
edifice was erected. The church has about forty 
members. 

Fair Haven is located on the north side of 
Rumson Neck and on the Navesiuk River mid- 
way between Oceanic and Red Bank. In 1825 
the land in the locality was owned by Morris 
De Hart, Ja(»b Corlies and Asher Hance. In 
1816, Jeremiah Chandler, a boatman, bought 
an acre of land on the coast and erected a two- 
story house on the site of what is now Van 
Tine's Hotel. The first store was kept by Jolin 
Covert about 1825. Christopher Doughty 
opened a grocery about 1833 (where Benjamin 
Doughty now lives), and later moved to where 
James Scott now keeps a boarding-liouse. About 
1850, Peter Snyder opened a store where George 
Hendrickson now keeps. A wharf had been 
built about 1850, whieii was much enlarged iu 
1857, and the Fair Haven Dock Company was 
incorporated February 5, 1866, with the follow- 
ing corporators : Charles Doughty, Edward 
Bennett, Forman Smith, Benjamin B. Hance, 
Cornelius Heudrickson, Deuyse Hendrickson, 
Abraham Trafford, George De H. Gillespie and 
others. This company had been running 
steamboats to their dock, and at this time addi- 
tional boats were put on the route, some of 
which were running to Red Bank, touching at 
this point. They were the " Highhuid Light," 
"James Christoplicr,'" "Alice Price," "Mc- 
Lean," "Nelly White" and the "Sea Bird." 
This last-named boat was built in 1865, par- 
tially burned in 1869 ; relniilt and is still on the 
line, making regular trips to New York. 

A post-office was established about 1876, with 
Edmund Trafibrd postmaster, who at that time 
kept a store at the place. He has been suc- 
ceeded by Henry C. Dennis, Edmund Trafford 
and the present incumbent, William V. Bennett. 



The Chandler dwelling-house was enlarged 
by John Van Tine about twenty years ago and 
opened as a hotel, which lie still keeps. The 
Atlantic Hotel has been built within tlie past 
few years. 

The jMethodist Protestants organized a 
congregation at this place in 1854 and erected a 
church edifice, which is still .standing and in use. 
The foundation of a new church, thirty-five 
by sixty feet, is already laid, and the building 
is expected to be ready for occupancy during 
1885. After the completion of the new church 
the old building will be used as a chapel and for 
a Sunday-school room. Among the pastors 

who have served the church are the Revs. 

Van Leer, James Cassell, E. C. Stultz, 

Heii-s, Bailey, Jacob Freed and Jacob 

Leupie, who is the present pastor. 

The African ]\Iethodlst Episcopal Zion 
Chitech was built many years ago on the Port 
Washington road, east of Fair Haven. It 
was destroyed by fire on Sunday, February 9, 
187.'5, and the congregation removed to Red 
Bank, where the society built a house of wor- 
shijj. 

The African ]\Iethodlst Episcopal 
Bethel Church was organized in this place 
about 1860, and built a chapel. In 1882 the 
congregation were assisted in building by Gen- 
eral Clinton B. Fiske, who, at a cost of three 
thousand dollars, erected the Fiske Chapel, at the 
west side of the village. It was dedicated 
August 20, 1882. The Rev. J. T. Rex was then 
pastor. In the same year, and adjoining the 
FiskeChapel, a school-house for colored children 
was built, and dedicated November 18, 1882. 

An Epi.scojjal Church was commenced just 
west of the village in 1884, the corner-stone 
being laid on Monday, November 3d, of that 
year. It is under the care of St. George Epis- 
copal Church of Rumson Neck. 

The township of Shrewsbury embraces seven 
school districts, which contain eighteen hundred 
and sixteen registered scholars, and have school 
property valuetl at forty -one thousand six hun- 
dred dollars. 

In what is now Oceanic District, No. 72, the 
first school-house was built about 1849. It was 



SHREWSBURY TOWNSHIP. 



595 



in the woods near the residence of Dr. E. Parm- 
ley, and was used until the present frame two- 
story liouse was built, in 1880. The district 
now contains two hundred and ten children of 
school age. 

In Fair Haven District, No. 73, the present 
frame two-story school-house was built in 1878. 
The first house in this locality stood on the 
Eumson road, where it is now joined by Bueua 
Vista Avenue, and netu- the old Presbyterian 
graveyard. It was used as the school-house tor 
the people of the Neck, and was discontinued 
many years ago. J. H. Chandler, of Fair 
Haven, attended school there in 1821. John S. 
Borden, Nathaniel Clark, Samuel Crane and 
Joseph Wardell were teachers in this old house. 

In 1841 a school-house was erected in Fair 
Haven, and Forman Smitli was the first teacher. 
It was used until the present school-house was 
built. The district now contains two hundred 
and sixty-eight children of school age. 

Parkerville District, No. 74, now embraces 
what was formerly two districts, which were 
united in 1882. About 1848, Mrs. Blanche, a 
teacher at the " Phalanx," moved to Little Sil- 
ver, where Dr. John Hall now resides, and built 
on her own land a school-house, in which she 
taught .school several years. In 18G2a school- 
house was erected on the corner opposite Cap- 
tain !Mulliner's residence, which was used until 
the districts were united, in 1882, when the 
house was sold. 

The old school-house mentioned in Fair 
Haven District was the school-place of the 
children of this locality until after 1828, soon 
after which a school was kept in the house of 
Michael Parker ; was taught by his son Wil- 
liam and his daughter Jane. About 1840 the 
residents united in erecting a school-house on the 
site of the present church, which stood until 
1865, when it was sold and the present frame 
two-.story house was built. The district now 
contains one hundred and fifty-eight children of 
school age. 

Red Bank District, No. 75, is mentioned 
more fully in the histoiy of the town of Red 
Bank. 

Shrewsbury District, No. 77, includes the old 
village of Shrewsbury, where thefirstschools in 



the township were taught. The Friends, Pres- 
byterians and Episcopalians all had churches in 
the village before 1720. As was the case in 
those days, the school was an adjunct of the 
church, and the different denominations each had 
their schools.' 

It is known that in 1793-94 a school was 
taught in the old Presbyterian Church by a 

Mr. McGregory, and later by Duuleavy. In 

1810, Jacob Holmes, Robert White, Benjamin 
White and Dr. Samuel Teubrook erected a 
school-house, by permission, upon the northeast 
corner of the Christ Church lot. Among the 
teachers from 1820 were Samuel Grain (from 
Vermont), Jo.seph Wardell, Seth Lippiucott (in 
1827, '28, '29 and .several years later in his own 
house). The school-house was bought by the 
Rev. Harry Finch, who taught a school there 
for several years, and also used it for a Sunday- 
school. He had as assistant, George H. Sickles, 
now of Middletown. Upon the erection of a 
district, many years ago, the Rev. Hariy Finch, 
Dr. John P. Lewis and Dr. Edward W. Allen 
were the first trustees. A house was rented for 
sevei'al years which now stands on the estate of 
Delafield Smith. X .^school-house was built 
about 1837-38 by several persons (mostly Pres- 
byterians), and kept by Mr. George Woodward 
as a private school ten or twelve years. The 
building was then rented by the district for 
.several years. About 1876, Mr. Edward Cor- 

■The earliest po.sitive knowledge on the subject is gained 
from the journal of the Rev. Thomas Thompson, who was a 
missionary to this county between the years 174-5 ami 175U. 
After a visit to Manasquan, he says, — 

" As people were desirous of having a schoolmaster, and 
spoke of making up among themselves a competency for 
one, I proposed it to Mr. Christopher Robert Reynolds, the 
society's schoolmaster at Shrewsbury ; and those parts 
being within that (ownship, it was not inconsistent with 
hi? appointment. He was willing to go and set up school 
there, and accordingly went down and (aught a year, em- 
ploying his diligence to good eflect. 

" But his eraployei's living so far .asunder that they could 
not send their children to school all at one place, he was 
obliged to be often shifting and to go from one house to 
another, which was such a fatigue and labor to him, being 
in years and an infirm man, that he was not able to con- 
tinue it, and returned to Shrewsbury, his former station." 

It is evident from this statement that ^Ir. Robert Rey- 
nolds was then teaching in connection with Christ Church 
Society. 



696 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



lies bought out the stockholders and sold the 
house. The directors of the district then pur- 
chased a lot west of the railroad depot, and 
erected the present frame school-house, thirty by 
forty feet in size. It has lately been fitted with 
modern school furniture. 

Tinton Falls District, No. 78, contains one 
hundred and twenty-two children of school age. 
A lot was donated, in 1810, by Mr. Throck- 
morton for school purposes ; the consideration 
w;is that the donor should have the ashes made 
in the house. A building was erected upon the 
lot and used until 1872, when the citizens voted 
two thousand five hundred dollare for a new 
school-house. The lot being considered unde- 
sirable, the trustees purchased a lot near the 
ilethodist Church, on which they built the 
present house, which was opened January 1(5, 
1873. 

Woodlands District, Xo. 79, embraces terri- 
tory in both the townships of Shrewsbury and 
Ocean. The house was built in 1856 on the 
township line in Shrewsbury. The district now 
contains fifty-two children of school age. 



THE TOWN OF RED BANK. 



Red Bank, the most important town in the 
county of Monmouth, is situated at the head of 
navigation of the Navesink (otherwise known as 
Shrewsbury) River, on the south shore of the 
stream, within the limits of Shrewsbury town- 
ship. The name of the town was given to it 
because of the red color of the soil of the river 
banks at that place. 

The lands which now form the site of the 
town of Red Bank were, in the year 1808, em- 
braced in the farm of Barnes Smock, who at 
that time kept a tavern on the point just north 
of where J. M. Atkins' Union Hotel now 
stands. The old tavern site is now a part of 
the Union Hotel property. In 1809 one Boyd 
kept a store east of Smock's tavern. About 
three hundred yards east of this store, and a few 
years later, Wainwright Brothers had a store on 
the old dock in front of John A. Worthley's 



property. This store was kept from 1818 to 
1821 by Robert Hart, and in the latter year 
was owned by Martin Chandler, who kept it until 
about 1830, when he sold to Joseph Parker. 

A dock was built on the site of the present 
steamboat dock before 1809. The sloop " Fair 
Trader," owned by Esek White and othei-s, ran 
from that dock to New York, carrying mar- 
ket produce. The Smock farm property came 
into possession of Esek White about 1820. In 
1829, Joseph Parker opened a tavern on the 
hill back of the old dock. The store, tavern 
and dock were sold, about 1837, to Abram 
Springsteen, who, about 1845, sold to William 
Remseu, who built a grist-mill about fifty feet 
east of the dock. In later years the mill was 
discontinued and taken down. About 1855, 
D. ^y. Heudrickson built a grist-mill on the 
site of the Merchants' Steamboat Company's 
wharf This mill was burned in 1857. 

About 1833, Captain John Pintard ran the 
passenger sloop " Atlas " to the upper dock, 
where the coal-yards now are. Captain Joseph 
Parker ran the sloop "Benjamin Stevens" to 
the lower dock. The sloop " President " had 
run to the lower dock before the " Benjamin 
Stevens." 

In 1829, Rice Hatsell came here from Rice- 
ville (now Navesink village), and erected the 
first store on the hill. It stood on the site of 
French's liquor-store. At that time an old 
store-house which had .stood on Smock's Point 
had been moved in front of the old Smock 
tavern, and in this store building Thomas C. 
White and Jacob Corlies kept store several 
years after 1829. An old house, owned by 
Garret Morford, stood in the rear of the site of 
Worthley's new brick building, and it is still 
standing. 

After the steamboats began running, a road 
was built down to the line between Esek 
White, Martin Chandler and along the line 
to the Remsen dock. The establishment of 
steamer lines brought to the place a number of 
persons, and town-lots were sold rapidly. 

In 1829, Charles G. Allen settled at New- 
man's Springs and built a store and wharf. 
In 1832 he built the schooner "Catharine 
Allen," of thirty tons ; in 1835 he built the 



THE TOWN OF BED BANK. 



597 



"Mary Emma," of seventy tons ; and in 1837, 
the "Margaret Klotz," of forty-five tons. lu 
1840 he removed to Red Bank and built a 
store OQ the site of Weaver's clothingr-store, and 
kept it till 1846. He also built a dock for sloops 
and steamers. Thomas Hunt built the steam- 
boat "Confidence," which ran to this dock 
until 1850. In 1843, Benjamin Laird kept the 
old Smock tavern, then called the Steamboat 
Hotel. He was succeeded in that house by 
Lewis Spencer, John Magee, William Frazer 
and others. 

In November, 1834, Thomas E. Combs, 
formerly of ^A'est Freehold, who had been in 
business in Coenties Slip, New York, bought 
out the store of Rice Hatsell, and, with his 
brother, Aaron R. Combs, began business. 
Aaron soon after retired, and Thomas E. con- 
tinued business until January 12, 1837, when 
Henry H. Conover was admitted to partnership 
with him. On the 1st of January, the next 
year, Combs retired, and moved to Tinton Falls, 
where he kept a store many vears. 

In 1829, Robert H. Wooley purchased two 
acres of land for one hundred and fifty dollars, 
on the corner of what is now Front and Broad 
Streets. Frightenetl at his ])urchase, he urged a 
friend to take half of it, but the offer was not 
accepted. He built a frame building (on the 
site of Spinning & Patterson's store), which was 
opened as a store by T. & J. AV. Jlorford, who 
remained there until 1843. Upon the other 
land Robert H. AVooley and Isaac P. White 
opened a lumber-yard, which wiis kept there 
for many years. It was opposite the present 
lumber-yard on the north side of Broad Street. 

The bridge across the river (over three hun- 
dred feet in length) was built before 1834. In 
that year Asher S. Parker, a native of the 
township, began business in Red Bank as a 
clerk for Shejiherd Collett. In 1840 he went 
into the employ of Charles G. Allen. In 1847 
he, with Francis C'hadwick, began business on 
their own account and continued until 1878. 

On the 19th of February, 1852, the Re<l 
Bank Steamboat Company was incorporated 
with a capital of fifty thousand dollars and the 
following-named corporators: Anthony H. 
Haggerty, John R. Conovei-, Ednuind T. Wil- 



liams, William Haight, William Applegate, 
David C. Conover, Pierson Hendrickson, Daniel 
Conover, Joseph Shepherd and John ^IcBriar. 
On the 26tli of February following the incor- 
poration of this company the Middletown 
and Shrewsbui'v Transportation Company 
was incorporated, with capital of thirty tiiou- 
sand dollars and the following-named corpora- 
tors: James Cooper, Richard Luf burrow, 
George Cooper, Robert Allen, James A\'. Bor- 
den, John E. Johnson and Charles G. Allen. 

These two Companies each built steiimboats; 
the Red Bank Company built first the "Thomas 
Hunt," and later the " Thomas Haight "' and 
the "Alice Price." The Middletown and 
Shrewsbury Transportation Company built the 
"Golden Gate," and later the "Ocean Wave." 
These companies, with their steamboats, did a 
thriving business for about fom- years, when 
each had sunk its capital. Their debts were all 
2)aid and they retired from business. 

William Remsen, soon after his settlement at 
Red Bank, in 1845, built two schooners, — the 
" Henry Remsen " of one hundred and forty 
tons, and the " Sarah Elizabeth," of eighty 
tons. These sc^hooners were run in connection 
with his store and mill business. In July, 1837, 
James P. Allaire began running the steamboat 
" Isis " from Red Bank to New York, and 
soon after added the steamer " Osiris," and in 
June, 1841, a line of stages was established to 
run in connection with these boats from Mana- 
squan River to Red Bank. 

The fi)-st physician who settled at Red Bank 
was Dr. John R. Conover, who came to this 
place in 1837, and remained until 1857, when 
he was elected surrogate and removed to Free- 
hold. He is more fully mentioned in the history 
of the Monmouth Medical Societj' in this volume. 

Dr. R. R. Conover, brother of Dr. John 
Conover, came to Red Bank in 1859, and prac- 
ticed until his death, in 1884. 

Dr. William H. Hubbard, a son of Elias 
Hubbard and nephew of Dr. Jacobus Hubbard, 
Sr., of Tinton Falls, studied with Dr. Jacobus 
Hubbard, Jr., began practice at Tinton Falls 
in 1834, and in 185(3 went to Long Island. In 
1862 he removed to Red Bank, and is still in 
practice there. 



598 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Dr. William A. Betts came to Red Bank in 
1860, and is still in practice. The pliysieiuus 
who are now at Ked Bank other than as men- 
tioned are Drs. T. E. Ridgway, Edwin Fields, 
J. E. Sayre, George Marsdeu and A. T. Traf- 
ford. 

The post-office was established at Red Bank 
May 11, 1<S33, with Jacob ]McC'lane (who is still 
living) as postmaster. The office was kept in 
his store, which was on what is now the John 
Stout property. McClane was succeeded, in the 
winter of 1841—42, by Dr. John R. Conover, 
who continued until 1852. Forman Borden 
acted as his deputy. George E. Finch was 
appointed postmaster in 1852, and served until 
his death. He was succeeded by his widow, 
Mrs. Finch, who kept the office until about 
1870, and was followed by Jacob Corlies. The 
pi'esent postmaster, William Applegate, was 
appointed June 17, 1880. 

The Globe Hotel was built as a dwelling by 
Robert Hart, in 1840. In 1844, it was bought 
by Tobias Hendrickson, who enlarged and 
opened it as a hotel. It was bought in 1849 
by his sons, Samuel T. and J. H. Hendrickson, 
who kept it many years, and still own it. E. 
C Richardson is now the lessee of the house. 

French's Central Hotel is on the site of the 
former residence of the Rev. R. T. Middle- 
ditch, which, alwut 1870, came into the posses- 
sion of Peter R. Smock, who opened it as the 
Central Hotel ; after his death it was continued 
for a time by his widow, until it was l)urued. 
The present hotel was built on its site in 1882, 
and is now kept Ijy C. G. French. 

The favorable location of Red Bank at the 
head of navigation on the rivei', and the line 
agricultural country nearly surrounding it, to- 
gether with its railway facilities in the later 
years, have all contributed largely to its growth, 
causing it to become what it is to-day, — the lead- 
ing business town of Monmouth County. It 
has, like many other towns, been retarded by 
the occurrence of disastrous fires, of which may 
be mentiimed those of January 1, 1880; July 
18, 1881, December .3, 1881, and November 
6, 1882, the last and most notable of which 
broke out on Sunday evening. The fire was 
discovered in the loft of Joseph W. Childs' 



stable, in the rear of his bakery, on Broad 
Street. The fire extended south from Spinning 
& Patterson's store to the second lot below the 
First National Bank, destroying about twenty 
business-places and several dwellings, including 
the bank. First Methodist Church and the 
office of the Arw Jersey Standard newspaper. 

Red Bank became an incorporated town in 
1870 by the operation of " An Act for the Im- 
provement of the Town of Red Bank, in the 
County of Monmouth," approved March 17th 
ofthat year, and which provides and declares : 

" That the limits of the town of Red Bank, in the 
county of Jlonmouth, for the purposes of this act, shall 
be as follows: Beginning at a point where the middle 
of the public road leading from Red Bank to Shrews- 
bury intersects the middle of Irving Street ; thence 
westerly on a line with the middle of Irving; Street 
continued straight to the North Shrewsbury River; 
thence northwardly and eastwardly along the said 
river to the northeast corner of the land of the heirs 
of Edmund Throckmorton, deceased ; thence south- 
wardly to a point where the middle of the public road 
leading from Red Bank to Port Washington intersects 
the middle of the road leading from the last-mentioned 
road to Parkerville, by lands of David N. Byram and 
Willfiim L. Borden ; thence southwardly along the 
middle of said Parkerville road to a point where the 
line of the middle of Irving Street continued east- 
wardly intersects the middle of the last-named road ; 
thence westwardly to the place of beginning." 

The commissioners are designated by the act 
as " The Board of Commissioners of Red Bank." 
The list of chief commissioners of the town 
from the time of its incorporation to the present 
is a-s follows : 1870-71, Samuel T. Hendrick- 
son ; 1871-72, John S. Applegate ; 1872-73, 
James S. Throckmorton; 1873-74, William T. 
Corlies; 1874-78, Robert Allen, Jr. ; 1878-80, 
Samuel Morford; 1880-84, John Sutton. 

The clerks of the Board of Commissioners 
have been: 1870-72, Thomas H. Applegate ; 
1872-74, Larue N. White; 1874-83, Edmund 
T. Allen; 1883-84, R. Van Dyke Reed. Treas- 
urers: 1870-72, J. Trafford Allen; 1872-74, 
Larue N. White ; 1874-75, John Sutton ; 
1875-81, Thomas H. Applegate; 1881-84, 
William P. Corlies; 1884, Asher S. Parker. 

In the winter of 1878-79 an application was 
made to the Legislature of 1878-79 to change 



THE TOWN OF RED BANK. 



599 



the name of Red Bank to " Shrewsbury City." 
An act supplementary to the original act of 
1870 granting the application was passed and 
approved February 14, 1879/ notwithstanding 
which, the name remains as before. 

The Fire Department of Red Bank was or- 
ganized in 1879, with C.W. Thompson as chief 
At that time there was but one organized com- 
pany (Navesink Hook-and-Ladder Company, 
No. 1), which was chartered in 1872, with C. 
W. Thompson as foreman, who served until the 
organization of the Fire Department under the 
borough charter in 1879. lu that year the 
Relief Fire Company, the Independent Fire 
Company, and the Relief and Liberty Hose 
Comfjanies were organized. The Fire Depart- 
ment embraces these companies. The engines 
and apparatus are owned by the town, and under 
the care of companies as follows : 

Navesink Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 
1, has sixty-three members, with C. B. Hender- 
son as foreman. In addition to its hoolcs and 
ladders, it has charge of the " Little Giant," a 
four-wheel chemical engine, and five hundred 
feet of hose. 

The Relief Engine ('oin])anv has seventy 
members, with Thomas Warwick foreman. Its 
apparatus is a Button hand-engine, seven huu- 

' The following was publislied iu the Xeio York World. 
at the time of the passage of the bill : 

" E.xiT Red B.-ink. 

" The bill to change the name of Red Bank, N. J., to 
Shrewsbury City was yesterday passed by the Senate. 
The town of Red Bank is nearly forty years old and has 
a population approaching four thousand. It is situated at 
the navigable head of the Shrewsbury River, on the New 
Jersey Southern and the New York and Long Branch Rail- 
roads, and is the terminus of a steamboat line. It is 
twenty-five miles distant from this city and eight miles 
from Long Branch. It is beautified by many attractive 
cottages, which are occupied by wealthy residents, among 
these being Anthony Reckless, president of the New York 
and Long Branch Railroad ; W. S. Sueden, manager of the 
New Jersey Southern Railroad ; Robert Allen and W. W. 
Conover. It is a favorite residence of many New York 
people during the summer months. The town was named 
after the red banks of the Shrewsbury River, but its peo- 
ple were never satisfied with the name, — hence the change 
to Shrewsbury City. The town is incorporated, paved 
and lighted, and has two newspapers. It is the metiopo- 
lis of Monmouth County." 



dred and fifty feet of hose, and Little Giant, 
No. 2, four-wheel chetnical engine, with one 
hundred and fifty feet of hose. It also has the 
hose of the Relief Hose Company, which was 
disbanded. 

The Independent Engine Company numbers 
twenty-eight members, under Samuel Hughes, 
foreman, and has the charge of one Button 
hand-engine. 

The Liberty Hose Company contains twenty- 
seven members and has seven hundred and fifty 
feet of hose, with the Independent engine 

The department was under charge of 
Chief C. W. Thompson from 1879 tiUlSSl, 
when he was succeeded by Dr. Edwin Fields, 
who served one year. James Walsh was then 
appointed and also served one year, and in 
March, 1888, the present chief, Samuel Saques, 
was appointed. 

The Red Baxk \\'atek- Works have 
been built by tlic town under authority of a 
general law passed ijy the lA^gislature at the 
session of 1884. Under this act, the town 
authorities, iu May, 1<S84, appointed Anthony 
Reckless, John S. Applegate and William S. 
Sneden water conunissioners, to devise the best 
method of su]jplying the town with pure and 
wholesome water, and to have the works 
constructed by contract awarded to the lowest 
bidder. 

After much examination and discussion, it 
was decided to test the recommendations of 
Professor Cook, the State geologist, who was 
confident that an abundant supply of pure water 
existed under the Lower Marl Bed, which, in 
this locality, is from sixty to eighty feet below 
the surface. 

Three artesian wells were bored to the water- 
bearing sand, which was reached at a depth of 
nearly seventy feet, and the water rose in the 
pipes to within ten feet of the surface. After 
thoroughly testing the flow by steam-pumping, 
it was decided by the engineers employed by 
the commissioners (Messrs. Wilson Brothers, of 
Philadelphia) to sink an open well fifteen feet 
in diameter to a point within ten feet of the 
bottom of the marl stratum, which was thirty- 
five feet thick, and from thence to put down 



600 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



five cast-iron pipes of three feet diameter, reach- 
iny: tiirough tlie marl ami into the sand. This 
was accomplished with considerable difficulty, 
and a concrete floor put in around the top of 
the pipes, extending under the curb of the main 
well. 

A pulsometer capable of dischai-ging five 
hundred gallons per minute was kept constantly 
at work dui-ing the sinking of the well and the 
pipes. When the work was finished the water 
flowed up through the cast-iron pipes at the 
rate of two hundred and fifty thousand gallons 
in twenty-four hours. Its quality, as analyzed 
under Professor Cook's direction, is shown to be 
unexceptionable, very soft and pure, suitable for 
domestic purposes and steam boilers. 

A reservoir has been constructed on the hill 
near the eastern side of the town of a capacity 
of nine hundred thousand gallons, and about 
three miles of mains laid in the principal streets, 
connecting the well and the reservoir. The 
elevation of tiie latter is one hundred and ten 
feet above the general level of the town. 

The pumping apparatus at this writing 
(April, 1885) is not entirely completed, but is 
to consist of two duplex compound engines, of 
Worthington's make, acting vertically, the 
water-cylinders to be placed near the bottom of 
the well, so that the maximum flow can be 
secured. 

Some two miles of additional pipes are being 
laid this spring. The whole cost of the works, 
with the town thoroughly j)iped, will come con- 
siderably within the limit authorized by the 
Legislature, which was sixty thousand dollars. 
It is confidently believed that no town in the 
State will be supplied with more pure and 
wholesome water than these works will furnish 
to Red Bank. 

The Red Bank Gras-Light Company was or- 
ganized under an act of Legislature passe<l 
February 18, 1862. The corporators were 
James H. Peters, John W. Stout, S. T. Hen- 
drickson, Henry S. Little, John R. Bergen and 
Anthony Reckless. Nothing was done until 
1870. A supplement to the original act was 
pa.s.sed in February, 1869, authorizing the com- 
pany to lay pipes to Shrewsbury and Eatontown. 



Contract was made with James M. Ijawry, in 
1870, to build the works and lay mains, for the 
sum of twenty-five thousand dollars. The works 
were completed, and gas was first used in Red 
Bank in the tall of 1871. Asher S. Parker 
was president of the company and Anthony 
Reckless secretary. The company have at 
present about five miles of pipe laid. The 
present officers are John S. Applegate, presi- 
dent, and Henry S. Schroeder, secretary. 

The Forum Coxgeegatiox of Red Bask 
was a society of men who organized themselves 
into a debating society, and were incorpoiated 
June 27, 1835. They erected a building, thirty 
by forty feet, on the site of the Globe Hotel, 
which was called the Forum. At that time 
there was no church edifice in the place, and the 
Forum was used for all public gatherings, 
civil or religious. After the establishment of 
churches and societies the building was used for 
tither purposes. 

The Fiest Baptist Church of Shuewh- 
BUEY, at Red Bank, was constituted August 7, 
1844, the council being called by Sidney T. 
Smith, William McLane, .John M. Smith, 
Joseph Carhart, Sarah J. Smith, Mary A. Mc- 
Lane, Ann Mount, Catharine Allen, jMargaret 
Tiltou, Mary Wallace, Deborah and Charlotte 
Carhart, who lived at Red Bank. The call was 
for a council to meet at Red Bank, July 17, 
1844, and examine the merits of the re<[uest. 
The council met as requested, and after exami- 
nation decided to constitute those who requested 
into a regular Baptist Church, on August 7, 
1844. Upon the day appointed the council 
met and constituted the church with sixteen 
membere, ten of whom were from the First 
Baptist Church of !Middletown, five from the 
Second Baptist Church of ^liddletown and one 
from Tabernacle Baptist Church, New York 
City. On the 10th of August following, Joseph 
M. Smith and Sidney T. Smith were elected 
deacons ; on the 21st of the same month, Thomas 
S. Griffiths, one of the constituent members, was 
ordained as pastor. 

The church was incorporated July 1, 1845, 
and trustees elected March 8th. On the 8th 
of May following the trustees were author- 



< 



THE TOWN OF RED BANK. 



601 



k ized to select a lot on which to erect a house of 
worship. Ou December 13th it was resolved 
to build. The corner-stone was laid October 
15, 1846 ; the Rev. John Cowling, D.D., of Xew 
York, preached upon the occasion. The church 
was not finished until 1849, and was dedicated 
July 17th in that year. It is still in use, hav- 
ing been enlarged during the pastorate of the 
Rev. R. T. Middleditch. 

The Rev. Thomas S. Griffith resigned his 
pastorate in February, 1850. The Rev. Robert 
T. Middleditch began preaching August 3d in 
that year, and was called to be pastor Decem- 
ber 1, 1851. He remained in charge until July 
31, 1867, he having sent in his letter of resigna- 
tion April 14th previous. The Rev. C. W. 
Clark was called September 22, 1867, accepted 
October 20th, in the same year, and resigned 
October 30, 1870. The Rev. E. J. Foote suc- 
ceeded him February 26, 1871, and resigned in 
August, 1875. The Rev. Benjamin F. Leips- 
ner began preaching September 1, 1875^ and 
received a call to become their pastor October 
5th following. He resigned December 1, 1882, 
to take effect January 1, 1883. He was suc- 
ceeded by the present pastor, the Rev. J. M. 
Manning, who began his labors April 1st in 
that year. The church has a membership of 
three hundred and fifty-six. 

The Red Bank Methodist Episcopal 
Church was organized, in 1844, under the 
charge of the Rev. AA^illiam E. Perry. 

Local preachers from the Long Branch 
Church had, for many years, occasionally visited 
this section,' and, in 1802, John Bethel, a native 
of Rurason Neck, was admitted to a traveling 
connection, and labored in this vicinity till 1810, 
when he located at a distance. William Mills, 
George Wooley, Benjamin Abbott and many 
others preached at private houses in this locality 
(from 1803) many years. JNIrs. Sarah King, who 
left the neighborhood of what is now Red Bank 
in 1806, states that before that year much agi- 
tation had been made in reference to building a 
Methodist Church. Several locations had been 

'The Rev. I. D. King, during his pastorate from 1865 
to 1867, gathered facts in reference to Methodism in this 
section, from which the facts here given are obtained. 



discu.ssed; a lot belonging to Michael Hulett 
was surveyed and the cedars grubbed away; 
arrangements were made to build on the Scuffle- 
town road, which leads to Rumson. Stone for 
the foundation of a church was delivered on a 
tongue of land where the old road turned to go 
across the side of the hill lesiding to Rumson. 
Divided councils caused delay, years went by, 
and, in 1820, regular services began to be held 
at Rumson (now Little Silver), and, in 1822, a 
church was built there, and agitation ceased in 
this locality until 1844, when Rumson became 
a separate charge, and the Rev. William E. 
Perry, being on the charge, urged the Method- 
ists of Red Bank to organize a church, which 
was done, as before mentioned. 

Trastees were elected, September 8, 1845, as 
follows: Joseph W. Borden, Amos Tilton and 
Jeremiah Borden. The certificate of incorpo- 
ration was filed October 1st following A lot 
was purchased on Broad Street, north of the 
First National Bank. The corner-stone of a 
house of worship was laid October 8, 1845, the 
Rev. James Ayres, of New Brunswick, offici- 
ating. The building was completed the next 
year, and dedicated August 15, 1846. The 
church was used without change until 1866, 
when the old building was moved to the rear, 
made into a lecture-room and opened for service 
May 1, 1867. 

A new and commodious edifice was begun in 
June, 1867. The church was completed and 
dedicated by Bishop Simpson, November 28th 
in the .same year. The edifice cost fifteen tliou- 
sand dollars, and was used until destroyed by 
fire, November 5, 1882. The society then pur- 
chased the present lot, at the corner of Main 
and Monmouth Streets, and laid the corner- 
stone of the present church August 1, 1883. 
It is of brick, seventy-five by one hundred feet 
in size, with an audience-room sixty feet .square, 
and cost nineteen thousand five hundi'ed dollars. 
It was dedicated March il, 1884. Among the 
pastors since the organization have been Revs. 
R. S. Harris, John Scarlett, A. Ballard, George 
Hitchius, J. Lewis, I. D. King, R. A. Chalker, 
Charles E. Hill, S. E. Post, J. Stiles, C. W. 
Heisley, W. M. White and Henry Belting, who 
is the present pastor. 



602 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Grace Methodist Episcopal Church 
was organized May 31, 1880, with forty-five 
members. A lot was purchased on Broad 
Street, and a church edifice, thirty-two by fifty- 
six feet in size, was erected, and detlicated !May 
8, 1881- The pastors have been the Revs. J. 
D Norton, W. Wytlie and J. R. INIace. 

The Trinity Episcopal, Church of Red 
Bank originated in the establishment here of a 
mission from C'hrist Church of Shrewsbury, in 
1851, at wliicli time a small chapel was built, 
which, having been enlarged and improved at 
different times, is .still used. 

The parish was organized as Trinity parish 
of Red Bank, in January, 1859. The fir.st 
rector was the Rev. W. N. Dunuell, who served 
until 1871, preaching his farewell sermon Octo- 
ber 22d, in that year. He was succeeded by 
the Rev. A. Sydney Dealey, who closed his rec- 
torship in Deceml)er, 1875. The Rev. S. F. 
Hotchkin began his rectorship February 15, 
1876, and resigned in December, 1877. He was 
succeeded, in March, 1878, by the Rev. C. A. 
Tibbals, who continued until March, 1881. The 
Rev. J. Cxibson Gantt served as a supply a short 
time, and on the 18tli of April, 1882, the pres- 
ent rector, the Rev. Joseph F. Jowitt, assumed 
the rectorship. The church has one hundi'ed 
and twenty-five communicants and one hundred 
and thirty-nine families. 

The Presbyterian Church op Rep Bank 
was organized by the Presbytery of New Bruns- 
wick in June, 1852, being constituted of 
twenty-seven members, all from Shrewsbury 
Church. Mr. F. Reck Harbaugh, a licentiate 
of the Presbj'tery of New Brunswick, was or- 
dained and installed pastor October 23, 1853, 
and resigned October 23, 1854. He has been 
followed by William Scribner, February 7, 
1855, to Fei)ruary 2, 1858; D. Dubois Sahler, 
July 20, 1858, to July 23,1863; Daniel V. 
McLean, D.D., March 9, 1864, to November 
23, 1869; John R. Hamilton, June 7, 1870, to 
October 2, 1873 ; F. Reck Harbaugh, the pres- 
ent pastor, May 18,1874. 

The corner-stone of a church edifice was laid 
June 12, 1855. The church was completed the 



following year, and dedicated August 13, 1856. 
It has since been repaired and remodeled. 

The St. James Roman Catholic Parish 
at Red Bank was organized by Rev. James Col- 
Ian, who, in 1854, erected a church, twenty-nine 
by seventy-two feet, on the present site at the 
corner of Pearl and Wall Streets. It was re- 
modeled in 1873 l)y Father J. F. Saloan, and 
St. James' Hall, adjoining the church, was liuilt 
in 1879. It is of brick, thirty-five by eighty 
feet in size, and two stories in heiglit, the 
upper room being used for a hall and the lo^ye^ 
for a parish school. The <-ongregation numbers 
one thousand souls. The Rev. John Kelly suc- 
ceeded Father Collan, and served this church 
and St. Josepii, at Keyport, from 1S54 to 1862. 
Thomas M. Killeen became pastor in April, 
1863, and served until 1867. Under his pas- 
torate the present parsonage was built. He was 
succeeded by the Rev. J. T. Saloau, who re- 
mained until 1876, and on July 1st in that year 
the present pastor, the Rev. M. E. Kane, was 
appointed. Under him a debt of three thousand 
five hundred dollars was paid (one-half of which 
was donated by Mrs. Ellen Dykers de Navarro), 
and St. James' Hall was also erected by him. 

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion 
Church, now of Red Bank, was organized 
many years ago at Fair Haven, where a church 
was erected and used until it was burned, when 
the society erected the present church, which 
was dedicated December 25, 1873. 

Red Bank School District, No. 75, con- 
tains two school-houses and has within its limits 
eight hundred and sixty-three children of .school 
age. The first school taught in this locality 
was kept In- George Morford, in 1816, in a 
little school-house east of J. Traiford Allen's 
lumber-yard, and in which house he lived. 
About 1830, Esck Wliite donated a lot of 
ground now on Mechanic Street, and which is 
the present school-lot. On this lot a school- 
house was built and used until 1S70. It was 
sometimes called the Academy. John D. Den- 
nison kept there many years. About 1848, 
Miss Hartshorne kept a private school, and was 
succeeded by Miss Hatfield. 



THE TOWN OF RED BANK. 



603 



As the town increased in po])ulation the de- 
mand for school accoraoiodations also increased, 
and on June 6, 1800, a meeting of the citizens 
was held to decide on the building a new school- 
house. Nothing was done to accomplish the 
work at this time, and several years passed be- 
fore the subject was again agitated. In the 
winter of 1806-67 a number of citizens, desir- 
ous of having better facilities for education, 
presented a bill to the Legislature for the incor- 
poration of an academy. The bill was passed 
March 14, 1867. The institution was styled 
" Orient Academy." The corpoi'ators were 
Anthony Reckless, James H. Peters, Asher S. 
Parker, Thomas Morford, Joseph C. Fisher, 
John S. Applegate, Francis Chadwick, John E. 
Bergen, John W. Parker, Rev. I). V. McLean, 
D.D., and the Rev. Robert T. Middleditch, 
D.D. Nothing was accomplished by this cor- 
poration except an organization. On the 2d of 
June, 1868, a meeting of citizens was again 
held, and it was resolved to build a school-house 
at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. This 
project also failed. In the year 1869 there 
were four schools kept in the town, — two in the 
old building on Mechanic Street and two in a 
rented house on the south side of Front Street. 

In March, 1870, Red Bank became an in- 
corporated town, and was embi-aced in one 
school district. The agitation at this time was 
strong for a new and more commodious school- 
house. It was not, however, until September 
in that year that a resolution was passed to 
build a new school-house, and at the meeting 
then held, ten thousand dollars was voted for 
the purpose. A contract was made with Spin- 
ning & Reilley for the erection of a brick 
building, fifty feet square, on the old lot on 
Mechanic Street, The building was com- 
pleted the next year, and opened August 21, 
1871. During the following winter the 
scholars were all examined and graded, thus 
forming the first graded school of Monmouth 
County. This result was brought about mainly 
by the S])ecial exertion of Charles D. Warner, 
who had for many j-ears been a teacher and a 
member of a board of examiners in Massachu- 
setts. 

The average attendance of scholars at the 



time of opening the new school-house, in 1871, 
was one hundred and seventy-t\^'0 ; the year 
following, the number reached an average with- 
in four of being double that number; and in 
1876 the average was about five hundred. The 
demand for greater accommodation required 
another school-house. A lot was purchased 
cm Oakland Street, and a brick building, about 
forty feet square and two stories in height, was 
erected in 1877, and was first used in the fol- 
lowing winter. 

The principals of the school from 1871 have 
been Albert Clark, 1871-72 ; William Hub- 
bard, 1872-73,- A.B.Guilford, 187:3-79; Rich- 
ard Case, 1879 to the present time. Charles 
D. Warner has been district clerk from the 
organization of the district, in 1871, to the pres- 
ent, except a short time. 

The New Jersey Standard, the oldest news- 
paper of Red Bank, was established in April, 
1852, by Henry Morford, now deceased, who 
commenced the publication of the paper at 
Matawan and soon after moved it to Keyport. 
Mr. Morford continued as pul)lisher and editor 
for some time, and being a man of unusual lit- 
erary attainments, made the Standard a perma- 
nent affair, though not very successful financially. 
Charles Conrow became proprietor after a while, 
and he in turn was succeeded by Rev. Robfert 
T. Middleditch and Anthony Reckless, who 
removed the paper to Red Bank, where the 
former was pastor of the Baptist Church. This 
was in 1860. Seven years afterward Mr. 
Reckless sold out to William J. ^V^ard, Mr. 
Middleditch continuing on the editorial staff 
of the paper. In July, 1867, Mr. Middle- 
ditch in turn disposed of his share to Jonathan 
R. lugling. These two gentlemen were asso- 
ciated together in business till March, 1874, 
when Mr. Ingling became the sole proprietor of 
the concern. Mr. Ingling continued as editor 
and proprietor for five years. During this 
period he was assisted in his editorial labors at 
different times by Henry Clay and William T. 
Cole. In October, 1879, Benjamin M. Harts- 
horne purchased the paper, and put his brother, 
Edward Hartshorue, a gentleman of rare 
knowledge and culture, in charg-e. Mr. Harts- 



604 



HISTORF OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



home occupied the editorial chair till April, 
1882, during which period Charles A. Dubois 
acted as assistant editor. At that time Mr. 
Hartshorne withdrew, and Mr. Dubois became 
editor and John S. Hendrickson business man- 
ager, the establishment still being owned by 
Benjamin M. Hartshorne. lu November, 

1882, the office and appurtenances were entirely 
consumed by fire, the books being all that was 
saved. A new outfit, upon which no money 
was spared, was procured, and publication con- 
tinued as usual, not a single issue being lost. In 
April, 1883, the entire concern was purchased 
by Conrad Pinches, the present jiroprietor and 
editor, who has the assistance of Roderic C. 
Penfield in his duties. The Standard office is 
located on Front Street, one of the two princi- 
pal thoroughfares of the town. It occupies an 
entire building twenty-five by seventy-five feet 
in size, owned by the proprietor. 

The Red Bank Begister was established by 
John n. Cook and Henry Clay in 1878, the 
first issue appearing June 27th. Mr. Clay i-e- 
tired in the fall of 1879, and it is still conducted 
by John H. Cook. It is Republican in poli- 
tics. The office is in the third story of the brick 
building corner of Broad and Front Streets. 

Of other papers that have been temporarily 
published in Re^l Bank were The Bed Bank 
Leader, first issued September 21, 1871, by 
Julian E. Ralph and Albert Abers. It con- 
tinued nine weeks. The Democrat was started 
in September, 1882, by Colonel Traflbrd. It 
ran one year and one week. In November, 

1883, Charles A. Dubois, foreman of the Stand- 
ard, started The Independent. It continued 
until September 1 9, 1 884, when it was purchased 
by John L. Wheeler and issued as a Democratic 
campaign paper. 

The First National Baxk of Red Bank 

was authorized May 30, 1 864, with a capital 
of fifty thousand dollars, which was increased to 
one hundred thousand dollars February 11, 
1865. The bank was organized by the election 
of officers April 4, 1864, at which time Asher 
S. Parker was elected president, and continued 
until .January 18, 1879, when .James H. Peters 
was chosen and served until January 14, 1882, 



when Asher S. Parker, the present president, 
was again elected. At a meeting of the direct- 
ors held June 28, 1864, Henry B. Crane was 
elected cashier and served until November, 1867. 
His successors have been Alvin Chadwick, No- 
vember 9, 1867 ; Horatio Ely, Jr., December 
23,1874; James L. Terhune, March 11,1882. 

The bank opened for business July 1, 1864, 
in the office of R. Allen, Jr., and continued 
there until the completion of a banking-office 
on the jjresent site, in November following, to 
which place the bank was then moved, and 
where it continued until the destruction of the 
building by the great fire of November ■'>, 1882. 
During the building of the present banking- 
office, business was transacted in the parlor of 
Mrs. Chad wick's house, two doors south. The 
present bank bu ilding is of brick, twenty by forty- 
five feet in size ; main office, twenty-three feet 
in height. It is elegantly finished in cherry and 
tiles and with marble floor. The building was 
completed at a cost of seventeen thousand dol- 
lars and was first occupied May 10, 1883.. 

Th e Sec'i )xd Natk )x ae Bank of R ed Bank 
began business July 1, 1875, with an authorized 
capital of seventy-five thousand dollars. The 
present bank building was erected in that year 
on Front Street, opposite the Globe Hotel. 
.John S. Applegate is president and Isaac B. 
Edwards cashier. 

N.WESiXK Lodge, No. 39, 1. 0. of O. F.. was 
chartered ilay 7, 1 846, witii .John Borden, Henry 
Conover, Seth Sturtevant, George D. Allaire 
and Mathias Conover as charter members. Meet- 
ings were held over a wheelwright-shop on the 
site of John Bergen's store. In 1848 they re- 
moved to rooms fitted for their purpose in a 
building that stood on the site of James H. Pe- 
ters' store, where the meetings were held for 
many years. In 1869 they removed to their 
present rooms in Sutton's building. The lodge 
has a membership of eighty. The present offi- 
cers are C. G. ^A'orthley, N. G. ; John Dye, V. 
G. ; Jos. W. Child, See'y. ; John Sutton, Treas. 

Neptune Encampment, No. 45, I. O. of O. 
F., was chartered November 15, 1870, and has 
at present thirty members. Their meetings are 
held in the hall of the Navesink Lodge, C. D. 
Worthley, C. P. 



THE TOWN OF RED BANK. 



605 



Mystic Bkotherhood No. 21, F. and A. 

M., was chartered January -t, 1852, as Navesink 
Lodge, Xo. 21, with Thomas E. Combs W. M.; 
John McBriar, Sen. W. ; John E. Norris, Jan. 
W. The name was changed to that of Mystic 
Brotherhood January 10, 1855. Meetings were 
held for several years at old Odd-Fellows' Hall, 
where James Peters' building now stands. 
Afterwards, for a time, they were held in the 
school-house on Mechanic Street, from which 
place they moved to Esek White's building, 
then to John Sutton's, in 1876 to Wild's build- 
ing, and April 1, 1885, it is jjroposed to move 
to Music Hall. The present officers are Edwin 
Field, W. M. ; George T. Hook, Sen. M. ; Ar- 
thur H. White, Jun. M.; M. A. Van Schoick, 
Treasurer ; .Tehu P. Cooper, Secretary. The 
society numbers seventy-one members. 

Hiram Chapter, No. 1, F. axd A.M., was 
instituted at Trenton, as Hu-am Chapter, No. 4, 
of the State of New Jersey. The number was 
probably changed to No. 1 by authority of the 
Grand Chapter, September 9, 1857. Authority 
was given to move to Eatontown, February 25, 
1856, and to Red Bank, January 1, 1881. It 
at present contains fifty-one members, with the 
following officers: William Cullington, H. P. ; 
George T. Hook, Scribe; William C. Park, 
King ; Edwin Field, Captain of the Host ; 
George B. Sneden, Principal Sojourner; William 
A. Cole, Royal Arch Captain ; Jehu P. Cooper, 
Secretary. 

Shrewsbury Lodge, No. 72, K of P ; was 
instituted March 1, 1884. It has now sixty- 
two members. The lodge meets at Odd-Fel- 
lows' Hall. Charles E. Wickliff is Chancellor 
Commander. 

.Arrowsmith Post, No. 61, G. A. R., was 
organized December 6, 1881, with twenty- 
three members. Their meetings were held in 
Odd-Fellows' Hall until August, 188:3, when 
they moved to rooms fitted up for them in 
Chikls' new block. The post now numbers one 
hundred and two members. Henry M. Nevius 
was elected commander upon its organization, 
and remained until elected commander of the 
Department of New Jersey. He was succeeded 
as commander of this post by Major Joseph 
T. Fields, in January, 1884. The officers for 



1885 are : Commander, George A. Bowne ; 
Senior Vice-Commander, William H. Foster ; 
Junior Vice-Commander, .John H. Heyer ; 
Chaplain, Richard Lawrence ; Quartermaster, 
John W. Chandler ; Surgeon, Charles Curtis ; 
Officer of the Day, William J. Sickles ; Officer 
of the Guard, Everett Miller ; Delegates, R. R. 
Mount, Henry C. Terhune. 

The Mutual Library Association of 
Red Bank was formed about 1880 by a few 
citizens, who gathered together about three hun- 
dred volumes of books, which were kept in 
Vandergrift's store, and were mostly burned in 
the fire of November, 1882. The organization 
was kept up, more books were procured, and in 
May, 1884, rooms were rented in Childs' 
building and opened as a library and i-eading- 
room. The association now has four hundred 
volumes. The tables in the reading-room are 
supplied with newspapers and periodicals. The 
officers are Mrs. T. D. Finch, president ; Mrs. 
Joseph Burrowes, secretary ; George Borden, 
librarian ; Mrs. W. T. Corlies, treasurer. 

The Shrewsbury Mutual Fire Insur- 
ance Company was incorporated by act of the 
Council and General Assembly of the State of 
New Jersey, passed February 27, 18.38, the 
office to be located in the township of Shrews- 
bury. The directors appointed were 



George A. Corlies. 
Gabriel West. 
John P. Corlies. 
Joseph E. White. 
Jacob Dennis. 
Edmund W. Allen. 



John P. Lewis. 
Edmund West. 
George A. White. 
Tunis Vanderveer. 
Thomas Thomas. 



The directore organized March 31, 1838, 
when Joseph E. White was elected president ; 
Gabriel AYest, vice-president ; and Edmund T. 
Williams, secretaiy ; Thomas Thomas, John P. 
Lewis and Edmund W. Allen a committee to 
draft by-laws and l)lank policies and present 
them to the next meeting for approval, etc., and 
also a seal. The directors met April 14th, and 
elected George A. Corlies treasurer. At a 
directors' meeting, .June 2d: "Resolved, as soon 
as applications shall have been made amount- 
ing to fifty thousand dollars, policies shall be 
issued on each and every approved application, 
and not before." 



t^ 



60« 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The company commenced issuing policies 
July 14, 18:38. At the annual meeting of the 
stockholders, the first Monday in January, 
1839, the company had issued policies to the 
amount of $110,890 ; amount of notes or 
bonds, $5930.10 ; received in cash, $355.81 ; 
amount paid for printing, etc., $73.38, — leaving 
a balance on hand of $282.43. 

At said first meeting of the stockholders the 
following-named persons were elected directors, 



Gabriel West. 
George A. Corlics. 
John P. Corlies. 
Heury W. Wolcott. 
Edmund T. Williams. 



Edmund W. Allen. 
Benj.amiu C. White 
Ethan A. Fay. 
Tunis Vanderveer. 
John P. Lewis. 
Joseph E. White. 

May 24, 1839, less than one year after com- 
mencing business or insuring. Dr. Smith 
Cutter's barn was burned. Insured for four 
hundred dollars, which was promptly paid. 

In 1853, being less than fifteen years from 
the time the company commenced, insuring and 
paying losses to the amount of four thousand 
three hundred and fifty dollars, they paid a 
dividend of one hundred cents to the dollar for 
all the money the stockholders had paid for in- 
surance, principal and interest. This was done 
to begin anew, that new stockholders should 
have no advantage over the old ones, as no 
bonds could be taxed as long as there was any 
cash in the treasury. 

In 1867 they made a dividend amounting to 
$7778.0(5; in 1871 to $8583.69; in 1876 to 
$12,145.04; and in 1881 to $9981.94,— making 
four dividends since 1853, amounting to 
$38,497.73 in twenty-eight years, and have 
paid losses to January 1, 1885, $69,728. Losses 
and dividends since 1853 amount to $808,225.73, 
and the company has cash on hand amotmting 
to over $20,000. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Isaac Penington White was born at 
Rumson, in the township of Shrewsbury, in 
the county of Monmouth and State of New 
Jersey, on April 7, 1804. His father, Esek 
White, his grandfather and his great-grand- 
father were all born and died in the township 



of Shrewsbury, — an example of an unusual love 
of locality. Isaac P. White's early advan- 
tages in an educational way were only such as 
the schools in his locality afforded at the early 
period of his boyhood. AVhile still a Ixiy he 
left home aud entered the general merchandise 
store of Corlies & Allen, at Shrewsbury town, 
in Shrewsbury township. After remaining a 
few years M'ith this firm, he went to Brooklyn, 
N. Y., and was there engaged in mercantile 
business for many years. About 1830 he re- 
moved to Red Bank, where, with Robert H. 
Woolley, he started the first lumber business iu 
the county of Monmouth. On November 2, 
1842, the subject of tliis sketch was married to 
Udaliue Simmons, at Phelps, then known as 
A^ienna, Ontario County, in the State of New 
York. Three children were born to them, — 
Henry S., a sketch of whose life appears else- 
where; Theodores., who died just as he had 
reached manhood; and James S., who died 
when about twelve years of age. ^Ir. White 
retired from active business about 1847. He 
was a director in a number of insurance com- 
panies, and in the Shrewsbury Mutual Fire 
Insuraui'c Company he was one of the manag- 
ing directors. After his retirement from busi- 
ness he was the administrator or executor of a 
numljcr of estates. 

In religion, Mr. White was a Friend, or, as 
more popularly called, a Quaker, as were also 
his parents. He, howt'ver, attended the Presby- 
terian Church, of which his wife was long a de- 
vout and consistent member. 

In politics, INIr. White was an ardent Whigdur- 
ing the life of that party, and until tlie time of the 
defeat of Henry Clay for the Presidency, after 
which he took no further interest in politics 
until the birth of the Republican party. Com- 
ing into being as the lineal descendent (so to 
speak) of the old Whig party, with human 
freedom as its corner-stone, and unalteraljly 
opposed to the wickedness of human slavery 
and its extension, Mr. White naturally acted 
with that party, and continued to the end of his 
life an active and earnest Republican. Though 
often urged to accept office, he never would 
permit himself to become a candidate for any 
political position. 




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THE TOWN OP RED BANK. 



607 



In 1873, Mr. White removed to Jersey City, 
where he contiuued to reside until his deatli, 
January 28, 1876. His remains were talven to 
Fairview Cemetery, near Red Banlv, and a 
handsome granite monument now marks the 
place where he lies buried, — almost within sight 
of the very spot where he aud his ancestors for 
one hundred and fifty years were born, and 
passed quiet, useful aud honorable lives. 



Francls Chadwk'K. — Taber Chad wick, the 
father of Francis, was born on the 7th of 
March, 1773, aud died on the 7th of October, 
1843. He married Deborah Longstreet, whose 
birth occurred July 25, 1787, and her death 
September 14, 1883. Their children were Fran- 
cis; born in 1805, who died in 1810; Richard, 
in 1807, who died in 1808; Jeremiah, in 1808, 
who died in 1818 ; Lydia, in 1810, who 
died in 1881 ; Francis (2d), born March 
18, 1813 ; Richard L., in 1816, who died in 
1836 ; Sarah Anu, in 1S18 ; Catharine, in 1819; 
Jeremiah, in 1822; Deborah, in 1824 ; Lucinda, 
1826, who died in 1884 ; and Angeliue, born in 
1829. The birth of Francis Chad wick occur- 
red at Red Bank, where his father was a repre- 
sentative attorney. Here he received such 
instruction as was obtainable at the common 
schools, and soon after engaged in active em- 
ployment as ca^Jtain of a schooner plying 
between Red Bank and New York. He was, 
on the 9th of September, 1835, married to 
Margaret A., daughter of Ca2>tain Joseph 
Parker, of Red Bank, aud had children, — 
Richard L., deceased ; Joseph P., of Red Bank ; 
Mary H. (Mrs. Henry Wood, of New York) ; 
Frank T., a practicing pbysican in Red Bank-; 
Alvin, of Red Bank; Margaret, deceased"; 
Deborah, deceased; and S. Matilda. Mr. 
Chadwiek, on his marriage, abandoned the 
career of a marinei', and, under the firm-name 
of Parker & Chadwiek, engaged in mercantile 
pursuits, subsequently extending his business 
by extensive transactions in lumber and coal. 
1 1 He was also largely aud profitably interested in 
f| shipping, running a line of vessels from Red 
Bank to New York. In all these ventures 
he was successful, his various commercial in- 
terests ranking among the most important in 



that portion of the county. He remained thus 
employed until a disastrous conflagration in- 
duced him to retire from active business and 
afforded an opportunity of selling advanta- 
geously. As a Republican, he was much inter- 
ested in the public movements of the day, and 
was a strong partisan, though not a party worker 
nor a candidate for official honors. He was for 
many years a member of the Presbyterian 
Church at Red Bank, and formerly active in 
the work of the Sabbath-school. As a leading 
and representative citizen his death, which 
occurred May 30, 1882, in his seventieth year, 
was much regretted. 



Charles Gordon Allen was born in Mid- 
dletown township, Monmouth County, N. J., 
ojiposite the town of Red Bank, on the 4th 
of August, 1800. His parents, James and Mary 
Gordon Allen, were residents of the same town- 
ship, their ancestors, who were of Scotch and 
English descent, having been among the earliest 
settlers of that part of the State, and identified 
with many of the stirring scenes of the Revolu- 
tion, which were related with thrilling interest 
by them. At the age of thirteen jNIr. Allen 
was sent to the city of New York, with a view 
of acquiring a knowledge of the manufacture of 
looking-glass frames, and having become thor- 
oughly familiar with the business, he pursued 
it successfully on his own account until 1826. 
On the 22d of May, 1823, he married Catha- 
rine Traft'ord, a native of Shrewsbury township, 
and of English desceut, whose ancestors were 
among the earliest settlers of that section of the 
country. Their children were ten in number, 
seven of whom survive him, — Margaret ; Mary ; 
Deborah C, wife of the Hon. John S. Apple- 
gate, a pi'omiuent lawyer and recently State 
Senator ; Robert, a leading lawyer and for a 
number of years prosecutor of the pleas of the 
county ; J. Traffbrd, actively engaged in busi- 
ness at Red Bank ; George K., a Baptist cler- 
gyman, resident in Jersey (Jity ; and James P., 
whose business interests are in New York City. 

During the year 1826, Mr. Allen embarked 
in the sale of dry-goods in Grand Street, New 
York City, and remained thus interested until 
his purchase, in 1829, of a considerable tract of 



608 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



land in Shrewsbury township, when, with his 
family, he removed to Newman Springs. Here 
his mercantile instincts led him to enter the dry- 
goods and grocery business, at the same time 
building several vessels, which plied to New 
York and other sea-port towns. In the year 
1841 he i-emoved to Red Bank, on the Nave- 
sink River, continuing his mercantile career, and 
at the same time building a wharf and erecting 
many new buildings in what is now deemed the 
business centre of the town. He was also in- 
strumental in establishing a new line of commu- 
nication between Red Bank and New York, 
other than the one then in use, by the steamers 
" Golden Gate " and " Ocean Wave," the build- 
ing of which he personally superintended, and 
which were run to a wharf in the upper part of 
the village, constructed by him for the purpose. 
He possessed an active and energetic mind, and 
ever manifested a lively interest in the growth 
and prosperity of the town, having latterly 
erected many buildings, including stores and 
dwellings. He was treasurer of the Agricul- 
tural and Furniture Company, near the railroad 
depots, and the owner of considerable real estate 
in town. One of the oldest and most represen- 
tative citizens of Red Bank, no other has con- 
tributed in a greater degree to its material ad- 
vancement. An Old -Line Whig in politics, 
on the extinction of that party he allied 
himself to the Republican party, and was until 
his death, which occurred March 31, 1885, a 
zealous supporter of its principles. 



Edmund Throckmorton, son of Joseph F. 
Throckmorton, was born in 1792, at Harts- 
horne's Mills, near Freehold, and in 1813 em- 
barked in mercantile ventures at Philadelphia, 
Pa., where he continued until 1820, when, 
retiring from active business pursuits, he 
removed to Red Bank, and devoted his time to 
agriculture until his death. He married 
Susannah, daughter of John MacLaren, of New 
York, to which union were born ten children, 
five of whom survive him. ]\Ir. Throckmorton 
was among the leading representative citizens of 
his day in the county, and actively identified 
with its social and business interests. His 
influence was also apparent in the development 



of Red Bank, every enterprise which tended to 
promote its advancement and further its growth 
as a commercial centre finding in him generous 
co-operation and material support. He was a 
no less influential factor in political than in 
business projects. Modest in demeanor and in- 
different to the honors conferred for party 
service, he was, nevertheless, one of the leading 
Henry Clay Whigs of his day. A strong 
partisan and zealous in defense of the principles 
of his party, he was frequently a delegate to 
county and state conventions, where his ju- 
dicious counsels won respectful attention. 
His ability as a financier, combined with the 
most scrupulous integrity, caused him fre- 
quently to be chosen for the offices of executor 
and trustee, which important trusts were filled 
with fidelity and wisdom. Mr. Throckmorton, 
though not a member, was an active supporter 
of the First Presbyterian Church of Shrews- 
bury, to which he gave with an ungrudging 
liberality. His death occurred in September, 
18(36, in his seventy-fifth year. 



Tylee W. Throckmokton, son of Edmund 
Throckmorton, was bom February 22, 1823, 
at Red Bank, and received his preliminary 
education at Bristol, Pa., after which his studies 
were continued at Shrewsbur)^ and, later, at 
Elizabeth. Having during this time made 
engineering a specialty, he engaged, on his re- 
turu, in farming, and found also many oppor- 
tunities for the exercise of his skill as an en- 
gineer. On the 26th of February, 1844, on 
attaining his majority, he married Anna Maria, 
daughter of Edward Smith, of JMoumouth 
County. Their children are Elizabeth De Hart 
(wife of James Marshall, of New York), Harriet 
(wife of Dr. James S. Conover, of Freehold) and 
Edward W. Mr. Throckmorton for many 
years combined his profession of surveying with 
the label's of a farmer, purchasing, in I860, a 
farm in Howell township, and the following 
year another in the immediate vicinity, mean- 
while continuing his residence at Rumson until 
his later removal to Red Bank. Having been 
during this time more or less engaged in real 
estate operations, he, in 1884, in connection with 
his son, established a real estate and insurance 




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ci^f2^-a^^^-^_^_jyf^_^ ^''''-^^^^r:^/2^^^<2-2^7'^^^-i^ 



THE TOWN OF KED BANK. 



609 



office, in which business they are still interested. 
Mr. Throckmorton lias, during his active busi- 
ness life, been identified with the interests of 
his native town, promoting in various ways its 
industries, and contributing both capital and 
influence to its important enterprises. He has 
been, as a Republican, a leading spirit in vai'ious 
lociil political movements, but has never accepted 
office other than those connected with the town- 
ship. He is a director of the Secoud National 
Bank of Red Bank. In his religious preferences 
Mr. Throckmorton adheres to the Presbyterian 
faith, and is a supporter of the church of that 
denomination at Shrewsbury. 



Joseph A. Throckmorton, the third son 
of Edmund Throckmorton, was born on the 
3d of July, 1827, in the dwelling at Red Bank 
which is his present home. He was educated 
at Elizabeth, N. J., and early deciding upon a 
mercantile career, in 1842 removed to Tennessee, 
where he engaged in the fur busiuess, returning 
in 1848 for a brief period to Red Bank, after 
which he, in 1849, joined the numerous throng 
of emigrants for the gold-fields of California. 
Here he engaged in mining operations, remain- 
ing until 1856, when, on resuming again his 
residence in Red Bank, he embarked in the lum- 
ber business, and now I'anks among the leading 
and successful capitalists of the place. He was, 
on the organization of the First National Bank 
of Red Bank, made one of its directors, and 
now fills the same office in connection with the 
Second National Bank. He is director of the 
Red Bank and Eatontown Turnpike Company, 
having formerly filled the same office in con- 
nection with the Leedsville and Red Bank 
Turnpike Company. He is also a director of 
the i\Iutual Fire Insurance Company of Shrews- 
bury. With a loyal affection for the place of 
his nativity, Mr. Throckmorton has entered 
heartily into nearly all the important schemes 
which have promoted its growth and affected 
its moral well-being. True to the traditions of his 
family, he early espoused the principles of the 
Old Line Whig party, and on the organiza- 
tion of the Republican party became a warm 
partisan in its cause. He has frequently served 
as delegate to state and county conventions, but 

39 



declines all proffers of office, preferring to be a 
worker in the ranks rather than a sharer in the 
honors that follow in the path of success. He 
is often sought for such positions as executor 
and guardian and for various other trusts in- 
volving much responsibility. Mr. Throckmor- 
ton's early religious teachings have caused him 
to adhere to the Presbyterian faith and to con- 
tribute generously to the support of that church. 



Colonel Edjitind T. Williams. — Edmund 
Williams, the grandfather of Colonel Williams, 
who was of Welsh extraction, resided at Colt's 
Neck, in Atlantic township, where he pursued 
the varied duties devolving upon a farmer, 
miller and merchant. He married Jliriam 
Tilton, of the same township, whose children were 
a son, Tylee, and daughters, — Margaret (Mrs. 
Joseph Throckmorton), Phebe (Mrs. Henr'y 
Burr), Elizabeth (Mrs. Joseph Allen), Ann 
(Mrs. Woodward), Mary (INIrs. Samuel W. 
Ten Brook) and Miriam (Mrs. Setli Lippin- 
cott). Tylee, the only sou, was born January 
30, 1768, at Colt's Neck, where he followed the 
life of an agriculturist. He married Elizabeth 
Hartshorne, on the 10th of January, 1792, and 
had children, — Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Par- 
ker, born in 1792 ; Edmund, in 1795 ; Miriam, 
wife of Benjamin Corlies, born in 1797; 
Hannah, wife of Joseph Woolley, in 1800 ; 
Phebe (Mrs. Jacob H. Corlies) in 1802 ; Ed- 
mund T., October 30, 1804 ; Esek Hartshorne, 
1807 ; Jane (Mrs. Robert Wardell) in 1810 
Mary, in 1812 ; Susannah, in 1814 ; and George 
in 1818, of whom four survive. The birth- 
place of Edmund T. was Colt's Neck, from 
which locality he, in 1807, removed to Shrews- 
bury ou land which constitutes his present 
home. He was educated at the Westtowa 
Boarding-School, Chester County, Pa., where 
he remained three years, and concluded his 
studies under John Gummere, at Burlington, 
N. J. He there combined the labor of a farmer 
with the profession of a surveyor. The death 
of his father having made a portion of the home- 
stead farm his own, he purchased the remainder, 
and has since that time been devoted to the 
business of an agriculturist, though his later 
years have been given merely to the superiu- 



610 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tendence of its varied interests. Colonel Wil- 
liams was, in 1836, married to Lucy, daughter 
of Captain William Carpender, of New York 
State. Aside from his farming occupations. 
Colonel Williams has led a life of much activity 
as a surveyor, been engaged in the settlement of 
many estates and fre(]^uently filled the office of 
executor and administrator. He has acted since 
1838, the year of incorporation, as secretary of 
the Shrewsbury Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
pany, and was formerly director of the Red 



George Hance is descended from German 
parentage, his grandfather having been Jolin 
Hance, who resided at Rumson Neck, in ]Mon- 
mouth County. By his marriage to a ]\Iiss 
Waples were born children, — Waples ; John ; 
Isajic ; Rachel, wife of Asher Corlies ; Eliza- 
beth, wife of George Woolley. John Hance, of 
this number, was born at Rumson Neck on the 
20th of August, 1762, and died August 13, 
1827. He married Ann, daughter of James 
Borden, whose birth occurred June 17, 1778, 







OPoC^^-^^^t^cy^^oC 



/^h<^<n^ 



Bank Steamboat Company and the Red Bank 
and Eatuutowu Turnpike Company. He 
is also a member of the ^Monmouth County 
Agricultural Society. Asa Whig, he, in 1837- 
38, rejjresented his district in the State Legis- 
lature, and has been the incumbent of various 
township offices. He has been active in the 
promotion of all religious and moral projects, 
and for years identified with Christ Protestant 
Episcopal Church of Shrewsbury, in which he 
is senior warden and an earnest worker. 



and her death May 28, 1856, in Monmouth 
County. The children of this marriage were 
Borden, born April 10, 1801 ; John H., April 
13, 1803 ; Asher, February 14, 1805 ; George, 
March 8, 1808; Margaret B., March 11, 1810 
(wife of William Hance); and Susan B., May 14, 
1812. The birth of George Hance occurred at 
Bingham Hill, on Rumson Neck, in Shrews- 
bury township, where the paid schools of the 
day afforded him advantages of education equal 
to those common in that earlv dav. His chosen 



UPPER FKEEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



611 



occupation was that of a farmer, the wisdom 
of which choice has been fully demonstrated 
in the exceptional success attending all his 
agricultural uudertukings. His father having 
died when his son, the subject of this sketch, 
was but sixteen years of age, together with his 
mutlier and brothers he cultivated the home 
farm for a series of years. He was, on the 
loth of February, 1838, married to Sarah, 
daughter of Benjamin and Sarah White, of tlie 
same township, their childi'en being John, born 
November 30, 1838 ; Georgianna, May 15, 
1840, wife of Dr. James H. Patterson ; Susan 
J., March 17, 1842, wife of Samuel H. Pat- 
tei-son; and Borden, born August 18, 1849 
(deceased). The grandfather of Mrs. Hance 
was George White, son of Thomas and Chris- 
tian White. He married Ann, daughter of 
John Lippincott. Their son, Benjamin White, 
father of Mrs. Hance, was born December 12, 
1755, and married to Sarah Decoue, of Burling- 
ton County, N. J. Mr. White, who was for 
fifty years postmaster of Shrewsbury, engaged 
diu-iug the period of the Revolution in mer- 
cantile pursuits, and served during that memor- 
able struggle, under General Putnam. George 
Hance was ambitious, however, to extend his 
business relations and become the possessor of 
more land than was embraced in the farm left 
by his father. He, therefore, after his mar- 
riage, purchased his present house in Shrews- 
bury, and has since made it his residence. A 
man of great industry, superior judgment and 
thorough knowledge of the business in which 
he is engaged, his projects have been both 
successful and profitable. To his original pur- 
chase he has added from time to time — indicat- 
ing always in the selection of his laud much 
wisdom and experience — until the total area is 
seven hundred and forty acres in the county, 
with one hundred and fourteen acres of out- 
lands. He gives much attention to the raising 
of stock, and was for years a well-knowu 
grower of peaches, as of other fruit, his ajjple 
orchards being a feature of the county, and the 
product of his cider- jiresses as well. Mr. 
Hance formerly identified himself with the 
leading enterprises of the county, includiug 
banks, steamboat companies, turnpikes, etc., in 



many of which companies he was a director, 
but has more recently resigned his connection 
with these and similar organizations. He has 
frequently been appointed by the courts, and 
accepted the position of commissioner in the 
division of property. He has affiliated in 
politics with either the Whig or Republican 
parties, but has never participated actively in 
political movements, either local or otherwise. 
Mr. Hance was educated in the faith of the 
Society of Friends, to which Mrs. Hance still 
adheres, though he is a willing supporter of the 
Presb}'terian Church. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 

The township of Upper Freehold is in the 
extreme southwestern part of Monmouth County, 
only one towuship of which adjoins it, viz. : the 
township of Millstone, which forms its boundary 
on the nortli and northeast. The other bound- 
aries of Upper Freehold are : On the southeast the 
county of Ocean, on the southwest the county 
of Burlington, and on the northwest the county 
of Mercer. The streams of the township all 
flow in a general northwesterly direction, their 
waters entering the Delaware River. The 
largest of these is Crosswicks Creek, which, with 
its trilnitary, I^ahaway Creek, flows across the 
southwest corner of the township. Doctor 
Creek flows through the central part, and unites 
with Indian Creek, which forms a part of the 
northwestern boundary against Mercer County, 
Assanpink Creek marks a part of the northern 
boundary of this township against that of Mill- 
stone. The Pemberton and Hightstown Rail- 
road traverses Upper Freehold from south to 
north. The population of the township by the 
United States census of 1880 was three thousand 
two hundred and thirty-six. 

The record of the original formation of Upper 
Freehold township cannot be fonud, and there- 
fore the precise date is not known. It is certain, 
however, that it was laid out prior to 1731, as 
an assessment roll of the township for that year 
is still in existence, showing that this was then 



612 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



one of the four townships of Monmouth County. 
The total vahiation of the county was £18,949 
7s. ; the total of U^jper Freehold being £3306 
10s. The tax which was assessed in that year 
for the building of a county jail was £236 17s. 
Sd., of which the quota of Upper Freehold was 
£41 6s. 7 id. The township collector was John 
Lawrence. 

In 1767 an act was passed "To divide the 
Town of Shrewsbury and annex parts thereof 
to the towns of Freehold and Upper Freehold." 
This act provides, first, for the laying out of the 
township of Dover (now in Ocean County) 
from a part of Shrewsbury, then proceeds to 
annex a certain part to Freehold, and finally 
to annex to Upper Freehold, " All that part 
of the town of Shrewsbury, beginning where 
Burlington Old Path crosseth the before men- 
tioned north branch of Tom's River, thence 
running south eighteen degrees east to the line 
of Dover aforesaid ; thence south fifty-six de- 
grees west, along said line of Dover to the before- 
mentioned line cidled Keith's line ; thence along 
the said line to the line of Upper Freehold; 
thence along the line of Upper Freehold to where 
it began, shall be, and is hereby divided off from 
the said town of Shrewsbury, and annexed unto 
the town of Upper Freehold, and forever here- 
after shall be accounted part thereof." 

In 1844 the area of Upper Freehold was re- 
duced by the passage of an act taking the 
northern part of its territory to form the new 
township of Millstone. The description of the 
territory thus severed from Upper Freehold is 
given in full in the history of Millstone town- 
ship. 

In 1849 an act was passed annexing to 
Plumstead a small part of Upper Freehold, 
within boundaries described as beginning "at 
the mouth of Lahaway, at its junction with 
Crosswicks Creek ; thence down the middle of 
said Crosswicks Creek to the Burlington County 
line; thence southwardly along the division 
line between the counties of Burlington and 
Monmouth to the northwest corner of the 
township of Plumsted, at Arneytown; thence 
along the middle of the Hornerstown road to 
the Crosswicks Creek ; thence down the middle 
of said creek to the place of beginning." 



When the county of Ocean was erected (by 
act of February 15, 1850), it was made to 
comprise the five townships of Stafford, Jack- 
son, Plumsted, Union and Dover, and the new 
township of Brick, erected by the act. After- 
wards it was discovered that a mistake had 
been made in the description of the boundary ; 
and to correct this, an act was passed, in the year 
1851, reciting that by the establishment of the 
Freehold antl Mount Holly road as a part of 
the county line between Monmouth and Ocean, 
in the erection of the latter county, a portion of 
Jackson township lying north of that road was 
left not included in any county, and declaring 
that "all that part of the township of Jackson 
lying north of the road leading from Freehold 
to ]\Iouut Holly is set oif and annexed to the 
township of Upper Freehold." Finally, in 
1869, an act was passed by the Legislature 
annexing " all that part of the township of 
Plumstead, in the county of Ocean, lying north 
of the middle of the Monmouth and Mount 
Holly road," to the townshijj of Upper Free- 
hold, and establishing the county boundary be- 
tween Ocean and jNIonmouth as it is at the 
present time. 

The following is a list (as neai'ly complete as 
it is practicable to make it) of chosen freehold- 
ers of Upper Freehold township from 1788 to 
the present time. The names of the free- 
holders in the county are found in the records, 
but they are not given by townships until about 
1800. The list obtained is as follows : 

1788. Peter Imley, Robert Montgomery. 

1789. Robert Montgomery. 
1790-97. James R. English. 
1791. John Imley. 

1795. Dr. William Imley. 
1798. William E. Imley. 
1801-18. Garret P. Wikoff. 
1801-1. Job Holms. 
1805-10. Caleb Ivins. 
1823. William Imley. 
1830-55. James S. Laurence. 
1839-46. Thomas Miller. 
1846-50. Edmund T. Hendrickson. 
1856-60. Bennington Gill. 
1861-62. Albert A. Taylor. 
1863-73. Collin B. Mairs. 
1874-76. William N. Bryan. 
1877-79. Charles S. Bullock. 
1880-84. Lewis F. Gordon. 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



613 



The names of the taxable inhabitants of Up- 
per Freehold one hundred and fifty-four years 
ao-o are ascertained from an assessment roll of the 
township (still in existence) dated April 1, 
17:31, and signed by John Lawrence,' then town- 
ship assessor. The document is headed " A Tax 
For raising Money By order of y° Justices & 
Freeholders, for Building A Cort house In y' 
County of Monmouth", — the court-house built 
in 1715 having been destroyed by fire in De- 
cember, 1727. The list referred to is as follows : 

NAME. ACRES. 

Aaron Robins 180 

U Benjamin Lawrence 950 

Benjamin Borden 275 

Cornelius Vanhorn 130 

Charles Macklain 

David Johnston 200 

David Parker 125 

David Barker 

Daniel Estell 

Elisha Lawrence 360 

Edward Hurley 100 

Elias Holman 100 

Ebenezer Saltar 320 

Elias Stillwell 25 

Gavin Watson 3 )0 

George Molat 250 

Guisbert Guisebertson . 100 

Henry Clother 1 

Henry Everingbam 80 

' Isaac Stelle, Esq 150 

John Lawrence, Sen 300 

John Stillwell 145 

Joseph Cox 3S0 

Joseph Holraan 200 

Jacob Miller 160 

John Vaughn 260 

John Guibertson 150 

John Williams 100 

Joseph Cheeseman 150 

Jonathan Robins 100 

John Cox 157 

James Cox 275 

James Cox, Jr 300 

John Cox, Jr 100 

James Lowry 318 

John Coward 430 

John King 450 

Joseph Woodward 250 

Joseph Keney 250 



iJohn Lawrence, who was the township assessor of Up- 
per Freehold for many years, was the surveyor-general 
who, in 174 5, ran the line, since known as the " Lawrence 
Line," between the provinces of East and West Jersey. 



NAME. ACRES 

Joseph Mysis 100 

John Rumtbrd 100 

Jacob Robins 250 

Jonah Steward 290 

John Brown 300 

John Dennis 240 

James Pillyon 200 

Thomas Williams 300 

Umphrey Wall 100 

William Andrews 200 

William Montgomery 250 

William Hughs 2.50 

AVilliam Norton 200 

William Saxton 200 

William Colwell 200 

William Woodward 130 

William Imlay 50 

William Cannon 106 

William AVilkins 300 ' 

William Wilkins, Jr lOO' 

William B 150 

William Lininiing 130 

William Evillman 150 

William Devoll 

Widow Cox 

Widow Woodward 15 

Widow Lawrence 300 

Widow Borden 118 

Zebulon Clayton 2.50 

Zachariah Robins 100 

James Tapscott 100 

Isaac Van Cleef 225 

Jacob Morris 225 

Joseph Cannon 190 

John Imlay 200 

Joseph Aplin 120 

John Fowler 124 

John Cox 180 

John Limming 270 

Joseph Kelley 200 

Joseph Holmes 150 

James Silver 410 

John Nation 20 

.Toseph Sergant 100 

John Ashton, Esq "60 

Joseph Ashton 400 

.Jacob Lair 120 

John Lawrence 360 

Moses Robins, Jr 200 

Marmaduke Horsman 150 

Nicholas Stevens 700 

Nathaniel Robins 120 

Nathan Allen, Esq 150 

Nicholas Hill 100 

Neal Currey 150 

Nehemiah Cogall 200 

Obadiah Jeroton 

Obadiah Wilkins 



614 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



NAME. ACRES. 

Peter Van Tilbert 12 

Philip Truax 25 

Peter Brower 

Richard Salter 300 

Richard Mount 400 

Robert Curvat 18 

Robert Holmes 125 

Robert Montgomery 500 

Robert Imlay 200 

Robert English 46 

V, Robert Lawrence 375 

Richard Compton 100 

Richard Horsfield 250 

Richard Compton, Jr 50 

Samuel Rogers 50 

Safety Borden 170 

Samuel Robins 

Samuel Horseman 

Samuel Wellgoose 

Thomas Cox, Jr 175 

Thomas Kimsey 

Thomas Parker 125 

Thomas Richards 200 

Thomas Cox, son of James 120 

Tliomas Jones 340 

Thomas Woodward 400 

Thomas Doughty 170 

Thomas Everingham 100 

Thomas Duglas 100 

Thomas Hawkins 50 

Thomas Smyth 240 

" Following is a List of all the Taxables in 
the Township of Upper Freehold, in the 
County of Monmouth, in the province of New 
Jersey, with the number of acres assessed to 
each, made in the month of October, 1758 :" 

NAMES. ACBES. 

Austey, William 50 

Allen, Anna (widow) 10 

Anderson, John 2 

Andrews, John J 

Anderson, Abram 17 

Anderson, Matthias 10 

Ashton, John 200 

Allen, Samuel 160 

Arney, Joseph 

Anderson, Elias 

Atler, Adam 

Blakely, John 

Beaks, William 190 

Beaks, David 

Barcaloo, William 245 

Battinghouse, John 

Beers, Benjamin 

Britton, Abram 200 

Britton, Richard 150 



NAME. ACBE8. 

Balling, Joseph 150 

Bruce, John 8 

Brewer, Peter 80 

Baird, David 130 

Bacon, Jeremiah 

Bacon, Nathaniel 

Bowman, Nathaniel 

Beakes, Edmund 

Burtree, Richard 290 

Bradshaw, John 

Brown, Clayton 

Bower, Wiliiam 200 

Copothite, Hannah 200 

Coward, Joseph 315 

Cook, George 30 

Cowenhoven, Peter, Jr 200 

Cox, John, Sr 200 

Cowenhoven, Benjamin 300 

Cox, John (Lands End) 500 

Coward, John 1200 

Coward, John, Jr 415 

Clap, John 

Cunningham, Thomas 

Cox, Thomas 600 

Cox, Thomas, Jr 

Cox, John (son of John) 222 

Cook, Abiall, Jr 58 

Cook, Nathaniel 130 

Cox, Thomas Cooper 4 

Combs, John 60 

Cox, Mary (widow) 170 

Cole, George (schoolmaster) 

Clap, George 

Cox, Joseph 150 

Cox, Nathaniel 29 

Cheeseman, Joseph 170 

Caller, Jacob 2 

Cook, Abiall 97 

Clark, Daniel 300 

Churney, John 

Conover, Peter 192 

Clayland, James 

Campbell, Nathaniel 

Camott, Robert 4 

Dewitt, Luke 172 

Dewitt, Peter 60 

Dunn, Nicholas 1 

Devonport, Samuel 1 

Donford, Samuel 250 

Dole, Daniel 

Debaws, Lawrence 131 

Delay, Daniel 

Dunderfield, William 

Eastman, William 150 

Eastman, John 330 

Emlay, William 117 

English, Robert 

English, Robert. Jr 110 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



615 



NAME. ACttES. 

English, David HO 

Everingham, William 100 

Ebylon, Peter 

Eley, Jolin 500 

Everingham, Joseph 15 

Eastwood, Abraham 150 

Forman, Samuel 200 

Fisher, Henry 

Fowler, Benjamin 189 

Forman, Sarah (widow James Throck- 
morton) 195 

Forman, Elizabeth (widow) 200 

Finnes, John 8 

Fox, Thomas 8 

Fenton, John 6 

Far, Thomas 25 

Flint, Samuel (Indian) 

Gibbons, Jonathan 

Gregory, Benjamin 

Gregory, Benoni 

Groom, Thomas 200 

Gaston, John (grist-mill and Culling- 

mill) 645 

Gibberson, Guisbert 300 

Grover, Joseph 420 

Gibberson, John 10 

Gordon, James 

Grady, Daniel 

Gordon, David 15 

Herbert, John 330 

Herbert, Thomas, Jr 

Herbert, Obadiah 

Herbert, Richard 

Henderson, William 180 

Henderson, Guisbert (50 

Hurley, Edward 33 

Horner, Benjamin, Sr 

Horner, Content 

Hopkins, Joseph 150 

Humphrey, Joseph 16 

Hull, Rague 

Holmes, Joseph 945 

Holmes, James, Esq 700 

Harrison, John & Thomas 309 

Horner, Joshua (grist-mill and saw- 
mill) 150 

Hutchinson, Robert 500 

Holman, Robert 250 

Holman, Aaron 80 

Huggins, John 7 

Horsfteld, John 680 

Horn, Frederick 

Horn, Nathaniel 

Hartuer, John 

Hews, William 

Horner, Benjamin, Jr 15 

Harmion, Christian 

Hutchinson, William 150 



SAME. ACEES. 

Hillson, John 

Imlay, Alice (widow) 

Johnston, David 

James, Richard 200 

Imlay, Peter 380 

Imley, Peter (grist-mill) 175 

Jackson, Amor 250 

Imley, William 150 

Jackson, James 217 

Jackson, Mary (widow) 

Jarvis, Francis 40 

Johnston, Amos 103 

Johnston, John 

Jobs, John 10 

Kelly, Joseph 200 

Kernan, William 

Kelly, Michael '. 

Lawrence, John (chair) 360 

Lippincott, David 200 

Lippincott, David, Jr 

Lawrence, James 460 

Lawrence, Elisha (chaise) 365 

Lawrence, Robert, Esq 796 

Leonard, John 330 

Lawrence, Joseph 360 

Lawrie, William 490 

Lawrie, Thomas (merchant and chair) . 300 

Longstreet, Stoffel (two grist-mills) . . 238 

Limming, John, Jr 115 

Limming, Thomas 100 

Limming, Daniel 100 

Limming, Dinah 115 

Limming, William 100 

Lawrence, William 

Limming, Diwilde 75 

Lawrence, Mary 300 

Lippincott, Obadiah 

Luke, William 

Limming, John (son of William) ... 60 

Lloyd, Richard 125 

Langley, David 50 

Lawrence, Benjamin 

Merry, John 

McGallard, Andrew 10 

McDonald, Michael 

More, Peter 

Mingan, Joseph 

Montgomery, Robert, Jr 

Mairs, Christopher 2 

More, John 30 

Mount, Michael 200 

Mount, Thomas 198 

Mount, Ezekiel 

Montgomery, James 270 

Morris, Jacob 3 

Montgomerie, William 250 

Montgomerie, Robert, Esq 850 

McXight, Charles, Rev 200 



616 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



NAME. ACRES. 

Mull, Michael 

Middleton, Amos 183 

McConnelly, Neal 

Moms, Clu-istopher 50 

Mount, Richard (590 

Manneriug, Patrick 11 

Meghee, James 9 

McColm, Hugh 270 

Montgomerie, James, Jr 

Mitchell, Alexander 

Miller, Thomas 115 

Newell, James D. (chair) 3 

Parent, John 

Parker, William 

Polhemius, John (grist-mill) 9 

Polhemius, Tobias 200 

\/Peircej Andrew 

Price, Isaac (fulling-mill) 2 

Page, Joseph 

Parent, Thomas 

Parent, William 

Patrie, Hendrick 

Phelps, Ezekiel 

Patrick, Negro 

Robins, Richard 330 

Radford, William 

Rogers, William 

Robins, Elizabeth (widow) 50 

Robins, Moses 53 

Robins, Samuel 180 

Robins, Ephraim • . 11 

Robins, Daniel A. (town) 3* 

Robins, Daniel 300 

Roe, John 

Rogers, Isaac (merchant and chair) . . 60 

Robins, John 19 

Robins, Joseph (small still) -400 

Robins, Thomas 

Robins, Moses, Jr 100 

Robins, Jacob 100 

Robins, Joseph, Jr 

Read, John and Richard 275 

Randall, Daniel 

Randall, James 

Read, John 107 

Robbs, Thomas 

Shattig, Christopher 

Smith, Thomas 250 

Smith, John 

Saxton, James 200 

Saxton, Peter 104 

Saxton, Daniel 203 

Starkey, David 50 

Stewart, Robert 120 

Smith, Jacob 

Still, Jacob } 

Stillwell, William 9 

Stinyond, Joseph 340 



NAME. ACRES. 

Stevens, John 700 

Stewart, Alexander 

Stillwell, Richard 

Stall, Benjamin 100 

Swen, John 

Smith, Joseph 3 

Samson, John 

Story, Thomas 

Sullivan, Dennis 

Smith, Corbert 30 

Saxton, Charles 236 

Sepp, a negro 

Tive, Thomas 

Tilton, Abraham 50 

Thomas, Jonathan (two grist-mills and a 

fulling-mill) 173 

Tule, David 

Tapscott, William 410 

Taylor, Joseph 170 

Taylor, Hannah (widow) 200 

Taylor, Thomas 330 

Trout, John 130 

Tiflert, Robert 150 

Vance, Patrick 

Vorhes, John 144 

— Vaughn, David 

Vaughn, Rachel (widow) 200 

—^aughu, Joseph 30 

Vaughn, William 365 

Vanhorn, Matthias (grist-mill) .... 160 

Williams, Daniel * 

White, Samuel 384 

W^ortman, John 

Warrick, John 66 

Wright, Joseph IJ 

Woodward, Thomas, Esq 500 

Woodward, William 470 

Woodward, Joseph 200 

Woodward, John 

Woodward, Jesse 

Wetheral, John 250 

Wild, Robert 40 

West, John 

AVilgus, John 

Wilgus, Samuel 

Watson, Gawn 300 

AVatson, Peter 550 

AVoodward, Joseph, Jr 300 

Wall, Humphrey 105 

Welsh, William (schoolmaster) .... 

Wilkey, William 

Yard, William H 

"For the year of our Lord 1758. The Assessment 
as made by John Lawrence, Assessor. 

"N. B. — We have no Water Craft, nor furnaces, 
nor forges, nor Bloomeries, nor glass-houses, nor Stills 
that still Molasses, nor ferries, nor Brew-houses, nor 



UPPEK FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



617 



Coaches, Chariots, nor Chaises & 4-wheels in upper 
ffreehold." 

The number of acres assessed in the township in 
1758 was 38,9545, of which tlie assessed valuation was 
^11,501 10s. Tax raised, £391 14s. 

]\Iiich of the territoiT of Upper Freehold 
was taken up and patented in large tracts. One 
of these tracts (four thousand acres) was held 
by Robert Burnet, one of the proprietors. In 
1706 he sold to Nathan Allen, his son-in law, 
five hundred and twenty acres, starting where 
the Cafferty j\Iill now stands, at Alleutown, and 
running down the stream to the land then held 
by John Chambers. In the same year he sold 
to William Montgomery, another son-in-law, 
five hundred acres, beginning on Doctor's (Jreek, 
near the post road, and thence to tlie line of 
Negro Run. This tract was soon after enlarged 
and named Eglinton. It has remained in the 
family for six generations. Mrs. Bennington Gill, 
of the fifth generation, now resides on the old 
homestead. 

On the 24th of May, 1690, John Baker pat- 
ented two thousand one hundred acres of land 
intended to be called the"Manor of Buckhole." 
This tract was bounded on the west by the 
foiu' thousand acre tract of Robert Burnett (near 
the line of the Pemberton and Hightstown Rail- 
road), north by Cat Tail Brook, south of Doc- 
tor's Creek ," to the Middletown Men's Lots." 
John Baker died some time before 1700, and 
the tract passed to George Wil locks and soon 
after to Richard Salter, who built the mills at 
Imlaystown before 1700. A portion of this 
tract was sold, in 1727, by Richard Salter, Jr., 
to Peter Salter, Jr., it being the " mill tract." 
Another portion was sold about 1717, to Elisha 
Lawrence, who settled there. The family of 
Lawrence figured largely in this county for 
many years. Elisha Lawrence was the son of 
William Lawrence, who, in 1668 was one of the 
proprietors of the ^Middletown lots. He was 
town clerk of jMiddletown. His name occurs 
frequently in the records of that township. He 
was one of the ^lanasquan conijiany who located 
lots on the coast from Wreck Pond to Barnegat 
Bay, iu 1685. He also owned land at 
Wakake, adjoining Richard Hartshorne. He 
died in 1702 and left sons — William, Joseph, 



Elisha, John, James and Benjamin — and several 
daughters. The j^roperty on Wakake Creek and 
vicinity was sold or given to Elisha who in Novem- 
ber, 1717, .sold two hundred and eighty acres to 
Thomas Kearney and moved to Upper Freehold, 
where he purchased the property mentioned. 
A part of this tract he named Chestnut Grove, 
now owned by Harrison Hendrickson. He 
died in 1724, aged fifty-eight years. He rep- 
resented the county in the Provincial Assem- 
bly iu 1708-9. He married Lucy Stout, of 
Shrewsbury, and had several children, of whom 
John Lawrence, who ran the East and West 
Jersey line in 1743, was one. He resided on 
part of the tract of his father, which wa.s called 
INIulberry Hill, now owned by George J. Hen- 
drickson. His son John was a physician ; the 
same Dr. John Lawrence whose house was pro- 
tected in the Revolution by the British, at the 
request of Richard Wain, at who.se house the 
officers were stopping. He was born in 1747, 
graduated at Princeton College and studied 
medicine at Philadelj)hia Medical College, and 
became eminent as a physician in Upper Free- 
hold. He was a Tory and joined the British. 
His property was confiscated, but he lived and 
practiced in the county unmolested after the war, 
and died at Trenton April 29, 1830. His 
brother, Elisha Lawrence, was sheriff of ]\Ion- 
mouth County during; the Revolution. His 
son, John Brown Lawrence, was the father of 
Commodore Lawrence, of the United States 
navy, and grandfather of Commodore Bogga, 
who, in the "Varuna," passed the forts below 
New Orleans during the late Rebellion. Of 
the brothers of Elisha, William settled in Mid- 
dletown; John, James and Joseph bought the 
" Squan Lots," on Manasquan River, and settled 
there. Of Benjamin no account is obtained. 
The tract of land of two thou.sand five hundred 
acres, bounded by the Keith line on the west, 
and on all other sides by Crosswicks Creek, 
was patented by William Dockwra, February 2, 
1698, and was, later, sold to Anthony Wood- 
ward for three hundred and eighty pounds. 

Robert West, of London, patented fifteen 
hundred acres south of Burlington Path and 
east of Crosswicks Creek, January 22, 1689. 
John Smith, of JMiddletown, patented a tract 



618 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



between Kobert West and John Throckmorton. 
Peter Sonmans patented fifteen liundred acres 
lying east of Crosswicks Creek and north of 
Burlington Path. 

Between the years 1688 and 1695 a strip of 
land reaching nearly across the county was taken 
by men from Middletown, and is known as 
" Middletown Men's I>ots." It reaches from the 
fifteen hundred acre tract of Peter Sonmans, 
along the northwest side of Burlington Path, to 
the Pines, and was divided as follows : Joseph 
Throckmorton, four hundred and eighty acres ; 
James Bowne, four hundred and eighty acres ; 
James Ashton, four hundred and eighty acres ; 
Philip Smith, four hundred and eighty acres ; 
John Stout, three hundred acres ; Benjamin Bor- 
den, two hundred and forty acres ; Job Throck- 
morton, two hundred and seventy-four acres. 
The tract below the path contained four hun- 
dred and eighty acres, and belonged to Joiin 
Throckmorton. It extended southerly to Lah- 
away Creek. 

The Lahaway Creek furnished several good 
mill-sites, at what is now AValnford and the 
Wain Mills. A tract of land, partly of the 
Dockwra tract and part of the Peter Sonmans, 
was purchased and a grist-mill erected. In 1 760 
it was in possession of Abram Brown, who, on 
the otli of October, 1772, conveyed it to Rich- 
ard Wain, who had loaned money upon the 
property. He was a descendant of Nicholas 
Wain, who came over with William Penn, and 
a brother of Nicholas Wain, of Philadelphia. 
He moved to the place, and during the Revolu- 
tion built the present large and commodious 
mansion-house, which is still in as good condi- 
tion as when the British officers were entertained 
within its walls. Before 1800, jNIr. Wain sent 
flour from this mill to Philadelphia, in scows, 
down Crosswicks Creek. A bridge now spans 
the stream within a stone's throw of the mill, 
the site of which is historic. It is near the 
" Province Line " and near the " Burlington 
Path." With reference to this bridge, there 
was published, some years since, an article from 
which the following is extracted : 

" A body of the American forces, in retreat, 
probably from Bordentown, destroyed the old 
bridge. The English troops were in hot pur- 



suit, and the object was to discommode and im- 
pede their advance. The enemy with great ce- 
lerity threw over a bridge a little distance up 
the stream, just above the head of the dam. 
Said an old lady of the Walu family, detailing 
to her household what her own eyes had seen : 
' I never saw the like. The soldiers cut down 
big trees, trimmed them, and then brought each 
tree on portei-s [i.e., short sticks, passed under). 
There was a long row of soldiers on each side 
of a tree ; they carried it along as if the tree 
weighed nothing. And some went back for 
another. There were so many men, that as fast 
as one tree was brought another came close be- 
hind it, and so the bridge went up, and the 
troops crossed over.' The officer in command 
went to the house, where dinner was just ready. 
Its chief dish was souse. The officer sat down, 
his guards standing near, while the fiimily re- 
frained from eating, but gave attention to the 
officer's wants. He ate heartily, and at the close 
of the meal a large pile of bones lay by his 
plate. Seeming ashamed, as if he had over- 
eaten, he swept them to the door, and withdrew. 
There was a sort of refinement in the officer's 
conduct, as though he would like to acknowl- 
edge the attention he had received. The body 
marched on, and not the least annoyance was al- 
lowed." The officerreferred toby thelady, is suji- 
posed to have been General Knyphausen, and the 
occasion, the advance of the British army to 
Monmouth Court-House, in June, 1 778. 

Richard Wain favored the British cause and 
his property was protected. One of the officers 
while here lost his spur, which was found a few 
years ago by a workman while digging near the 
stream. Nicholas Wain, one of the older sons, 
took charge of the mill about 1795, and con- 
tinued it till his death, in April, 1848. His 
father died in 1809. In the division of the 
property, the mill was apportioned to Sarah 
Wain (Mrs. Jacob Hendrickson), who now owns 
the mill and occupies the mansion. The mill was 
destroyed by fire in 1821 and rebuilt the same 
size as the present mill, which wa-^ built in 1872. "" 

On Lahaway Creek, near its juuctiim with ^ 
Crosswicks Creek, is the farm of John G. H 
Meirs, which in the time of the Revolution, was 
occupied bv the noted Torv. Thomas liconard. 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



619 



who was denounced bv the Freehold Commit- 
tee of Vigilauce, aud who subsequently escaped 
to Xew York. At the close of the Revolution, 
when Xew York was evacuated by the British, 
Leonard went to St. John's, New Bruuswick, 
where he settled. 

In 1870 the frame of an old barn on the 
Leonard (Meirs) farm was moved, to be rebuilt 
as a part of some of the out-liouses. The re- 
moval, and some facts in reference to the old 
buildings at this place, was noticed in the 3Ion.- 
mouth Democrat of that time as follows : " On 
tearing off the well-nigh worn-out siding the 
date of the building was found cut into the 
sill-beam — 1777. It is surprising how those 
ancients built for time. The timbers are of 
white oak, and each one easily squares a foot. 
The siding was of the best>white cedar aud an 
inch thick. The building never had a coat of 
paint or lime, aud yet, uutil quite recently, its 
siding was proof against the weather, but it was 
worn very thin ; while the timbers were every 
one as sound as the day they were felled in 
those primitive woods. Last year the same 
gentleman [I\Ir. Meirs] moved and fixed up for 
a tool-house a .singular little structure known 
as the ' hip-roof house.' It had a roof of that 
quaint old style, thus named. This queer little 
house was inhabited before the Revolution. 
Still its timbers are all sound, a part of the floor- 
ing is there, aud the old shingled roof is yet 
rain and storm-proof. In the Revolution it was 
owned by a Tory named Leonard, who lived in 
it with his wife. He must have been a trouble- 
some fellow, for the place is now pointed out 
where a party of Whigs, or Continentals, were 
concealed in watch for the traitor. They must 
have known that he was in the house ; so a raid 
was made for his immediate capture. The wife 
saw them coming, aud as there w^as no possibil- 
ity of escape from the dwelling, she made him 
flee to the cubby-hole at one end of the peak 
of the hip-roof. The entrance was so small 
that the man had to strip off his clothing before 
he could squeeze into the poke-hole. The pursu- 
ers were now^ at the door. Carrying her hus- 
band's clothes in her arms, the woman ran down- 
stairs, put them on the seat of the chair and sat 
on them. At this moment the door was forced 



open. The demand was made, ' Where is your 
husband ? ' But the woman gave no sign ; not 
moving from her seat and keeping her counte- 
nance imperturbable. The men began at once a 
search of the house, but all in vain. Puzzled 
and baffled, they left, without having caused the 
woman to stir from her seat. The effect was 
that Leonard received a thorough scare, and 
concluded it to be no longer safe for him to 
remain at home. But how to escape, when so 
determined a hunt was kept up for his life ? He 
was evidently a man of some shrewdness, and 
was equal to the emergency. Having blackened 
his face, he changed clothes w'ith his old lame 
negro slave, and actually passed the party that 
had surrounded his house the day before, not 
one of them for a moment suspecting that the 
old black fellow that was limping by was old 
Leonard, the Tory himself He got away safe 
to Nova Scotia, and never came back again. 
After the Revolution his property was confis- 
cated and sold at a very low figure. It w-as 
afterwards bought by General Forman, and 
about 1833 it came into the possession of the 
present family of Meirs. 

"There is now standing on the farm, at a con- 
sidei'able distance from tlie house, an old walnut- 
tree. A tradition has long existed to the effect 
that near this tree was the residence of the 
father of the Loyalist, and that this one, the 
elder Leonard, when walking in his garden, 
was shot by an Indian, concealed behind some 
gooseberry bushes. As no vestige of any resi- 
dence or garden had been seen for many years, 
unless the old walnut-tree may date back to 
that time, the present occupant, Mr. John G. 
Meirs, placed no confidence in the story. Still, 
the story was long told in all sincerity. About 
a year ago INIr. ]Meirs set a man to dig a trench 
not far from the tree, to drain the laud. The 
digger turned up an old-fashioned silver spoon, 
on which was engraved the initial I^. This, with 
good reason, Mr. Meirs believed to have be- 
longed to the father of the Loyalist, who was 
killed near that spot." 

Allextowx,^ situated in the northwest cor- 

1 llauy of the historical facts having reference to the 
township of Upper Freehold, and partieul.arly to the vil- 



620 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ner of tlie township, on Doctor's Creek, is the 
principal village of Upper Freehold. The fii-st 
settler at this place was Xathan Allen, a son of 
Jedediah Allen, ^ of Shrewsbury, and one of a 
large family of children. In 1706 he pur- 
chased of Kobert Burnet, one of the proprietors 
of New Jersey, five hundred and twenty-eight 
acres of land lying on the north side of Indian 
Run, in what is now Washington township, Mer- 
cer County; and at the same time he purchased 
one hundred and ten acres on Doctor's Creek 
and on both sides of the York road. In the 
same year he settled and built a grist-mill at the 
same j>lace which became the village of Allen- 
town. In the previous year he had married 
Margery, daughter of the proprietor, Eobert 
Burnet, from whom he had made his purchase 
of land. She was living in 1716, but died pre- 
vious to 1721, and in that year he married 
Martha, widow of Francis Davenport (2), whose 
maiden-name was Martha Newbury. By her 
he had two sons, Nathan and Benjamin, and 
two daughters, ^Martha and ^Margery. He died 
in 18.'37 and his widow, Martha, afterwards 

married De Bow. 

Xatiian, (2d), son of Nathan and Martha 
Allen, married Sarah Lawrence. He inherited 
from his father the grist-mill and plantation at 
AUentown, while his brother Benjamin inherited 
the fulling-mill with two and a half acres, part 
of the same property. He died in 1718, leav- 
ing one son, Nathan John Allen, and in 1750 
his executors sold the mill jjroperty, two hun- 
dred and thirty-eight acres, to Stoffel Long- 
street, " late of Shrewsbury," etc. His widow, 

lage of AUentown, were furnished to the writer by Charles 
R. Hutchinson, of AUentown. Much valuable informa- 
tion concerning the history of AUentown has also been 
furnished by John C. Vanderbeck, and Mrs. JIary A 
Fiske. 

' Jedediah Allen emigrated from New England to Slirews- 
bury previous to 1092; was a justice of the court there in 
1700 and 1701. Will dated September 15, 1711, proven 
February 6, 1711 ; wife Elizabeth ; sons, — Ephraim, who 
married a daughter of William West, of Shrewsburry • 
Elisha ; Nathan, of whom hereafter; Judah, who married 
Deborah Adams, and died in 1721 ; Ralph ; Henry; Jona- 
than, David. Daughters, — Esther, who married James 

Adams ; Mary, who married Wills ; Patience, who 

married Samuel Tilton ; and Jleribah, who married Wil-- 
liam Thorn. 



Sarah, afterwards married Thomas Lawrie, an 
old-time merchant of AUentown. 

Benjamin, son of Nathan (1st) and Martha, in 
1748, sold the fulling-mill to Isaac Price, who 
owned it until his death, in 1768. In 1771 it 
again became a part of the grist-mill property. 
It long since ceased to be used for its original 
purpose, and when the present grist-mill was 
erected upon its site, was removed, and is now a 
double dwelling-house on the westerly side of 
the bridge. 

The mill property, since the time of its sale 
to Stoffel Longstreet, has been in possession of 
the following-named persons, viz. : James Eng- 
lish, Jr., ])urchased May 1, 1761 ; John Ehea 
(a Philadelphia merchant), June 1, 1767 ; Rob- 
ert Rhea, of AUentown, August 12, 1774; 
Joseph Haight, November 4, 1776 ; Arthur 
Donaldson, March 12, 1779; Peter Imlay, 
^larch 2, 1781 ; Robert Pidgeon, January 22, 
1788 ; John Imlay, November 14, 1792 ; Rob- 
ert Evilmau, December 29, 1792; Aaron and 
George Stewart, 1796. George soon after sold 
to Aaron, whose heirs (April 1, 1835) sold to 
Richard Brewer, who conveyed the property 
April 2, 1 845, to Abel Cafferty, who now owns 
it. In 1852 Mr. Cafferty built the present 
brick mill, forty by fifty feet, three stories high. 

Around Nathan Allen's grist-mill there were 
soon clustered a store, tavern, blacksmith-shop 
and other kinds of business. It is certain 
that the place had taken the naiue AUentown 
before 1732. In that year Nathan Allen and 
Lewis Carree died. The latter, in his will, is 
mentioned as Lewis Carree, of AUentown, mer- 
chant. His executors were authorized to sell 
his lands, by virtue of which his widow, Mar- 
garet^ (who later became the wife of Gabriel 
Stelle), conveyed a lot of laud in AUentown to 
Elisha Lawrence for one hundred and twenty 
pounds, lying on the north side of the main 
street, and extending from the BajJtist Churcli 
to, or near to, the line of Church Street. His 
store was doubtless on this lot. About 1730 
the Episco^Jal Church was erected, and in 1756 
the Presbyterian (brick) Church was built. Dr. 
James Newell came to the place about 1770 and 



^ Daughter of Thomas Gordon, surveyor-general. 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



621 



practiced till after 1812. He lived on the site 
of the Baptist Church. Dr. Edward Taylor 
studied medicine with him about 1782. For a 
more full account of Dr. Taylor the reader is 
referred to the Medical Society chapter of this 
history. 

Of the other early business interests of the 
village, but little has been learned. John Imlay 
removed to the place before 1790. "Whether he 
was in business here before engaging in the ship- 
ping business in Philadelphia is not known. In 
1790 he built an elegant residence that still 
stands in good condition on Main Sti-ect. His son 
William engaged in the hardw-are business in the 
village and also was postmaster for many years. 
The parlor and other rooms in the old Imlay 
mansion were papered with French paper, which 
now remains on the walls. It is as elegant in 
design as any modern papers. It wa.s made in 
sheets of about two feet square. Mrs. Mary A. 
Fiske, a gi-anddanghter of John Imlay, has 
framed the bill for the wall-paper, dated 1794, 
which she found among her grandfather's pa- 
pers. 

Robert Debow, about 1805, erected the old 
brick store building that still stands on the 
south side of Main Street. This he occupied 
many years, and was succeeded by David ]\Ic- 
Kean, who later moved to a building farther up 
the street. 

Samuel Rogers, who, in 1798, was appointed 
postmaster, was captain of a militia company 
in 1807, and on July 27th of that year offered 
the services of his company to the government 
for the war that was then expected to result 
from the " Chesapeake " outrage. 

Allentown has the honor of being the first 
town in this Slate in the forming of a temper- 
ance society. In 180.J the " Allentown Tem- 
perance Sober Society " was organized with fif- 
ty-eight members. But little more is known of 
this society except that it kept its existence for 
several years. 

Some idea may be formed of the active busi- 
ness of the village in 1818 by the history of 
the Perseverance Fire Company, w^hich was 
organized in Allentown, with fifty-one mem- 
bers, on the 2;3d of November, in that year. 
A number of inhabitiuits met at the house of 



William Arnd, for the purpose of forming a 
fire company. A constitution was drawn up 
and adopted. Each member was to provide 
himself with a fire-bucket. The following are 
the names of the original members : 



D. McKean, 
Eobert De Bow, 
William Imlay, 
Joseph Eobbius, 
Samuel Savidge, 
Michael Forman, 
William Foster, 
Peter I. Wyckoff, 
Lewis S. James, 
George Sinclair, 
Nathaniel Britten, 
Edmond Tilton, 
R. D. L. Beatty, 
John Clutch, 
George W. Taylor, 
Eseck Robbius, 
William Sinclair, 
Samuel Cafterty, 
David Hays, 
James Imlay, 
John Palmer, 
John Chamberlain, 
Samuel Rogers, 
Silas Dunsmore, 
Garret Wikoff, 



R. M. Stout, 
Graham Newell, 
John Vanhorn, 
James Cox, 
Gabriel Allen, 
Samuel C. Sprague, 
Samuel Newell, 
John Bunting, 
George Ford, 
James Clutch, 
Charles Ford, 
Cornelius Vanderbeek, 
Richard Bruere, 
Lewis Steward, 
Gilbert Voorhes, 
Charles Beatty, 
Joseph Lawyer, 
Jacob Ford, 
John Rogers, 
William Butcher, 
Charles H. Britton, 
Isaac Rogers, 
John Robbins, 
J. Beatty, 
J. B. Beatty. 



At that time William Arnd kept the hotel 
where the meeting was held (now the Union). 
His name is mentioned in the first business 
meeting, but does not appear on the original 
list. Ladders, fire-hooks and hand-engine, 
manufactured in Philadelphia, were purciiased, 
and at a special meeting, held November 28th, 
five days after organization, a plan for an engine- 
house was presented and approved. The house 
was built, and still stands on the south side of 
j\Iain Street. The original engine is still in 
possession of the company, and is kept in the 
house. The company has maintained its ex- 
istence to the present, but is in feeble condition 
having but ten members. The first officers were 
David Hays, president ; Richard L. Beatty, vice- 
president ; David iSIcKean, treasurer ; and Peter 
I. Wikoff, secretary. The presidents from that 
time to the present have been as follows : John 
Clutch, 1820; David McKean, 1822; Garret 
P. Wikoff; 182.3 ; William Imlay, 1837 ; George 
Sinclair, 1841 ; Richard L. Beatty, 1845 ; Cor- 



622 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



nelius Vanderbeek, 1847 ; William Imlay, 
1852; George Sinclair, 1858 ; John H. Rulon, 
1863 ; Henry H. Mayers, 1875. The last named 
was president until the death, in 1883. The 
company is at present withouta president. A new 
constitution was adopted in 1829. Allentown 
in 1833 is thus described by Gordon's " Ga- 
zetteer : " ^ " It contains from seventy-five to 
eighty dwellings, one Presbyterian Church with 
cupola and bell, handsomely situated on the hill 
on the west, an Academy, two schools, one 
Methodist Church, grist-mill, saw-mill and tilt- 
mill, on Doctor's Creek, and a saw-mill on 
Indian Run, below which, at a short distance 
west of the town, is a cotton manufactory." 

The above shows quite clearly the condition 
of Allentown at that time. The old Episcopal 
Church had been torn down ; the academy was 
still in use ; the two schools were private, as 
elsewhere mentioned ; the grist and saw-mill 
were then owned by the heirs of Aaron Stew- 
ard. Of the " tilt-mill " nothing certain has 
been ascertained. The history of the cotton- 
factory is given below. A tavern and post- 
office were also here at that time. 

William Arnd was succeded in the tavern by 
Samuel Forman, whose widow, Rebecca, suc- 
ceeded after his death and kept it until about 
1835, when her son-in-law, John Hendrickson, 
became the landlord. Later, Barzillai Johnson 
kept it, and in 1865 the present proprietor, 
William D. Konover, came into possession. 
Gabriel Allen, Aaron Allen, David Holloway, 
Nicholas Bird, George Newell and others 
have kept taverns in Allentown at different 
times. 

Allentown has had remarkable honors in its 
representation in State and national offices. The 
first chief justice of the State of New Jersey 
was David Brearly, who was a native and resi- 
dent of Allentown. He served as chief justice 
from 1782 to 1790. James H. Imlay served in 
Congress four years ; Samuel Cox, four years ; 
Dr. George Holcombe, twelve years ; Dr. Wil- 
liam A. Newell, six years ; and George ^liddle- 
ton, two years. Dr. William A. Newell was 



• The " Gazetteer " was published in 1834, on data gathered 
in the previous year. 



also Governor of the State, and afterwards 
Governor of Washington Territory. 

The Episcopal Church at Allentown is 
one of the most ancient in the county. The 
old parish of Christ Church was organized 
under the auspices of the Society for the Propa- 
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts about the 
year 1730, and subsequently M'as served by sev- 
eral missionaries. The church building was 
erected at that time. The church records were 
lost during the Revolution and the congregation 
was much scattered. Afterwards the few who 
remained were scarcely able to maintain the reg- 
ular services. The church building had been 
used as a stable and somewhat injured by shot. 
The old Bible and prayer-book that were used 
prior to the Revolution are still sacredly kept 
by the present congregation. After j^eace was 
declared the Rev. Mr. Frazer, rector of St. 
Michael's Church, Trenton, officiated once a 
month ; also Rev. Mr. Waddell, who succeeded 
him. From time to time only infrequent sup- 
plies could be obtained. A short time previous 
to 1810 the church building was taken down, 
as was reported in the " Journal of Convention" 
of that year, " in a ruinous state," after which 
only occasional services were held for the benefit 
of the remnant of the congregation in the 
churches and rooms kindly offered by the Pres- 
byterians and jNIethodists. 

In 1845, after a period of thirty-five years 
without a church building, and with naught re- 
maining to tell of the existence of the former 
one, save the old graveyard, steps were taken by 
a few individuals to erect a small and inexpen- 
sive church, in which, for a period of fifteen 
years, occasional services were held Ijy the rec- 
tors of Trenton, Princeton and Bordeutown 
Churches. In 1860, the Rev. E. A. Fogg be- 
came rector, officiating also as missionary at 
Hightstown and Crosswicks. He was succeeded, 
in 1861, by Rev. Mr. Carroll, whose rectorship 
continued over eight years. In 1869 the small 
church building in Allentown was superseded 
by a larger aud more commodious edifice, in which 
have officiated successively the Revs. Bawu, 
Isaac, Du Bois, INIortimer A. Hyde and W. E. 
Daw, who is now the rector, and also in charge 
of the churches at Hightstown and Crosswicks. 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



623 



The Presbyterian Church of Allentowu 
and vicinity has a history, which is here given 
in very nearly the exact words used by the 
present pastor, the Rev. George Swain, in a 
historical discourse delivered June 20, 1876. 

It is to Nathan Allen, a sturdy pioneer, 
and no doubt stanch Quaker, who built a 
grist-mill and his house hard by, tliat we owe 
the name of our town. Thus founded, we may 
suppose that the village and vicinity contained 
iu the first years, few besides those of the 
Society of Friends. Scotch, no doubt, some of 
them were, and also in good circumstances, but 
they were the followers of George Fox, and had 
little sympathy with the religion of their 
<'ountry. Agreeing with this, Morgan,^ who, in 
1709, was pastor of the church in Freehold 
township, speaks of having met with a cold 
reception as he sought to preach in our region. 
But though planted and named by those of 
W&st Jersey, our neighborhood very soon 
•began to feel the influence of the more diverse 
population in the eastern province. A Hol- 
landish element was early introduced, coming 
mainly from the lower part of Monmouth, 
around Middletown and Shrewsbuiy. The 
Presbyterian Scotch, too, from about Freehold, 
reached out in this direction, and the result 
wa<, that by the year 1720 Allentowu had a 
people well mixed as to nationality and 
religious belief. The Dutch and Scotch, how- 
ever, being followers of the .same Calvinistic 
faith and practice, and having therefore much 
in common, were very naturally drawn to- 
gether, and to them both we trace the rise of 
.the Presbyterian Church in this place. 

So numerous had these two coalescing ele- 
ments become by 1721 that Morgan, above 
mentioned, writes in cheering strain of the 
great change hereabouts with resjiect to Presby- 
terian ministers. Where before they were 
scarcely less hated than Papists,— he remarks to 
Cotton Mather, — now they are regarded with 
favor. Having preached here himself at inter- 
vals for a year or more, he felt the work to be 
■of such promise and importance that he sought 

' ReT. Joseph Morgan, who then lived iu what is now 
Marlborough (then Freehold) township. 



for the growing congregation a stated minister. 
In 1722, by which time, says Webster, there 
was a house of worship, — and, we ma}' suppose, 
a church fairly organized, — ISIorgan was able to 
send one Walton, a native of Connecticut and 
graduate of Yale, to take charge of the Presby- 
terian interests. His stay, however, was very 
siiort, for, proving an erratic genius, whose 
powerful preaching was accompanied by impru- 
dent and culpable conduct, he was the .same 
year suspended by the Presbytery of Philadel- 
phia. This must have been a hard blow to the 
struggling, though hopeful, cause. Those in 
the community strongly enough opposed to 
what they termed a " hireling ministry," would 
scarcely forget to make the most of Walton's 
inconsistencies. 

From this unfortunate event till the year 1730 
Allentowu appears to have had no regular 
preaching. Such supplies as could be obtained 
from Presbytery were the sole dependence for a 
period of more than eight years. At the date 
above mentioned, and in view of an urgent re- 
quest to the Synod of Philadelphia from this 
congregation, Eleazar Wales, also from New 
England, became the settled pastor. 

He remained, however, but four year.s, resign- 
ing for the reason, as given to Presbytery, of in- 
sufficient support. At the meeting which 
severed the pastoral connection, Sejitember, 1734, 
one Mr. lugliss (or English) represented the 
church. Mr. Wales, we have reason to believe, 
was a devoted and godly man, and though it 
seems that he had no marked success in this 
vicinity, we can well assume that his short minis- 
try was by no means in vain. We read of him 
afterwards as in warm .sympathy with White- 
field and Brainerd, this fact bespeaking for him 
an earnest .spirit and decided evangelical views. 
He died, says AVebster, in 1 749. 

From 1784 till the erection of the Presbytery 
of New Brunswick, in 1738, we have nothing 
definite or .^jjecial with respect to the church. 
At the first meeting of this new body, however, 
to whose care Allentowu was transferred, com- 
missioners appeared both from this, and the 
congregation at Cranbury asking for supplies. 
One of the representatives was John Chambers, 
said to have been from Cranbuiy; but while 



624 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



uo such name appears in the record of that 
church, we know that one John Chambers 
owned lands adjoining those of Natlian Allen, 
in this vicinity. Pursuant to this request, 
Gilbert Tennent, whom Whitefield called that 
" son of thunder," was appointed to preach at 
both places. Similar petitions continued to 
come uj), year after year, showing the want of 
a settled pastor, but at the same time no dispo- 
sition to allow the Pi'esbyterian interests to 
perish. As the result of these, the names of 
JNIr. McCrea and William Tennent are on rec- 
ord as visiting the people and helping on the 
work. 

It was during this state of things that, one 
came to America who was destined to work 
great increase to the cause of evangelical religion. 
This was George Whitetield, who, in Novem- 
ber, 1739, landed at Philadelphia to commence 
preaching at once through the colonies. The 
way was well j^repared for his coming; for not 
only had his fame reached from over the sea, 
but a great revival also was already in progress. 
New England was aroused, and the fire then 
bui-ning spread to Long Island and likewise 
to New Jersey. 

A great and wide door was thus opened for 
Whitefield, and he went rapidly over the coun- 
try preaching with astonishing power. Early 
in 1740, in company, no doubt, with the Ten- 
nents, he visited Allentown ; and while there 
is no special note of his success, we may 
trust that the word spoken did not fail to build 
up and convert. At any rate, we have cause 
to believe that by the stimulus thus received, 
as well as through the revival influence abroad 
in the land, the church grew in strength, though 
wanting a regular minister. In the summer of 
1741 there apjjeared before the Presb^-tery of 
New Brunswick, Mr. Charles McK night, ask- 
ing to be licensed by that body, and his qual- 
ifications were such that his license was granted 
without delay. He soon received offers from 
Amboy, Baskingridge and Staten Island, none 
of which he accepted. He continued without a 
regular charge till 1743, when, at a meeting of 
Presb}i:ery, August 10th, a call was presented 
for his pastoral services by the united congrega- 
tions of Allentown and Cranburv. After hold- 



ing the matter in consideration for a year, he 
concluded to accept the call, and July 10, 1744, 
was duly installed pastor of the two chm-ches. 
Rev. William Tennent preached the sermon, 
and the services were accompanied with fasting 
and prayer. But Mr. McKnight was no sooner 
settletl than an unhappy contest arose between 
the two places as to where the pastor should 
reside. Cranbury at first gained the preference ; 
and accordingly Mr. McKnight removed thither, 
and, though in the beginning unmarried, kept 
house. 

On the Minutes of Presbytery, October 1-5, 
1744, is the record that Mr. JNIcKnight could 
not attend with the committee to install Mr. 
Hunter, because he was absent marrying a wife. 
He, therefore, did not remain single very long. 
The dispute between the two chunihes as to the 
minister's residence continuing unsettled, it fin- 
ally became so serious that Presbytery was ap- 
pealed to for counsel. A committee from this 
body met with the disputants October 12, 1748, 
and the business was prefaced by a sermon by 
William Tennent. They advised that the pas- 
tor should remain at Cranbury, and that the 
people of Allentown obtain a minister of their 
own as soon as possible. This latter they did ; 
but it was Mr. McKnight himself, — he relin- 
quishing the charge at Cranbury, and moving 
to Allentown in 1756. After this, he remained 
ten years, — this his sole charge, save that Bor- 
dentown appears to have shared one-fourth of 
his time, on from 1758. For twenty-three 
years altogether he had cai-e of the church, when 
he removed, in 1767, to settle at Middletown 
Point and Shrewsbury. At the latter place, so 
obnoxious did he become to the British in the 
Revolution, that his church Mas burned and 
himself taken prisoner. After a tedious and 
severe confinement, he was released, but only to 
die from the effects of it. January 1, 1778, he 
passed away, his body being buried in Trinity 
Churchyard, New York, where his grave may 
be seen to this day. 

Turning to the record of his ministry here, 
the first important item is the purchase of 
ground for a house of worship and graveyard, 
December 15, 1744. William Lawrence, for 
the sum of five shillings, conveyed to Robert 



UPPEK FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



625 



Imlay and Tobias Polhemus one acre of land, 
for the use of thePresbyterian congregation. On 
this a brick etlifice was erected, 1756, a struc- 
ture which some of the oldest citizens remem- 
ber well. It served the cono-reffation till 1837 
Further, in 1752, a pai-sonage farm was pur- 
chased, and however much it containetl at the 
first, it was five years after increased to more 
than two hundred and twenty acres. The persons 
who conveyed it to the trustees were Gysbert Hen- 
drickson, Leaford Leason and Robert English. 
The temporal matters of the church were thus in 
prosperons condition, and we have cause to believe 
(tiiough w'itii no recorded data to draw upon) that 
spiritually also there was flourishing and growth. 
Like pastor like people is an old adage with sound 
basisof truth, and as Mr. McKuight seems to have 
been a firm, independent and withal a godly man, 
we may argue that his twenty-three years' pastor- 
ate made a deep and lasting impression for good. 
He no doubt had much from the very beginning 
to encourage. When he took charge a great 
wave of revival had just swept over the land, and 
moreover, he had aljout him for several years 
after his settlement that man whose constant 
prayer it was that he might be a flaming fire in 
the service of God. We mean David Braiuerd, 
aj)ostle to the Indians of this region. He came 
from Xew England, in the summer of 1745, to 
labor among the red men, still numerous about 
Crosswicksung. On his way thither he records 
stopping at Cranbury, and lodging with Mr. 
McKnight, of whom he speaks as a " serious 
minister." After this, so long as Braiuerd re- 
mained in the vicinity, their intercourse was most 
cordial, and much aid did they render each other 
as opportunity allowed. All that the pastor 
could do to commend to Christians at large the 
missionary's work, pecuniary help when the lat- 
ter was building the town and church of Bethel, 
near Cranbury, — a home for the converted In- 
dians, — these he cheerfully gave, reaping much 
for himself and churches in return. 

May 11, 1746, was one occasion on which the 
earnest apostle assisted in administering the sac- 
rament at Allentown. He states that the word 
then preached was received with deep feeling 
and that after the public service he was much 
refreshed by the conversation of Christian friends. 
40 



Upon his removal, the church was again to suf- 
fer from a protracted vacancy. For the long 
period of eiglit years there was no pastor living 
among tiie people ; but in 1774 commi.ssioners 
appeared from Allentown in Presbytery to pros- 
ecute a call to the Rev. William Schenck, a na- 
tive of Monmouth County, and graduate of 
Princeton Seminary. From records in possession 
of a Ijranch of his family, it appeai-s that he had 
preached much for the congregation prior to this 
date. He had spent fifteen Sabbaths here before 
1772. Indeed, from this time he continued a 
sort of stilted supply — with occasional inter- 
ruptions — till the call w;is formally made out as 
above. There is no minute of his installation ; 
but from the fact of his removal to the j)lace and 
occupation of the pareonage, we may suppose 
that he was regularly inducted as pastor. He 
evidently remained till 1778, as there is found 
a record of baptisms administered by him as late 
as that year. He removed from Allentown 
to South Hampton, Pa., aud after other 
changes died at Franklin, Oiiio, 1823, at the 
age of eighty-three. Of the character and 
success of his pastorate among iis we have no 
record. It appears, however, tiiat he gave part 
of his time to a station at Imlaystown. He 
mentions the sum of one pound twelve shillings 
for labors there. 

The Rev. Mr. Schenck having removed about 
1778, we find that in the spring of the following 
year a call was presented from Allentown and 
Nottingham for the pastoral services of Mr. 
George Faitoute. Of Nottingham, to which he 
was to devote one-third of his time, this is the 
earliest mention, and, however the congregation 
of tliis jjlace came into being, it was destined for 
many years to be, to all intents and purposes, one 
with Allentown. As long as the connection ex- 
isted there seems to have been one Session carina: 
for both churches. Mr. Faitoute was pastor 
but for two years, as the minutes of Presbytery 
record his dismission in 1781. Following his 
removal there was again a protracted vacancy, 
the church becoming dependent for three years 
or more on Presbyterial supplies. These fur- 
nished the people with preaching once or twice 
a month. At length, in the .spring of 1784, a 
call was presented to Mr. Joseph Clark, a grad- 



626 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



uate of Princeton and a licentiate of the Pres- 
bytery of New Brunswick. Of his previous 
history we have the following : Mr. Clark was 
born in Elizabethtown, N. J., October 21, 1751. 
He early felt the power of religion, and, though 
apprenticed as a carpenter at the age of seven- 
teen, strong was his desire for knowledge, and, 
if possible, to become a minister. Having bought 
a Latin grammar, he would often, after the day's 
toil, sit up nearly all night, conning over it by 
the light of a pine knot. He thus, by heroic 
effort, fitted himself for tlie junior class at 
Princeton College in two years. His collegiate 
course was, however, interrupted by the war, 
during which he served several years as a soldier 
in the army. At the close of the war he returned 
to college, and graduated in 1781. Having also 
studied theology two years, he was, in 1783, 
licensed to preach the gospel. 

He had been sent to Allentown as one of the 
appointed supplies, and immediately, by his 
excellent preaching and evident piety, had won 
the hearts of the people. He did not forthwith 
accept the call, but requested time for due con- 
sideration. We may, perhaps, imagine as the 
cause of this a precarious condition of health, 
for it is manifest that in his earlier ministry 
Mr. Clark was not robust. Meanwhile it was 
agreed that he preach one year as supply; and 
having, at the request of the congregation, been 
ordained as an evangelist, he began his work. 
Not one, but four years did he thus continue. 
For this long period he held the call in abey- 
ance, though all the while acting faithfully and 
fully as the pastor. He remained in tiiis p(3sition 
till the summer of 1788, when, doubtless to the 
pleasure of the church, he accepted the call and 
was regularly installed. The celebrated With- 
erspoon, together with Rev. Messrs. Woodhull, 
Smith, Armstrong and Morton, were the com- 
mittee from Presbytery to perform the duty of 
formal induction. Having been thus regularly 
settled among the people, Mr. Clark became 
growingly abundant in labor; he was a work- 
man, earnestly devoted to the work of Christ. 
His toils were such that they soon told upon 
his health, and in 1792 he was obliged to ask 
Presbytery for supplies that he might take a 
season of rest. He was probably much out of 



the pulpit for over a year, but in 1794 he was 
so far recovered as to require no further aid. 
For two years longer he remainetl the diligent 
pastor of the congregation, and then the First 
Church of New Brunswick laid their choice upon 
him. Manifestly the people were reluctant 
enough to have him go. Commissioner William 
Ford and Samuel Wykoff, elders, with John 
Van Emburg and James Imlay, appeared at 
Presbytery, April 26, 1796, and stated that it 
must be disastrous to the interests of the church 
if Mr. Clark be taken away; and he himself 
showed an excellent spirit in the transaction. 
He deferred the case to the will of Presbytery, 
which, at a fall meeting, voted that he ought to 
accept the call. He comjjlied, and, removing to 
New Brunswick, there spent the rest of his days, 
an honored and faithful minister of Christ. He 
received the degree of Doctor of Divinity soon 
after the change, and was moderator of the 
General Assembly at its Session in Philadelphia, 
in the year 1800. In 1813 he died. Tradition 
states that when Mr. Clark left Allentown, he 
carried the records of the church, at least those 
of his own ministry, with him. A fire that 
soon thereafter destroyed his dwelling consumed 
the documents, and so perished all written data 
of the Session and himself. 

For four years after Mr. Clark's removal the 
congregation was destined to be without a pastor. 
What was the cause of this long interregnum 
does not appear; perhaps it was difiicult to find 
a fit successor to the noble preacher just gone 
away. At length, in the year 1800, the choice 
of the people fell on Mr. John Cornell, at this 
time a licentiate of the Classis of New Brunswick, 
of the Reformed Dutch Church. He was a native 
of Pennsylvania, born at Northampton in 1774 ; 
he began his classical studies, in which he excelled, 
at the famous Log College, Pennsylvania, and 
studied theology under Livingstone at New 
Brunswick. He married Maria Frelinghuysen, 
daughter of General Frederick Frelinghuysen, 
of Somerset County, a lady of great amiability 
and eminent piety. She proved an invaluable 
help to him as long an he lived. Her labors were 
constant to advance her husband's usefulness, 
and among a multitude of benefits, Allentown 
is indebted to her for the first Sabbath-school 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



627 



witliin its bounds. Altoo;etlier she was a rare 
model of a minister's wife. 

At a meeting of Presbytery, June 3, 1800, 
Mr. Cornell, having accepted the ciill to Allen- 
town and Nottingham, arrangements were made 
for his installation on the 23d of the same 
month. Pursuant to this, his formal induction 
took place, Dr. John WoodhuU preaching the 
sermon, and the Rev. Joseph Clark delivering 
the charge to pastor and people. Of the first 
nine yeare of Mr. Cornell's ministry we have no 
Sessional records, and so ai-e much at a loss to 
know either the condition of the church or the 
character of his work for this period of time. 
By a report to Presbytery, in 1806, the mem- 
bership seems to have been, in both branches, 
only sixty-seven. In 1808 there were sixty- 
nine. The last report, in 1817, gives seventy- 
five. From all that is written, covering more 
than ten years, we can learn that only four per- 
sons were united with the church, though it 
must be that the names of some are not recorded. 
It is stated also that in 1818 the Session 
resolved to begin prayer-meetings in the con- 
gregation ; these to be held on the first Monday 
of each month. In 1820 the pastoral relation 
was dissolved, and Mr. Cornell went hence to 
take charge of a flourishing classical school, 
first at Somerville, and later at Millstone, in 
Somerset County. At the latter place he died, 
in the year 1835. He was the father of a large 
fiimily, the graves of some of whom are beneath 
the shadow of the church, while those who grew 
to maturity have proved men and women of 
eminent qualities. Upon the removal of Mr. 
Cornell the vacancy was, fortunately, brief, for 
in the fall of 1820 a call was j)resented to Mr. 
Henry Perkins, a graduate of Princeton and 
licentiate of the Presbytery of New Brunswick. 
This, without protracted delay, he accepted, and 
on December 6th of the same year, after well 
acquitting himself in the necessnry trial, was 
ordained and installed as pastor. Dr. John 
WoodhuU presided at the service ; Dr. Samuel 
Miller preached the sermoti ; Revs. David Com- 
fort and Eli F. Cooly gave the charges to 
pastor and people. The union thus formed was 
to be the longest in the .annals of the church, 
and likewise a most fruitful one. The minutes 



of his long forty-three years' pastorate show 
from beginning to end a .steady increase and pros- 
perity. When he began, the communicants 
here and at Nottingham were a sum total of 
seventy-five, of whom forty-eight belonged to 
Allentown. When he clo.sed his labors in 1864, 
by reason of failing health, the number was 
two hundred and forty-nine. He had received 
to the church live hundred and fifty-eight, — an 
average of fifteen for each year of his ministry. 

Looking over the Sessional record for other 
matters of interest, we find the following to 
have been elders at the date of his installation. 
They were David McKean, Robert Vander- 
beck, Cornelius Vanderbeck, Ebenezer Smith, 
Samuel WikofF, Peter WikofF, Amos Hutchin- 
son, James Hughes, David Cubberly and 
Theophilus Forman. In the minutes of 1830 
appears a notable resolution. Its purport is that 
the Session, marking with pain and alarm the 
spread of intemperance, bind them.selves to ab- 
stain entirely from the use of spirituous liquors, 
except as a medicine. 1831 mentions the forma- 
tion of a missionary society to be governed by 
Session, its object to promote liberality and ex- 
tend Christ's kingdom in foreign lands. It had 
an honorable career, procuring generous contri- 
butions, but no record of the society is found 
af^er 1846. 

The house of worshi[) erected in 1756, and 
having since that time served the use of the 
congregation, was now coming to be felt un- 
suitable, and in 1837 it was resolved to build a 
new edifice on the same ground. This marked 
the passing away of a structure about which 
clustered most hallowed and memory-quickening 
associations. Its high, closed pulpit, duly 
equipped with antique sounding-board, had been 
honored with godly and sainted men. Through 
four generations of the faithful its almost sky- 
like roof and walls severely plain had echoed 
with the teachings of grace, and, at first, with 
the Psalms of David in the Scottish version. In 
its sti-aight and high-backed pews, some of them 
forming a hollow S(junre, had woi-shiped many 
of the noblest people of the region. The names 
of Lawrence, Montgomery, Forman, Polhe- 
mus, Wikoff and Imlay were among the ear- 
liest who in them worshiped God and made 



628 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ready for eternity. But the old house, which 
some yet remember, must give way to the new, 
and the latter was speedily in process of erec- 
tion. 

In 1840 the long-existing relation between 
Nottingham and Allentown was severed. This 
left all of Mr. Perkins' time to Allen- 
town, which provided scope ample enough 
for the fullest labor he could perform. In 1842 
and thereafter he appeiii-s to have been called 
into conflict with a Mormon invasion. The 
followers of Joseph Smith, then centered at 
Nauvoo, 111., had sent missionaries to this 
region and also in and beyond the section of 
Cream Ridge, who were much disturbing the 
peace and minds of the people. Some two or 
three had been drawn away from this com- 
munion, and the excitement was rising when 
Mr. Perkins felt constrained to put himself in 
the breach. His fearless, unflinching conduct is 
remembered, and the result was a powerful blow 
against the spread of Smith's obnoxious doctrine. 
In 1858 the house of worship was enlarged 
to its present dimensions to meet the wants 
of the increased congregation. After this nota- 
ble ministry, .some time before the close of which 
Mr. Perkins received the degree of Doctor of 
Divinity from Princeton, with the highest love 
awd confidence of the people, expressetl in fit- 
ting resolutions, he, in 1864, retired from active 
labor. Immediately upon his retirement steps 
were taken to secure a successor. 

After a few months the congregation resolved 
to extend a; call to the Rev. K. P. Ketcham, 
then pastor of the church at Tuckerton, this 
State, and a graduate of Princeton. As the re- 
sult, he was duly installed pastor in the fall of 
the same year. About the time of his coming, 
the southern section of the congregation, living 
about Creaui Ridge, withdrew to establish a 
church among themselves, and so Allentown be- 
came the })arent of another and, as it has proven, 
flourishing congregation. Tlie parsonage farm 
also was sold by will of the people to ]\Ir. Abel 
Cafferty, and a parsonage procured within the 
village. Mr. Ketcham remained some six and 
a half years, when, in 1871, he accepted a call to 
the First Presbyterian Church of Plainfield, 
N.J. 



In the winter following Mr. Ketcham's re- 
moval the congregation, by unanimous vote, 
decided to call as pastor Mr. liawrence M. 
Colfelt, then a student in the seminary at Prince- 
ton. Having regularly finished his studies, he 
accepted the invitation, and was installed May 
9, 1872. His pa-storate was destined to cover 
less than two years. March 9, 1874, the con- 
gregation met, and after expressions of deep re- 
gret, resolved to unite with Mr. Colfelt in ask- 
ing a dissolution of the pastoral relation. He 
had accepted a call to the venerable and im- 
portant charge of the First Presbyterian Church 
of Philadelphia, to which field he carried the 
warmest wishes of the people for his success. 
Mr. Colfelt's removal was followed by a vacancy 
of about six months, when the Rev. George 
Swain, then over the Gates Avenue Presbyterian 
Church, of Brooklyn, became pastor of the 
church at Allentown, and he still continues in 
that relation. 

Following is given a list of pastors, ruling 
elders and trustees of this church, viz. : 

Pastors. 

Eleazar Wales, installed 1730 ; dismissed September 
19, 1734; died 1749. 

Charles McKnight, installed July 18, 1744 ; dis- 
missed October, 1766 ; died January 1, 1778. 

William Sehenck, installed 1774; dismissed 1778; 
died 1823. 

George Faitoute, installed 1779; dismissed 1781. 

Joseph Clark, installed June, 1788 ; dismissed April 
2G, 1796; died 181.3. 

John Cornell, installed June 23, 1800; dismissed 
February, 1820; died 1835. 

Henry Perkins, D.D., installed December 6, 1820 ; 
dismissed April, 1864. 

K. P. Ketcham, installed September, 1864; dis- 
missed April, 1871. 

Lawrence M. CoH'eU, installed June, 1872 ; dis- 
missed March, 1874. 

George Swain, installed November, 1874. Still pas- 
tor (November, 1884). 

Ruling Elders. 

Mr. Inglis, elected in 1734. 
Mr. Chambers, elected in 1744. 
Peter Covenhoven, elected in 1784. 
Henry Harper, elected in 1784. 
John Imlay, elected in 1784. 
Samuel Wikofl', elected in 1784. 
John Silvers, elected in 1784. 
James Jackson, elected in 1793. 
Peter Wikoli; elected in 1793. 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



629 



William Foord, elected in 1809. 
Jacob Fisher, elected in 1809. 
Robert Wilson, elected in 1809. 
Samuel Wikoft', elected in 1809. 
Aaron Hutchinson, elected in 1809. 
James Hughes, elected in 1809. 
Theophihw Forman, elected in 1809. 
Samuel S. Wikoft", Jr., elected in 1810. 
David McKean, elected in 1810. 
Ebenezer Smith, elected in 1817. 
Robert Vanderbeck, elected in 1817. 
Cornelius Vanderbeck, elected in 1817. 
David Cubberly, elected in 1818. 
George Sinclair, elected in 1827. 
Christopher Van Nest, elected in 1827. 
William Imlay, elected in 1832. 
Samuel Hutchinson, elected in 1832. 
John Cubberly, elected in 1832. 
Samuel W. Croxson, elected in 1846. 
David M. Cubberly, elected in 1846. 
A. A. Howell, M.D., elected in 1859. 
John Robbins, elected in 1864. 
Samuel F. F'uwlcr, elected in 1868. 
Henry R. Taylor, elected in 1868. 
John G. Vanderbeck, elected in 1871. 

Trustees. 

1787. — Henry Harjier, Abraham Hendricks, Tobias 
Hendricksou, James Brucre, John Imlay, Samuel 
Quay. 

1793.— James Imlay, Garrett Wikoff, Robert Wilson, 
Jacob Hendrickson, Abraham Montgomery. 

1796. — John Van Emburgh and John Painter. 

1797. — Jacob Hendrickson. 

1805.— David Hay, Jacob Fisher. 

1807. — Robert Montgomery. 

1810.— David McKean, William Blackwell. 

1814. — Robert Vanderbeck, Ebenezer Smith. 

1815. — Jeremiah AVoolsey, George Holcombe. 

1816. — Cornelius Vanderbeck. 

1820.- Price Bruere. 

1823.— John F. Thomp.son, William Davis. 

1831. — Peter H. Wikoft', George Sinclair. 

1842.— Garrett R. Wikoft', John Bruere. 

1848. — James J. Conover. 

1862. — Albert A. Taylor, Charles Meirs, Benjamin 
Fowler. 

1864.— A. A. Howell, George H. Vanderbeck, E. T. 
Hendrickson. 

1868.— John J. Beatty. 

1871. — Charles Bruere, Charles Bl.ake. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church at 
AUentowD lias a history extending hack three- 
fourths of a century. " Tiie first sermon preached 
in this vicinity (by a Methodist) wa.s delivered 
by David M. Bartiue, i'ather of Rev. D. ^^^ 
Bartine, of Newark Conlereuce. The sermon 



was preached in a dwelling that stood on the 
ground now occupied by the building of Mr. 
George Buzby. It was the residence of Mr. 
Frederick Miller, grandfather of Robert W. 
Miller, Esq., of Upper Freehold. It was a ■ 
regular preaching-place for a time, — between 
1790-!)5. Susan Robbins (afterwards Mrs. 
Schuyler) heard the sermon ; she was then a 
small girl. Her father, who was a Friend, per- 
mitted licr to go, but gave her the following 
instructions : 'Susan, if thee goes to the meeting, 
thee must do just as they do,' and faithfully 
did she follow the programme. She stood up 
with them when they sang, kneeled doM-n when 
they prayed, and when the preacher arose to 
preach she stood up also. jNIethodist preachers 
afterwards occupied the Episcojial Church, 
which stood near where Mr. Middleton's tan- 
yard now is. Preaching was irregular up to 
the time of the organization of the charch. Two 
brothers, Robert and Sylvester Hutchinson, 
used to travel extensively. They owned farms 
in this vicinity, and used to leave with an outfit 
and a hundred dollars, and go till clothing, sad- 
dle and horse were worn out and money g(me ; 
they would then return to recruit. While in 
this section they preached extensively. Their 
father was a Baptist, but was always willing to 
fit thein out for the work. They finally mar- 
ried and settled upon their farms. lu 1810, 
John Dickson, John Imlay, Jr., Samuel Lan- 
ning, Anthony Borden, Edward Page and 
Samuel Robbins were formed into an organiza- 
tion according to law. About that time a 
church was built on the lot where the African 
Methodist Episcapal Church now stands, after 
which there was regular preaching." ' 

About ] 832 the church was removed from its 
first site to where the present hou.se stands, and 
enlargal. In 1869 it was removetl to make 
room for the present edifice, which was erected 
in that year. The jjastors who have served the 
church are here given as far as can be ascer- 
tained, viz. : 1810, Charles Pitman ; 181.3, 
Joseph Tottcn; 1810, John Robertson; 1821, 
Sylvester G.Hill; 1828, Thomas Davis; 1832, 



> Tlie iihove was published in the .\lIentown [nduatn/. 
May 20, 1880. 



630 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Thomas Neal; 1848, Walter Burrowes ; 1858- 
59, Daniel L. Adams; 1860-61, L. Herr; 1865- 
66, G. C. Maddock; 1870-71, G. C. Stanger; 
1873-74, H. G. Williams; 1875, W. T. Ab- 
bott; 1876-77-78, J. L. Souder ; 1879-80, 
G. H. Tullis; 1881-82-83, E. Green; 1884, 
P. Provost. 

The Baptist Chukch of Ali^entown 
dates back only a few years. The first Baptist 
ministers who held services in the village were 
the Rev. A. Armstrong and Rev. W. E. Wat- 
kinson, who preached in the Methodist Episo- 
pal Church, in Rogers' Hall and in a grove 
near the village. After this the Rev. W. 
W. Case, of Hamilton Square, preached a 
number of times, and finally, after Mr. Case 
had held a series of religious meetings and 
quite an interest had been awakened, it 
was proposal to organize a church. On the 
7th of December, 1873, the first immersion 
took place, eleven persons being baptized 
by Rev. W. W. Case. March 23, 1874, the 
Baptists of Allentowu and vicinity were organ- 
ized as the Firet Baptist Church of Allen- 
town, which was on that day publicly recog- 
nized by a council of ministers called for that 
purpose. The first pastor called to serve the 
church was Rev. W. E. Watkinson, then of 
Nicetown, Pa., but on account of ill health at 
the time, Mr. Watkinson was released from 
serving the church. The Rev. Warren Lin- 
coln was settled as pastor October 12, 1874. 
This gentleman was highly esteemed by the 
community and beloved by the churcli. He 
died while pastor of this people, on the 3d of 
April, 1877. On the 27th of May following, 
Rev. James W. Grant entered on his duties as 
pastor. He remained, however, but one year, 
closing his pastorate in May, 1878. In June 
of that year Rev. W. H. Burlew became pastor. 
Soon after this the church took active measures 
to build a meeting-house and parsonage, and on 
the 8th of May, 1879, the corner-stone was 
laid. The house of worship was finished for 
occupancy December 23, 1879. The church 
and parsonage are situated on an eligible 
lot in the heart of the town. They are excel- 
lent buildings, though they cost but four thou- 



sand si.\ hundred and fifty dollars. The build- 
ers were E. B. & B. Rogers. 

On the 29th of October, 1881, Rev. Mr. 
Burlew presented his resignation, and became 
pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church, Cham- 
bersburg, N. J. The church was, after this, 
without a pastor several months, but was sup- 
plied by different ministers till they called to 
the pastorate the Rev. S. L. Cox, of Port Jef- 
ferson, L. I. Mr. Cox accepted the call, was 
settled here March 1, 1882, and still holds that 
position. The deacons are four in numljer : 
Simon Dilatash, James M. Yard, Benjamin 
Rogers and Randall B. Totten. Joseph Dar- 
nell is treasurer, and Samuel Flock clerk. At 
the jjresent time the church numbers about one 
hundred and twenty-five members. 

St. Johx's Catholic Church was organ- 
ized in April, 1869, and soon after purchased 
the old Episcopal Church edifice. It was then 
enlarged and refitted and is now occupied by 
the congregation. In 1872 the house and lot 
on ilain Street was purchased for a parsonage. 
In 1874 a tract of eight acres, a short distance 
south of the village, was purchased for a ceme- 
tery. The first services were held by Rev. 
Patrick Leonard, of Bordentown. The first 
regular pastor was the Rev. James Burgazi. 
He was succeeded by the present pastor, the 
Rev. S. Danielou. The congregation numbers 
one hundred and fifty families. 

The Uxiox African' Methodist Episco- 
pal Church was organized in 1835 and built 
a church on the present site. It was enlargeil 
in 1850 and rebuilt in 1878. The Rev. John 
Raccoe is the present pastor. He was preceded 
by the Rev. John Whittaker and the Rev. J. 
Peirce. The church has now about fifty 
members. 

The Allentowu Academy was the successor of 
a school which had been taught many years 
under the care of the Presbyterian Church. 
The academy building stootl where the Presby- 
terian Chapel now stands, and was used until 
it was torn down, about 1834, and a new build- 
ing erected, wliicJi was rented to the school 
trustees. The principals of the old academy 



I 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



631 



were generally students of Princeton. Among 
them were the Rev. George H. Burrowes, D.D., 
of California, and the Rev. Abram De Witt. 

In 1820 and for several years thereafter, Miss 
Mary Taylor taught school in a one-stoiy build- 
ing owned by Dr. George Holcombe. Later, 
Miss Mary and Catharine Beatty taught a 
school in a brick building now occupied by T. 
C. Hutchinson. 

A Union School-House was built in 1834, and 
on April 12th in that year the inhabitants met 
"at the new Union School-House" and elected 
as trustees Joseph Sinclair, John Bowen, Jr., 
Charles Beatty, James Burliugame, William J. 
Brown, William V. Robbins and Daniel Bills. 
A school was held in the lower room of Odd- 
Fellows' Hall from 1844 to 1863. It was 
known as Madison Hall School. 

The Allentown post-office was established 
January 1, 1796, and Samuel Quay was ap- 
pointed postmaster. He was succeeded, Ajiril 1, 
1798, by Samuel Rogers. The following- 
named persons have held the office since that 
time : Richard L. Beatty (appointed July 1, 
1801), James Imlay (July 1, 1804), James B. 
Stafford (April 1, 1805), William Imlay (1820), 
A. A. Howell (1857), D. W. Bills (I860), 
John C. Vanderbeck (1861). 

The Hope Fire Company was organized 
about 1850. A hand-engine was purchased and 
the present engine-house was erected opposite the 
mill. John C. Vanderbeck, Elisha Robbins 
and Abel Cafferty were active in the organiza- 
tion of the company. It has at present but 
three active members. 

Madison Lodge, No. 23, I. O. of O. F., was 
instituted about 1841, and held its meetings in 
the house of John Osmond. In 1844 a two- 
story building was erected on Church Street, 
the lower part of which was used for a school- 
room and the upper part was fitted up for the 
lodge-room. The lodge remained in existence 
until 1863, when it disbanded and the building 
was sold to Samuel Fidler. 

Allentown Lodge, No. 146, I. O. of O. F., 
worked under a dispensation, and was instituted 
August 8, 1870. Its charter was granted No- 
vember 16th in the same yeaf. The first officers 
were Gilbert H. Worden, N. G. ; Richard C. 



Wain, V. G. ; Alfred D. Wain, Treas. ; Wil- 
liam E. ISliller, Sec. Meetings were first 
held in a room over John C. Vanderbeck's store, 
and about 1877 the present rooms over Han- 
kins & Bunting's store were fitted up and oc- 
cupied. The present officers are: N. G., P. H. 
White ; V. G., H. G. Norton ; Rec. Sec, J. H. 
Clayton; Per. Sec., F. P. Wetherill; Treas., 
William Hankins. The lodge has about sixty 
members. The Past (irands have been as fol- 
lows : Gilbert H. Worden, R. C. Wain, Wil- 
liam E. Miller, A. L. Wain, F. P. Wetherill, 
E. B. Rogers, Robert Tusting, James H. Gil- 
lam, F. W. King, Smith H. Eldridge, James 
Holmes, J. H. Clayton, William Hutchinson, 
Garret B. Borden, S. E. Pollen, J. C. Vander- 
beck, Morgan Hall, G. M. D. Hendrickson, 
Hammond Gitsinger, Job Carr, E. B. Rogers, 
Joseph E. Stephenson, William O. Jacoby, 
Charles Davis, William Hutchinson, William 
H. Killey, E. H. Dilatush and P. H. White. 

Allentown Encampment, No. 53, I. O. of O. 
F., was chartered with eleven members June 1, 
1872. It meets in the rooms of Allentown 
Lodge and now has about forty-five members. 
The present officers are W. A. Parker, C. P. ; 
E. B. Rogers, H. P. ; Benjamin Rogers, Sen. 
W. ; Job Carr, Jun. W. ; F. P. Wetherill, 
Scribe ; J. C. Robliins, Treas. 

The Monmouth Manufacturing Company 
was started at Allentown in 1814. On the 6th 
of June in that year Ebenezer Smith sold to 
the company about twenty-six acres of land on 
Indian Run. The company was composed of 
Dr. George Holcomb, Richard L. Beatty and 
Samuel C. Newell. A cotton-factory was built 
under the superintendence of James Burlingame, 
a native of New England. It was operated as 
a cotton-factory until 1836, when it was changed 
into a factory for the manufacture of wood-type, 
under charge of Ebenezer R. Webb. It stood 
idle for a time, and finally was changed into a 
woolen-mill by John Simpson. It came into 
possession of Joseph Darnell, by whom it was 
changed into a grist-mill, and is now operated as 
such. 

The Allentown Creamery Association was 
formed in 1881, with Josiah Robbins as presi- 
dent, Charles Cafferty secretary and A. A. Tay- 



632 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



lor treasurer and superintendent. A three-story 
frame building, thirty-two by sixty-four, was 
erected and fitted with all modern improved ap- 
pliances. They iiave a capacity of using five 
hundred barrels of milk per day. 

A tannery was established at Allentown in 
1839 by George Middleton, who still contin- 
ues the business. The buildings cover nearly 
an acre of ground. The tannery has a capacity 
of tanning three thousand five hundred hides 
per year. 

A carriage-factory was established in Allen- 
town about 1855 by William Caff'erty, who was 
succeeded in 1872 by the present proprietor, 
Anthony Maps. 

Arneytowx Village, or hamlet, lies on the 
liuebetween Burlington and Monmouth Counties. 
It was first settled by Friends. The laud is a 
part of the William Dockwra tract. On the 
2(3th of April, 1705, John Arney purchased the 
land of Benjamin Borden. On May 3, 1739, 
Joseph Arney and others petitioned the Chester- 
field ^Monthly Meeting, at Crosswicks, asking 
" liberty to keep a meeting every first-day at 
the house of Joseph Arney." On the same day 
the meeting granted the request as follows : 
" Isaac Forman, Joseph Arney and several in- 
habitants near these requested liberty of this 
meeting to keep a meeting every first-day at a 
house of Joseph Arney 's, and this meeting gives 
consent that they have liberty to keep a meet- 
ing one year." 

The meetings were evidently continued be- 
yond that year. In 1749, for some reason not 
stated, Joseph Arney was "declared out of 
unity with the meeting." William Lawrie was 
one of a committee to visit him. A spot of 
ground containing about an acre and a half 
was purchased, and a meeting-house erected, for 
which, in 1756, Joseph Arney gave a deed "for 
y" land belonging to upper freehold meeting, a 
deed of trust for y° same to Peeter harison & 
others." Meetings have not been held regularly 
in the house for several years, and are now held 
only by appointment. 

The old burial-ground to-day contains low 
head-stones, evidently put up at a later date 
than the burials. The earliest date given is 



1796. The families buried here to whom have 
been erected head-stones bearing early dates 
are Bartram, Canfield, Newbold, Curtis, Lawrie, 
Schooley, Harris, Tiltou and Ellis. 

Ellisdale Village lies on the line between 
Monmouth and Burlington Counties. It was 
early known as Gibbstown, and in 1834 as 
Shelltown. Gordon's "Gazetteer" of that year 
says of Shelltown : " It contains some half-a- 
dozen dwellings. There is a Friends' Meeting- 
house near it." The meeting-house here re- 
ferred to is the old school-house which was used 
by the Friends of Arneytown Meeting. 

A blacksmith-shop was in the place one hun- 
dred years ago. It was carried on many years 
by Samuel Stuart. A store was started by John 
Hodgson about 1838. The postmasters have 
been Thomas Rogers, William Imlay, George 
Horner and Thomas Wright, the present in- 
cumbent. A Methodist Church was built in 
1852, which is under the Crosswicks charge. 

CuE.^M RiPGE is a hamlet containing a store, 
j)ost-office, Presbyterian Church and several 
dwellings. A post-office was established at the 
corners, east, during President Fillmore's admin- 
istration, and was named Fillmore. William 
Jackson was appointed postmaster. Upon the 
completion of the raih'oad Cream Ridge became 
a station, and the office was removed to that 
place. Edward Cross was appointed postmas- 
ter, and was succeeded, in 1881, by Thomas 
Thompson, the present incumbent. Dr. William 
Davis was a practicing physician in this locality 
from early manhood to old age. He died a few 
years ago. 

The Cream Ridge Presbyterian Church 
dates back about twenty years. In 1858 the 
Presb\-terians in the neighborhood accepted of 
Mr. Daniel Tilton the plat of ground on which 
the Baptist Church had stood before it was 
removed to Imlaystown. The present house 
was erected in that year, and the Rev. Dr. Per- 
kins, of Allentown, preached there for six years 
on alternate Sabbaths. In 1864 a church was 
organized, with twenty members, by the Presby- 
tery of Burlington. August 31st of that year 
Mr. B. H. Withrow was ordained and installed 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



633 



pastor. He remained five years, resigned March 
23, 1869, and was succeeded, in September, 1869, 
by Rev. William G. Cairnes, who also was in 
charge of Plumsted Church, at New Egypt. In 
1870 the connection of the two churches ceased, 
and he continued pastor of Cream Ridge until 
July, 1876, when he resigned. Mr. E. E. 
Moran, of Princeton Seminary, was installed 
pastor in June, 1877, and remained until June, 
1 883. Rev. William J. Henderson was installed 
in the fall of 1883. He also has charge of 
Plumsted Presbyterian Church, and resides at 
New Egypt. The church has sixty members. 

HoRNERSTOWN is a little village of Upper 
Freehold, situated in the southeast part of the 
township, on Lahaway Creek, and on the line of 
the Pemberton and Hightstown Railroad. Of this 
little village Gordon's " Gazetteer" (published in 
1834) says : " It contains several dwellings, a 
grist and saw-mill and a fulling-mill." The 
grist and saw-mill was built on the Lahaway 
Creek at this place by Caleb Ivins before 1800, 
and it remained in possession of the family until 
1852, when it was sold, and after passing 
through several hands, it came into the possess- 
ion of John Goldey, the present proprietor, 
about 1862. 

A post-office was established at this place in 
January, 1849, and Edward Shreves was ap- 
pointed postmaster. He was succeeded, in 1856, 
by William Quicksill, who held the office until 
1867, when John H. Ernest was appointed and 
held it twelve years. In 1879, Charles Hop- 
kins succeeded, and was postmaster till May, 
1881, when William Quicksill, the present in- 
cumbent, succeeded him. 

After 1830 some families living here em- 
braced the doctrines of the Mormons. A church 
was erected which later was sold to the Catho- 
lics, who moved it to the " Sand Lot," where it 
remained a year, and was then taken down, the 
society having erected a church at New Egypt. 
Later, the children of the early Mormons em- 
braced the doctrines of the "Latter-Day Saints," 
which sect i-esulted from a split in the Mormon 
Church. The people of this branch do not be- 
lieve in polygamy, and claim to be the original 
followers of Joseph Smith. Meetings were held 



here in private houses for a time, and in 1880 
a room was fitted for worship over the store of 
William Quicksell. The society numbers ten 
members. 

About 1870 a few Baptist people here 
purchased a store building and fitted it up for 
a chapel. They have been supplied from the 

church at Jacobstown by the Rev. Thomas 

and A. J. Hays. The society numbers about 
fifteen members. 

The Village of Wrightsville is located 
on land which was part of the Baker tract and 
later belonged to the Lawrence family. The 
people who settled in the vicinity were mostly 
Friends who belonged to the Chesterfield 
Monthly Meeting, at Crosswicks. Meetings were 
held at the iiouse of Daniel Robbins as early a.s 
1736. A petition was made to the Chesterfield 
Monthly Meeting, Ninth Month, 2d day, 1738, 
the account of which, in the minutes, is as fol- 
lows: "Moses RoV)ins, on behalf of himself and 
Friends thereabouts, made application to 
this meeting to build a meeting-house near 
Robert Lawrence." This request was acted 
upon at the next Monthly Meeting as 
follows: "Tenth Month, 7th day, 1738, 
the Friends near Moses Robins, have liberty 
from this meeting to build a meeting-house 
according to their decree." The meeting 
subscribed eighteen pounds towards the build- 
ing. The Burlington Monthly Meeting soon 
after subscribed twelve pounds for the same 
purpose. The house was built on the present 
site, and was known as " Robins Meeting." 
The following quotation is from the minutes : 
"Sixth Month 6th, 1776, Upper Freehold pre- 
parative meeting informs that Samuel Wright 
Hartshorne hath been active on military ser- 
vice and refuses to make satisfaction." This 
meeting-house, built in 1738, was used until 
1816, when it was torn down and the present 
brick meeting-house erected on the same lot. 
Through the influence of Samuel' Croft, the 
name was changed from Robins Meeting to 
East Branch. It was used regularly for many 
years, but is now used only by appointed meet- 
ings. 

In the old burial-place lie the families of Tay- 



634 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



lor, Combs, Woodward, Wright, Fohvell, Potts, 
Fields, Tantum, Hendrickson, Craft and others. 
About 1870, Dr. Joseph Taylor, of Burlingtou, 
(whose father. Dr. Edward Tayh)r, was buried 
here), inclosed the burial-place with agood iron 
fence. The Robins' family were buried in a 
burial ground about a mile and a half east. 

On tiie 20th of March, 1833, the Wrights- 
ville Methodist Episcopal Church was incorpor- 
ated. A meeting-house was erected on land of 
Samuel G. Wrigiit, and was used for worship 
for about twelve years and then abandoned. 

Imlaystown Village is situated near the 
ppntral part of the township, on Doctor's Creek. 
Its site was part of the large tract patented by 
John Baker, May 24, IGOO. He died soon 
i^fter, and it passed to George Willocks, 
who sold to Richard Salter, Sr. A mill was 
built on the present site by Mr. Salter before 
1700. Upon his death it passed to Richard 
Salter, Jr., who, in 1727, sold fifty acres, includ- 
ing the mill and thirty-nine acres covered by 
the rqill-popd. Mr. Imlay afterwards purchased 
a large tract in the vicinity, and was still in pos- 
session of it in 1763. A tavern was opened here 
very early, but no account is obtained of the time 
or who kept it. The mill property passed from 
the Imlay family to Benjamin Woodward, who, 
about the same time, opened a store. Woodward 
operated the mill until 1845, when he sold it to 
Edward T. Hendrickson, who, in 1872, conveyed 
it to Reuben Hendrickson, the present owner. 

In 1820, Thomas Elliott was keeping the 
tavern. In 1828, Jonathan Coward became the 
owner and landlord. He died in 1848, audit 
was sold in 1849 to Aaron Eldridge. After- 
wards it was sold several times and kept by dif- 
ferent parties until 1863, when it was purchased 
by Reuben Hendrickson, the present owner. 

The post-of&ce at Imlaystown was established 
in 1826 as a private office, and Benjamin Wood- 
ward was postmaster. Dr. George F. Fort was 
postmaster for a short time, from 1833 to 1835. 
On September 20th in the latter ye;ir he was 
appointed postmaster at New Egypt. He was 
succeeded at this place by Sidney C. Woodwai-d, 
who served until 1848. The office was kept in 
the store, and from this time until 1856 there 



were several changes. In that year Isaac Wood- 
ward was appointed, and served until 1864, when 
he was suceeded by Charles Bobbins, who held 
the position until 1869, when he was suceeede<l 
by the present postmaster, Sidney Williams. 

Gordon ',s "Gazetteer" of 1884,saysof Imlay.s- 
town : "It contains twelve or fifteen dwellings, 
a grist and saw-mill, tannery, one tavern, one 
store, wheelwright and smith-shop." The Im- 
lay family still own a part of the original pur- 
cha.se, made in 1727. The physicians who prac- 
ticed here have been as follows : Dr. Edward 

Taylor,frora 1810 ; Dr. Kearney, from 1829; 

Dr. (jeorge F. Fort (afterwards (Jovernor of New 
Jersey). He lived half a mile south of the vil- 
lage. Dr. Robert Laird came to the place in 
May, 18.38, and remained till December of that 
year, when he moved to Squan, where he still 
resides. Dr. William A. Newell succeeded him 
April 30, I'^IO. Dr. William Augustus Newell 
and Dr. William Dunham Newell were 
brothers. Dr. William D. Newell after his 
graduation opened an office in partnership with 
his brother, William A., who removed to Allen- 
town. This partnership continued until July 
8, 1847, when it was dissolved and a new part- 
nership was formed, consisting of Dr. William 
A. Newell, Dr. Leison English, of Allentown, 
and Dr. William D. Newell, of Imlaystown. 
Dr. William D. Newell remained in practice at 
Imlaystown till his death, in 1869. He was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Van Zandt, who was, in turn, suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Peter Pumyea, now of Allentown. 
Dr. Horace G. Norton is the present resident 
physician of Imlaystown. 

The Baptist Church of Upper Free- 
hold dates back in its organization nearly one 
hundred and twenty years; and fully a century 
and a half ago, meetings were held in this 
vicinity for religious worship by Baptists. 
"The fir.st of that way was one James Ashton, 
the eldest son of James Ashton, Baptist minister 
at Middletown, who came here to Crosswicks, 
which was then a wild and unsettled place, but 
possessed with the Indians in great abundance." 
This James Ashton lived here prior to his 
Christian profession, and doubtless many years 
before the ohurcli was constituted. 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



G35 



The record of the church states that " some 
time after, several families, by the names of 
Lawrence, Cox and Fowler, came here, — all 
members except Lawrence and his wife." And 
as the country became more thickl}- settled, the 
number multiplied, but they continued for 
years without a church organizatiou, depeuding 
mainly upon the Middletown Church for the 
ministration of her pastor, or some oue of his 
ministerial assistants, regarding themselves as 
a branch of that church. After a time the 
pastor of the Middletown Church "reduced his 
visits to once in two months, and a licentiate 
named Coward declined preaching entirely." . . 
And then the following persons asked and re- 
ceived letters of dismission from the mother- 
church, viz. : Joseph Holmes, William Vaughn, 
Thomas Farr, David Jones, William Tapscot, 
Thomas Cox, Jonathan Holmes, Edward Tay- 
lor, Peter Sexton, Christopher Morris, Safety 
Magee, Ezekiel Mount, Thomas Cox, Jr., Abel 
Edwards, Thomas Walton, William Hankinson, 
John Williams, Rebecca Cox, Mary Cox, Ra- 
chel Sexton, Rebecca Price, Mary Coward, 
Ann Gordon, Mary Cox, Mercy Vaughn, Catha- 
rine Britton, Deborah Cox, Mary Stephenson, 
Emma Strickland, Rebecca Clayton, Rebecca 
Walton, Susan Francis, Martha Shepherd, Mary- 
Patterson, Mary Stillwcll, Hannah Taylor, 
Elizabeth Kinman, Alice Coward, Martha 
Stevenson, Martha Borden, Mary Magee, Eliza- 
beth Taylor, Rebecca Sexton, Elzabeth IVIasou, 
Jerusha James, Joseph Taylor and James Sex- 
ton, making forty -seven in all, who were rec- 
ognized as a church of Christ on the 10th day 
of May, A.D. 1766, by a council consisting of 
Elders Is<iac Stelle, Benjamin Miller and Peter 
Vanhorn. The church took, and for some seven 
years retained, the name of the Crosswicks Bap- 
tist Church ; for what reason is not known, 
except that its meetings were sometimes held at 
Crosswicks, where there is said to have been a 
meeting-house erected in 1751. 

The first pastor of this church was Rev. 
David Jones, of Revolutionary memory and 
fame. He was the son of Morgan and Eleanor 
Jones, born in the State of Delaware, ^lay 12, 
17.36, and was baptized May 6, 1758, by Rev. 
David Davis. He soon after placed himself 



under the tuition of Rev. Isaac Eaton, at Hope- 
well, and subsequently studied theology with 
Rev. Abel Morgan, at Middletown. Being at 
that time a member and licentiate of the church, 
he preached occasionally at Monmouth Court- 
House, Cranbury and Crosswicks. He was 
one of the constituent members of the Upper 
Freehold Church, and was ordained its pastor 
December 12, 1766, and continued in that cji- 
pacity until 1775. During his pastorate twen- 
ty-two members were added to the church by 
baptism. 

Some two vears after the resignation of Mr. 
Jones, Rev. William J. Pitman, " a promising 
young man," was settled, and served as pastor 
some three years, and then resigning, he lived 
in Allentown one year (preaching to the desti- 
tute), and thence removed to Philadelphia. 
About fifteen were added to the church during 

o 

his pastorate. He died at Seekonk, R. I., July 
24, 1822, in his seventy-second year. 

Rev. John Blackwell Was the third paston 
He remained aboul fiveyeai-s, to general satisfac- 
tion, baptizing into the fellowship of the church, 
thirty-one members. 

Rev. Joseph Stephens was the next jjaston 
He came from North Carolina, and took the 
pastoral charge here in 1789, and held it until 
1798, receiving into the church on profession 
thirty-eight members. The last learned of him 
he was under discipline for heretical doctrine} 
and avowed himself an out and oitt Universalist; 

Rev. David Laborrow then succeetled to the 
pastorate, for one ^-ear. He was followed by 
Rev. Andrew Harpending, who came from the 
Methodist denomination ; was received into and 
licensed to preach the gospel by the Swamptowu 
Baptist Church. Thence he came to Uppei' 
Freehold, followetl by evil reports; remained 
about three years, baptized fourteen persons, and 
left under some charges of immorality. In the 
year 1802 the church appears to have been sup- 
plied by Rev. John Morgan, and eleven are re- 
ported as received by baptism. From 1803 to 
1808 the church was destitute of a pastor, but 
within that period there was an accession by 
baptism of thirty-two members. For one or 
two years from 1808 the pulpit was occupied 
by Rev. S. B. Harris. Rev. John Cooper sue- 



636 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ceefled Mr. Harris in 1813; served as pastor 
some eight years, and baptized seventeen candi- 
dates. The Rev. James M. Cliallis came to the 
pastorate in liis early manhood. He ^vas or- 
dained December 7, 1822, by Revs. Joseph 
Shepherd and John Segur, and for a period of 
sixteen years he labored assiduously, receiving 
into the church on profession two hundral and 
thirty-eight converts. 

Rev. Levi G. Beck took the oversight of the 
church April 1, 18."')8, which he held for five 
years. He baptized on profession forty-seven 
converts. He was succeeded in the spring of 
1843 by Rev. William A. Ray, a young man of 
fine talents, but of feeble bodily health. He 
continued here less than three yeai-s, and bap- 
tized eight candidates He subsequently bdcame 
pastor of the Baptist Church at Charlottesville, 
Va., where he died in 1849. 

Rev. Andrew Armstrong, a licentiate of the 
Baptist Church at Woodstown, was ordained to 
the pastorate here in 1846. He remained five 
years, baptizing on profession sixty converts. 

Rev. William J. Nice was the pastor for 
three years from 1852, during which time only 
three were baptized. In the fall of 1855, Rev. 
Samuel Sproul took theovei-sight of this church, 
and resigned at the end of two years. While 
he was pastor a good church edifice was erected 
at Imlaystown, and thirty members were added 
to the church on profession. 

In the spring of 1858 the church called and 
settled as pastor Rev. Charles M. Deitz, which 
position he held eight years, having added to 
the church by baptism sixty-nine members. 
During his pastorate (in 1864) the church edi- 
fice at Imlaystown w:is enlarged to its present 
size. The bell on it is the gift of L. M. Challis, 
of New York, son of Rev. James M. Challis, 
former jiastor of this church. 

The Rev. William D. Hires entered upon his 
pastorate April 1, 1867, and resigned in the fall 
of 1878. He was succeeded, in May, 1879, by 
the Rev. Edward Loux, who remained as pas- 
tor until the winter of 1881-82. In May, 1882, 
the Rev. David Silver was installed, and re- 
mained in service until his death, December 22, 
1884. The present (Jan. 1885) membership of 
the church is two hundred and twenty-four. 



The following is a list of the deacons of the 
church to the year 1869 : William Vaughn, 
Thomas Farr, Thomas Cox, Peter Sexton, Asher 
Cox, Job Emmons, William Holmau, Samuel 
Barcalow, William Shumar, James Cunning- 
ham, Peter Clayton, Hartson Thompson, Wil- 
liam Perrine, Enoch Cheesman, David Perrine, 
Reuben Norris, Lewis Robbins, William 
Combs, John Goldy, George Taylor, Sidney 
Williams, and Joseph Holmes. The Rev. 
Charles L. Williams, son of Deacon Sidney 
Williams of this church, is a graduate of Prince- 
ton and of Crozer Theological Seminary. He 
is now pastor of the Upland Baptist Church, in 
Delaware County, Pa., having been installetl 
there in August, 1884. It is his first charge. 

The following pei-sons have acted as trustees 
of the church to 1869, viz. : John Lawrence, 
Richard Cox, Thomas Cox, Richard Kinman, 
Forman Mount, William Lloyd, Rev. John 
Blackwell, John Lloyd, William Parent, James 
Clayton, Edward Clayton, John Shumar, Wil- 
liam Holman, Ezekiel Davison, Samuel Barca- 
low, Peter Billieu, John Thompson, Thomas 
Cox, Jr., Adda Mount, William Shumar, James 
S. Lawrence, James Ivius, Charles Potts, Fur- 
man Heiidrickson, Thomas Meire, George 
Taylor, George Applegate, Samuel Henderson, 
Lewis Robbins, William Combs, T. T. Tunis, 
George Cox, John (ioldy, John R. Longstreet, 
John M. Billieu, Joseph Holmes, James S. 
Giberson, Richard Ridgeway and Job Polhe- 
mus. 

Within the territory formerly occupied by this 
church there are now four other churches, either 
of which (except one) is larger and stronger than 
this. The church at Jacobstown was constituted 
in 1785 by thirty-two members dismissed from 
Upper Freehold. The Bordentown Church, 
constituted in 1821, was an oftshoot of this, 
though there is no record of the names of mem- 
bers dismissed to constitute it. In 1834 this 
church dismissed ninety members to constitute 
the church at Freehold. 

The meeting-houses at first used by all of 
the above-named churches were formerly uniler 
the supervision of the mother-church ; be- 
sides which she has owned four houses of wor- 
ship viz. : the yellow meeting-house, a part of 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



637 



which was built, more than a hundred veal's 
ago, on hmd donated by Rit-hard Salter, Jr., 
who was buried in the old graveyard of the 
church ; another house, built on Cream Eidge, 
in 1844; and a small house erected a few years 
later at Imlaystown, for prayer-meeting and 
Sunday-school. In 1855 the house on the 
ridge was removed to Imlaystown, and subse- 
quently (1 804)enlarged to its present dimensions, 
about forty by seventy feet. This last and the 
first-named are the only meeting-houses now 
owned by the church ; besides which the 
church owns a parsonage house and lot adjoin- 
ing the churchyard at Imlaystown. 

This church united with the Philadelphia 
Baptist Association in 176(5, and retiiined that 
connection until 1813, — a period of forty-seven 
years. It then became a member of the New 
Jersey Baptist Association, and so remained 
until 1868, — a period of fifty-five years. 

The Imlay's Hill Methodist Episcopal 
Church dates back nearh- a century. In the 
year 1790 a few Methodists desirous of having 
a meeting-house in the vicinity of Imlay's Hill 
met at the house of Samuel Imlay and elected 
the following-nametl persons trustees : Jonathan 
Coward, Joseph Page, Thomas Sill, Samuel 
Imlay, Joseph James, John Kein, John Gregory, 
Jonathan Page and John Page. At tlie same 
time Samuel Imlay conveyed to the trus- 
tees in trust one acre of land for church 
purposes. On this lot a church edifice was 
erected in 1790. It was destroyed by fire in 
1807, and being rebuilt, was used until 1855, 
when it was replaced by the present church, 
which was dedicated December 25th in that year. 
A chapel was erected at Imlaystown in 1866, 
and dedicated January 30, 1867, under charge 
of J. P. Connelly. 

The trustees elected in 1790 served until 
February 10, 1816, when an election was held 
at " Emlay's Meeting-House," with the follow- 
ing result : Ezekiel Robins, Joseph Rouzee, 
Richard C. Robbins, Thomas Throp, Cornelius 
Hauce, John Allensmark and Andrew Nelson. 
The following-named preachers have served the 
church during the past seventy years : 

181.5. David Barline, Charles Reed. 



1816. Peter Van Nest, Thomas Neal. 

1817. John Finley, James Akins. 

1818. John Finley, Walter Burrowes. 

1819. John Wooley, Daniel Fidler. 

1820. James Akins, John Price. 

1821. David Best, Bartholomew Weed. 

1822. Bartholomew Weed, Eliphalet Reed. 

1823. John Walker, William Lumis. 

1824. John Walker, Burrowes Jones. 

1825. John Finley, James Moore. 

1826. John Finley, James McLaurin. 

1827. James MeLaurin, Levi Prettyman. 

1828. R. W. Petherbridge, William Granville. 

1829. William Granville, James Moore. 

1830. Henry Boehm, T. Steward. 

1831. Henry Boehm, J. Canfield. 

1832. W. Williams, C. P^rd. 

1833. W. Williams, — - Robold. 

1834. Henry Boehm. 

1835. Edward Page. 

1836. Edward Page. 

1837. T. Steward. 

1838. T. Steward, T. Lyon. 

1839. J. Spear, N. Edwards. 

1840. J. Spear, J. Mather. 

1841. J. Long, D. Graves. 

1842. J. Long, J. Fort. 

1843. N. Chew, Griffin. 

1844. N. Chew, J. Somerill. 
1846. J. Sleeper, S. Van Zant. 

1846. J. Sleeper, W. W. Christine. 

1847. S. Jacquett, William Tunison. 

1848. William Rogers, F. Robbins. 

1849. C. Downs, J. Camp. 

1850. C. Downs, Scran. 

1851. S. Decker, J. Mathews. 

1852. Henry Beegle, Primrose. 

1853. Henry Beegle, E. H. Durell. 

1854. Palmer, Cosea. 

1855. Palmer, Parvin. 

1856. J. White. 

1857. W. B. Osborn. 
1858-59. E. H. Durell. 
1860. George H. Neal. 
1861-62. N. Edwards. 
1863-64. R. B. Sutclifle. 
1865-66. J. P. Connolly. 
1867-69. M. Shimp. 

1870. W. C. Chattin. 

1871. R. B. Steverson. 

1872. D. McCurdy. 
1873-75. Joseph E. Willey. 
1876. T. D. Sleeper. 
1877-79. E. Waters. 
1880-82. J. E. Sawn. 
1883-84. L. A. Bearmore. 

New Siiauox hamlet lies on the line between 
ITpper Freehold and Mercer County. A Method- 



G38 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ist Church and school-liouse are both on the 
Mercer side. In 1807, William Story estab- 
lished the manufacture of hats at this place, 
employing from twenty-five to tliirty men. It 
was continued many years by him, and later by 
his sons, John and William Story. In 1820, 
Jedediah Middleton built a tannery, which 
afterwards passed to David Bowman, and was 
discontinued about 1840, under Alfred Conover. 
In 1820, Isaac Wilson built a mill, which, after 
a few years, was changed into a store. A post- 
office was established at the. place several years 
ago. Upon the completion of the Pemberton 
and Hightstown Railroad, the office was i-e- 
moved to the railway station. 

Caxton, or (as it is better known) Cabbage- 
town, lies on the line between Upper Freehold 
and Mercer County. Gordon's "Gazetteer" of 
1834 says of Cabbagetown : "It contains half 
a dozen dwellings, a wheelwright, smith and 
joiner-shop." It has not been much changed 
since that time. 

Prospeetown lies on the line between Upper 
Freehold and Ocean County. It contains a 
post-office, which was established in June, 1881, 
with Mrs. Sarah Johnson postmistress. She wa.s 
succeeded, in April, 1882, by Howell Imlay. 
A school-house is on the Ocean County side. 
The district contains eighty-five children of 
school age. Before 1800 a fulling-mill was 
built on a branch of Lahaway Creek in Jackson 
townsliip, which, about 1800, was moved to the 
site of the present mill by Moses Ivins and 
changed into a grist-mill. It remained in the 
Ivins family until 1880, when E. V. Einpson, 
the present owner and proprietor, purchased it. 

The township of Upper Freehold contains 
ten school districts and nine hundred and four 
children of school age. The school })roperty is 
valued at sixteen thousand three hundred dol- 
lars. The history of the different schools in 
the township, as far as can be ascertained is as 
follows : 

AllentoAvn District, No. 14. — The early s^iools 
in Allentown were private and ct>nuected with 
the church (as mentioned in the history of the 



village) until about 1834, when the old academy 
was rebuilt, rented to tiie school trustees, and used 
for the public school until the erection of the 
present school building in 1876. The district at 
present contains two hundred and thirty chil- 
dren of school age, and the i)roperty is valued 
at six thousand dollars. 

Centre District, No. 15. — The first school- 
house in this locality was erected at Pullens- 
town in 1839-40, and used until the present 
frame building was erected, in 1S69. The dis- 
trict contains sixty-five children of school age. 

East Branch District, No. 16. — The Friends 
established a meeting and erected a meeting- 
house in this locality in 1739, and soon after 
erected the school-house that stood prior to 
1819 between the present residences of J. West 
and E. T. Hendrickson. The road formerly 
jjassed between these two farms, and the old 
house was on a corner. In 1819, Ezekiel Combs 
donated the present lot, and the octagonal brick 
house was erected. It is about twenty feet in 
diameter; a door covered by a poi'ch occupies 
one side ; each of the other sides contains a small 
window. The roof is a steep pitch and shin- 
gled. The interior is lathed and plastered to 
the peak, which is surmounted by a chimney. 
The stove stands in the centre of the room. 
This unique structure is still ussd and in good 
preservation. The district contains eighty-five 
scholars of school age. 

A school-house was erected about 1825 on 
the farm of Samuel Wright, which was used 
about twelve years and abandoned. J. Calla- 
han was a teacher in this house. 

Imlaystown District, No. 17. — The first 
school-house of which anything is known in 
this district stood about three-fourths of a mile 
south from the village, and was used over sev- 
enty-five years ago. With some repairs, it was 
continued until the present two-story frame 
house was erected in the village, in 1866. The 
district now contains one hundred and five chil- 
dreu of school age. 

Cowart District, No. 18. — The first school- 
house iu this locality was erected before the 
Eralay's Hill meeting-house was built, in 1791, 
on the Daniel Hendrickson farm, Ix'tween the 
present house and Skunktown. It was torn 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



639 



down in 1858, and the present house erected on 
the same farm. This was rebuilt in 1880 aud 
is now used. The district contains seventy 
children of school age. 

Cream Kidge District, No. 19. — The chil- 
dren in this vicinity for many years attended 
school near Hornerstown. The present brick 
house was built over sixty years ago. A small 
school-house was erected on the Presbyteiian 
Church lot many years ago, and a private school 
was tiiught in it until 1880, when it was aban- 
doned. The district contains fifty-eight schol- 
ars of school atre. 

Pleasant Ridge District, Xo. 20. — In 1838 
"William Forsyth donated a lot of land for 
school purposes, and the citizens united and 
erected the school-house in that year. It has 
been used from that time to the present, having 
been repaired in 1883. The district contains 
forty scholars of school age. 

Ellisdale District, No. 21. — The school-house 
now in use was moved in May, 1867, to its 
present location, on laud donated by George 
Tilton. It originally stood back on the Tilton 
farm, and was used both as a school-house and 
Friends' Meeting house. It was erected before 
1812. Mrs. Theodosia Craig, a number of years 
ago, left by will four hundred dollars each to 
this school and Hornerstown. The district now 
contains fifty children of school age. 

Marl Ridge District No. 22.— The first 
school-house in this district was about three- 
quarters of a mile from the village, on the 
Monmouth road. The teachers were James 
B. Stafford and Samuel C. Rodney. The 
house was afterwards used as a dwelling house. 
The next school building was on the New 
Egypt road. It was a dwelling-house owned 
by Robert Woodward, by whom it was given 
for the purpose of a school, and it was removed 
to the present site, where it was refitted. It 
was eighteen by twenty-four feet, with a ceiling 
five feet six inches in height, which, in after 
years, was raised eighteen inches. The school 
was opened in 1820, and was taught by James 
Callahan until 1824. It is stated that John M. 
Horner, now or recently a millionaire of San 
Francisco, but a native of this place, made the 
desk and seat in the old house in which he was 



both pupil and teacher. The present two-story 
school building was erected in 1871, and opened 
with ceremonies December loth, in that year, at 
which time Superintendent Samuel Lockwood 
delivered an address containing the facts given 
above. The district at present contains one 
hundred and nine children of school age. The 
following is a list of teachers from 1824 to the 
present time : 

1824-27. Israel J. Woodward. 

1828. Mary Taylor aud Mary G. Taylor 

1829. Edward Tolett. 
1832. John Downy. 
1834. Benjamin Sweet. 

1836. James B. Woodward. 

1837. John L. Fuller. 

1838. Thomas E. Antrim. 
1840. John M. Horner. 

1840. Elizabeth Moore. 

1841. Ann Chamberlain. 
1846. John Kerland. 

1850. Henry Cooke. 

1851. John L. Hayes. 

1852. William Erriekson. 
1854. John Beazley. 

1866. Joseph Balcom. 

1856. Aaron West. 

1857. Daniel C. Warren. 
1859. Thomas C. Harrison. 
1861. Charles L. Lamb. 
1863. Amos Atkinson. 

1867. Charles Booth. 

1869. John M. Nutt and John M. Harker. 
1870-71. Kate Walter. 

1872. Charles Harker. 

1873. David Waldon. 

1874. Ella Wilson. 
1875-84. George H. Johnson. 

Arneytown District, No. 23, embracing a 
part of the adjoining township in Burlington 
County, was organized in 1874, in which year 
the school-house was erected. It is used also 
for religious worship. The district contains 
ninety-two children of school age. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

CoLLEX B. Meirs. — The Meirs family are of 
Scotch lineage, the great-great-grandfather of 
ColleH B. having been Christopher Meirs, born 
in 1700, whose children were David, John, Job 
and Joseph. 



640 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



David Meirs, whose Lirth occurred in 
1740, married Martha Swaim, and had one 
son, Apollo, and daughters, — Keturah, wIk) 
married Joel Cook ; and Elizabeth, who mar- 
ried Anthony Eraley. Apollo Meirs, born in 
1765, married Unity Shinu, whose children were 
Martha, married to Abraham Tilton ; Jt)lin, 
married to Lucretia Gaskill ; Thomas, married 
to Rebecca H. Conover ; and David. He mar- 
ried, a second time, Ann Burtis, whose children 
were Sarah, married to Daniel Tilton ; William, 
married to Mary Stewart; Unity, married to 
John Bruere ; and Charles, married, first, to 
Sarah Ann Cox, and, second, to Anna E. Rob- 
bins. 

Thomas Meirs, born in 1798, and his wife, 
Rebecca H. Conover, born in 1805, had chil- 
dren, — Martha Ann, married to Joseph Holmes; 
Mary L., married to John R. Longstreet ; John, 
who died in youth ; and CoUen B. Mrs. 
Thomas Meirs, is the daughter of Garret and 
Alice Hendrickson Conover, and tlie grand- 
daughter of Jacob and Mary Schanck Conover, 
or Covenhoven (German lineage,). 

Collin B. Meirs was born September 7, 1833, 
in the township of Upper Freehold, on the home- 
stead farm, which has been in the Meirs family 
four generations. Since childhood this has been 
his home. His earliest educational advantages 
were received under the direction of Rev. 
Samuel Aaron, at Treemount Seminary, Norris- 
town, Pa., with whom he spent four years, sub- 
sequently graduating at the Freehold Institute, 
N. J. Returning to his father's house, he at 
once became interested in the varied employ- 
ments of the farm, and was, December 13, 1855, 
married to Louisa Butterworth, granddaughter 
of "William and Rachel Butterworth, and 
daughter of Joiin Butterworth, born in 1800, 
and his wife, Keturah Stockton, of Burlington 
County, N. J. 

The children of Mr. and ]\Irs. Meirs are 
Rebecca C. (wife of William H. Davis), Thomas 
and Helen. On the decease of his father, Col- 
leu B. became by inheritance the owner of the 
farm, and has since that date been interested 
in the pursuits of an agriculturist. Whilst 
well informed on all matters pertaining to his 
callina;, and ranking: among; the most enlieht- 



ened and successful farmers of his township, 
he has given much attention to the raising of 
superior stock, being among the first to intro- 
duce the Holstein-Fresian cattle in the county. 
In 1881 he, with a few others, established the 
Cream Ridge Creamery, filling for a period the 
office of president, and subsequently becoming 
its .sujjerinteudent, which office he now holds. 
The success attending this in.stitution is in a 
great measure attributed to his judicious man- 
agement. 

On the organization of the First National 
Bank of Hightstown, N. J., he was made a 
director, and now tills the position of president. 
In 1864 he was named as one of the corpora- 
tors of the Pemberton and Hightstown Rail- 
road Company ; subsequently he was made a 
director and its treasurer, which positions he 
now occupies. He has been among the most 
public-spirited citizens of the county, and iden- 
tified with many enteri)rises which have inured 
to the welfare of its citizens. 

His judgment, integrity and ability have 
caused him often to be chosen for such impor- 
tant offices as executor and trustee, and made 
his counsel valuable in matters of public and 
private significance. Mr. Meirs is a strong and 
working Republican in politics. He served for 
eleven consecutive years on the Board of Free- 
holders, and was, in 1874, elected county 
auditor, which office he held for seven years. 
He wa.s, in 1871, nominated for the State Sen- 
ate, and came within four hundred and ten 
votes of carrying the strong Democratic county 
of Monmouth. Mr. and Mrs. Meii-s are both 
members of the Upper Freehold Baptist Church, 
of which the former is a trustee. 



Rev. Henky Perkins, D.D. — Henry Per- 
kins, the son of Eliphaz and I^ydia (Fitch) 
Perkins, was born in Vergennes, Vt. Fel> 
ruary 9, 1796. His father, a graduate of 
Yale College, was a practicing physician. His / 
mother was a sister of the Rev. Dr. Ebenezer 
Fitch, president of Williams College, Massa- I 
chusetts. Both his parents were natives of i 
Connecticut and both were exemplary Chris- 
tians, as were all his ancestors as far as known. 
In 1798, Dr. E. Perkins removed West with 




■Z>f 



m 






li 



I 
♦ 



I 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



641 



his family. After a brief sojourn in Marietta, 
where his wife died, he settled in Athens, 
Ohio. Here the Ohio University is located. 
Dr. E. Perkins was for many j'ears a trus- 
tee of that young university, since known as 
the Alma Hater of not a few distinguished men. 
Here it was that his son, tlie subject of this 
brief record, received his academic aud collegi- 
ate education, and was graduated with the 
degree of A.B. He received his theological 
education in the seminary at Princeton, N. J. 
On lea\'ing the seminaiy, in 1820, he was 
ordained and installed pastor of the churches 
of Allentown aud Nottingham Square. These 
churches, small at his coming, under his minis- 
try grew in numbers and strength. New 
church edifices were erected in both congrega- 
tions, and each desired to secure the whole time 
of their pastor. He decided to remain at Allen- 
town, and to the church there, his onlv 
pastorate, he ministered for forty-three years. 
During that time he received into the church 
between five and six hundred, of whom between 
four and five hundred on the profession of 
their faith in Christ. Several revivals of relig- 
ion blessed his ministry. His manner in the 
pulpit was solemn and impressive. He seemed 
never to forget that he was the Lord's ambas- 
sador, and on a mission of all the most momen- 
tous. He was faithful aud affectionate as a 
pastor, ever seeking the highest good of his 
people. His mode of address was what is 
called extempore, but was not without careful 
preparation. His voice — heavy, clear, far- 
reaching — was well adapted to public speaking. 
His delight was to unfold the uusearchable 
riches of the gospel of Christ, and he was per- 
haps never more happy in this thau on Sabbath 
afternoons in the school-houses of his some- 
what widely extended parish, when the people 
would gather for miles around till the place 
was often too " strait " for them. 

Two new churches were erected in the vicin- 
ity of these school-houses. As years advanced 
he considered his strength inadequate to the 
charge of so large a congregation, and at his 
request, in the year 1864, the pastoral relation 
was dissolved. He continued to live among 
his former people, and for several years to 
41 



preach as strength and opportunity permitted, 
often in his old pulpit aud always with accept- 
ance. 

The degree of D.D. was conferred on him by 
the College of New Jersey in the year 1858. Soon 
after his ordination he married Miss Eliza A., 
daughter of Dr. John Reeve, of Rocky Hill, 
N. J. The prudent forethought, the ever- 
watchful eye and the sympathetic nature of 
his wife added not a little to the success of his 
ministry. She was taken from him by death in 
November, 1850. Two daughters, their only 
children, are still living, — one the wife of Hon- 
orable James H. Bruere, of Princeton, N. J., 
and the other the wife of the Rev. John H. 
Pratt, now residing at the old homestead, in 
Allentown, N. J. Dr. Perkins aftenvards 
married Miss Lydia Newbold, of Spring- 
field, N. J. She, too, was a helper in the 
gospel. She died September 20, 1871. Dur- 
ing the last years of his life Dr. Perkins, 
owing to failing health and strength, was con- 
fined the most of the time to his house and 
study. Here the Bible was his chosen com- 
panion and the Scripture promises a constant 
source of consolation. His death, caused by a 
sudden and severe stroke of paralysis, occurred 
June 30, 1880. 

Many of his old friends, with their children, 
and children's children, attended his funeral. 
His remains rest, among his beloved people, in 
the cemetery near the church, whither they 
were borne by six of his brethren in the min- 
istry, there to await the resurrection of the just. 



Joseph Holmes. — Jonathan Holmes, the son 
of Joseph Holmes and the grandfather of the 
subject of this biographical sketch, resided upon 
the farm now owned by the latter in Upper 
Freehold township. To his wife, a Miss Ashton, 
were born children, — Joseph, Elizabeth and 
Alice. Joseph, the only son, spent his life upon 
the farm where his birth occurred, having mar- 
ried Mary Bruere, of the same township, whose 
children were Jonathan, born in 1794 ; James, in 

1796; Joseph, ; Alice, in 1798 (^vife of 

Dr. William Davis) ; and Sarah, in 1809 (wife 
of John H. Bruere). 

Joseph, of this number, was born on the 24th 



642 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of November, 1810, and has spent his life at 
the scene of his birth. His education, begun at 
the district school of the neighborhood, was com- 
pleted at Burlington, N. J., after which he re- 
turned to the farm and was actively engaged in 
its various departments of labor. The property 
having been sold, on attaining his majority, he 
became the purchaser, though already the owner 
of that portion which fell to him by inheritance. 
He was, on the 27th of October, 1842, married 
to Martha Ann, daughter of Thomas S. and 
Eebecca Meirs, whose birth occurred October 
23, 1824. Their children are Mary, born Feb- 
ruary 1, 1844 (Mrs. James L. Rue) ; Sarah, 
August 9, 1845,whodied August 16, 1849 ; and 
Joseph, whose birth occurred July 11, 1849. 
Mr. Holmes has made farming the business of 
his life. Although his career has not been es- 
pecially noticeable for new departures in the 
science of agriculture, he has kept pace with 
the latest inventions and improvements that are 
made available in aiding the farmer, and has 
been successful in his business operations. Mr. 
Holmes fills the office of director of the 
Hightstown National Bank, and is a member 
of the Monmouth County Agricultural Society. 
His political sympathies are with the Republi- 
cans, though indiiferent to office and seldom 
found among the party leaders or workers. He 
is a director of the Pemberton Railroad and has 
been associated with other important enterprises. 
Mr. Holmes is in his religious foith a Baptist, 
and both deacon and trustee of the Baptist 
Church of Upper Freehold. The grandchil- 
dren of Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are Annie H. and 
Joseph H. (children of James L. and Mary 
Rue), and Sarah, Joseph G. and George B. 
(children of Joseph and Helen Holmes). 

Abel Cafferty. — Abel Cafferty is of Irish 
descent, and is the grandson of William Caffiirty, 
who resided at Red Bank, N. J., where he car- 
ried on the occupations of a tanner, shoemaker 
and farmer. He married Mary Bowers, of Hol- 
land Dutch descent, and to them were born 
children, — John, Nathaniel, Josiah. Joel, Samuel 
and two daughters. 

Nathaniel Cafferty was born in Upper Free- 



hold, and early acquired his father's trade, which 
he followed at Imlaystown. He married 
Patience, daughter of Vanroom Robbins, of 
Middlesex Count}-, whose children were John, 
Abel, Lydia Ann (married Charles Hopkins), 
Enoch and Vanroom. Of these, John and 
Lydia Ann are now deceased. 

Abel Cafferty was born at Imlaystown on 
May 21, 1813, and until twenty-one years of 
age lived at that place, where his time was spent 
at the common school, the trade of shoeraaking 
and for a period of two years in farming. His 
father having rented the saw-mill, upon the site 
of which nowstands thegrist-millownedby Mr. 
Cafferty, at AUentown, N. J., when Abel was 
twenty-two years of age he proceeded thither, and 
was there employed in connection with his father 
for five years, when he leased the mill for a 
period of five years, and also engaged in the mak- 
ing of sausage. In 1845, Mr. Cafferty bought the 
mill property, and later erected a new saw and 
grist-mill, which he conducted successfully till 
1883, when he rented the grist-mill to his son 
Howell, still controlling the saw-mill and ad- 
jacent property. The mill built in 1855 was 
constructed by Mr. Cafferty, the bricks being 
made at his brickyard, under his personal super- 
vision. He has, in addition to these enterprises, 
been a successful f;\rmer, and at one time engaged 
in the growth of mulberry trees for the pur- 
pose of silk-culture ; this, however, was but an 
indifferent success. Mr. Cafferty was formerly 
a Democrat, but is now a Republican in his 
political opinions, and has never held a political 
position excepting that of constable, his business 
interests having precluded any active participa- 
tion in politics. He is connected with the lead- 
ing business interests of the town, and gives his 
support to the Presbyterian Church, of which 
Mrs. Cafferty is a member. 

On October 19, 1843, Mr. Cafferty married 
Margaret, daughter of Joseph Walker, born in 
Germany; was a resident of AUentown. Mrs. 
Cafferty was born October 30, 1822. To them ' 
have been born children,— Mary W. (Mrs. Wil- 
liam Haukins), Charles (married Fanny, daughter 
of Daniel W. Bills, of AUentown), Elizabeth 
(Mrs. Joseph Rodgers), John (married Emma, 
daughter of James Parker, of AUentown) and 





<^^- 



-z^ 



ej 



I 



UPPER FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP. 



643 



daughter of William 



Howell (married Kate, 
Tiel, ofBordentown). 

Mr. Cafferty is a man greatly respected for 
bis solid worth, and is now, as his years of life 
draw near to a close, enjoying the fruits uf honest 
industry and his laudable desire to " get on in 
the world." 



James D. Hall. — Abuer Hall, the father 
of James D. Hall, resided in Upper Freehold 



spent. The usual life of a farmer's son was 
his, and such education as the common schools 
of the neighborhood afforded was acquired. 
After a few years spent in Philadelphia, where 
he learned the trade of a bricklayer, he returned 
to his home, and embarked in business as a 
distiller, and also in the manufacture of cider. 
At a later date he engaged in the manufacture 
of vinegar, which employment he followed up 
to the time of his death. Soon after his return 




c^^%^/ ^^^^^^I 



township, Monmouth County, N. J., and fol- 
lowed the occupation of a farmer. He married 
Mary Dillon, and to them were born children, — 
Hannah (Mrs. Horton Cooper), James D., Alice 
(Mrs. Samuel Burke), Lydia, George (married 
Catherine Conover) and Mary (Mrs. James 
Burke). 

James D. Hall was born April 9, 1818, upon 
the homestead farm in Upper Freehold town- 
ship, and there the earlier part of his life was 



to Upper Freehold he purchased a farm ad- 
joining the family homestead, and this he cul- 
tivated. Some years later he purchased the 
homestead farm ; and at the time of his death 
he owned five hundred acres of good land, all 
purchased from his unaided earnings. He was 
an active business man, and one highly respected 
in the community in which he lived; a strong 
Democrat in his political views, and as such 
served in the New Jei-sey Legislature in 1849- 



644 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



50. He was a director in the Hightstown Na- 
tional Banl\, an active Mason, a member of tlie 
Odd-Fellows' fraternity, and also of the Mon- 
mouth County Agricultural Society. On Jan- 
uary 23, 1839, he married Alice Jamieson, 
whose children were Hannah, Virginia, James 
E. and Eleanor (Mrs. George R. Field). He 
was married, February 5, 1874, to Mary, 
daughter of William S. Rue, of Upper Free- 



in the forty-seventh year of his age. He re- 
ceived a classical education at New Brunswick, 
studied medicine with his brothers, Azariah D. 
Newell, M.D., and William A. Newell, M.D. ; 
graduated at the Medical College of the District 
of Columbia in 1844, and begun the practice of 
his profession at Imlaystown where he continued 
to reside until his death. 

During the War of the Rebellion he enlisted 





hold, to whom was born one daughter, 
Mary D. 

Mr. Hall's death occurred February 1, 1883. 



Dr. William Dunham Newell, fifth 
and youngest son of James H. and Eliza D. 
Newell, was born at Black's Hills, Monmouth 
County, on the 20th of February, 1823, and died 
at Imlaystown on the 22d of November, 1869, 



as a private in the Union army, but was soon 
after appointed surgeon of the Twenty-eighth 
Regiment New Jersey Volunteers, a position 
which he filled with great skill and acceptance 
until the expiration of his term of service. 
He was present at the first and second battles 
of Fi-edericksburg, at that of Chancellorsville, 
and also in several minor engagements ; was 
repeatedly exposed to the fire of the enemy, but 
always performed his duties on the field with 



HOWELL TOWNSHIP. 



645 



cijolaess and courage, never shrinking from 
danger. His life wan devoted exclusively to 
his jirofessional business, and he had at all 
times a large and lucrative practice. His 
thorough knowledge of disease, extensive ex- 
perience, keen percejition, sound judgment and 
c'lose application comljined to render him 
eminently successful as a practitioner, and 
gained f(ir him a widespread and well-deserved 
reputation as a physician, not only with the 
people, but also with his medical brethren, 
with whom his relations were most friendly 
and intimate. He was possessed of extraordinary 
delicacy of touch and mechanical talent, and 
was a dextrous manipulator. These qualities 
rendered him a successful surgeon, so that in 
the adjustment of wounds, luxations, fractures, 
application of splints and bandages, and in tiie 
management of such other surgiatl cases as 
can)e in his practice he had no superior. He 
was a constant reader, keeping pace Nvith the 
most advanced ideas and improvements in the 
medical profession ; was a close student of 
history, familiar with the best poetry of the 
language, and \yas thoroughly versed in current 
literature. H^ was an accomplished musician, 
performing well upon almost every variety of 
instrument. As a delineator and painter he 
especially excelled, and many of his off-hand 
productions challenged the ad miration of masters. 
He was large-hearted and liberal, and never 
turned the poor empty away. He was a vigor- 
ous and athletic gymnast, rapid as a flash, and 
of unerring aim. In person he was dignified 
and imposing, and in mien and manner carried 
the attributes of a true g-entleman. During 
his term of service in the armj' the exposure to 
which he was subjected induced several severe 
attacks of pneumonia, which, together with a 
violent injury received at the first battle of 
Fredericksburg, undermined his health, and 
resulted in his death. He died where he had 
lived during all the years of his manhood, be- 
loved by the people, and at peace with God 
and all mankind. His remains were interred 
in the cemetery attached to the Presbyterian 
Church at Allcntown, attended to their final 
home by a multitude of loving and sorrowing 
friends. 



CHAPTER XX. 



HOWELL TOWNSHIP. 



HowKLL is one of the southern tier of town- 
ships of Monmouth County. Its boundaries 
are: On the north, Atlantic township; on the 
east. Wall township; ou the south, Ocean 
County; on the west. Ocean County and the 
township of Freehold. The Manasquan River 
flows southeastwardly through the central part 
of the township, in which it receives the waters 
of several tributaries, the principal of which is 
the Mingamahone Brook, which flows nearly 
south and enters the main stream near the east 
line of tiie township. The north branch of 
Metedecunk Creek flows through Howell along 
its entire southwestern and southern border, 
leaving the township at its southeastern corner, 
and passing thence into Ocean County, where it 
unites with the main stream, which flows into 
Barnegat Bay. Two railway lines pass through 
the territory of Howell, — viz., the Jamesburg and 
Freehold Agricultural Railroad (now a part of 
the lines of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- 
]iany), which traverses the township from north- 
west to southeast, and the New Jersey Southern 
Railroad (now ojx'rated by the Philadelphia 
and Reading Railroad Company), which enters 
the towaiship near its northeast corner and passes 
through it thence in a southwesterly direction. 
The two railroads cross each other at the village 
of Farmingdale. The population, of Howell, 
by the United States census of 1880, was three 
thousand three hundred and seventy-four. 

Howell was formed from territory taken 
from Siirewsbury and erected into a township 
by the pi'ovisions of an act of Assembly passed 
February 23, 1801, which declares that "All 
that part of the township of Shrewsbury, in the 
county of Monmouth, lying within the follow- 
ing boundaries, to wit: Beginning at the main 
sea or ocean, in the middle of Shark River Inlet, 
and from thence running up the main stream 
thereof, up along the several windings, to a }>lace 
called and known by the name of the Horse 
Pound ; ' and from thence from a certain pine 

' Tradition says this place was so called because her* 
the Indians caught the horses and cattle of the early set- 



646 



HISTOKY OF .MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



tree standing by the edge of the brook in the 
Horse Pound, lettered I. P., said to be the be- 
ginning corner of a tract of land surveyed and 
returned for Joseph Potter (deceased), on a 
straight line to the head-spring of Mingume- 
hone Branch, at the foot of Manohomy Hill, 
near the Widow Harvey's house ; and from 
thence on a straight line to the most southerly 
corner of a tract of land belonging to the Rev- 
erend Samuel Pyle, ' called ths Mill Tract; 
from thence, along said Pyle's southerly bound 
lines, till it meets the easterly bound line of the 
township of Freehold ; and from thence along 
said line southerly until it meets the northerly 
bound line of the township of Dover ; and 
from thence eastwardly along the line of said 
township until it comes to the main ocean ; and 
from thence along the same northerly to the 
place of beginning, shall be, and the same is 
hereby, set off from the township of Shrewsbury; 
and the same is hereby established a separate 
township, to be calletl by the name of The 
Township of Howell." The name given to 
this township was in honor of Richard Howell, 
then Governor of New Jersey. 

The act (passed February 15, 1850) which 
erected the county of Ocean declai-ed it divided 
into six townships, viz. : the existing townships 
of Stafford, Jackson, Plumsted, Union and 
Dover, and the then erected new township of 
Brick, which was to be composed of a part of 
Dover township and of that part of Howell 
lying south of the county line of Monmouth and 
Ocean. It appears that by a mistake made in 

tiers, which rau at large in the woods, distinguished as to 
their ownership only by certain marks or brands, which 
were entered in the township and county records. It. was 
said that the Indians built a brush fence in the form of a 
triangle, the apex of which was at a point where there was 
a bog or quagmire. From this place the fences diverged 
until the two were nearly a mile apart. Into this open- 
ing the horses and cattle were driven, until they came to 
the bog, where they sunk into the mire, and were then 
easily taken by the Indians. 

'This should be Rev. Simon Pyle. He was a minister 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and preached during 
the first part of his life through Virginia, Maryland and 
South Jersey. He afterwards settled in Monmouth County 
as a farmer, and was also a local preacher. He was the 
father of Simon F. Tyle, a well-known surveyor of this 
county. 



the description of the boundaries of Brick town- 
ship at the time of its erection, it was not made 
to include all that part of Howell township 
which was thrown into Ocean County ; on which 
account a supplement was passed in 1851, enact- 
ing that " All that part of the township of 
Howell, which, by the formation of the town- 
ship of Brick, became detached from the afore- 
said township of Howell, and lying on the south 
side of the township of Brick, be and the same 
is hereby declared to belong and attached to, 
and form a part of the township of Dover." 

In 1851 Howell was reduced to its present 
limits by the erection of the township of Wall 
from that part lying between Shark River and 
the line of Ocean County. The description of 
the territory taken from Howell in the forma- 
tion of Wall is given in the history of the 
latter township. 

The following is a list of chosen freeholders of 
Howell township from its formation to the 
present year, viz. : 

1801^. David Lewis. 
1805. James Allen. 
1805-15. Samuel I. Forman. 
1828-39. Nicholas Van Wickle. 
1839-50. Jesse Cowdrick. 
1840. Samuel F. Allen. 
1841-42. Josiah Wainright. 
1843-50. Benjamin Lafetra. 
1850-56. James Cooper. 
1857-72. Charles Butcher. 
1873-75. Austin H. Patterson. 
1876. W. Thompson Little. 
1877-78. Austin H. Patterson. 
1879-81. Charles H. Boud. 
1882-84. Austin H. Patterson. 

Gordon's " Gazetteer" of 1834 gives the fol- 
lowing in reference to Howell township : " Mana- 
squan, Squankum and Howell Fm-nace are post- 
towns in this township. Its population in 1830 
was 4141. In 1832 there were in the township 
about eight hundred taxables, one hundred and 
two-hundred householders, whose ratables did 
not exceed thirty dollars and forty-two single 
men, eleven stores, ten ,saw-mills, five grist- 
mills, two fulling-mills, four carding-machines, 
twenty-six tan-vats, two di-stilleries, one furnace 
in operation, three hundred and sixty-five horses 
and mules, and fourteen hundred neat cattle." 



HOWELL TOWNSHIP. 



647 



Farmingdale is the principal village of 
Howell, lying in the eastern part of tiie town- 
ship, north of its centre. It is situated ou 
Miugamahone Brook, and at the crossing of the 
New Jersey Southern Railroad and the line 
running from Freehold to Manasquan. 

From a time before the Revolution down to 
1815, or later, this place was known as " Marsh's 
Bog," and afterwards as Upper Squankum, 
which latter was the name given to the post- 
office when it was established there in 1819.' 
The name of the office was changed to Farming- 
dale April 1, 1854. 

During the Revolution, Thomas Borden kept 
a tavern, which stood nearly opposite the store 
of Jacob Lutz. In this old tavern the bar- 
room ceiling was pierced by bayonets, said to 
be those of Britisli soldiers, but it is much more 
likely it was done by men of the Monmouth 
militia, who were posted there from time to 
time during the war. Soon after the death of 
Thomas Borden his widow married James 
Parker, who continued the tavern. Hugh Boud 
married a daughter of Thomas Borden, and he 
afterwards kept the tavern, and was the last 
landlord. It was closed about 1838. Charles 
G. Boud, of Farmingdale, is a sou of Hugh 
Boud. 

About 1815, William Little built a tavern at 
the turn of the road that leads to Freehold, and 
kept it until about 1855. He also had a black- 
smith-shop at the Corners. The first store was 
kept by Henry Remseu, and later by H. Wain- 
wright, whose successors in the business have 
been Josepii Goodenough, William Goodenough 
and Jacob Lutz. The American Hotel, now 
kept by C. AV. Brower, was built upon the 
opening of the railroad in 1868. 

In 1864, William H. Vann erected a foun- 
dry, which he carried on until 1870, when it 
was sold to Lafetra & Van Note. It is now 
owned and operated by Grandin Van Note. 

The post-office was establishetl at Upper 

' The name, however, clung to the place after the estab- 
lishment of the post-office. Gor Jon's "Gazetteer" of 1834 
mentions its as "Marsh's Bog," situate in Howell town- 
ship, nine miles southeast of Freehold, and says, " It 
contains two taverns, two stores and ten or twelve dwell- 
ings. 



Squankum (now Farmingdale) March 25, 1819> 
upon the opening of a mail route from Free- 
hold to Tuckerton. James Parker was ap- 
pointed po.stmaster, and held the position until 
August 9, 1826, when he was succeeded by 
Halsted H. Wainwright. He was succeeded, 
about 1850, by Joseph Goodenough. In 1858, 
William Goodenough was appointed, and held 
it until 1883, when Mrs. S. W. Hankins, the 
present postmaster, was appointed. 

The ]\Iethodist Church of Farjiing- 
DALE has a history covering about forty years. 
In 1844, though the Methodists in this section 
had no church edifice, yet they had bought a 
parsonage house for the preacher of the circuit, 
and on the 5th of September in that year they 
elected trustees. The parsonage was described 
as being " in the village of Upper Squankum, 
in the township of Howell." In 1848 a lot 
was purchased of Catharine Wainwright, and 
the corner-stone of a church edifice was laid in 
1849. The building was finished and dedicated 
in 1850, remodeled in 1866 and reopened 
January 1, 1867. The Revs. W. E. Barrett 
and W. C. Stockton were ministers in chai'se 
in 1850. They were succeeded by the follow- 
ing-named ministers: William Franklin and 
Josiah Canfield, 1853-54; Mordecai C. Stokes, 
1858; John L. Souder, 1859; S. Jaquett, 
1860-61 ; G. H. Tuilis, 1862-63; William E. 
Boyle, 1864-65; William B. Osborn, 1870-71 ; 
S. C. Chattin, 1872-74; T. S. Wilson, 1875; 
S. W. Lake, 1876; G. G. Graw, 1877-78; S. 
W. Lake, 1879-80; T. C. Carman, 1881-82; 
E. Giffijrd, 1883; W. F. Herr, 1884. The 
church has a membership of two hundred. 

The Presbyterian Church at Farming- 
dale was organized December 29, 1870, by the 
Monmouth Presbytery. The church, at its or- 
ganization, consisted of Gilbert Davison and 
ten ladies, who were members of various 
churches. A call was extended, in July, 1871, 
to the Rev. Daniel W. Teller, which was not 
accepted. The Rev. E. J. Pierce, who had 
lately returned from a missionary field of labor 
on tiie Gaboon River, in Africa, came to this 
place and supplied the church from August 1873 



648 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



until October, when he was installed pastor, and 
he is still in charge. 

Meetings were held for worship in the school- 
house. On the 1st of October, 1872, a con- 
tract was made with George C. Hulett to erect 
a church building, thirty-six by fifty-five feet, 
for three thousand dollars. The edifice was 
dedicated August 21, 1873, and is still occupied 
by the church. 

For some time tlie society increased rapidly 
in numbers but by reason of removals to the 
coast in late years, it now numbers only about 
sixty members. 

Mingamahone Lodge, No. 1 62, I.O. of O.F., 
was instituted in 1874, with the following per- 
sons as charter members : J. Mount Smith, J. 
Monroe Wainwright, Henry W. Lake, Charles 
E. Bartow and Edwin C. Barkalow. The pres- 
ent officers are J. J. Lippincott, N. G. ; B. M. 
Disbrow, V. G. ; C. H. Boud, Rec. Sec. ; Joseph 
Morton, Per. Sec. ; Edwin Miller, Treas. The 
lodge now has about thirtv-five members. 

The Friendship Rebekah Lodge, No. 37, I. 
O. of O. F., of Farmingdale, was instituted 
November 14, 1873, with ten female and seven- 
teen male charter members. The lodge soon 
ceased to exist. 

Squankum Tribe, No. 39, Improved Order of 
Red Men, was instituted May 7, 1873, with 
twenty-four members. It now has twenty-two 
members. The present officers ai-e James M. 
Lippincott, Sachem ; Jacob Lutz, Senior Saga- 
more ; S. C. Burdge, Junior Sagamore ; W. W. 
Brower, Chief of Records ; B. M. Disbrow, 
Prophet ; C. W. Brower, Keeper of Wampum. 

Lower Squankum lies in the southeast part 
of the township, on the Manasquan. In 1820 
one Lloyd was the owner of a grist-mill at this 
place. In 1834 there where here two taverns, 
one store, a Friends' INIeeting-house, a grist-mill 
and fulling-mill and twelve or fiiteen dwellings. 
In that year the " Free Meeting-House " was 
built here. William Clayton, William K. Van 
Note, Ephraim B. Wainwright, George G. John- 
son and John Woodmansie were elected trus- 
tees. The house has been occujiied mostly 
(though not regularly) by Metliodist ministers. 



but has been free to, and been used by, other de- 
nominations, as ministers could be obtained. 

The Friends' Meeting-house was built on a lot 
of three-fourths of an acre of land, which was 
sold for that purpose February 21, 1778, by 
Patterson Cook to George Parker, Obadiah Wil- 
liams, Obadiah Tilton, Britton White, Benjamin 
Corlies and Peter Corlies, trustees of the Friends' 
Meeting. The old building stood on the oppo- 
site side of the stream from the mill. The old 
burial-place still remains. The meeting-house 
has long since gone down. A school-house was 
built here in 1839. In 1856 the mill was sold 
by R. T. Stout to Nesbit Brothers, and by 
them to Charles B. Hulett, who, in 1872, sold 
to W. A. Prickett, who is now the owner and is 
also postmaster, having succeeded John Stokey, 
who had been postmaster many yeai-s, until 
1879. 

West Farms, formerly known as New Bar- 

ffaintown, is located near the centre of the town- 
ee ' 

ship. A mill was built at this jilace about 1830, 
and it was in building the dam across the river 
that marl was discovered in this locality, \\hich 
resulted in the formation of the Squankum Miirl 
Company (incorporated March 2(3, 1863 ; capital, 
thirty thousand dollars), who operated largely in 
this section.' 

'A writer, in 1860, said of this marl region, — 
" Squankum marl took its name from the village of Squan- 
kum, which lies on the northern extremity of the marl 
district. Marl was first discovered about 1830, in sinking 
a mud sill in building a dam across the head of Squan 
Kiver, at New Bargain Mills, and for the last twenty 
years immense and increasing quantities have been used 
yearly. It is safe to say that it has made what was once 
a very poor section of Monmouth County one of tbe most 
fertile districts of the State. It has raised the price of 
land in many places from five dollars to one hundred 
dollars per acre, and has placed land-owners — of whom it 
was said the more land they owned the poorer they were 
— in very affluent circumstances. The marl district be- 
gins on the stream which forms the head of Squan River, 
a little above New Bargain Mills, and on both banks of 
the stream, for a distance of six miles, good marl is fouud 
convenient of access. On the Mingamahone Brook good 
marl is found from Uppei* Squakum to the conjunction of 
said brook with the New Bargain stream, a distance of 
four and a half miles, and there is so little top soil on 
this stream above the marl that in many places, for a half- 
mile back on either side, marl can convenieptly be got uul 
anywhere ; in fact, the whole land can be dug up. On the 



HOWELL TOWNSHIP. 



649 



Gordon's " Gazetteer " of 1834 says of New 
Bivrgaintown, upon Maiiasqiiau River : " It 
contains a grist-mill and some half-dozen dwell- 
ings, surrounded by a pine forest." The mill 
is now owned by Henry Layton. On the same 
stream, farther uj), is a grist-mill now called 
Fairfield Mills, owned by C. R. and James O. 
JIathews, formerly known as Pij^e Longstreth's 
mill, and still earlier as " ye Leonard's mill," 
there being several " Leonard's mills " in the 
country before 1730. Still farther up the stream, 
and south from Blue Ball, are the Barkalow or 
Barraclo Mills, which have been in the family 
over one hundred and fifty years. 

Blue Ball, is a small village or settlement 
on the M'estern line of Howell township, adjoin- 
ing Freehold, and about three and a half miles 
~iiutli of the court-house. A short distance 
north of the hamlet is Shumar's Mill, which, 
in the time of the Revolution, was known as 
Richmond's Mill. It was there that Colonel 
Daniel IMorgan lay with his famous corps of 
riflemen during the whole of the day of June 
28, 1778, impatiently waiting for orders to 
move up and take part in the battle of Mon- 
mouth. 

This settlement as it was in 1834 is described 
briefly in the " Gazetteer " of that year as follows : 
" It contains a tavern and store, ten or twelve 
dwellings, one Presb^-terian and one Methodist 
Church." The Presbyterian Church here re- 
ferred to stood on the site of the Fairfield 
Baptist Church. The Methodist Churcii men- 
tioned was built here nearly a century ago, as 
will be noticed in the history of that church. 

Blue Ball derived its name from the tavern 
which was erected here about 1800, and was 
kept by David Conover till 1826. At that 
time Aaron Brower became the landlord and 
kept it many years. It is now kept by J. B. 
Titus. About 1827, John Hall and Ebenezer 
Scott started a small stoi-e ; the latter kept it 
until 1853 and sold to Aaron Combs, who con- 
tinued several years. The store is now kept by 
Mrs. E. E. Hall. In 1850, D. C. Perrine 

main bi'anch of Shark River marl is found from Shaftoe's 
saw mill down to the river, a distance of about five 
miles." 



built a store building and established a branch 
store at this place (his main business being in 
Freehold). This was kept until 1856, when 
he sold to John S. Forman, who continued a 
few years and sold to Francis Patterson, who, in 
1868, admitted to partnership his brother, 
George W. Patterson. The store was afterwards 
burned, but was rebuilt, and is now owned by 
Charles H. Brower. 

The post-office was established after 1834. 
John Hall was the first postmaster. He was 
succeeded by John S. Barton, John L. Corlies, 
George L. Britton, John C. Patterson, Dr. 
Isaac N. Beegle and jNIrs. E. E. Hall, who still 
holds the office. 

Dr. Richard T. Stoutenburgh, a graduate of 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New 
York, located here in 1846 and practiced a few 
years, then retired. De Witt W. Barclay set- 
tled at this place as a physician in 1847, prac- 
ticed a number of years and retired to a farm, 
but after a few years returned to practice and 
continued till his death, in 1867. Dr. Joseph 
B. Goodenough came here about 1850 and re- 
mained till his removal to Lonff Branch. Dr. 
Isaac N. Beegle also settled here. He is now 
at Ocean Grove. Dr. Harry Neafie recently in 
practice here, is now located at Freehold. 

Adelphia Lodge, No. 65, K. of P., was in- 
stituted at Farmingdale, January L5, LS72, and 
removed to Turkey (Blue Ball), April 15, 1878. 
JNIeetings were held ibr a year in Emmons' 
wheelwright-shop, and upon the completion of 
Adelphia Hall, in 1879, the lodge moved to 
that building. The membership is now about 
sixty. 

The Bethesda Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Blue Ball is the most ancient of 
the churches of that denomination in Mon- 
motith County, dating back more than a cen- 
tury. Being located within about three miles 
of the village of Monmouth (now Freehold), 
and being the only Methodist Church in that 
vicinity (the Freehold Church not being formed 
until a half-century later), it was for many 
years known as " the ilethodist Chiu'ch of 
Monmouth." The Rev. John Atkinson, in his 
" Memorials of Methodism," says of it, — 



650 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" The Methodist Society at Monmouth must have 
been formed at an early period, probably about 1780, 
as in that year Job Throckmorton, of Freehold, was 
converted under the ministry of the Kev. Richard 
Garretson, and became a member of the society. He 
was one of the first members in that region. The 
Methodists were much persecuted there at that time. 
His house was a home for preachers, and very likely 
Bishop Asbury was entertained at his dwelling during 
his visits to Freehold. Everitt, Freeborn Garretson, 
Ezeziel Cooper, Ware and others were accustomed to 
stop at his house. He was accustomed to relate inci- 
dents of Rev. Benjamin Abbott's powerful ministry^ 
one of which is as follows : ' On one occasion meeting 
was held in the woods, and after Freeborn Garretson 
had preached, Abbott arose and looked around over 
the congregation very significantly, and exclaimed, 
" Lord, begin the work ; Lord, begin the work now > 
Lord, begin the work just tliere ! " pointing at the same 
time towards a man who was standing beside a tree 
and the man fell as suddenly as if he had been shot 
and cried for mercy.' " 

Of Methodism in Monmouth one hundred 

years ago (says Major Yard ') the records are of 

the most meagre cliaraeter. Previous to 1774 

the whole State was included in one circuit, sup- 

plietl by two preachers. That year it was 

divided into two circuits, — Trenton and Green- 

^vich, — hut still there were but two preachers 

assigned to the State, — William Watters to 

Trenton Circuit, and Philip Ebert to Greenwich, 

e.xchanging at the end of six months with 

Daniel Ruff and Joseph Yearby, from Chester 

(Pa.) Circuit. Watters was the first native-born 

Methodist itinerant in America. Richard 

Owings, also native-born, was a local preacher 

before Watters entered the work, but he did 

not join the traveling connection until after 

Watters. Freeborn Garretson visited New 

Jersey in 1779, and doubtless traveled through 

the State. Greenwich and Trenton Circuits 

disappear from the Conference Minutes in 1776, 

and New Jersey and Philadelphia appear as 

separate circuits until 1779, when they appear 

that year as one circuit, with Philip Cox, Joshua 

Dudley and Daniel Ruff as preachers. 

The Methodists of this region in 1779 must 
have been few in number, as there were but 
one hundred and forty reported in the State. 
They perhaps formed a society — or a " class," 



1 Major James S. Yard, in an address delivered at the 
centennial of the Belhesda Church, September 4. 1879. 



as we would now call it — which counted its 
members scattered through a wide district. 
Blue Ball may have been a centre for its meet- 
ings, and Freehold on its borders. This is 
probable, for while Methodist meetings were 
frequently held at the court-house, there was no 
society in Freehold until about 1833, and the 
members previous to that time were connected 
with the society at Blue Ball. 

In 1786 Trenton Circuit included Trenton, 
Pemberton, Mount Holly, Burlington and IVIon- 
mouth. Revs. Robert Sparks and Robert Cann, 
preachers. In 1787 the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper 
and Rev. Nathaniel B. Mills were the preachers. 
In 1788, Revs. John Merrick, Thomas Morrell 
and Jetters Johnson, preachers. 

The first mention of Freehold Circuit is in 
the Conference Minutes of 1793, when James 
Wilson and John Fountain were appointed to 
the charge. In 1793 Trenton Circuit reported 
five hundred and six members, while in 1794, 
after Freehold Circuit was cut off, it reported 
only one hundred and seventy-four, while Free- 
hold reported four huudreil and seventy-seven. 
This probably included all the Methodists in 
this section of the State ea.st of Trenton. 

In 1782, 1785 and in several later years 
Bishop Francis Asbury passed through this 
section, and preached here, being entertained at 
the houses of Job Throckiuorton and Simon 
Pyle, and perhaps others of the vicinity. The 
following are extracts from his journals of those 
tours : 

"September 14th, 1782.— I came to New Mills 
[Pemberton]. I passed through Monmouth in Upper 
and Lower Freehold. Here lived that old saint of 
God, William Tennent, who went to his reward a few 
years ago. 

"Friday, Sept. 9th, 1785.— Heard Mr. Woodhull 
preach a funeral discourse on ' Lord, thou hast made 
my days as a hand-breadth.' In my judgment, he 
spoke well. 

" Saturday, September 10, 1785.— I had liberty in 
preaching to the people of Monmouth on Joshua 24: 
17, and felt much for the souls present." No doubt; 
Freehold village is here meant, as it was then called 
Monmouth Court-House, and often simply Mon- 
mouth. 

" Friday, September 22d, 1786.— We dined at Am- 
boy and reached Monmouth at night. 

" Monday, September 5th, 1791.— I rode through 
much rain to Monmouth, N. J., where I preached to 






HOWELL TOWNSHIP. 



651 



a considerable congregation on ' The just shall live 
by faith ; but if any man draw back, my soul shall 
have no pleasure in him.' 

" October 28th, 1795. — We came to Monmouth ; 
we would have gone to Shrewsbury, but time and our 
horses failed us. I learn tnat the ancient spirit of 
faith and prayer is taking place below. . . . We 
rode twenty miles to Emley's Church, where the 
great revival of religion was some years ago. I felt 
a little of the good old spirit there still. 

■'May 30th, 1806. — I preached at Lower Freehold. 
I came home with Simon Pyle. Ah ! what a death 
there is in the Leonard family." 

In 1812 the number of members in the Free- 
hold Circuit was seven hundred and thirty-six. 
In 1813 the Rev. William Mills was sent here 
as ii preacher. Mr. Mills was born in Free- 
hold about 1758 ; entered the Revolutionary 
army in 1776 ; was taken prisoner and sent to 
England; returned, and in 1799 became a 
Methodist preacher. He died at the house of 
Mr. Lippiucott, at Long Bran(;h, December 6, 
1813. 

The exact date of the building of the old 
church edifice at Blue Ball is not known. A 
tradition, remembered and related by Mr. John 
I. Cottrell, runs, that the society here held their 
first meetings in a barn on the farm adjoining 
this church, now owned by Jonathan Croxson. 
This was about one hundred and ten years ago. 
The timbers that are in the barn now standinsr 
on the premises are the same timbers that were 
in the old barn ; it has simply had new siding 
and a new roof. 

Judge Joseph Murphy, of Freehold, born in 
1797, remembered that the only building in 
this section for public worship owned by the 
Methodists was the one at Blue Ball. The 
Methodists of Freehold and all the country 
around, from Keyport and Bethany and Cheese- 
quakes on the east to Bennett's Mills on the 
south, came here to wor.ship. Among the 
preachers in early times, he remembered Major 
Thomas Morrell (an officer of the Continental 
army, who was wounded at Germantown and 
Long Island), Thomas Neal, David Bartine, 
Thomas Stewart, James Long, Joseph Holdiclu 
Isaac Winner, John K. Shaw, Daniel Fidler, 
Edward Page, Joseph Lybrand, Charles Pit- 
man and Anthony Atwood. The Quarterly 
Meetings were were always held here, and were 



great gatherings. This was the only Methodist 
Church organization in the county when he first 
recollected it. The, next society was formed at 
Long Branch. The}' built a church at what is 
now known as Mechanicsville. The third 
Methodi.st society was organized at Chapel Hill, 
iu Middletown. From that place it was the 
custom for the circuit preachers to come to his 
father's house, at Bethany, on Fridays, and 
preach. The seats in the church at Blue Ball 
had no backs and the walls were unplastered. 
The pulpit was built high up on the wall. 
The building was very much out of repair. It 
would seat about one hundred and fifty jjeople, 
but on Quarterly Meeting occasions a great 
many more could be crowded in. He remem- 
bered that Joseph Goodenough was a leading 
member of the church when he first knew it. 

An amusing incident concerning the old 
church building at Blue Ball, related by For- 
man Rogers (born in 1805), is that when he was 
about five years old, and attending services there 
with his parents, the preacher appeared in the 
pulpit with his spectacles on ^\Tong side up, 
whereupon young Rogers spoke out and called 
attention to it, which caused a laugh in the con- 
gregation. The preacher on this occasion was 
James Quail, whose name appears as preacher 
on this circuit in 1812. Mr. Rogers' father, 
William Rogers, then lived near Freehold, and 
this was the only Methodist Church in this sec- 
tion. Among those who were members at his 
first recollection were his father and his grand- 
father, Richard Rogers, William and Job 
Throckmorton, Job Clayton, Joseph Haviland 
(then an old man), Solomon Ketcham and 
Joseph Goodenough (of Upper Squankum, now 
Farmingdale), Joseph Patterson, Simon Pyle 
(at one time a circuit preacher, but at that time 
living on a farm at Colt's Neck), Negro Bob (a 
slave of Judge Henderson's, living near what is 
now West Freehold), Tunis Lane and Henry 
Tunis, Henry Conine and wife, Moses Bennett 
(of Bennett's Mills), Honce Richmond ' (then an 
old man), Mr. Reynolds and wife (from Har- 
mony) and Stephen Barkalow and wife. Mr. 
Barkalow run the grist-mill here, and was 



' Said to have been the first Methodist in all this region 



652 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



grandfather of the late Thomas P. Barkalow, 
of Freehold. Within the recollection of Mr. 
Rogers, the old church was ceiled inside with 
boards ; previous to that time it had no other 
inclosure but cedar weather-boards. The pulpit 
was raisal as high as the galleries of the present 
church, with a flight of stairs oa each side ; it 
was about eight feet long, with a bench running 
the length of it ; the breast of the puljjit was 
raised so high that only the head and breast of 
the preacher could be seen by the congregation. 
In front of the pvdpit was a wide altar, with a 
railing and a kneeliug-board covered with a 
cushion. 

The present church was built on the opposite 
side of the road in the old cemetery lot. The 
corner-stone of the church was laid June 7, 1 849. 
The building was finished in the following 
spring, and was dedicated April 11, 1850. The 
ministers who have served the church since 1874 
are as follows : 1874-75, T. D. Sleeper ; 1876-7, 
A. M. Lake; 1878 to 1880, E. Hutchius;1881, 
J. J. Graw; 1882 to 1884, R. B. Steverson. 

The Peesbyteeian Chuech at Lowee 
TuEKEY (now Fairfield) was in existence in 
1828, when a church edifice was erected on the 
site of the present Baptist Church. The Rev. 
William WoodhuU was in charge. It was dis- 
continued about 1840, and the building was 
finally sold to Charles Butcher, who is now 
using it as a barn. About 1857, Austin H.Pat- 
terson, then in the Legislature, succeeded in 
getting a bill passed authorizing the people of 
the district to decide, by a two-thirds vote, to 
which denomination the church lot should pass. 
The vote gave it to the Baptists, and the 
trustees of the Presbyterian Church conveyed it 
to the trustees of the Baptist Church, who soon 
after erected the present Baptist Church build- 
ing upon it. 

The Fiest Baptist Chuech of Howell 
was organized November 10, 1859, by twenty- 
eight members of the Baptist Church at Free- 
hold, residing in and contiguous to the village of 
Fairfield (formerly called Lower Turkey), and 
on the following .September 7, 18G0, it M';is duly 
recognized as properly organized by a council 



of Baptist ministers and laymen from various 
surrounding churches. On January 22, 1861, 
they elected as deacons the following persons : 
Aljraham Havens, Sr., Abraham Havens, Jr., 
Charles Butcher and Jonathan C. Croxson. 
Abraham H. Croxson was chosen clerk, and 
Levi G. Irwin treasurer. The trustees elected 
were Charles Butcher, Levi G. Irwin, Abraham 
Havens, Jonathan C. Croxson, Oliver Huff, 
James Donahoy and Job Cottrell. In October, 
1860, the Rev. Henry Westcott became their 
first pastor. 

Religious services, thus far, were held in a 
school-house at Fairfield. Opposite this house 
was au old dilapidated Presbyterian meeting- 
house. Attached to it was a graveyard, in 
which were buried many of those who died years 
ago. The graves were exposed to intrusion and 
desecration. The fence was broken down and 
the mounds left to the ravages of time, and the 
hoofs of cattle trod on earth sacred to the mem- 
ory of the departed. The old church build- 
ing was fast falling into ruins. The pews 
had fallen down, the galleries in their unfin- 
ished state looked bare "and the stamp (if ruin 
seemed placed on every part of the building. 

Those who had friends buried in the grave- 
yard felt a strong aversion to the condition of 
the ground and a desire to render it secure from 
vandal intrusion; hence citizens of the commun- 
ity drew up a petition to the Legislature of the 
State, requesting that body to give authority to 
sell the house thus neglected, and devote the 
proceeds to build a fence around the graveyard, 
and coupled with the proviso that the ground 
be given to any religious evangelical denomina- 
tion which would engage to build a house of 
M'orship thereon (having first obtainal the assent 
of at least two-thirds of the district in which 
the cemetery was located). This petition was 
presented by the member of the Legislature then 
residing in the township of Howell, and the 
bill passed the Legislature. 

The newly-organized church realized their 
favorable chance to procure the lot, and having 
obtained a requisite number of names of the 
I'esident citizens, the property was secured to 
the Baptist denomination, subject to the proviso 
that they should erect thereon a house of wor- 



HOWELL TOWNSHIP. 



653 



sliip. The grant being secured, the inhabitants 
-of Fairfield soon erected on the premises a neat 
and commodious meeting-house, which was 
dedicated August 14, 18G1. They also repaired, 
fenced and adorned the old graveyard. 

Twenty-five years have passed since the or- 
ganization of the church at Fairtield and the 
erection of their meeting-house. Within that 
time the church has had the following pastors : 
Henry Westcott, David B. Jutten, Asa C Bron- 
son, Asa J. Wilcox, C. G. Gurr, Edwin S. 
Brown, William Archer and Henry Westcott, 
the present pastor. 

Besides services held in the church at Fair- 
field, the pastor officiates in Jerseyville, Pleas- 
ant Cirove and Fort Plains, in school-houses, to 
encouraging congregations, and the congrega- 
tion at Fairfield is comparatively large and at- 
tentive, thus affording hope relative to the 
future. In April, 1884, a lot was purchased 
adjoining the church, and on it a parsonage has 
been erected. 

The officers of the church are as follows : 
Pastor, Rev. Henry Westcott; Deacons, Levi 
G. Irwin, John Diliatash, James H. Butcher; 
Church Clerk, Horatio Croxson; Treasurer, 
Levi G. Irwin; Trustees, Levi G. Irwin, John 
Diliatash, James S. Morris, A. H. Patterson, 
James H. Butcher. 

Bethel is comparatively a new settlement, 
located in the southwest part of the township. 
Here, in 1865, a lot was donated by Israel 
Reynolds, on which to erect a Methodist 
Church. It was built in 1866. The Rev. Sam- 
uel Asa was the first pastor. The present pas- 
tor is the Rev. S. M. Hilliard. The church has 
about seventy-five members. About 1870 a 
school-house was erected. In 1872, Henry H. 
Williams opened a store, and in 1882, John T. 
Reynolds also opened a store and was appointed 
postmaster of the office named "Southard," 
which was established at that time. 

Jerseyville, in the northwest corner of 
Howell township, is a small hamlet which, 
prior to 1854, was known as " Green Grove." 
On Saturday evening, June 3d, in that year, 
the inhabitants of the neighborhood met at the 



house of John I. Cottrell, for the purpose of 
adopting a different name for the place. R. V. 
Lawrence was called to the chair, and Nason 
Borden was chosen secretary. By a vote of the 
meeting, the place was then given its present 
name, — Jerseyville. 

In 1849 a school-house was erected here, in 
which Methodist worship was held at times, 
until the completion of the ]\Iethodist Church 
edifice, the corner-stone of which M'as laid in 
the fall of 1869. The lot was donated by Sid- 
ney Hampton. The society waS organized at 
about the same time. The church building cost 
four thousand two hundred and forty dollars, 
and was dedicated January 19, 1872. The 
church at this place is under care of the 
neighboring churches of the denomination. 

" Our House " is a tavern-stand on the i-oad 
leadino; from Blue Ball to Farmiugdale. It 
was first built as a store, but was ojiened as a 
tavern over seventy yeareago. In 1841 it was 
kept by John Mariner, and later by Samuel 
Naylor, John Wheeler and (from 1851 to 1881) 
by John Antonides. It is now kept by T. H. 
Clayton. 

The " Independent Methodist Church " 
of Howell was in existence more than a cen- 
tury ago. On the 22d of February, 1808, 
John F. Lona;street, living; near where now 
stands " Our House " tavern, between Blue Ball 
and Farming-dale, sold a lot of land to Zenas 
Conger and others for the use of the Indojiend- 
ent Methodist Church Society. On this a house 
of worship was commenced, but was never fin- 
ished. Services were held in the woods near 
by, with preaching by Zenas Conger, Matthias 
Barkalow and others. The place was aban- 
doned after a few years. When the transfer of 
the property of the Independent Methodist 
Church was made to the Methodist Protestant 
Church, about 1850, this lot was also conveyed 
to the latter, who sold it in 1858, and the pro- 
ceeds were used in the erection of the INIethodist 
Protestant Church at Hopeville. 

Schools of Howell Township. — In 1847 
the township contained twenty-one school dis- 
tricts. By the erection of Wall township, in 



654 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



1850, from part of Howell, the number was 
reduced to fourteen, aud in 1851 to nine dis- 
tricts. The township now contains twelve dis- 
tricts aud one thousand and sixteen children of 
school age. The school property is valued at 
thirteen thousand three hundred dollars. 

Blue Ball District, No. 101, contains eighty- 
three children of school age. In this locality 
the first school house stood adjoining the old 
church on the opposite side of the road from 
the present Bethesda Church. It was built 
about 1820. On May 1, 1841, A. Simpsou, 
John Hall, Jesse Cowdrick, Abram Ackerson 
and Tiiomas Croxson, school trustees, leased for 
twenty years of Miles Cooper a lot containing 
one-quarter of an acre of land, "on the north 
side of the road loading from Blue Ball to Mar- 
riner's tavern " (" Our House "). To this lot 
the old house was removed, and it is still in 
use. 

Jersey ville District, No. 102, contains one 
hundred and sixteen children of school age. 
For many years there stood, a short distance 
from the village, a log school-house, which was 
kept in use till the present brick school-house 
was erected, in 1849. 

Turkey District, No. 103, has now eighty- 
seven school children. A school-house was 
built about 1835 nearly on the site of the pres- 
ent one at Fairfield Haven. It was fifteen by 
sixteen feet in size, and is now a carriage-shed 
at the Baptist pai-sonage. A new school-house 
(the present one) was built about 1855. The 
old house was used until this was built. 

Farmingdale District, No. 104, has one hun- 
dred and seventy-nine school children. The 
first school-house in this locality was built be- 
fore 1800 on land now owned by Samuel Brewer. 
The last school taught there was in 1828; Jas- 
per Cooper was the last teaclier. A new house 
was built in 1829 on a vacant lot adjoining the 
present Methodist Church, and was used till 
1838, when it was rebuilt. In May of that 
year it was advertised that at the " new school- 
house in Upper Squankum " there were thirty- 
five scholars then attending school, aud tliat a 
teacher was wanted. In September, 1870, it 
was decided to erect a new school-house, at a 
cost of six thousand dollars. The present sits 



was then purchased, and the building erected 
and dedicated in March, 1871. 

Fort Plain District, No. 105, was formerly, 
and for many years, known as the White Dis- 
trict. Over eighty years ago a lot of four 
acres was donated from the Parker tract, and 
on it a school-house was built, in the woods. 
In early days, children from Blue Ball, West 
Farms and Bennett's Mills attended here. The 
house was eighteen l^y twenty-six feet in size, 
and was used in its original condition until 
1879, when it was rebuilt. Between 1835 aud 
1840, IVIessrs. Figgins, Bishop and Ewer were 
teachers. The district now contains forty-five 
children of school age. 

West Farms District, No. 106, hasnowsixty- 
seven scholars. In this locality, on a site near 
the present residence of James Johnson, an old 
school-house stood, when, in 1857, the present 
house was erected on the McGill estate. It had 
been erected a school district, but for some 
reason was abolished in 1860, and again erected 
into the present district. 

Squankum District, No. 107, has now eighty- 
nine school children. A school-house was built 
near this place in 1839, as in December of that 
year Stephen M. Disbrow, Joseph Tilton and 
E. B. Wainwright, as trustees, advertised for a 
teacher at " Lower Squankum new School- 
House." The old house is standing (unoccu- 
pied) on the road from Squankum to Farming- 
dale. The present house was built on land of 
T. Brittan, in 1879. 

Bethel District, No. 108, has one hundred 
and eight scholars. About 1870 a school-house 
^v'as erected at this settlement. 

Greenville District, No. 109, lies on the line 
between Monmouth and Ocean Counties. The 
school-house is on the Monmouth side. It was 
built many years ago, and was used also for relig- 
ious worship until the church near it was erected. 
The district contains ninety-six children of school 
age. This was formerly known as " Brewer's." 

Morris District, No. 110, has forty-eight pu- 
pils. The school-house was built at this place 
in 1850. 

North Farmingdale District, No. Ill, has 
fifty-two school children. This house was built 
on land of James Fitzcroft in 1856. 



I 



MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



655 



Bedford District, No. 112, has now forty-six 
school cliildren. Tiie lot on which the school- 
house stands was donated by J. S. Partrick in 
1 St)2, and the house was built in that year. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP. 

The township of Millstone was erected in 
1844 by an act of the Legislature, passed on 
the 28th of February in that year, declaring 

"That all that part of the townships of Upper Free- 
hold and Freehold, in the County of Monmouth, and 
of the township of Monroe, in the County of Middle- 
sex, lying within the boundaries and descriptions fol- 
lowing, to wit : Beginning in the middle of the Mount 
Holly road, near Asher Smith's tavern," and where the 
road to Preston's factory strikes the same, in the town- 
ship of Freehold ; thence running along the middle of 
the road leading from the said Smith's tavern to Han- 
nah Clayton's Inn, to where the public roads cross near 
the said Inn;' thence following the middle of the 
public road northerly to a point opposite the dwell- 
ing-house of William Osborn ; thence north, twenty- 
nine degrees west, to the county line between Mon- 
mouth and Middlesex ; thence westerly in a direct 
line through the township of Monroe, in the County 
of Middlesex, to the bridge over the Millstone brook, 
on the public road near Daniel D. Keed's dwelling- 
house ; thence down the middle of the said Millstone 
brook until it reaches the county line between Mer- 
cer and Middlesex, at or near the head of Peter Wi- 
koff's mill-pond ; thence southerly, following the said 
county line, to the Monmouth County line; thence 
southwesterly following the said Monmouth County 
line, to the bridge over the Assanpink brook and the 
York road ; thence up the middle of the said brook 
easterly, till it strikes the bridge on the land of Joseph 
L. Ely, son of Isaac Ely, deceased, in the middle of 
the new road leading from Hightstown to Britton's 
tavern, sometimes called the stone tavern; thence 
southerly in a direct line to a point in the public road 
one rod west of said Britton tavern; thence running, 
as the needle now points, south six degrees and thirty 
minutes east, over Sugar Loaf Hill, to the Ivanhoe or 
north branch of Lahaway Creek ; thence up the mid- 
dle of said Ivanhoe to its head, at a spring near the 
late residence of Isaac Carr, deceased ; thence a due 
east course to the Mount Holly road ; thence north- 
easterly along the middle of the said Mount Holly 



'Now Smith ville. 

' Now ManaUpanville. 



road to .the place of beginning, shall be, and hereby is, 
set off from the townships of Upper Freehold and 
Freehold, in the county of Monmouth, and Monroe, 
in the county of Middlesex, and made a separate 
township, to be called and known by the name of 
'The Township of Millstone.' " 

By a further provision of the act, all (hat 
part of Monroe township which had been thus 
included in the new township of Millstone was 
taken from Middlesex County and annexed to 
Moiunouth (as before mentioned); but this 
change of jurisdiction being found to be unsat- 
isfactory to the people, it was restored to Mid- 
dlesex in the following year by an act of 
Assembly. Two years later, however, an act 
was passed giving to Millstone, and to Mon- 
mouth County, a small triangular piece of the 
territory of Monroe township, lying to the 
southward of a line " to begin at the point in 
the INIiddlesex and Mercer County line where 
the middle of the public road leading from 
Milford by way of Disborough's northwest 
corner to Perrineville crosses the same, and 
thence along the middle of the .said road .in 
easterly coin-se till it strikes the present Middle- 
sex and Monmouth County line ; the residue of 
the northern boundary line of the township of 
Millstone remaining as heretofore." 

In the same year that Millstone was erected 
a new township ^vas also formed from parts of 
Freehold, Upper Freehold and Dover, and 
named "Jackson," in honor of ex-President 
Andrew Jackson. This township, which is 
now entirely in the county of Ocean, embraced, 
at its formation, a small jjart of what is now 
Millstone township, north of the present county 
line of Oci'an and Monmouth. That part was 
annexed to Millstone by an act passed in 1846. 

Millstone is one of the townships lying on 
the northwest border of Monmouth County, its 
boundary in that direction being formed by the 
counties of Mercer and Middlesex. On the 
northeast it is bounded by the township of 
Manalapan, on the southeast by Freehold 
townshi]) and Ocean County and on the south 
and southwest by Upper Freehold. There are 
no large streams in Millstone township. The 
Assanpink Creek, here flowing in an easterly 
course, forms a part of the boundary between 
Upper Freehold and Millstone; Rocky Brook 



650 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



flows northwesterly from this township into 
Mercer and Middlesex counties, and finally 
enters Millstone Eiver. Another tributary of 
the same river is Millstone Creek, which flows 
northwardly from this township into Middlesex ; 
and Lahaway Creek flows from the southern 
corner of Millstone township into Upper Free- 
hold, where it joins the main stream of Cross- 
wicks Creek. Millstone township has no rail- 
way line within its limits. The population of 
the township, by the United States census of 
1880, was two thousand and eighty. 

Following is a list of the chosen freeholders 
of Millstone township, from its erection to the 
present time, viz : 

1844-45. Thomas M. Perrine. 

1844. Hartshorne Tantum. 

1845. Paul Morris. 
1846-50. Charles Allen. 
1846-47. George Gravatt. 

1848. Paul Morris. 

1849. Ellas C. Clayton. 

1850. Isaac C. Hatch. 
1851-53. John B. Robins. 
1854-.55. James J. Ely. 
18.56. James M. Smith. 
1857-59. Thomas S. Gravatt. 
1860-62. Thomas Baird. 
1863-67. Charles Allen. 
1868-72. Elias C. Clayton. 
1873-74. Samuel Gravatt. 
1875-77. Aaron L. Eklridge. 
1878-80. David Baird. 
1881-83. Morgan Wright. 
1884. George J. Ely. 

The Village of Pereineville is situated 
in the northeru central part of Millstone town- 
ship, on Rocky Brook. 

The first store at this place was established 
by a man from New England before 1825, on 
the site of the Mofiflit Perrine store. In 1825 
the father of Go ver nor William A. Newell opened 
a store on the east side of the brook, and in 
18.32 he was succeeded by William Snowhill, a 
son-in-law of David Perrine. After two or 
three years he abandoned the business, and 
John D. Perrine opened a store on the west side 
of the brook, iu the old academy building, but 
kept it only a year or two. In 1836, William 
Mount built a store building and occupied it for 
several years. 



The grist-mill at Perrineville was first built 
bv Newell, and was owned by David Per- 
rine iu 1830, at which time the place took its 
name. In 1835 the mill was sold to John M. 
Perrine, who operated it until 1850, when it 
was purchased by Nelson Silvers. It is now 
owned by Charles Allen. 

Soon after the building of the grist-mill, a 
saw-mill was built below it, on the stream, by 
Mofl^tt Perrine. The mill remained in possession 
of the Perrine family until 1882. 

The first hotel at Perrineville was opened by 
Ezckiel Davison in 1842, and was kept by him 
for about ten years. The present hotel was 
opened about 1850 by Joseph C. Thompson, 
who was succeeded by George Ely and Paul 
Talman, the latter of whom is still its propri- 
etor. 

A classical school was opened by the Rev. 
William Woodhull soon after he took charge 
of the Presbyterian Church, in 1826. He erected 
a school building on the east side of the brook, 
adjoining the parsonage, and in that building he 
taught tlie sch(jol until about 1830, but not 
later. At this school William A Newell (since 
Governor of New Jersey), Nathaniel S. Rue 
and D. C. Perrine (now of Freehold) were 
among the pupils of Mr. Woodhull. 

In the fill of 1877 the Rev. George W. 
McMillan, pastor of the Presbyterian .Church of 
Millstone, opened a preparatory school near the 
parsonage. It has been continued with success 
to the present time, having had an average of 
twenty pupils attending. 

The First Presbyterian Church of 
Millstone, though a little less than sixty years 
old in its organization, properly dates back to 
the year 1785, when the Rev. Dr. John Wood- 
hull, pastor of Tennent Church, employed Joseph 
Clark, a student of theology under him, to con- 
duct regular religious services at Perrineville. 
He continued to labor there until 1788, when 
he was settled pastor over the Presbyterian 
Church of Allentown, from which time Perrine- 
ville was supplied with preaching by the pastors 
of Tennent, Cranbury and Allentown Presby- 
terian Churches until 1826. During Mr. 
Clark's ministry, from 1788 to 1796, a plat of 
ground was purchased and a house of worship 



MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



657 



erected, commenced, " but inasmuch as suffi- 
cient funds could not be raised," says Judge 
AMlliam F. Forman, "the church could not be 
finished, and stayed in that state for some forty 
years. It was inclosed, a pulpit erected, and 
temporary seats arranged by boards being laid 
on blocks. It was not so large, but was pat- 
terned after the mother-chnrch, the pulpit 
being in the north side. Pi-eaching was kept 
np for many years by Mr. Woodhull, once in 
every four weeks, on Friday. A goodly num- 
ber generally attended. Frequently ministers 
of other orthodox denominations, by consent, 
occupied the pulpit on Sabbath and at other 
times, mostly Methodists, many of them much 
to the edification of the people. This state of 
things continued until 1826, when the church 
received a new impulse. A congregation was 
organized, the church remodeled, enlarged and 
finished, and a minister called and established. 
Between that time and the remodeling and en- 
larging of the church edifice, 1856, regular wor- 
ship and preaching were supported, a number of 
ministers at different times having presided." 
After the repairs and remodeling of 1856 the 
edifice was dedicated October 2d, in that year. 
It was then in use until January (5, 18.S4, when 
it was entirely destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt 
at a cost of six thousand dollars, and was dedi- 
cated, free of debt, December 18, 1884. The 
building is fifty by seventy, with Sunday-school 
rooms attached, and is finished in light wood. 
Thomas Perrine's sons contributed the bell, and 
also the Bible and hymn-book for the pulpit. 
The pulpitdesk, made of carved and polished wal- 
nut, is the gift of Mr. D. C. Perrine, of Freehold. 

In 1826 the Presbytery of New Brunswick 
organized a church, with thirteen members, as 
the Presbyterian Church of Upper Freehold, 
but the name was soon after changed to jNIill- 
stone. The church has a present membei-ship 
of one hundred and twelve and a thriving 
Sunday-school. 

The following-named ministers have served 
as pastors of this church, viz. : 

William Woodhull, installed September 6, 1826 ; 
dismissed May 7, 1832. 

L. S. Beebe, installed September 16,1834; dis- 
missed November 8, 1836. 
42 



William S. Betts, installed June 13, 1838; dis- 
missed August 25, 1840. 

Charles F. AVorrell,' D.D., installed April 2, 1842 ; 
dismissed March 9, 1867. 

Daniel F. Lockerby, installed July 13, 1869 ; dis- 
missed September 9, 1871. 

George W. McMillan, installed November 1, 1873. 

The Ro.max Catholic Coxgbegation at 
Perrineville was first oi'ganized, in 1871, 
by the rector of the Catholic congregation at 
Freehold, Rev. Frederick Kivelitz. ]\Iass was 
said once a month, on Sundays, and religious 
instruction given to the young once a week in a 
private house. In 1879 a brick and terra-cotta 
church, of Gothic design, thirty by fitty-five 
feet, capable of seating two hundred and fifty 
persons, was erected. In 1880 the rector re- 
signed his charge, together with another one he 
held at Jamesburg, N. J., in favor of a new 
priest, the Rev. Joseph Ruesing, who settled at 
.Jamesburg, and from there attended the church 
at Perrineville every week. In July, 1884, he 
resigned his charge, and no new appointment 
has yet been made. 

The Village of Clarksburg is situated 
in the western part (if ^Millstone township. Near 
the site of this village the old "Willow-Tree 
Tavern" was a well-known stand in the early 
years of the present century. Mention of it is 
found under date of January, 1815, as "the 
Willow-Tree Tavern, owned by Aaron Eldridge, 
formerly by Hartshorne Tantum, situated on 
the main road leading from Philadelphia to 
Long Branch, eight miles from AUentown and 
twelve from Monmouth Court-House, in the 
occupation of Joseph Jerman." In the period 
from 1829 to 1834 it was kept by Peter John- 
son and AMlliam Hankin. In the latter year 
it was discontinued as a tavern, and the present 
Clarksburg Hotel was erected and opened as 
a public-house by John Clayton. Afterwards 
Stephen Clayton was its proprietor. It is now 
kept by Henry Britton. 

At blarksburg, about 1820, John J. Ely 
opened a store, which, in 1829, was kept by 
Addison Mount. It stood where the hay-scales 

'The Rev. Dr. Worrell died at Perrineville, January 2Tth, 
aged seventy-seven years. 



658 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



now stand. A few years later Sheriff Charles 
Allen built the present store building. A store 
is now kept at this place by P. Elmer. 

The Clarksburg post-office was estalilisiied 
wheu Addison Mount was keeping the st<ire, 
and he was appointed postmaster. His success- 
ors iiave been David Bowman, Ciiarles Allen, 
Thomas Gravatt, James Snediker and the present 
postmaster, INIrs. Reuben G. Strahan. 

The Methodist Church at Clarksburg 
was organized before 1845, and in that year 
(August 23d) David Bowman sold to the trustees 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Clarks- 
burg a lialf-acre of land to build thereon a 
church edifice. It was located half a mile west 
of the Willow-Tree Taveru. A church was 
soon after erected, and services have been held 
in the house with some regularity since that 
time. The pulpit is supplied by pastors from 
other churches having this in charge. 

The Maxaeapax Presbyteriax Church 
was organized in 185(3. In the preceding year 
the people living in the vicinity of Manalapan- 
ville (which is a small village situated ou the 
line between Millstone and ^lanalapan town- 
ships) began the erection of a church building, 
and, in July of that year, several members of 
the First Church of Millstone petitioned the 
Presbytery of New Brunswick for the organi- 
zation of a new church. This was granted, and 
the organization of the church and the dedica- 
tion of the new building were concluded at the 
same time (July 31, 1856), the services on that 
occasion being conducted by the Rev. Dr. Heniy, 
who had also led in the ceremony of the laying 
of the corner-stone of the church, on the 10th of 
October, 1855. In the spring of 1857 the Rev. 
John L. Kehoo was called to the pastorate, and 
he was installed on the 30th of June folhnviug. 
He remained pastor of the chui-ch until April 
26, 1874, when he resigned on account of failing 
health. His successor was the Rev. George 
"Warrington, who was installed pastor December 
16, 1874, and continued until 1S79. On the 
1st of August, 1880, the Rev. Daniel Laughlin, 
a recent graduate of Princeton College, was 
ordained and installed pastor of this church, and 
he is still (Xovember, 1884) in charge. The 



church has now a membership of two hundred 
and eighty. 

Berksvii>ee, in Millstone township, has its 
name from John Berke, who, more than half a 
century ago, was located at that place, and 
keeping a tavern which has been continued to 
the present time, and is now kept by Abram 
Jameson. A store has been kept at the place 
at different times. 

" Carr's Tavern " is a place where a public 
house has been kejit for nearly a hundred years. 
The place derived its name from Elisha Carr, 
who was the landlord fifty years ago. Wil- 
liam Holman, the ^^resent proprietor, has kept 
it since 1864. Joseph De Bow has a store at 
this place. On a stream near it the De Bows 
have operated saw-mills for one hundred and 
thirty years. 

BuRXT Tavern, in Millstone townshij), is an 
old and well-known stand, where, as early as 
the beginning of this centurj-, was a house 
which was burned before 1806. It was re- 
built and named Burnt Tavern, and a sign was 
raised on which was painted a picture of a 
house with flames issuing from the windows. 
It was kept in early days by Dye, Jewell, ^^"il- 
liam Brotherton and tithers. Later, it was 
owned by .\sher INIorse, who kept it for a tijue, 
then rented it to different ones, among whom 
were Jacob Dennis, Charles Potts and Hemy 
H. Wolcott, a son-in-law of Morse, who also 
kept a store in the house. In 1847 he closed 
this tavern and rented the house now known 
as Charleston Springs Hotel (then kept as a 
store by Wolsey Baldwin), opened it as a hotel 
and kept it till his death, a few years ago. In 
1880 the property was purchased by Joseph 
C. Thompson, who now keeps the hotel. 

Schools of Millstoxe. — The township is 
divided into eight school districts, which con- 
tain seven hundred and forty-seven children of 
school age. The school j)roperty is valued at 
six thousand dollars. 

On the 21st of December, 1845, William 
Hutchinson conveyed to the trustees of schouls | 
of ]\Iillstone, for a ^^eriod of one hundred and 
ninety-nine years, a lot, then described as "near 
the house where Joseph Gravatt now lives." 



MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



659 



The terms of this lease were that the trustees 
were to erect a school-house ou it and "to finish 
saiil house within the term of twelve months 
from this date, and to keep it in good and 
complete repair for a school to learn children 
to read, write and cipher, and said house shall 
be used occasionally for preaching or Public 
worship. . . . Said trustees are not to cut or 
cause to be cut any timber on said land." The 
house then built stood on the county line be- 
tween Monmouth and Mercer Counties, at the 
2)lace where the Higlitstown and Perrineville 
turnpike crosses it. The old building has long 
since disappeared. 

Fairplay School District, No. 24, in Millstone, 
contains seventy children of school age. The 
fir-^t school-house in this locality was erected 
over a hundred years ago on laud now owned 
by Thomas Knilty. It was abandoned more 
than seventy-five years ago. A school-house 
M'as built about 1812 ou laud owned by Joseph 
Storey, which was used many years, and not 
abandoned luitil the formation of tlie present 
district. Tliis was the house at which pupils 
from Perrineville and adjacent points attended. 
About 1845 the Rev. Charles Worrell, pastor 
of the First Presbyterian Church at ]\Ianalapan, 
urged the building of a school at that place, 
which was done. This caused the people of 
this section to petition for the formation of a 
new district, which was granted, and it was 
named " Fairplay." Soon afterwards, and before 
1847, the present school-house was erected. The 
lot was donated by Abijah i\Iount. Judge Wm. 
P. Forman was an early teacher in this house. 

Church District, No. 25, now contains one 
hundred and thirtv-one children of school age. 
Shortly after the Rev. Charles Worrell assumed 
the pastorate of the Presljyterian Church at 
Perrineville, he urged the people to erect a 
school-house. The children then attended at 
the Storey school-house, some distance away, 
and the private schools and academy, the latter 
of which had then been abandoned. A large 
two-stoiy frame school-house was erected in the 
grove near the Presbyterian Church, and it was 
also used as a session-room for the church. It 
was occupied at that place until its removal to 
its present site, in August, 1884. 



In Manalapau District, No. 26, the first 
school-house stood about three hundred yards 
north from the west end of the mill-dam on 
the Reed farm. Judge William P. Forman at- 
tended school there in 1817, and says it was 
theu an old house. It was abandoned about 
18.35, and auuther one was built about half a 
mile from it, on the south side of the road lead- 
ing to Hightstown. This was used aliout ten 
years, when difSculties arose and the present 
district, and also Grove District, were formed. 
The present house was erected about 1846. 

Sweetman Lane District, No. 27, has seventy- 
nine children of school age. Within the 
bounds of the present district a school-house 
was standing in 1806 on the farm now owned 
by Samuel Gravatt. In that year Mrs. Mary 
McKnight (now eighty-four years of age) at- 
tended school there, and she says it was then an 
old house. It was destroyed by fire in 1829. 
Of the teachers in that house were Joseph 
Johnston, Charles Smith and Prentiss B. Emory. 
About 1830 the present school-house was built 
ou half an acre of land, donated for school 
purposes by Mr. Johnson. Of early teachers in 
this house were Prentiss B. Emory, Judge Wil- 
liam P. Forman (in 1835) William R.Wilson 
and Harriet Pittinger. 

Grove District, No. 28 has one hundred and 
three children of school age. The school-house 
stands on the road leading from Bergen ]\Iills to 
Hightstown, and was built about 1846, when 
the new district was formed. It is partly in Mill- 
stone township and partly in Middlesex County. 
At the time the school-house was built it was in 
Millstone township, but it is now in Middlesex 
County. 

De Bow School District, No. 29, has one 
hundred children of school age. Three school- 
houses have stood within one hundred yards of 
the present site. The first was built before 
1820, and was destroyed about 1830. A new 
house was soon after built, which stood until 
1879, when it was torn down and the present 
house was erected. 

Clarksl)urg School District, No. 30, has 
ninety-six children of school age. As early as 
1815 a school-house was erected about half a 
mile northwest of the Willow-Tree Tavern. 



660 



HISTORF OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



School was taught in it by William W. 
Williams. It was used many years. A school- 
house was erected on the present site, near the 
Methodist Church, about 1850. 

Burnt Tavern School. — After the destruction 
of the old school-house on the Burnt Tavern 
road, a portion of the children went to Sweet- 
man Lane School. A school also was opened 
in the house of Dr. Harvey Baldwin, near the 
present hotel. In 18.38 a school-house wa.< 
erected and used' till 1868, when it was moved 
away and the present one erected upon the site. 

Union School District, No. 38, contains 
eighty-one children of school age. This school- 
house was erected about 1830. It has since 
been repaired, and is still used. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

William P. Forman. — Ex-Judge William 
P. Forman was born in the township of Upper 
Freehold (now Millstone) on the 2.5th day of 
January, 1807, where he still resides. He rep- 
resents the fifth generation from the pioneer, 
John Foreman, who arrived from Scotland in the 
year 1685, and settled near Freehold, the letter 
"e" having since, by general consent, been 
stricken out in spelling the name. Judge For- 
man's father was Peter, his mother's maiden- 
name being Rebecca Ely, who was closely con- 
nected with the extensive family of that name 
now residing in the county. From boyhood he 
was of an inquiring mind, aspiring to the acqui- 
sition of useful knowledge. He was, however, 
obliged to satisfy his aspirations by attending 
the district schools in youth, a portion of the 
time in the winter season only, except when a 
student of a grammar school in the neighbor- 
hood for a brief period. The remainder of the 
time he was engaged at ordinary farm labor. 
He became a good mathematician, and mastered 
the theory of surveying, which he practiced in 
after-life with a considerable degree of success, 
as also that of conveyancer. He was frequently 
employed in the settlement of estates and in 
other business. In the mean time, having pur- 
chased real estate in the neighborhood, he be- 
came absorbed in the occupations of an agricul- 



turist. The most useful knowledge he actpiired 
was by practical observation of the laws of cause 
and effect, being at the same time careful to put 
into operation any well-digested idea that did 
not involve greater outlay than he could safely 
control. When young, he was passionately fond 
of military life, and was connected with the old 
militia system and held the offices of lieutenant, 
adjutant and major. The system was not fos- 
tered by public opinion, and could not be con- 
ducted ci-editably; therefore he promptly re- 
signed. When in his twenty-first year .Judge 
Forman became interested in affairs of a relig- 
ious nature, and believed it to be his privilege 
and duty to number himself with the people of 
God. He therefore connected himself with what 
was then called the Second Presbyterian Church 
of Upper Freehold (now the First Presbyterian 
Church of ]\Iillstone), under the pastoral care of 
Rev. William H. WoodhuU, a lineal descendant 
of Rev. John Woodliull, D.D. He remained 
simply a member until 1841, and was then ap- 
pointed a ruling elder, in which capacity he 
served for about fifteen years. He was, at that 
date, dismissed to join the jNIanalapan Church, 
on its organization, August 1,1 856, in the erection 
of which edifice he had taken a very lively in- 
terest. He became, and is still, one of its first 
ruling elders, and is the only survivor of the 
original number. He also became presiding 
trustee and filled the office for twenty-seven con- 
secutive years, when he resigned on account of 
advancing years. 

On the 12th day of March, 1828, Judge For- 
man married Miss Evelina Baird, a daughter of 
Ca])tain David Baii-d, by whom he had four 
children, viz. : John (who died in infancy), 
Fransinchy Rebecca, Mary Elizabeth and 
Peter, still living. His wife died November 
26, 1883, in her seventy-ninth year. Mrs. For- 
man was an affectionate wife and an indulgent 
and kind mother, highly appreciated by all who 
knew her. From 1829 until 1832, Judge For- 
man taught school, and has the satisfaction of 
remembering that most of the few gray-headed 
men and women now left were once his scholars ; 
not many, however, remain, some of them hav- 
ing occupied high positions both in church and 
state, and one, at least, having been Governor of 



MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



G61 



tlie State. The judge evinced some taste for 
politics, and was often called upon to preside at 
jjrimary meetings and conventions of the people. 
He was chief marshal at the great gathering on 
the Monmouth battle-ground, when many years 
ago visited by Colonel Richard M. Johnson. 
Among the township offices, he has held the posi- 
tion of assessor at different times in two distinct 
townships. He served in the State Legislature 
for several years, and afterwards, in 1«43, was 
appointed a judge of Monmouth Court of Com- 



1838, received a thorough academic education 
and became proficient as a surveyor and con- 
veyancer. He has filled the office of assessor of 
his township for years and represented his dis- 
trict in the State Legislature. A man of integ- 
rity, he is universally esteemed in the county. 



David Baird. — David Baird, the great- 
graudfatlier of Mr. Baird, born October 19, 
1710, married Sarah Corapton, whose birth oc- 
curred April 18, 1716. Among their children 





mon Pleas for the term of five years. He 
was ajjpointed again in 1852 for a like term 
and also in 1857 for the same length of time 
and again in 1862 for five years, making a 
period of twenty years' service. He has since 
transacted considerable public business, but has 
recently retired fi'om active life and now lives 
quietly on the homestead, his chief desire being 
to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly 
with the Lord his God. Peter Forman, the only 
son of Judge Forman, was born December 2, 



was .John, born October 27,1750, who owned 
the property on which the subject of this sketch 
resides; and David, born July 16, 1754. The 
latter was three times married. His last wife 
was Mary Edwards, born about 1771, and mar- 
ried on the 25th of Novembei', 1795. Their 
children are David, born in 1797 ; Rei, born in 
1798; Elizabeth, in 1800; Thomas, February 
6, 1802; Ann, in 1803; Evelina, in 1805; 
Joseph, in 1807; James, in 1810; Rachel, in 
1812 ; Eleanor, in 1815;aad Zebulon, in 1819. 



662 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Thomas married Eleanor T., daughter of Peter 
Bilyeu and Maria, his wife, of Upper Freehold. 
Their children are David and Jonathan (twins), i 
the latter of whom died in infanev, and Sarah, 
wife of John E. Hunt, born March 20, 1833- 
The birth of David Baird (the fourth of the 
name) occurred on the 21st of August, lS2i), in 
Millstone township, from whence he, in 1842, 
removed with his parents to the farm which is 
his present residence He received early advan- 



11, 1860, deceased ; Isaac, November 11, 1861, 
deceased ; Howard, February 16, 1863 ; Carrie, 
!March 27, I860 ; Henry Leslie, Xovember 28, 
1867, deceased; David, Februaiy 16, 1869; 
and John H., February 7, 1872. Mr. Baird, 
for a brief period following his marriage, en- 
gaged in general farming, but devoted his atten- 
tion particularly to the growing of small fruits. 
In 1869 he embarked in the nursery business, 
and, though making a specialty of fruit and 






a.>L>tel c^dilLiA^^ 



tages at the common schools of the township, 
later becoming a pupil of O. R. Willis, at 
Hightstown, and subsequently at the Freehold 
Institute. Retm-ning to the farm, he assisted in 
its cultivation, and on the 9th of December, 
1852, was married to Mary E., eldest daughter 
of Isaac Pullen, of East Windsor, Mercer 
County, X. J. Their children are Emerson P., 
born October 11, 1853; Sarah H., July 9, 
1855; C. Augustus, May 15, 1857; Thomas, 
January 2, 1859, deceased ; Millie, September 



ornamental trees, devotes much time to floricul- 
ture. He finds a ready market for the produc- 
tions of the nui-sery, the principal shipments 
being made to JNIarylaud and Delaware. ^Ir. 
Baird, though interested in the political issues 
of the day as they affect his township and 
county, has manifested little desire for office. 
He has, however, as a Republican, served for 
three years as chosen freeholder, and also as 
assessor. He was also actively identified with 
measures for the prosecution of the late war. 



' 



MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP. 



663 



He is a member of the Moumoiitli County Agri- 
cultural Society, of the New Jersey State Horti- 
cultural Society, and of the American Horticul- 
tural Society, and life member of the American 
Pomological Society. Mr. Baird is also actively 
interested in religious woriv and is an elder in the 
Manalapan Presbyterian Church, of whicii Mrs. 
Baird is also a member. 



James Monroe Smith.— John Smitli, the 
grandfather of James Monroe Smith, a Qu u^.r 



Sarali A., daceased ; ]Mary, deceased ( Mrs. 
Lewis Parker); Lucy, deceased (Mrs. John 
Segoine); Elizabeth (Mrs. Enoch Ely) ; Pierson, 
deceased; JNIargaret, (Mrs. John G. Mount) ; 
James Monroe; John M. ; William M.; and 
Joseph, deceased. James Monroe, of this imm- 
ber, was born Feljruary 12, 1821, antl in 1824 
removed with his fother to Sraithburg, the latter 
having purchased at tiiis point the hotel prop- 
erty which had been in possession of the 
Parker family for many years, and was then 




^^^-^^c^^^K^c^^ 



by birtli, resided in Holmdei, tlien Middletown 
township, where he followed tiie trade of a mill- 
wright. He was three times married. By his 
union to Margaret Ogden were born two sons, 
Samuel and Asher. The last named, a native 
of Holmdei, was formerly a successful farmer, 
and later a landlord at Smithburg, INIillstone 
township, where his intelligence and character 
enabled him to wield an extended influence. 
He married Ann Pierson, daughter of John 
Pierson, of Trenton, N. J. Their children av2 



owned b>- Charles Parker, father of ex-Gover- 
nor Joel Parker. James Monroe Smith re- 
ceived a common-school training, and afterward 
aided in the cultivation of a tract of six hun- 
dred acres of laud, owned Ijy his father. Here 
lie continued to be industriously employed, 
meanwhile actjuiring a thorough knowledge of 
farming, until iSoO, when, on the 5th of Novem- 
ber (if that year, he was married to Leah E., 
daughter of Daniel Slack, of Perrineville, Mill- 
stone townsliij), and granddaugiiter of Thomas 



664 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Slack, who married Rachel Swain, born May 
27, 1767, daughter of Daniel Swain, born De- 
cember 1, 1742. The children of Mr. and 
Mre. Smith are Frank, deceased ; Daniel Pier- 
son, Thomas A., James ^Monroe, Carrie M. 
and William ^l. Mr. Smith purchased and 
removed to a part of the homestead farm, which 
he cultivated until 1871, when his present at- 
tractive property, formerly the Slack home- 
stead, was secured. Here he has since resided, 
and continued the healthful pursuits of a farmer. 



and is a director of the Freeliold and Smith- 
burg Turnpike Company. He is also a mem- 
ber of the jMonmouth County Agricultural 
Society. Both he and Mi's. Smith are connected 
by membership with the Manalapan Presby- 
terian Church, of which he is one of the 
trustees. 



Charles Allen. — John Allen, the grand- 
father of the subject of this biographical sketch, 
was by trade a carpenter, and pursued his craft 




He has been identified to some extent with the 
township and its interests, as freeholder for a 
period of three years, and as township com- 
mitteeman for ten years. His loyalty was 
manifested during the late Eebellion, in great 
personal exertion made to fill the quota for the 
townshij), when a heavy individual responsi- 
bility was incurred, and the crisis met with a 
courage worthy the most exalted patriotism. 
Mr. Smith was among the incorporators of the 
Monmouth County Mutual Insurance Company, 



successfully in Monmouth and Burlington 
Counties. He married Elizabeth Haley, whose 
children were William, Edward, John, Isaiah, 
Mary Jane, Elizabeth, Susan and Margaret. 
Edward was born August 14, 1793, and mar- 
ried Sarah Johnson, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth Ketchum Johnson, of Howell town- 
ship. Their children are Charles, born October 
18, 1815; William, August 10, 1817; Eliza- 
beth, January 14, 1820; John, May 14, 1821 ; 
James, July 20, 1824 and Eunice E., October 



ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 



065 



24, 1828. The birth of Charles occurred at 
Bhie Ball, in Howell township, from whence 
he, in his youth, removed with liis parents to 
Prospertown, in Upper Freehold township, and 
became a pupil of the district school of that 
locality. In youth he engaged as clei-k for 
Thomas Miller in the mercantile business near 
Prospertown, and two years later removed to 
Oassville with the same gentleman, finallv re- 
turning again to Howell township as clerk for 
William and Aaron Remseu, at Butcher's 
Works. Two years later he became clerk for 
Rice Hadsell and Jacob and William McClain, 
at Red Bank, in Monmouth Coiuity, and after 
leaving Red Bank went to New York City 
as clerk for Joseph W. Brick, who was the pro- 
prietor of Bergen Iron-AYorks. From thence 
he returned to Cassville as assistant in his 
father's store. Mr. Allen «as, on the 28th of 
September, 1841, married to Hannah W., 
daughter of Captain Ephraim Potter, of Tom's 
River, N. J., and the follo\nng October was 
elected sheriiJ' of Monmouth County, which 
office he held for three years and resided in the 
town of Freehold. When his term of office 
ex]3ired he removed to Clarksburg, in the same 
county, and engaged in farming and mercantile 
liusiness. In the year 1851 he was elected to 
rcjjresent his constituents in the State Legisla- 
ture and again in 18(37. Having no children, 
the kindly natures of Mr. and Mrs. Allen have 
led them to bestow their affection upon four 
adopted daughters, — Sarah E., wife of E. P. 
Emson ; Malvina H., wife of John Henry Ely ; 
Ella Cornelius Allen; and Annie Cornelius 
Allen. Mr. Allen lias acted as freeholder for 
a number of years and tilled various township 
offices, his services having been no less val- 
uable to the township thau to the county. In 
1878 he was elected to the office of sheriff of 
the county of IMonmouth, thirty-seven years 
having elapsed since his first election to that 
office. He has been, during his whole life, 
closely allied to the Democratic party and ac- 
,; tively interested in the public questions of the 
' day. He is a liberal supporter of the Christian 
Church, his wife being a member of the 
>i Methodist Episcopal Church of Clarksbui-g, 
•' N. J. In 1882, at the close of his term of 



office, Mr. Allen removed from Freehold to 
Perrineville and engaged in farming and the 
management of a gri.st-milland steam saw-mill. 
His services are frequently called into requisi- 
tion as trustee and executor, and his advice 
■sought in the solution of questions involving 
litigation. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 

The township of Atlantic was erected in 
1847 ' from parts of the town.ships of Freehold, 
Shrewsl)ury and Middletown, with boundaries 
" beginning at the southwest corner of the 
township of Shrewsbury, where the Freehold, 
Shrewsbury and Howell township lines meet ; 
thence running northerly until it comes to the 
mouth of the road that leads through Jacob 
Conover's farm ; thence northerly, following the 
middle of said road, until it comes to the road 

near Hulse's house, which road leads to 

John J. Ely's mills ; thence easterly, following 
the middle of said road, until it strikes Middle 
Hop Brook ; thence easterly, down said brook, 
its various courses, until it cijmes to Swimming 
River Bridge; thence .southerly, along the mid- 
dle of the main road leading to Tinton Falls, 
until it comes to Haggerty's corner; thence 
southerly until it strikes the Tinton Falls mill- 
pond brook ; thence up the said brook, by its 
various courses, until it comes to Pine Brook ; 
thence up the said Pine Brook until it strikes 
the Howell township line ; thence westerly 
along the line dividing the townships of Howell 
and Shrewsbury to the Freehold line, the place 
of beginning;." 

The boundaries of Atlantic towu.ship are: 
On the north, ]\Iarlborough, Holmdel and Mid- 
dleto\'sn townships ; on the east, Shrewsbury ; 
on the south. Wall and Howell ; and on the 
west, the townships of Freehold and Marlbor- 
ough. The principal stream of Atlantic town- 
ship is Hop Brook, which marks all of its 
northern boundary against Holmdel and Mid- 



' Pamphlet Laws of 1847, pp. 66-67 



666 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



dletown. Several small tributaries of this 
stream flow iu an easterly and northeasterly 
direction tiirough the townsliip, the principal of 
which are Yellow Brook, Big Brook and Hock- 
hockson Brook, the last named of which, with 
its southern branch, marks the greater part of 
the eastern bonndaiy of Atlantic against 
Shrewsbury. Through the southeast part of 
the township, for a short distance, runs the line 
of the New Jersey Southern Railroad. The 
population of Atlantic townshij) by the United 
States census of 1880 was seventeen hundred 
and fortv-three. Following- is a list of chosen 
freeholders of the township from its erection to 
the present time, viz.: 

1847. Thomas G. Haight. 
1847-48. De Lafayette Scheuck. 
1848-53. Samuel W. Jones. 
1849-50. John L. Stoutenburgh. 
1854-55. Edward T. Eyall. 
1856. Henry D. Hendrickson. 
1857-.59. Henry Buck. 
1860-62. Forman Sickles. 
1863-67. Levi Scobey. 
1868-80. John T. Haight. 
1881-84. John E. Van Derveer. 

Colt'.s Neck is the principal village of At- 
lantic townsliip, and is situated a little south and 
west of the centre, on Yellow Brook. The 
origin of the name of this village is unknown. 
Some have said it came from the fact that a 
tavern-keeper of the jilace put up a sign bear- 
ing the picture of a colt's head and neck and 
the date 1817, but the date alone woidd dis- 
prove the supposition, as the name Colt's Neck 
is frecpieutly mentioned in the annals of the 
Revolution, full forty years earlier. 

The tavern referred to was kept by Jacob 
Hart, who, in 1817, was succeeded in the pro- 
prietorship by Samuel Laird, ^^■llo kept it until 
his death, July 5, 1859, when it was taken by 
his son, Robert Laird. He kept it several 
years, and in 1869 it was taken by Augustus 
Manning. Since that time it has had several 
proprietors, and is now kept by Monroe Mat- 
thews. 

The post-office at this place was established 
February 24, 1824, with Samuel Laird as post- 
master. He was succeeded in 1859 by Tunis 



Statesir, who was, in turn, succeeded by Charles 
Sherman, the present postmaster, who is also a 
merchant of the village. 

In the house now occupied by ^Nliss Harriet 
Throckmorton, John Wardell kept a store in 
1812 and for several years after that time. 
About 1816, Benjamin Van Mater kept a store 
in a building that stood where now are the store 
of Charles Sherman and the dwelling of John 
T. Haight. John Stoutenburg kept a store 
here afterwards, and Elisiia Laird kept a store 
from about 1836 for many years. He was suc- 
ceeded by Samuel and James Throckmorton. 
In 1858, Levi Scobey erected a store l)uikling, 
which he occupied several years. He was suc- 
ceeded by Charles Scobey & Co., Charles 
Haight & Co. and in 1864 by S, Matthews, 
who is the present owner and proprietor. 

Colt's Neck as it was in 1834 is described 
in the Gazetteer of that year as follows : " It 
contains from fifteen to twenty dwellings, one 
tavern, two stores, three grist-mills and two 
saw-mills." 

The grist-mill near the village, on Yellow 
Brook, was built before 1806 by Cornelius 
Barriclo. It was afterwards owned Ijy Charles 
Parker and Jacob Proliasco, by wliom the pres- 
ent mill was built, and since 1864 by Thomas 
E. Snyder, the present owner. The Van Plater 
and Muhlenbrink mill, lower down on the same 
stream, was also built by Cornelius Barriclo. 
Later, it came into possession of William 
Haight, by whom it was carried on many years, 
and afterwards by his sons. 

The Reformed Church at Colt's Neck 
dates back less than thirty years. The follow- 
ing sketch of it is quoted from the " Classis of 
Monmouth," written in 1879 by the Rev. 
Theodore Wells. 

" The first creative act of the Classis, so to 
speak, was the organization of the church of 
Colt's Neck. This is a point about five miles 
from each of the churches of First and Second 
Freehold and the now church of Holmclel. It 
was a district of country outlying all circles of 
direct church influence, and lying between the 
thi'ee churches named and the pine region. 
Here was room tor us to enlarge on our own 



ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 



667 



frontier. This district contained many families 
of people, mostly living on small holdings, and 
without means of conveyance to chnrch. They 
were quiet, respectable people, and anxious to 
have Gospel privileges. As they occasionally 
needed the services of a minister in the marry- 
ing of their children and the burial of their 
dead, they naturally called in some minister 
that they knew, or had seen or heard of, almost 
entirely irrespective of denominational relations. 
But inasmuch as the Reformed minister at 
Holmdel had the longest pastoral life, he at 
length became the only one they knew of. And 
it happened that that whole community fell into 
his hands as a part of his pastoral care, and he, 
responding to the occasion, made regular pasto- 
ral visitations among them, usually once a year, 
preaching the gospel from house to house, and 
in this way some precious fruit was gathered 
into the church. But it was for years a heavy 
burden on his heart that these people could not 
have the means of regularly hearing the gospel 
preached. 

"A commodious school-house was at leng-th 
erected at Scobeyville, two miles from Colt's 
Neck, where preaching services could be held, 
and here was organized a Sal)bath-school that 
grew and prospered. It must not be omitted, 
however, that in this district were good farms 
anil substantial families, who had places in the 
neighboring churches. But while the poor are 
to have the gospel preached to tliem, they have 
sometimes to wait till they who are better 
favored can furnish the accommodations. The 
matter was long deferred. But at last the 
movement was made. On the 22d of Api-il, 
1856, a church was organized with seventeen 
members, a house of worship was built, and the 
candidate, Jacob S. Wyckoff, a then recent gi-ad- 
uate of the seminary, was called and ordained 
as their pastor. The church moved onward in 
its good work, taking care of itself in pecuniary 
matters from the beginning. Mr. Wyckoti' re- 
signed his call in 1864, and his place was filled 
in 1865 by Rev. James Bolton, who, after a 
prosperous ministry of thirteen years, has been 
during the last year succeeded by the present 
pastor." 

The " present pastor " above referred to was 



the Rev. Hendrick A. Hendrickson, who was 
installed pastor December 3, 1878, and con- 
tinueil until 1882. The present pastor, the 
Rev. George W. Laljaw, was installed Decem- 
ber 5, 1882. The church has now a member- 
ship of one hundred and eighty-five. 

St. Mary's Romax Catholic Coxgeega- 
Tiox AT Colt's Xeck was first organized in 
1871 by the Rev Frederick Kivelitz, of Free- 
hold. Mass was celebrated once a month, and 
religious instruction given to the children once 
a week in a private house. In 1879 a brick 
and terra-cotta church of Gothic style, thirty by 
fifty-five feet, capable of seating two hundred 
and fifty persons, was erected. Since the com- 
pletion of the church. Mass has been celelirated 
there every second Sunday. 

The Ixdepexpext Methodist Chi'rch was 
organized in 1808, in which year the people in 
the region of Colt's Neck who were in sym- 
pathy with the views of the Independent 
Methodists met at the residence of one of their 
number on the 5th of February, and elected 
the following persons trustees of the church : 
Zenas Conger, Gant Haulsart, John Cooper, 
Solomon Ketchum, Thomas Cottrell and ^Vil- 
liam Karnaglin. A certificate of iucoi'poration 
was filed the next day. A house was built on 
the main road towards Freehold, and was used 
many years, and abandoned about the time the 
Dutch Reformed Church was built. 

Scobeyville is situated in the eastern part 
of the township, about two miles east of Colt's 
Neck. The first store at this place was opened 
by Charles Scobey in 1848. It was kept by 
him till his death in 1873, and since that time 
has been kept by his daughter. Miss H. A. 
Scobey. A post-office was established there in 
July, 1874. William Henry Foster was ap- 
pointed postmaster, and still continues. The 
office is kept at the store. 

Edixburgh is a hamlet located in the north- 
western part of the township. There has been 
a school-house at this place for sixty or seventy 
years. A store is now kept by James j\Iains, 
who is the postmaster. The post-olfice was es- 



668 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



tablislied in 1882, by the name of Vauderburg 
post-office. On Big Brook, and on the road 
from Hohndel to Colt's Neck, John G. Taylor 
built, in 1822, the grist-mill now operated by 
the estate of Charles M. Taylor. 

Schools of the Towxship. — Atlantic town- 
ship is divided into six school districts, which 
contain five hundred and forty-seven children of 
school age. The school property of the town- 
ship is valued at eight thousand one hundred 
dollars. 

Colt's Neck School District, No. 1, has one 
hundred and thirty-eight school children. The 
first school in this locality was kept in a house 
that stood about half a mile west from the 
village, on land now owned by Patrick Desmond. 
Charles Bowman, now living at seventy-eight 
years of age, attended school at that house 
about 1813. Stephen Wood was the teacher. 
A little later, Anthony Van Pelt taught there. 
In 1 835, Thomas G. Haight, Samuel Laird and 
John Statesir were trustees, and in that year 
there were thirty scholars in the district. The 
old house was used until 185l5, when the jires- 
ent house was erected. 

Edinburg School District, No. 2, has one hun- 
dred registered jnipils. The first house in which 
school was taught in this neighl)orhood was 
built for that purpose about 1814. In 1824^ 
James Taylor was a pupil there, and school had 
then been taught there several years. The pres- 
ent school-house was built before 1836 and was 
rebuilt in 1865. 

Scobeyville School District, No. 3, contains 
one hundred and two scholars. Before 1820 a 
school-house was erected on land of Daniel Pol- 
hemus, on a lane off the main road. This was 
used until 1851, when the present house was 
erected on land of Thomas Guest. 

Hillside School District, No. 4, has forty-six 
children of school age. Prior to the school es- 
tablished at the "Phalanx," children attended 
school at the old house not far from Scobeyville. 
In 1844, when the society that later became the 
Phalanx was in active operation, a school was 
opened and kept by them until they failed. 
The district was then known as the Phalanx 
District, and was not abolished until December 



21, 1865, at which time the present district was 
formed and the school-house built. 

Montrose School District, No. 5, embraces 
parts of Middletown and Atlantic townships 
and contains one hundred and fourteen children. 
The school-house, which is in Atlantic town- 
ship, was erected over twenty years ago. 

Robbius School, No. 5|, has forty-seven 
school children. A school-house was erected in 
this section in 1873 and school opened in Octo- 
ber of that year. 

The North Americax Phalanx. — In the 
northeastern part of Atlantic township, lietween 
Hop and Yellow Brooks, on the road leading 
to Leedsville, in Middletown township, and five 
miles from the town of Red Bank, is the location 
which, from the year 1844 to 1855, was occu- 
pied by a company or society known as the 
North American Phalanx, a community of dis- 
ciples of Fourier, the essence of whose doctrine 
was that there should be a universal guarantee 
of the results of all labor, a just distribution 
of those results and economical methods of 
production, distribution and consummation by 
co-operation in communities. 

Albert Brisbane and Parke Godwin were 
mainly responsible for the interesting experi- 
ment that was continued eleven years. Mr. 
Brisbane's translations of certain of Fourier's 
writings were published in the New York 
Tribune and elsewhere, while Mr. Godwin's 
arguments in favor of a practical test of the 
French philosopher's ideas were attracting 
attention. Brook Farm was then in existence, 
and there were other less ambitious exjieriments 
elsewhere. Those whose thoughts were bent on 
attaining a perfect system of living were eager 
for opportunities to test their various plans. 
The Phalanx had for its members people from 
the middle of New York State and from Albany, 
at which latter place the society was informally 
organized in 1842 or 1843, with Allen Warden 
as president, and Nathan R. French treasurer. 
A committee then appointed to select a tract of 
land on which to settle examined various places 
in New Jersey, and finally decided on the tract 
above referred to, in Atlantic townshij), which 
tract of six hundred and seventy-three acres was 
purchased January 1, 1S44, by Allen Warden, 



ATLANTIC TOWiNSHIP. 



669 



Thomas Guest and Nathan E. French, of Hen- 
drifk Longstreet and Daniel Holmes, for the 
sum of fourteen thousand dollars. 

The society then numbered about Hfty per- 
sons, of whom about twenty — nearly all of 
whom were men — took possession of the tract 
in 1844, and lived in two small farm-houses, — 
one an old Dutch building, — which were stand- 
ing on the property. Before the next spring 
they had built a three-story frame building, 
one-half of which is now standing, and then 
the wives and children of those who had spent 
the winter there moved to the place. 

On the 2l3th of December, 1844, notice was 
given that application would be made to the 
next session of Legislature for an act to incor- 
porate "The North American Phalanx." This 
was not accomplished until 1848, when a certifi- 
cate of incorporation was issued. The capital 
stock of the society was two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, of which thii-ty-five thousand 
and seventy dollars was required to be paid in. 
The day fixed for the act to take effect was 
January 1, 1850. 

On the 2d of February, 1850, the land and 
buildings which had been purchased by Allen 
AVarden and others, with the property that had 
afterwards accumulated, amounting in all to 
$39,863.44, was transferred by Stephen F. 
"Wheeler to "The North American Phalanx." 
Additions had been made to the buildings ; a 
grist-mill, saw-mill, smith-shop, offices and 
other buildings were erected, including the 
General Phalanx building, which contained the 
dining-room, worship and dance-hall, besides 
offices. A school Mas established, and was 
taught by a Frenchman, named Guillaudeau, 
a member of the society, who was also the post- 
master. 

On the 17th of April, 1854, the grist-mill, 
saw-mill, smiths' shops and offices of the Phalanx 
were destroyed by fire, causing a loss of nine 
thousand dollars. This disaster, added to other 
troubles that had arisen, brought about the fail- 
ure of the Phalanx scheme. The mills had been 
a principal source of revenue, and their loss was 
a fatal blow. There was a conflict of opinion 
as to whether to rebuild them where they had 
been or in the neighboring village of Red Bank. 



This dispute was seized upon by those who had 
the most foresight, as a pretext for withdrawing. 
They could not make tlie money that they felt 
their talents would command in open competi- 
tion with the world. The colony had at one 
time numljcred nearly two hundred, but it was 
not large enough. The industries had not been 
varied enough even for the little number there. 
There was not capital sufficient to establish other 
lines of work. The project had failed of the 
success that was anticipated, and the Phalanx 
ceased to exist in April, 1845, and the members 
gradually withdrew and dispersed. Charles 
Sears, John B. Augell and Thomas Guest were 
appointed to dispose of the property. The real 
estate was advertised to be sold October 3, 1855, 
and the movable property on the 5th of Decem- 
ber in the same year. The Phalanx lands are 
now the property of John B. Angell (at one time 
president of the Phalanx), Thomas Guest (a 
member), John Bucklin (also a member), Col- 
man and Eichdale, James Bray and Burrows 
Walling. 

A description of the place by one who visited 
it in 1883, together with a rather rambling and 
highly-colored account of what was done there 
by the Phalanx people during the eleven years 
of their occupancy, was printed in a city news- 
paper ^ of the time, and is here given, — 

" The Phalanx is a large tract of laud shut oft' from 
the country road by a wild and luxurious growth of 
brush and shrubbery. Once beyond this natural 
screen the visitor finds himself in a charming, and at 
the same time an astonishing, place. A dam trans- 
forms a little brook into a placid lake at the foot of a 
majestic lawn leading up to a city row of frame houses, 
built at right angles to an enormous structure some- 
thing after the style of a watering-jilace hotel. Other 
large buildings are to be seen through the trees and 
across the farms, and, if one did not know the truth, 
it would be difiicult to decide in a glance whether the 
place was dead and deserted or whether it still con- 
tained a population. 

"Thepond.the lawn and thetreesare inthemainthe 
victims of continued neglect. Thebig, hotel-like place is 
evidently not inhabited. But the road is apparently 
in constant use ; smoke curls from the cottage chim- 
neys ; now and then a man, woman or a pair of romp- 
ing children pass from one house to another, and the 
calls of a ploughman to his sweating horses ring 

1 New York Sun, September 30, 1883. 



670 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



through the grove. A stranger's second judgment 
would be, after he had seen a big, factory-like build- 
ing further along the road, with parlor furniture in 
view through the windows, that there had once been 
a much larger number of people in the inclosure ; that 
they had lived in the big hotel and carried on various 
industries in the other houses, and that now only a 
few remained, and these were scattered about the 
place, some of the work-houses being turned into 
homes, some of the homes being abandoned and the 
only work being farming. And this would be in a 
general way the truth abcmt the place. 

" Farming was at first the only means of livelihood of 
the Phalanx people, and those who engaged in it 
knew so little about it that Mr. John Bucklin, who 
was then and has ever since been a farmer there, 
says that when two of the cattle got their horns locked 
in the woods the men sent to the house for saws with 
which to cut oft' their horns, and when they attemjrted 
to drive a farm-wagon through an open gateway they 
managed to break down the gate-posts on either side 
of the opening. They bought poison marl, too, and 
thus made good ground sterile. John Bucklin was 
head of the farming group and Mr. Nathan French, 
now head of the firm of French & Co., produce com- 
mission merchants in New York, was the only other 
man who knew anything about farming. In time, 
however, the farming became very profitable, though 
there was more land than was ever utilized in that 
way. In time, too, other industries were added. 
Black silk stocks were then in vogue, and these were 
manufactured there. There was also a machine-shop, 
a blacksmith-shop and a flouring-mill. The latter 
grew to be the principal source of profit. From 
grinding their own grain they came to grinding that 
of the neighborhood, and then to shipping it fi'om 
New York and sending it back in the shape of flour 
of a good quality. 

" At the highest point of success in the Phalanx the 
place presented a very interesting study. There were 
one hundred and forty people' there, and their home 
was the big building now standing that has been 
likened to a hotel. Its dining-room was also its ball- 
room, and as it is to-day, there are not many halls in 
New Jersey as large, as handsome or as well-built as 
it is. At the further end is a great oil-painting of 
some sanguine philosopher's dream of a model 
Fourierite city, looking a little like a world's fair- 
ground and somewhat resembling a Western railroad 
centre, mainly composed of passenger and freight de- 
pots. Here the service at the tables was performed 
by waiter-girls, — the wives, daughters and sisters of 
the Phalanx men. Here, also, they did their cooking 
and heating by steam. In all New Jersey there was 
not another such kitchen or restaurant. The food 

'This statement is too small. There were, as before 
stated, nearly two hundrei.l people at the Phalanx at one 
time. 



was excellent and the cooking elaborate. Work was 
thus furnished for women whose time was not wholly 
taken up in their own families, and who, in the world 
at large, would have had no such opportunities for 
making themselves useful and comfortable. Here, 
also, and in various other ways, childreu, who, if they 
had been anywhere else, would have found uo way 
to add to the family income, worked at odd jobs. The 
restaurant workers formed several groups in what 
was called the household or domestic series. This 
series induced the kitchen, laundry, waiting (at 
table), sewing and several other groups. 

" An idea may be had of how the whole work was divi- 
ded u\) by the reports in the New York pa])ers of the first 
funeral at the Phalanx. Seven years passed before a 
death occurred, and Mr. James H. Martin's was the 
first funeral. In the jirocession to the tomb President 
Sears led the way. The body followed, attended 
by six members of the Kitchen Uarden Group, of 
which the deceased man had been the head. The 
members of this group all bore, in rest, their hoes as 
emblems of their profession. These were draped. A 
hoe and spade, draped and crossed, rested on the cof- 
fin. Then followed the family, then the Agricultural 
Series, headed by its chief, Mr. John Bucklin, and 
thus composed : 

1, the Market Garden Group, with draped hoes in 
rest; 2, the Marling Group, with pickaxes and shov- 
els in rest, draped ; 3, the Farming Group ; and 4, 
the Orchard Group, all with their implements draped. 

Mr. G. B. Arnold headed the various groups in the 
DomesticSeries, appointed with the proper implements 
draped. Dr. E. Guillaudeau headed the Festal Series, 
bearing Humboldt's Cosmos, as a symbol of all knowl- 
edge, draped, and Mr. J. Warren carried a flute, 
draped. Another teacher carried a roll of music, 
draped. Chief J. B. Angell, heading the Live Stock 
Series, was followed by the groups in that department, 
leading four robust farm-horses with head-stalls draped, 
and as many grave oxen with their horns in mourning. 
The Mantifacturing Series, headed by ]Mr. N. R. 
French, with a draped miller's staft" presented the mil- 
lers with their tools, the carjjenters with theirs, the 
iron and tin-workers and the w^oodmen each with an 
appropriate implement, and each implement draped. 
The ceremony at the grave was not unlike a similar 
one in the outer world. Nothing was said to startle 
or shock the most orthodox Christian. 

"This gives an idea of the industrial distribution 
in the colony. Everybody worked at what he or she 
could do best, and the pay was regulated partly by 
the rates of wages elsewhere and partly by the nature 
of the work and the number employed at it. It was 
part of the theory that disagreeable work, such as had 
to be performed and yet could not be with pleasure 
undertaken by anybody, should command the high- 
est pay. An applicant for membership served a year's 
probation, and in that time, having been put at all 
the sorts of labor, was certain to demonstrate what 



I 



ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 



671 



work he was best fitted for, and also whether his moral 
character and mental inclination were such as the 
colonists wijukl care to introduce in their society. 
Everybody with one idea came there to air his notions 
and there was not a crank in the country who could 
personally, or in writing, present his views but was 
heard from. The Phalanxers held to what was whole- 
some, honest and practical all throughout their co- 
operation, and there never blew for an instant during 
their eleven years of existence the fointest breath of 
scandal there. That this could only have been the re- 
sult of the most earnest and watchful endeavors must 
be apparent to whoever considers what sort of mate- 
rial composed the army that knocked at the gates for 
admittance. 

"And yet the Jersey people thought then, and 
think now, that it was a free-love community. They 
could not understand the colony at all. The simple 
fact that the Phalanx girls and women wore the 
Bloomer costume settled this point in the rural mind. 
. . . The Phalanx girls found the short skirt and long 
trousers the best costume when at work, washing, 
scrubbing, waiting o'n table, moving about near ma- 
chinery, toiling in the fields and elsewhere. They 
loved the dress so, that they shaped silk and satin 
into it and danced in it on Fourier's birthday and 
other grand occasions. 

" The home life and the rearing of children were 
exemplary. All the intellectual pastimes of the city- 
folk, lectures, concerts, readings, plays and the pos- 
session of the daily papers, the magazines, a fine 
library, and an exceedingly well-equipped school 
were enjoyed there. The style of living at first in- 
dulged in proved not to have been warranted by the 
income of the colony; and an old ex-chief, who put 
everything as tersely as possible, said yesterday that 
'they never prospered until they came down to the 
bed-rock of griddle-cakes and sorghum.' They were, 
in the main, shrewd and practical people, whose ex- 
travagances, such as the funeral of Chief Martin, were 
due to extreme earnestne.ss rather than mere senti- 
ment; and the very men who led in that quaint pa- 
rade all attained at least moderate distinction and 
prosperity in the world afterward. Charles Chapin 
invented the sewing-machine hemmer; Mr. Nathan 
French is conspicuous in mercantile circles in New 
York; Mr. Benjamin Urner's is a familiar name. 
The Angells, the Bucklin.s, the Colemans and a 
score of, others have prospered beyond most people. 
George B. Arnold's magic ruflie revolutionized one 
industry; and George Arnold, the poet of Bohemia, 
did not die so young but that he left his name in 
people's minds. 

"After eleven years the colony broke up, . . . and 
so came the end, when outside creditors received one 
hundred cents on the dollar, and insiders sixty-five 
cents. But not a man of them nor a woman would 
or will admit that the scheme thus tested is not prac- 
ticable, or that their venture can fairly be called a 



failure. They love the memory of the Phalanx ; and 

some of tbem, among the most substantial and pros- 
perous people in rich old Monmouth County, love 
the Phalanstery itself, and still live and carry on 
their callings there in the happy expectation of rest- 
ing at last in that favored place." 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHKS. 

Thomas G. Haic4Ht, son of William Haight, 
was born November 10, 1790, on wliat is called 
the Morrisdown farm, half a mile east of Colt's 
Xeck, where lie resided until he \yas about thir- 
ty-eigiit years of age. He prepared for college 
in New Brunswick, under the Eev. Mr. Croes 
(afterwards Bishop Croes), and graduated at the 
College of New Jersey, Princeton, 1812. He 
was married to Miss Van IVIarter, March 8, 
1824. In 1828 he settled at Colt's Neck, where 
he resided until his death. After he graduated 
he read law for some time in Philadelphia but 
never pursued the study to take license. He 
devoted himself chiefly to agriculture, and was 
one of the uiost scientific and successful farmers 
in the county. He had eight- children, — three 
daughters and five sons. 

The intelligence and worth of Mr. Haio-ht 
early drew the attention of his fellow-citizens to 
him as a suitable man to represent the county 
in the Legislature ; and though reluctant to 
leave his home and his farm, he was prevailed 
upon to be a candidate, and was elected to the 
Assembly in 1831, where he soon became a 
leading member. He served in that body six 
years, and in 1837, during the stormy and ex- 
citing time of Mr. Van Buren's administration, 
he M'as elected Speaker of the House, in which 
office he acquitted himself with great credit, and 
in a manner highly acceptaljle to all parties. 
He was one of the members from jNIonmouth 
County of that memorable convention which 
met in Trenton, ^May 14, 1844, and formed the 
present Constitution of the State. He was often 
solicited to become a candidate for Congress, but 
his domestic habits and his love for home led 
him to refuse all such solicitations. He was 
one of the three founders of the Youno- Ladies' 
Seminary at Freehold, Judge John Hull and 
the Eev. D. Y. IMcLean being the others. 



672 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



About a year before the death of Mr. Haight, he, 
witli Mr. McLean, prepared and published an 
address to the people of Monmouth County on 
the subject of erecting a monument in commem- 
oration of the battle of Monmouth. 

The death of Mr. Haight occurred on the 1st 
of September, 1847, when he was nearly fifty- 
seven years of age. At the time of his decease 
the attention of his fellow-citizens was strongly 
turned to him as a candidate for Governor at 
the succeeding election ; and had he lived, there 
is scarcely a doubt but that he would have been 
selected. He was beloved by all 2>arties, and 
known throughout the whole State of Xew Jer- 
sey as an upright, clear-headed, honest man. 

It was in private life that the character of 
Mr. Haight shone most conspicuously. He was 
very domestic in his habits, peculiarly fond of 
his family, and entirely unambitious of public 
stations or public honors. His intelligence and 
probity gave him great influence in the commu- 
nity in which he lived, in advising and settling 
the business atfairs of his neighbors who had 
fewer advantages than himself. To such neigh- 
borly acts he freely devoted much of his time, 
without fee or reward ; and this, with his frank 
and courteous manner, greatly endeared him to 
all who knew him. 



The Fasiily of Schenck. — The Schencks 
of Monmouth County are descended from Roelof 
Schenck Van Nydeck, who, with his brother 
Jan, emigrated to this country from Holland in 
1650. The particular place from whence they 
came was probably Doesberg, in the province of 
Guelderland, where, it appears, their father was 
born. He was a son of Martin and a grand- 
son of General Peter Schenck and his wife, 
Joanna Van Scharpenseel, and General Peter 
was a brother of tlie celebrated General and Sir 
Martin Schenck, with whom his brother fought 
and was one of the most successful, daring and 
enterprising commanders in Holland in the time 
of the war of the revolution there. Tracing 
tlieni back, they were descended from four Der- 
icks in succession, and then from two Heinrichs, 
or Henrys, in succession, going back to 1346, 
and who were lords of the manorial estates of 
Aflerden, Wachtendonk and Blyenbeck, Atfer- 



den and Blyenbeck lying on the Maas River, 
above the town of Gennep, and Wachtendonk 
on the Nioss River, above the town of Gelden. 
Passing back one or two unknown generations, 
they were descended from Ludolphus, Wilhelmus 
and Christian us, going back to 1225, and then 
through Christianus, a second son in the family 
of Schencks, the barons of Tautenberg, going 
back to 330. The descendants of Christianus 
were known as the Schencks Van Nydeck, so 
called from the town of Neidea;o;en, Ivino: on the 
river Roer, some eighteen miles east of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, where no doubt Christianus had an 
estate or residence. 

Roelof Schenck Van Nydeck, the emigrant 
to this country, married, first, in 1660, Neeltje, 
daughter of Garret Van Couwenhoven; mar- 
ried, second, in 1675, Anuetje Wyckoff; and 
married, third, November 30, 1688, Catharine 
Cregin, of New York, widow of Stoffen Hoag- 
land. He settled at Flatlands, where, in 1661, 
he obtained a patent for forty-six acres of land, 
and subsequenth' purchased lands until he must 
have owned some three hundred acres and the 
one-half of the mill occupied by his brother John. 
At one assessment for taxation his ratables 
were the next highest in the town, and at another 
subsequently taken they were the highest. He 
was among the first enrolled as a member of the 
church of Flatlands, and no doubt among its 
principal supporters. When a bill was pro- 
cured for the cliurch, his subscrijjtion wa.s the 
highest on the list. He was appointed by Gov- 
ernor Leisler captain of cavalry in Kings 
County, and at several different times held the 
office of justice of tiie peace and once that of 
schepen, or judge, and in general in public 
affairs was among the leading men in the colony^ 

Roelof had three sons — ^lartiu, John and 
Garret — and seven daughters. Martin was left 
the homestead at Flatlands, and his descendants 
have principally remained on Long Island. .John 
and Garret emigrated in 1696 or 1698 to Mon- 
mouth County, and together with Cornelius 
Couwenhoven, who married their sister Mar- 
garet, settled in Pleasant Valley on a five hun- 
dred acre tract of land purchased of .John 
Bowue, merchant of Middletown. 

Garret Schenck was born October 27, 1671,. 



ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 



673 



and died September 5, 1 745. Married, about 
1693, Nceltjc, daughter of Koert Voorhees. He 
resided on tiie farm now occupied by Theodore 
Rapelyea, and built the spacious old mansion 
still standing there in good order. He acquired 
a large property and in different parts of the 
country, among which, iu company with John 
Couweuhoven, the grandfather of the present 
John Conover, was a six thousand acre tract of 
land at Penn's Neck purchased of John Peun. 
When the First Reformed Church of Freehold 
was organized, in 1709, he was one of the two 
first deacons, and from 1721 to 1727 he was 
a member of the Provincial Assembly of New 
Jersey. He had five sons — Roelof, Koert, Gar- 
ret, Jan and Albert — and five daughters. 

The second Garret Schenck was born August 
30, 1712, but did not live to see old age, as he 
deceased at the age of forty-five, August 20, 
1757. Married, iu 1737, Jane, daughter of. 
William Couwenhoven of Long Island. He 
remained on his father's homestead in Pleasant 
Valley; had three sons — William, John and 
Garret — and seven daughters. 

John, son of the second Garret, was borri 
August 28, 1745, and died on his eighty-ninth 
birth-day, in 1834; married, July 31, 1767, 
Maria, daughter of Tunis De Nise and Fran- 
cinke Heudrickson. He settled on the farm in 
Pleasant Valley adjoining his father, now occu- 
pied by his grandson, David Schenck, and also 
for a time carried on the business of a fuller 
and then a saw-mill. While yet a young mar- 
ried man, and surrounded by a large family of 
young children, the War of the Revolution 
came on and he ardently embraced the patriotic 
cause, and as occasion called for, took up arms 
and at times engasred uctivelv in the fisht. He 
became captain of militia, and was a bold and 
enterprising officer and possessed of influence. 
It is said that soon after the beginning: of the 
war he was approached by a Loyalist and asked 
what he would take to embrace the royal cause. 
He answered, " The whole of Europe cannot 
buy me; give me liberty." Such was the value 
of his example and influence, and so obnoxious 
was he to the enemy, that his sister Anna, living 
on Long Island and in the midst of the foe, 
overheard some British officers talkino; about 
43 



offering fifty guineas for the head of Captain 
John Schenck, dead or alive. She procured a 
pair of silver-mounted pistols, and sent them 
to him with the message, "John, don't you be 
taken alive." These pistols are carefully pre- 
served at his old homestead, and may be seen 
there at the present day. His life was sought 
after and insecure, and sometimes for safety he 
passed his nights in concealment, at one time 
in a hay-stack in the field. This was discov- 
ered; but made aware of the discovery by some 
friends, the next night he went elsewhere. The 
enemy came, surrounded the stack and set it 
on fire ; but he was out of their way. For a 
while, at least, he was in the main army, but was 
principally engaged in contests with the enemy 
about the vicinity of his home. At one time 
he drove off with his company a party of 
Refugees who had come over from Staten 
Island and landed on the East Point, and, hav- 
ing gone up in the country, collected a lot of 
cattle and driven them down to the shore, were 
engaged in trying to ship their plunder on their 
boats. They were attacked, the captain going 
on ahead and swinging his hat and calling to 
his men to come on. He himself shot one man 
down by the name of Lawrence, having struck 
him in the forehead with a bullet. At another 
time he was at the Highlands with his company, 
and a company of the enemy being there, he 
urged his superior officer, who was also there, 
to make the attack, but he was afraid and re- 
fused. The captain then assumed the responsi- 
bility, attacked the pai'ty, captured them and 
brought off most of them at least prisoners of 
war. When, in the month of June, 1781, the 
party of fifteen hundred invaded the county, 
they came up as far as Pleasant Valley and 
some firing occurred, and they eugaged in plun- 
dering. A detachment went over to the resi- 
dence of Captain John Kiming to burn his 
buildings. A skirmish took place and they 
were driven back. During the firing the mother, 
with her three-weeks old babe — her De Lafay- 
ette — retired to the cellar to get out of the way 
of the bullets. A grenadier was killed on the 
occasion and buried down in the orchai-d, where 
his grave was afterwards regarded as a ghost- 
like place by the boys. The captain himself was 



674 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



struck by two bullets fired by a Hessian, whom 
he pursued and captured. 

Captain John Schenck and Maria Denise had 
nine sons, — Garret, Tunis, William, John, De- 
nise, Daniel, De Lafayette, David and Hendrick, 
— all of whom lived to grow up, and all but one 
to marry; and four daughters, — one died an 
infant, the others grew up and married. 

The seventh son was De Lafayette, born May 
27, 1781, and died September 11, 1862. Mar- 
ried, December 17, 1805, Eleanor, daughter of 
Garret Couwenhoven and Anna Schenck. He 
was named in honor of that devoted friend of 
this country and of civil liberty, the Marquis 
De Lafayette, and is said to have been the first 
American child to bear that name. And when 
the general was in this country on his visit, and 
in New York, Captain John was introduced to 
him, and he then introduced his son as bearing 
his name, and received his grateful thanks. 

De Lafayette Schenck resided first at Mata- 
wan, and carried on for many years quite exten- 
sively and successfully the business of tanning 
and currying, and at the same time cultivated 
and improved a farm of some sixty acres. He 
was a man noted for his sound good sense and 
correct views of things. He paid strict attention 
to his own business, was upright in all his deal- 
ings, and when needed to labor, was never ashamed 
to work with his own hands. While industrious 
and careful in promoting his own interest, he 
was possessed of public spirit, and ready to aid 
in any worthy cause ; especially did he manifest 
a patriotic spirit in giving for the cause of his 
countiy in her hour of need. He was among 
the first in his native county to engage in laying 
out and straightening the public road from 
Freehold to Middletown Point ; and when that 
road was extended to Keyjiort, and converted 
first to a plank-road and then to a graveled 
turnpike, he took an active and leading part. 
In instituting the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank 
at Middletown Point, he was largely instru- 
mental in obtaining the charter, freely investing 
in it of his means ; was for a few years its first 
president, and up to the time of his death was 
an influential member of the board of directors. 
He entered heartily into the first enterprise of 
taking a steamboat from the shores of Mon- 



mouth to the city of New York, partaking of 
its reverses and successes, and, in connection 
with this, aiding in erecting and arranging the 
steamboat wharf at Keyport, and keeping his 
interest in these until within two or three years of 
his death. He was largely interested in sustaining 
tiie large hotel and boarding-house at Keyport, 
and when destroyed by fire, rebuilt it on his 
own responsibility. In 1830 he removed on 
the large farm near Holmdel, where he re- 
mained until 1855, conducting successfully his 
farming operations. The last seven years of his 
life he spent at Keyport, attending to his gen- 
eral business afiairs. Although not a profess- 
ing church member, yet such were his views in 
regard to moral influences that he never would 
allow card-playing or even a pack of cards on 
his premises. For building the parsonage 
house at Keyport he gave one-third of the 
cost of it, and was always a helper in sus- 
taining the preaching of the gospel, and among 
the most regular in attendance on divine 
services. On his dying bed he expressed to his 
pastor his belief and trust in Christ as the 
source of mercy to him. 

De Lafayette Schenck and Eleanor Conover 
had four sons, — Garret C, Sidney, Alfred and 
Lafayette, — all of whom lived to grow up and 
marry ; and four daughters, that lived to grow 
up and marry. 

Garret Conover Schenck was born Septem- 
ber 14, 1806. Married, first, October, 1834, 
Sarah Ann, daughter of William Hendrickson 
and Eleanor Dubois, and eldest sister of Senator 
Hendrickson; married, second, April 14, 1846, 
Jane, daughter of Hugh McCormick and Jane 
Welsh, of Fairfield, N.J. The greater part of his 
time when a youth was spent in attending the 
common schools of the vicinity, while, owing 
to the frequent changes of teachers, the advan- 
tages for laying a good foundation for an educa- 
tion were but limited. Hence, when about 
fourteen years old, he wa.s sent to the classical 
school at Cranbury, then under the care of Mr. 
Hanna. There lie commenced the study of 
Latin ; but after attending nine months the 
school was broken up, and he returned home to 
assist for a year or two in working in the yai"d and 
on the farm. In the spring of 1823 he was sent to 



ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 



675 



the classical school at Lawrenceville, then under 
the care of the Rev. Dr. I. V. Brown. Three 
years were spent hero in preparing for college, 
and in the spring of 182(j he was admitted to 
the sophomore class at its tliird term in Rut- 
gers College, New Brunswick. At the com- 
mencement, in 1827, he was chosen as one of 
the junior speakers, and in 1828 took part in 
the commencement exercises, and then gradu- 
ated. The principal part of the succeeding 
year was spent in New Haven, in attendance 
on Professor Silliman's lectures on chemistry, 



church was not then sought, and the principal 
part of the summer was spent in occasionally 
preaching in different places, and traveling and 
visiting friends in Central New York and out 
West as far as Ohio and Kentucky. In the 
winter of 1833 lie was sent by the Board of 
Domestic Missions to preach as a missionary 
in the recently organized church of Marshall- 
ville ; here he continued for six months. In tlie 
autumn he was sent by the Classis to preach as a 
supply for a few weeks in the then vacant church 
of Walpack. A call to Ijccome their pastor was 




^ a^h^/ — ^ ^^^-U-a^^^^. 



mineralogy and geology, and on the lectures of 
I Dr. Knight on anatomy, physiology and ob- 
stetrics. In the autumn of 1829 he was ad- 
mitted to the Theological Seminary at New 
Brunswick, and passed the regular course of 
study in theology, excepting three months spent 
. in assisting the Rev. Dr. Currie in teaching in 
the grammar school. 

In April, 1832, he was licensed by the Classis 
of New Brunswick to preach tlie gospel. His 
health having been somewhat impaired by ap- 
plication to study, a situation as pastor of a 



soon after made out and accepted, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1834, he removed there and commenced 
his work. He was required to preach at 
four different places in the congregation, dis- 
tant from each other, and lying on both sides of 
the river Delaware. It was a laborious charge, 
attended with discouragements, and sometimes 
danger in crossing the river. He continued 
here but one year, when circumstances con- 
strained him to resign this charge. 

In the autumn of 1834 he received and ac- 
cepted a call to the church of Clover Hill. There 



676 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



he labored among a divided and unsettled people 
for a year and a half, when it was thought best 
to make a change. He was then invited to 
preach as a candidate in the then vacant church 
of Pompton Plains, the old mother Reformed 
Church in that section of the country. A call 
from here was soon made out and accepted, and 
in July, 1837, he removed there, and in due 
time wa-s installed there as their pastor. Here 
for fifteen and a half years, in this large and 
substantial congregation, and among a plain, 
but refined and kind-hearted people, he labored 
with encouraging success. In the cour.se of time, 
and from various causes, a few became dis- 
affected with their pastor, and it was thought 
best quietly to leave them. He gave up his 
call, not knowing whereto go or how his family 
might be situated. No opening in the church 
for him as a settled pastor has since presented 
itself, and in the Providence of God and in a 
singular way his lot has been cast on a farm for 
his livelihood, and to engage more or less in the 
business of the world, although, until old age has 
brought on its infirmities, he has for several years 
preached in a destitute neighborhood, and been 
every few weeks called to supply a vacant pulpit. 
In 1866 he was chosen a member of the 
board of trustees of Rutgers College, and for 
several years was chairman of the board's 
committee on the college farm. After the death 
of his father, in 1842, and in his place, he was 
chosen a director of the bank at Matawan, and 
.served for some twenty years. For some fourteen 
years he has held the office of president of the Free- 
hold and Keyport Plank-Road Company. For 
about eighteen vears he has held the office — an 
unprofitableone,itistrue— of secretary and trea- 
surer of a mining company in Nevada, and was 
for a while a trustee of one in the State of Colorado. 
In the mean while, in 1869, with Mrs. Schenck 
he traveled as far as Monterey, on the Pacific 
coast, visiting on the way Salt Lake City, San 
Francisco, one of the big tree groves and the 
Yosemite Valley ; and two years after, with a 
cousin, traveled as far as Central Nevada. At 
another time he traveled as far as seventy-two 
miles west of Vicksburg, and on the way spent 
a day in the great cave of Kentucky. Much 
time, traveling and expense for the past fifty 



years has been given to preparing a history of 
the settlement and settlers of Pompton, and also 
to gathering the materials and arranging the 
facts for a genealogical history of the old Dutch 
families of Monmouth Countv. 



Isaac G. Smock. — Hendrick Malysen Smock 
emigrated to America in 1654, having married 
Geerje Hermans, who died in 1708. He set- 
tled in New Utrecht, purcliased land in 1665, 
took the oath of allegiance in 1687 and was a 
magistrate from 1669 to 1689. His children 
were, Matthias, Johannis, Marritje, Lecudert, 
Sarah, Martyntje and Rebecca. Johannis, who 
removed to Monmouth County, married Cath- 
arine Barents, about 1672, and had children, — 
Hendrick, Barnes, Matje, Anna and Femmeke. 
Hendrick Smock was born in 1698, and died 
on the 30th of May, 1747. He married, in 
1721, Mary Schenck, and had eight children, 
among whom was John, born in 1727, who 
marrietl, in 1747, Elizabeth Conover, and had 
twelve children, of whom George, born Novem- 
ber 24, 1754, married, in 1779, as his first wife, 
Sarah Conover, and on November 27, 1794, as 
his second wife, Margaret Van Deventer. By 
the first union were children, — John, Aaron, i 
Hendrick, Peter, George, Mary and an infant. 
The children of the second marriage were 
Jacob, Garret, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jane, Letty 
Ann, Isaac G. and Eleanor. Isaac G., of this 
number, was born on the 7th of November, 
1809, in Somerset County, N. J., where he re- 
mained until nine years of age. The family 
then removed to Marlboro' township, Monmouth 
County, but soon disposed of the property there 
owned, and made a second purchase of the land . 
now in possession of the subject of this biog- 
raphy, and within one mile of the original 
Smock tract. Isaac G., after limited opportu- 
nities of education, devoted his energies to 
labor on the farm, which, on the death of his 
father, in 1836, came to him by inheritance and 
purcha.se. Here he has since been engaged in 
the congenial and healthful pursuits of the agri- 
culturist, though the burden and responsibility 
has, in later years, been left to others. Mr. 
Smock was, on the 23d of December, 1841, 
married to Ellen, daughter of John Conover f 







K^ t^-iH^- 



J 



# 





-/^^H^^Lje^ M ^c^ ^-■<^'^^ 



\ 



ATLANTIC TOWNSHIP. 



677 



and Ann, his wife. Their children are John C, 
assistant State geologist for New Jereey, and 
]\Iarguretta V. D., deceasetl. Mr. Smock is a 
member of the Monmouth County Agricul- 
tural Society, and identified as director with the ! 
Monmouth Plank-Road Company. A Demo- 
crat in his political associations, he has never 
accepted office other than that connected with 
the township. The cause of religion has ever 
found in him a zealous friend and the Holm- 
del Reformed Dutch Church a liberal supporter. 
In this church, of which both he and Mrs. 
Smock are membei'S, he has filled the offices of 
elder and deacon. 



James J. Taylor. — The Taylor family 
repesented by the subject of this biographical 
sketch is of English extraction, the grandfather 
of the latter having been George Taylor, a 
farmer in Atlantic township, who married a lady 
of Scotch descent, whose children w^ere John 
G., James G., George, Edward, Elizabeth, 
Hannah, Rachel and Eleanor. John G., a na- 
tive of Atlantic township, married Elizabeth 
Conover, daughter of Tunis Conover, of Rari- 
tan township, to whom were born children, — 
James J., Mary (Mrs. Cornelius Hendrickson), 
William and two sons, John and Conover, who 
died in infancy. Mr. Taylor was twice mar- 
ried after the demise of his first wife, and had 
by these marriages twelve children. His son 
James J. was born on the 20th of January, 
1810, at the home of his paternal grandfather, 
in Atlantic township. His father, who pui-sued 
for years his trade of cooper, also rented farms 
in various parts of Monmouth County. His 
son received but meagre advantages of educa- 
tion, and at the early age of nine years learned 
to follow the plow, continuing to assist his 
father in this healthful occupation until twenty- 
one years of age, and also rendering his services 
useful in a grist-mill owned by him. On at- 
taining his majority he removed to a farm in 
Atlantic township owned by an uncle, of which 
he was for four years the tenant. He was, on the 
18th of December, 1833, married to Lucy Ann, 
daughter of William and Lydia ^lorford, of 
Middletown township, whose birth occurred 
June 24, 1809. Their children are Mary, born 



July 4, 1835, widow of Henry D. EIv, who 
has six children ; Conover T., a farmer, born 
July 5, ] 8:57, married to Eleanor Morford, who 
has two children ; James M., whose birth oc- 
curretl March 13, 1839, deceased ; Emma C, 
born July 2, 1841, wife of James H. Leonard, 
M'ho has two children ; James M., born 
September 15, 1843, professor of mathematics 
in Madison LTniversity, Hamilton, N. Y., 
married to Mary Paddock, who has three chil- 
dren ; John G., a farmer, bom February 11, 
1846, married to Hattie Frost, who has one 
child ; Joseph W., a miller near Englishtown, 
born December 4, 1848, married to Annie Eng- 
lish, who has three children. The grand- 
children are Rebecca, Howard, Thomas, Emma, 
Achsah and Henry, children of Mrs. Mary Ely ; 
Ada and Lilah, children of Conover T. Tay- 
lor ; Mary and Albert, children of Mrs. Emma 
C. Leonard ; Jamie, Florence and William H., 
children of James M. Taylor ; Harry, Amy 
and Bertha, children of Joseph W. ; and Flora, 
daughter of John G. Taylor. Mr. Taylor, in 
connection with his brother, inherited the farm 
he at present owns, which he made his home in 
1835 and has to the present time continued to 
reside upon. He is a member and has mani- 
fested much interest in the operations of the 
]\Ionmoutli County Agricultural Society. A 
Republican in politics, he has neither sought nor 
held office, and finds the excitements of public 
life not in accord with his tastes. His charac- 
ter as a citizen has caused his services to be often 
sought as executor and administrator, and these 
responsibilities have ever been filled with the 
most scrupulous integrity. He is a member of 
the Baptist Church of Holmdel, in which he 
has been for forty-eight years a deacon. Mr. 
and Mrs. Taylor celebrated in 1883 the fiftieth 
anniversary of their marriage, on which occa- 
sion their bridesmaid and groomsman were 
present to offer their congratulations with other 
friends. The sentiment of the following poem, 
written by a member of the family, was re- 
echoed by all present : 

Just fifty years ago to-day 

Since this true marriage was declared, 
And looking back o'er all the way, 

How great the bounties you have shared ! 



678 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Blest in your basket and your store, 
In children's filial love and care; 

And Heavenly guidance, even more 
Than all the others, is your share. 

Sickness and pain you each have borne, 
Afflictions, too, in wisdom given, 

Dear kindred from your hearts been torn, 
Exchanging earth for brighter heaven. 

One little boy beneath the sod. 

In early life was called away ; 
You gave it back in faith to God 

To meet it in a brighter day. 

One other child by marriage tie 

Has gone to wear a Heavenly crown — 

Thus, two are singing songs on high 
And six still cluster round your home. 

Your children to three trades beloui; — 
One teacher, one miller and farmers four ; 

Sixteen grandchildren range along. 
In years from five up to a score. 

You still are hale and hearty, too. 
And blest content illumes your eye ; 

'Tis hopeful that to each of you 
The years may pass as peacefully. 

That creeping age may distant be. 
Rheumatic pains be vanished far. 

And in your grandchildren's glee 
May you enjoy a copious share. 

Your numerous kindred here to-night 
All add best wishes, kind and true : 

A happy home, a hearth-stone bright 
And blessings copious as the dew. 

And when the years their course have run, 
And each and all been gathered home. 

May each a crown bright as the sun 
Wear joyfully around the throne. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 

Manalapan' is one of the border to\viisliip.s 

' Gordon says Manalapan means good bread, a place 
producing things to make good bread, a good country. 
Judge McLean says, according to tradition, it means good 
land. Both doubtless convey substantially the Indian 
meaning. The name is probably derived from Indian 
words signifying a place where there was water to diink 
and where bread could be raised, from manel or menel, 
drink or drinking, and pan from paune or pone, a well- 
known Indian word for bread. Such a place the Indians 
considered a good country, good land to locate upon. 



of Monmouth County, adjoining the county of 
Middlesex, which forms its entire northwestern 
boundary. On the nortlieast it is bounded by 
the township of Marlborough, on the east and 
southeast by Marlborough and Freehold town- 
ships and on the southwest by the township of 
Millstone. The Manalapan and Matchaponix 
Creeks, Wemrock Brook and several other small 
tributaries flow northwestwardly through the 
township into Middlesex County, where they 
mingle their waters with those of South River, 
the southern branch of the Raritan. The only 
railway line of the township is that of the 
Jamesburg and Freehold Agricultural Rail- 
road, which passes through it in a northwesterly 
and southeasterly direction. The population of 
the township by the United States census ot 
1880 was two thousand one hundred and 
seventy-five. 

Manalapan was taken from Freehold town- 
ship in 1848, its boundaries, as described by 
the act erecting it, being as follows : 

" Beginning at Asher Smith's tavern, at the south- 
east corner of the township of Millstone, in the road 
leading from Mount Holly to Freehold, and from 
thence running along the middle of said road north- 
wardly to the mouth of the road leading to Black's 
Mills; thence in a northwardly course to a stone 
planted in the middle of the road leading from Eng- 
lishtowu to Freehold, said stone being the corner of 
the farms now owned by William T. Sutphin and that 
of John E. Gordon ; thence north, forty degrees and 
thirty seconds east, till it strikes the line of the town- 
ship of Marlborough; thence along the southerly 
line of Marlborough until it strikes the boundary line 
between the counties of Monmouth and Middlesex ; 
thence following said boundary line southwardly to 
the northeast corner of the township of Millstone; 
thence along the southern boundary line of said town- 
ship to the place of beginning." 

Folldwing is a list of the chosen freeholders 
of Mtiiialapan township from its erection to the 
present time, viz. : | 

1848-50. Joseph Ely. 

1850-55. John M. Pcrrine. 

1856-59. Samuel Vaughn. 

18G0-G4. James A. Perrine. 

1865-72. Samuel O. Bowne. 

1873-81. Joseph Ely. 

1882-84. Elias Vau Derveer. 

The first settlements in this township were 



I 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



679 



made by Scotcli people, who, coining into Mon- 
mouth County as early as 1685, located at first 
along the Middlesex County border, in the pres- 
ent townships of Matawan and Marlborough, 
spread rapidly thenoe towards tlie southwest, 
through what was then Freehold township, 
embracing the present territory of Manalapau. 

The oldest house in this township is the an- 
cient mansion now occuijied by Mrs. Achsah 
Hendrickson, and standing about four miles 
southwest of Freehold town. It was built in 
the year 1702 by Cornelius Thomson, and re- 
mained for more than a centur}- in possession 
of the Thomson family. It is a stone structure, 
with walls two feet thick; still in crood condi- 
tion, and apparently as solid as when erected. 
The ceilings are of clear yellow pine. In the 
old kitchen (which has been torn away) was a 
door, the wrought-iron latch of which bore the 
rudely-cut figures and letters, "1702, C. E. T.," 
the initials being said to mean "Cornelius 
and Elizabeth Thomson." In 1710, on the 
first Monday in March, an election of free- 
holders was held in this house, and mention is 
found in the records of public meetings being 
held at the same house, from that time, at 
least as late as 1723. The Thomson farm em- 
braced five hundred acres of laud, which was 
sold in 1844, three hundred acres being pur- 
chased by Enoch Hendrickson, and the remain- 
der being sold in smaller tracts. A part of it, 
now in possession of Clark Clayton, embraced a 
half-acre of laud oii which was the Thomson 
burial-place. On this half-acre was a grove 
of chestnut- trees, and it was provided that the 
luifcs from these trees should be sold, and the 
proceeds applied to keej^ing the l)urial-plat 
properly fenced. 

The " Old Tennent Church " is situated in 
]\Ianalapan township, about three miles north- 
west from Freehold, and two miles southeast of 
Englishtown. This is the most widely cele- 
Ijrated and historic house of religious worship 
in Monmouth County, if not in all the State of 
New Jersey, because of its Revolutionary as- 
sociations and the ability and devotional fame 
of ministers who spent the greater part of their 
lives in pious labor within its walls. 



The old church edifice, which is now more 
than one hundred and thirty years old, is the 
successor of an older church that was built on 
the same site before the birth of George Wash- 
ington, and which was, in fact, the successor of 
the still more ancient " Scots Meeting-House," 
which, however, did not occupy the same site, 
but stood some miles farther north, in what was 
then the township of Freehold, but now Marl- 
borough, where the j^lace is still marked by the 
relics of theold "Scots burying-ground," though 
the last vestiges of the old meeting-houses had 
disappeared years before the birth of any 
now living. This old meeting-house was built 
in 1692. The first of the churches built on the 
"White Hill" site (where the Tennent Church 
now stands) was erected under a permit granted 
by King George in 1727 ; was finished in 1730, 
and dedicated April 18, 1731. Its successor, 
the present church, was built in 1752, and first 
occupied early in 1753. 

The name " Old Scots Meeting-House " indi- 
cates correctly the nationality of its original 
congregation. They were Scotch emigrants, 
who set out from their native country in Sep- 
tember, 1685, in the ship "Caledonia." The 
vessel had a tempestuous passage, but at length 
made the port of Perth Amboy. The passengers 
had encountered so much of suffering during 
the voyage that, though they had first intended 
settling farther south, they determined to re- 
main in New Jersey. Many of them came to 
Monmouth County and settled. Being faithful 
adherents of the Church of Scotland, they soon 
formed a church, " which was the first one 
settled with the gospel ministry in East Jersey, 
west [south] of the Raritan River." ^ The exact 
date of their organization has not been ascer- 
tained, but their meeting-house was built in 
1692, as before mentioned. 

They were styled the Presbyterian Congre- 
gation of Freehold, which townshii) at that 
time embraced the site of their place of worship, 
as also that of the two later edifices. In De- 
cember, 1705, "At y* Request of Mr. John 
Craig, Walter Ker, William Rennel, Patrick 



• This statement has frequently been made, but there is 
some doubt as to its entire accuracy, though the error, 
if any, is but slight. 



6S0 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Imlay, in behalf of themselves and their Breth- 
ren, protestants, desenters of freehold, called 
Presbiterions, that their Public Mcuting-lionse 
may be recorded," it was accordingly recorded, 
as follows : " The Meeting-House for Religious 
Worship, belonging to the Protestant disenters 
called y" Presbiterians of y» Town of Freehold, 
In y" County of Monmouth, in y' Province of 
New Jersey, is Scituate, built, lying and being 
at and upon a piece of rising Ground or little 
hill, commonly known and called by the name 
of free hill, in s" town." 

The first pastor of the Scotch congregation 
was the Rev. John Boyd, who was qualified for 
the pastoral office, by the court on the 29th of 
May, 1706. He died in 1708, and was suc- 
ceeded as pastor by the Rev. Joseph Morgan, 
wiio appeared before the court in September, 
;709, and asked to be qualified, which was done 
on the 6th of December following, on which 
occasion the pastor was accompanied in court by 
seven j>ersons, presumably members of his con- 
gregation, viz. : John Lane, John Wikoff, John 
Sutfin, William Hendrickson, John Esmuth, 
William Williams and Avri Marbison. More 
extended mention of Mr. Morgan, and of his 
connection with the Presbyterian and Reformed 
Churches, is made in the history of the Brick 
Church, in Marlborough township. 

Mr. Morgan continued to serve the Presby- 
terian Church for about nineteen years, after 
which it appears that some disagreement arose 
whic-h resulted in the severing of the pastoral 
relation. This disagreement with Mr. Morgan ; 
the appointment and ordination of his successor, 
the Rev. John Tennent, in 1730, and his death 
in April, 1732; the call to the Rev. William 
Tennent, Jr., andhisordination as pastor in 1733, 
as also the erection and occupation (April, 1731) 
of the first house of worship at White Hill, the 
site of the present Tennent Church, are all re- 
ferred to in the following extracts, taken from the 
oriii'inal church record, by Mr. R. P. Craig, viz. : 
" The minutes of Freehold congregation, Beginning 
Tuesday, June 9th, 1730. 

"June 9th, afsd, The congregation met and chose 
John Henderson To be their clerk, and Charles 
Gordon, Timothy Lloyde, Jonithau Forman, Robert 
Gumming and John Henderson as helps To Walter 
Ker and John Hutton, Elders, or to Represent the 



congregation; Capt. Archabald Craig & William 
Ker tor Trustees for the money that the congregation 
has 'in Bank; Wm. Ker & Samuel Ker, chosen as 
Deacons, or to take care of the collections untill Dea- 
cons be Ordained. Monday, July 20th, the Elders 
& Representatives above mentioned met at the House 
of Charles Gordons and agreed to build a meeting- 
House between Wm. Ker's Barrs and Rockey HiU 
Bridge; also that the Revd. Mr. John Tennent year 
Bet'in the 15th dav of April last past, viz., 1730. 

" August the 3th, at a meeting of the congregation 
at Wm. Ker's House, agreed that the services be one 
Sabbath at the upper Meeting-House, and so to con- 
tinue successively. Also that Diligence be used to 
get subscriptions for the Building the meeting House, 
and that the Old or lower meeting-House To be re- 
paired with all Haste that can be; William Kerr & 
John Henderson to be clear of all charges Towards 
the Old Meeting-House, in consideration of their 
charges in going to New Castel Presbeterie ; that John 
Hutton bring in his accompt of charges that he was 
at in his going to synod & Presbeteries, &c., for the 
congregation ; That said accompt be paid out of the 
collection moneys. 

"Saturday, August the 29th, 1730, The Elders & 
Representatives met at the House of David Rhea & 
chose for undertakers or managers, in Building the 
meeting-House, Wm. J. (illegible), Jonithan Forman, 
Timothy Llovd, Archabald Craig, David Rhe, William 
Kerr & John Henderson, who is to go on Building 
with all the speed possible after this sowing time is 
over, and the congregation is to give each man Their 
Bill or Bond to the said Managers to enable them to 
go on with the work. The Meeting-House is to be 
made Fortv feet long and Thirty feet wide, and each 
of the Builders to have one seat in it above their 

common Due. 

" October 15th, 1730, The Revd. Mr. Joseph Mor- 
gan (having made a complaint against this congrega- 
tion that They owed him above £200 arrears of 
Sallerie) met the congregation at the old Scots meet- 
ing-House, where accompts were fairly made up, and 
Mr. Morgan gave the congregation a Discharge in 
full The copy which is received, October 15th, 
1730, from the congregation Freehold, full satisfaction 
To This Day for all sallerie Due him as their Pastor, 
Joseph Morgan. 

" A true copy by me, John Henderson, Clerk, lues- 
day, November 19th, 1730. There the Presbytry, or 
a committee of the same, met at the Scots Meeting- 
House, and after fasting and prayer, and strict ex- 
amination and full approbation, Did ordain the Rev. 
Mr. John Tennent. The Ministerial charge in this 
congregation, William Tennent, Jonethan Dickinson, 
Joseph Morgan and Gilbert Tennent. The names of 
the committee for the congregation was Walter Kerr, 
Robert Gumming, John Henderson, Robert Newell 

Wilson, George Walker, Timothy Lloyde and 

Charles Gordon. 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



681 



"April 18th, 1731, was The first Time That there 
was servise in the new meeting-House on White Hill. 
April 28th, 1731, Paid the Kevd. Mr. John Tennent 
£19 17s. llrf. May 3th, 1731, Charles Gordon was 
ordained an Elder of this congregation. Jonithan 
Forman, Archabald Craig, Esqrs., & Timothy Lloyd 
having Declined serving as managers in carrying on 
the nieeting-House, Aaron Mattison, of his own free 
will, served, and the said Mattison, Together with 
David Rhea, William Kerr and John Henderson, 
carry on the work which is now enclosed and glazed. 
1731, November 13th, paid Mr. Tennent, of Sallarie, 
£21 Is. 1731-32, March Sth, paid Do. £19 15s. 2(1. 
Lords Day, April 23, 1732, The Kevd. & Dear Mr. 
John Tennent Departed this Life between 8 & 9 of 
the clock in The morning, and was Burried on The 
Tuesday following, a mournful Providence & cause 
of great Humility To This poor congregation, To be 
bereaved of the flour of youth, The most Laborious, 
successful, well qualiflde Pastor This age aforeded, 
Tho but a youth of 25 years, 5 months & 11 days of 
age, After which we lived Destitute of a Pastor or 
any constant supply until 8 day, 1732, when the 
Revd. Mr. Wm. Tennent, Jun., after much Reluc- 
tance, was prevailed upon to settle amongst us, at 
Least for a time. Saturday, March 10th, 1732-33, The 
Elders & The Maj"' part of the Representatives 
met at the House of David Rhea & chose collectors 
to collect the Ministers Sallerie for the ensuing year, 
Mr. Charles Gordon, Jonithan Forman, Robert Gum- 
ming, Samuel Ker & John Henderson, with John 
Hutton for the fresh Bonds. Saturd.ay, September 
Sth, 1733, David Rhea & Robert Cummings was 
chosen our commissioner to Present a call To the 
Reverend Mr. William Tennent, Jun., at the Synod 
of Philadelphia, which call Mr. Tennent accepted. 
Thursday, October 25th, 1733, a committee of 
Presbtrey met at White Hill Meeting-House, and, 
after examination and approbation, Did, with Fasting 
and Prayer, and Laying on of Hands, Ordain the 
Revd. Mr. Will". Tennent, Jun., to the Pastoral 
charge in this congregation." 

William Tenneat, Jr., the fourth pastor of 
the First Presljyterian (Tennent) Church .of 
Freehold, was born in Ireland, June 5, 1705, 
and was the second son of Rev. William Ten- 
nent, Sr., who came from Ireland to America 
in 1716, bringing with him his four sons, — Gil- 
bert, William, John and Charles. He first set- 
tled in Westchester County, N. Y., and then 
moved to Bucks County, Pa., and founded the 
" Log College." He was a man of rare attain- 
ments and of strong mind. He and all his sons 
became conspicuous in the early Presbyterian 
Church of this country, by reason of their high 



attainments, as also, in greater degree, because 
of their deep piety and the active part which 
they took in the propagation of the gospel. 

William Tennent, Jr., received his education 
from his father, in the " Log College," in Bucks 
County, Pa., and there he .soon became a fluent 
scholar in the Latin and (jreek languages. At 
an early age he determined to prepare for the 
ministry, and studied with his brother (iilbert, 
at New Brunswick. By too close application to 
study his health failed, and he became fearfully 
emaciated and discouraged. One day, while in 
conversation with his brother Gilbert, he fell, 
fainted, and, to all appearances, died. He was 
prepared for interment, and the neighbors were 
invited to attend his funeral. His physician, 
who was very much attached to him, Avas absent 
from home at the time, but returned before the 
time for burial, and could not be induced to be- 
lieve that Tennent was really dead. He stayed 
by the body constantly three days and nights, 
and, at his urgent request, the funeral was post- 
poned several times. At last Gilbert" insisted 
that the funeral should take place without 
further delay. The doctor pleaded for another 
hour, then a half, and then a quarter, and when 
he was giving up in despair, William Tennent, 
to the utter astonishment of every one in the 
room, opened his eyes and gave a terrible groan, 
and again relapsed into his former condition ; 
in a quarter of an hour he gave another 
groan, and again became insensible. Finally, 
he recovered enough to speak, but it was six 
weeks before he could leave hisbedor his friends 
entertain any hope of his recovery, and a whole 
year before he recovered comjjletely. He had 
lost his memory entirely, and was obliged to be- 
gin with the alphabet again, and go through his 
studies as if he had never seen a book. 

He said, in conversation with some friends, 
that the three days he was in the trance seemed 
to him only as a few minutes. He felt as if 
caught by some invisible power and carried up; 
away in the distance he beheld a sight of inex- 
pressible glory, indescribable and beautiful. His 
first thought was, "Blessed be God, I am saved 
at last." His agony and disappointment were 
great when his heavenly conductor informed 
him that he must return to earth. Then he gave 



682 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



a groan, and as he opened his eyes, saw his 
brother Gilbert and the doctor, and heard them 
disputing about his burial.' 

After he recovered he was licensed to preach 
in Philadelphia, and afterward supplied the 
place of his brother John, in tlie First Presbyte- 
rian Church of Freehold. He preachetl six 
months for his brother, and was then called to 
that charge himself, and after one year's trial 
was, on October 25, 1733, settled over the 
church as its regular pastor, as has already been 
mentioned. Some of the names of the princi- 
pal families who attended his ordination were 
Craig, Anderson, Watson, Covenhoven (Cono- 
ver), Ker, Gordon, Lloyd, Wilson, Henderson, 
f -' Forman, Crawford, Little, Campl)ell, Newell, 
- Rhea and English, — names which have since 
been among the most prominent in the county. 

The salaiy at which Mr. Tennent was en- 
gaged was one hundred pounds per annum. 
There was a large and valuable ftirm at- 
tached to the pai-sonage ; but Tennent, trust- 
ing his business to servants, and taking no 
interest whatever in temporal affairs, soon 
became involved in debt. A gentleman sug- 
• gested that he should have a good wife. 
Tennent said he knew nothing about such mat- 
ters. It was finally arranged that Tennent 
should go to New York and get introduced to a 
sister-in-law of this gentleman, which he did a 
few days afterward, and as his time was pre- 
cious, proposed to the lady at once, and within 
one week from the time she first saw Tennent 
was installed mistress of the Tennent parsonage. 
She, by her tact and management, rescued the 
farm from debt, and proved an excellent wife. 

In 1753, the year of the completion of the 
present edifice, there was a great revival in the 
church, and again a remarkable one in 1757. 
It was Mr. Tennent's custom to spend the time 
between services on Sunday in the underbrush, 

' It was" twenty-nine years after the death of William 
Tennent, Jr., before any sketch or memoir of his life ever 
appeared in public print. Elias Boudinot, LL.D., was the 
first to write his history from materials furnished by Dr. 
Henderson, an elder of the Tennent Church. The identi- 
cal manuscript is now in Princeton, in one of the college 
libraries. This account of Mr. Tennent's remarkable 
trance was first published in the Evangelical Intelliffenrer, 
of Philadelphia, from the pen of Dr. Boudinot. 



near the church, praying in secret and reflecting 
on the mercies of God. One Sunday he swooned 
and fell senseless. Time passed, and the elders 
found him there, and carried him to the church 
and assisted him to the pulpit. It was on this 
occasion that he preached that memorable, 
thrilling sermon which he always after de- 
lighted to call his "harvest," and which was 
the direct means of the conversion of thirty per- 
sons. 

After having faithfully served the church as 
its pastor for more than forty-three years, Mr. 
Tennent died unexpectedly, after a short illness, 
at the old parsonage, in the seventy-second year 
of his age. Being taken suddenly ill, he sent 
for his friend. Dr. Henderson, who was just 
starting for Haddonfield, where the Legislature 
was to meet, of which he was a member. He, 
however, stopped in his way there and saw Mr. 
Tennent, but gave no hopes of his recovery. On 
hearing this, Mr. Tennent said, " Blessed be God, 
I have no wish to live if it should be his will 
and pleasure to call me hence," and then, after a 
moment's silence, he varied the expression thus, 
" Blessed be God, I have no wish to live if it 
should be his will and pletisure to call me hence, 
unless it should be to see a happy issue to the 
severe and arduous controversy my country is 
engaged in ; but even in this, the will of the 
Lord be done." On returning from the Legis- 
lature Dr. Henderson called and stayed with his 
friend and jiatient till the latter's death, on the 
8th of March, 1777. He said that Mr. Tennent 
on his death-bed seemed to have the other world 
opened before him and to have already a fore- 
taste of heaven. 

Of the character of Mr. Tennent the Rev A. 
P. Cobb, pastor of the church, said, in a memo- 
rial sermon preached in 1877 : " He was a man 
of common sense and of plain thought. He 
was not an enthusiast, but labored faithfully 
and patiently. He was a pastor consecrated 
wholly to his work, humble, meek, a man of 
purity. The people called him the peace-maker, 
and from far and near they came to him to 
settle their disputes. He was not in favor of 
compromising with the powers and pretences of 
a wicked world. He was an advocate of revi- 
vals of religion, and was in full sympathy with 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



683 



Whitefield's work, when that great revivalist 
was in this country. Mr. Tennent was a Chris- 
tian patriot. A man is not fit to bo a patriot 
unless he is a Christian patriot. To the day of 
his deatli he was an ardent supporter of the 
colonies in their struggles to shalce off the op- 
pressive sway of England. He passed away 
and ascended to a bright home above before 
seeing the smoke of battle rolling around his 
earthly home. Mr. Tennent was eminently 
qualified to be a faithful minister, both by reason 
of his superb natural endowments and hLs at- 
tainments as a scholar. He could employ sf)ir- 
itual devices to convert men. Furthermore, he 
was a man chastened by sorrow, having lost two 
of his sons after they had grown to manhood. 
Mr. Tennent, as a pastor, was honored by time 
and place. He had the whole county as his 
charge. He planted in this county the seeds 
of a noble Christian influence, which continue 
to bring blessings to us. He lived the life and 
died the death of the righteous. An old man 
full of years, he was gathered to his fathers. 
Throughout his whole life he seemed to have 
this saying ever sounding on the ear of his 
soul, ' Be thou faitliful unto death, and I will 
give you a crown of life.' " 

Tlie Rev. John Woodliull succeeded 'Mr. 
Tennent as pastor of the church in 1779. In 
the same year he established a classical school,^ 
which was taught in a small red house that 
stood near the parsonage gate. It was continued 
about fifteen years and obtained a wide celebrity. 
IMr. Woodliull was scai-cely less famed for his 
piety, zeal and efficiency as the pastor of this 
church than was his predecessor, Mr. Tennent. 
He continued in the pa.storate for forty-five 
years, and died, November 22, 1824, at the age 
of eighty years. He was succeeded by the Rev. 
Job F. Halsey, who was, in turn, succeeded by 
the Rev. Robert Roy. Botli tliese pastorates 
were of comparatively short duration. The Rev. 

1 In April, 1782, John Woodhull (doubtless Kev. Dr. 
Woodhull) advertises that the Latin School at Freehold is 
again revived in a peaceable and agreeable neighborhood, 
where board can be had on reasonable terms. A number 
of gentlemen of first character, trustees. Mr. Clark, a 
very worthy, capable gentlemen, late of the College of New 
Jersey, was an instructor. 



Daniel V. McLean became pastor in 1831. His 
successor was the Rev. L. H. Van Doren. After 
him came the Rev. Donald ^McLaren, who re- 
signed November 5, 18(J2. The Rev. Archibald 
P. Cobb was installed August 8, 1863. He 
continued in the pastorate nearly eighteen j'cars, 
and until his death, which occurred February 
26, 1881. His successor, the Rev. George G. 
Smith (the present pastor), was called May 31st 
and installed June 27th, in the same year. 

The present church edifice, which (as already 
mentioned) was first used for worship in 

1753, contained seventy-eight pews, which, in 

1754, were sold to persons whose names (as 
also the price paid for each) are given in the 
following list," viz. : 

PEW NO. £ f. 

1 Thomas Davis & Son 17 00 

2 Aaron Matteson and William Xorcross 17 00 

3 Samuel Karr 15 00 

4 Darick Suttfin, Jacob's son 15 00 

5 William Vau Kirk 16 00 

C John Henderson 16 00 

7 Michael Johnson 15 00 

8 William Hugen, Darick Suttfin and his 

son Darick 15 00 

9 David English ■ 16 00 

10 Samuel Forman and Kobert Rhea ... 16 00 

11 Peter Forman 12 00 

12 Cort Schanck and Son, Garret and John 

Longstreet 12 00 

13 Passage into the pews 

14 George Rhea 8 00 

15 By the stairs a short pew 3 00 

16 John Garton 10 00 

17 Richard Pittenger 10 00 

IS .lolin Forman, son of Jonathan, Esqr . 10 00 

19 Benjamin Vancleve and Richard Van- 

mater 10 00 

20 Peter Wilson, son of Peter 10 10 

21 John Clayton 10 10 

22 Gawen Watson 11 00 

23 Samuel McKonke 11 00 

24 Jonathan Forman, Esq 11 10 

25 Two pews for the minister of the place, 

26 the Rev. William Tennent 1 1 00 

27 Mr. Joseph Forman 11 00 

28 Timothy Lloyd and his son, .John Lloyd 11 00 

29 John Reed 10 10 

30 David Rhea 10 10 

* This list, furnished by Hon. William P. Forman, of 
Millstone, was found among the papers of Peter Forman, 
who, before and during the Revolution, lived on a farm 
near Monmouth Court-House. ■ 



684 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



PEW SO. £ s. 

31 William Wikoff 10 10 

32 John Anderson, Esq 10 10 

"^ 33 William M. Knight 10 10 

34 Michael Sweetmau 10 10 

35 John Van Skoyak 10 10 

36 William Hampton 10 10 

37 James Craig 10 10 

38 William Craig 10 10 

''— ' 89 William Crawford 11 00 

40 James Kobinson 11 00 

' 41 James English 11 00 

42 Peter Gordon, Esq 11 00 

43 Lewis Forman 11 00 

44 Zebulon Baird 11 00 

45 John Little, Esq 11 00 

46 Robert Davison 10 10 

47 David Baird 10 10 

>— ^^ 48 John Truax, Thomas Craig and William 

Shaw 10 10 

49 Andrew Baird 10 GO 

60 William Compton and John Clayton, 

Jr 10 00 

51 Aaron Matteson, Jr 

52 Charles Hibbets (by the banisters) . . 3 00 

\ The open entry 

55 Michael Errickson 12 00 

56 Joseph Cheeseman, William Cheeseman 

and John Reed, Jr 12 00 

■- 67 William Laird and James Dey .... 15 00 

58 Abram Clayton, William Purton and 15 00 

Ligged Smith 15 00 

59 Robert, James and Thomas Thompson . 15 00 

60 William Covenhoven, Jr., and his son, 

Peter and John Cheeseman 15 00 

61 Joseph Karr 16 00 

62 Nicholas Cook 16 00 

63 John Vorhis and his father and father-in- 

law 15 00 

64 Robert Coming, Esq., George Walker 

and David Barkly 17 00 

David Gordon, £14 10s. ; Peter Gordon, 

Esq., £2 10s 17 00 

Gallery pews, beginning at the northeast cor- 
ner : 

PEW NO. £ S. 

1 8 00 

2 7 00 

3 7 00 

4 7 00 

6 7 00 

6 7 00 

7 Dr. Peter Lacouat 8 00 

8 7 00 

9 7 00 

10 7 00 



PEW NO. £ S. 

11 Philip Conine, Esq., £5 10s.; John 

Siliman, £1 10s 7 00 

12 James Mulligan and David Brooks . . 7 00 

13 Hugh McFarren 7 00 

14 Robert McChesney and son. May 29, 

1755 8 00 

With regard to the building of this old edi- 
fice, the Rev. A. P. Cobb, in the memorial ser- 
mon preached in 1877, and before referred to, 
said: "On the 29th of May, 1750, all the 
trustees, except Tobias Polhemus, being present, 
it was determined to build a larger church. 
John Davis, being appointed chief carpenter, 
constructed the present building, which is forty 
by sixty feet, twice the size of the former church. 
There were one hundred and ninety-two sub- 
scribers. The largest subscription was fourteen 
pounds, by Peter Gordon. The form of the 
church has not been essentiallv changed since 
its first construction, although a few alterations 
have been made. Many of the descendants of 
the original members sit in the same .seats in 
which their forefathers sat. The charter of the 
corporation was procured February 21, 1750, 
of Governor Belcher, in the reign of George II. 
As soon as we obtained an independent govern- 
ment, the trustees of the church were obliged 
on going into office to take three oaths, — the 
first, disclaiming allegiance to England ; the 
second, swearing allegiance to New Jersey ; the 
third, swearing devotion to the church. After 
the church was built, for a long time no fire 
was kept up in winter, our ancestors giving as 
reason that they had determined not to be luke- 
warm, but to be either cold or hot. They had 
two services right in succession, separated only 
by an intermission of half an hour in order to 
partake of some refreshments. This was neces- 
sary because some persons came very long dis- 
tances." 

The pulpit of this church was several times 
occupied by that most celebrated preacher of 
his time, the Rev. George Whitefield. The 
famous Indian missionary, the Rev. David 
Brainerd, also preached here, to congregatioiLS 
largely composed of savages, on several occa- 
sions, notably in 1746, to which the following, 
from the "Memoirs of David Brainerd," has 
reference, viz. : 



i 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



685 



" We, whose names are undersigned, being elders 
and deacons of the Presbyterian church in Freehold, 
do hereby testify, that in our humble opinion, God, 
even our Saviour, has brought a considerable number 
of the Indians of these parts to a saving union with 
himself. Of this we are persuaded from a personal ac- 
quaintance with them, whom we not only hear speak 
of the great doctrine of the Gospel with humility, 
affection and understanding, but we see as far as man 
can judge them, soberly, righteously and Godly. We 
have joined with them at the Lord's Supper, and do 
from our hearts esteem them as our brethren in Jesus. 

" For those who were not God's people may now 
be called children of the living God. ' It is the 
Lord's doing and is marvelous in our eyes,' until he 
has subdued all things to himself, this is and shall be 
the unfeigned desire and prayer of 

"Walter Ker, 
"Egbert Cummins, 
"David Rhea, 
" John Henderson, 
" John Anderson, 
" Joseph Ker, 

"Elders. 



"William Ker, 
"Samuel Ker, 
"Samuel Craig, 

" Deacons. 

Freehold, August 16th, 



" Presbyterian church, 
1746." 



A description of the old church, written by 
the Rev. James M. Freeman, was printed in the 
National Magazine in January, 1854, as follows: 

" In size the building is forty by sixty feet, with 
three entrances on the longer side. The old oak 
frame is covered with shingles, which, though in good 
preservation for their age, confess the wasting assaults 
of time and storms. The pulpit is on the north side 
of the house, immediately opposite to the central 
door, so that the minister faces the width of the 
church instead of its length. It is very narrow, and 
is surmounted with a sounding-board, according to 
the custom of our fathers. A number of wooden pegs 
are placed in the panel work immediately back of the 
pulpit, on wliich the preachers used to hang their 
hats and overcoats. Leaning against the pulpit are 
several long and slender rods, at the extremity of 
each of which is suspended a silken bag, terminating 
in a tassel. These singular-looking things are used 
by the deacons in taking up collections, and must be 
very convenient in the long pews. The pews are 
high and very narrow, suggesting the idea of penance 
rather than devotion. The gallery is wide and lofty 
and will seat three hundred people. In former times 
one side of it was partitioned off for the colored 
people, but during the administration of the present 



pastor, Rev. Mr. Van Doren, the middle wall of par- 
tition has been taken down. The pews on the ground 
floor will seat five hundred, so that the whole build- 
ing can accommodate eight hundred worshipers. 
Instead of being plastered, the interior is ceiled with 
boards, which, together with the pews, remained in 
their primitive unpainted condition until about 
twenty years ago, when the pews were painted a 
dingy red and the sides and ceiling white. 

" The remains of the sainted Tennent lie buried 
under the floor of the central aisle. In the year 1818 
a marble slab was placed in the wall at the right of 
the pulpit, with the following inscription in gilt 
lettering ; 

' Sacred 

to the Memory of the 

Rev. Willia.m Tennent, 

Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 

in Freehold, 

Who departed this life the 8th of March, 1777, 

Aged 71 years and 6 months. 

He was Pastor of said church 

43 years and 9 months. 
Faithful and beloved. 1818.' " 




111' lENXKNT (III Ki 11. 



About 1855 the east end of the old edifice 
was reshingled and painted white. The in- 
terior of the church has also been repainted, 
stoves introduced, the pews upholstered and 
the aisles carpeted ; but witli the exception of 
these, and .some other minor changes, the old 
edifice is the same as wlien first occupied in 
1753. The old communion-table, at which the 
Lord's Supper has been administered to succes- 
sive generations for one hundred and thirty 
years, is still in use. 



686 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Immediately after the ordinatioD of William 
Tennent as pastor (17;3.">) the congregation ap- 
pointed a committee to purchase a parsonage, 
with farm land attached. In 1735 the com- 
mittee made the purchase from Mr. Covenho- 
ven, at a cost of five hundred pounds. The 
parsonage (situated more than half a mile from 
the church) was a low building, large on the 
ground, with four lower rooms, — two on each 
side of the hall, — with kitchen attached in the 
rear. Above was the attic room, sloping on 
one side with the ratters, and M'ith a window- 
facing the north, which, as is said, was used as 
a study by both Mr. Tennent and Mr. Wood- 
hull. During the battle of June 28, 1778, a 
round shot came through the roof into 
this room while the conflict raged furi- 
ously around the house and in tlie 
adjoining orchai'd. 

In order to keep the parsonage and 
farm always in possession of the 
church, they put every legal safeguard 
around the property which they could 
devise. Every year the trustees were 
obliged to swear that they would be 
faithful to this trust and would keep 
the parsonage from being sold. A little 
over one hundred years after its pur- 
chase the Tennent Church suffered this 
jjroperty to pass out of its hands. The 
farm (one hundred and eighty acres) 
was sold, February 6, 1800, to Charles 
A. Webster, for thirteen thousand two 
hundred dollars. The venerable parsonage house 
has since been demolished. 

The ancient burial-ground which surrounds 
the old Tennent Church is no less historic than 
the edifice itself. In front of the church is a 
monument to the memory of Kev. John Wood- 
hull, D.D., who exercised pastoral charge here for 
forty-five years. A little further on, a dark stone 
slab covers a grave, on which are these words : 
" Here lies the mortal part of Gilbert Tennent. 
In the practice of physic he was successful and 
beloved. Young, gay, and in the highest bloom 
of life, death found him hopefully in the Lord ; 
but O, reader, had you heard his last testimony, 
you would have been convinced of the extreme 
madness of delaying repentance. Natus April, 



1742. Obiit March 6, 1770." This young 
physician, who had not completed his t«'enty- 
eighth year when he was summoned aw-ay from 
earth, was the son of William Tennent. 

At one end of the church is the grave of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, a gallant oificcr 
in the British army, who was killed in the 
bloody engagement of the 28th of June, 1778. 
There wiis nothing to mark the spot but his 
name rudely carved on tlie l)uilding, until alxiut 
1850, when a Scotch school-teacher in the 
neig]d)orhood put up a red board, with the sim- 
ple inscription, in 1 ilack letters, " Hie jacet Col- 
onel Monckton," and the date of his death. 
Afterwards this school-teacher died ; and, ac- 




OLD TE>'NEXT I'AUSOXAGE. 

cording to his particular recjuest, was buried by 
the side of the remains of him to whose memory 
he paid such respect. When the battle of Mon- 
mouth was fought, a man was sitting on a 
gravestone in the yard ; a stray cannon-ball 
broke off one corner of the stone and mortally 
wounded the man. He was taken into the 
church, and laid out on a seat, where he died, 
and where the dark stain of his blood is said to 
be still visible. The broken grave-stone has 
since been carried away in small pieces by vis- 
itors as mementos of the conflict. 

A great number of soldiers of the Revolu- 
tion — many of whom wore killed in the service, 
and others who survived the war — were buried 
in this chiu-chyard, as also numbers of soldiers 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



687 



of the wars of 1812-15 and 1861-65. A list 
of these interments, as nearly complete as is 
possible, has been made (at the request of Major 
James S. Yard) by Mr. R. P. Craig, sexton and 
superintendent of the Tennent (Jhurch burial- 
ground, and is here given, viz. : 

SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Anderson, James, lieutenant, Hazen's regiment (Sec- 
ond Canadian), Continental army. 

Anderson, John, first lieutenant, Captain Reading's 
company, Third battalion, first establishment. 
Continental army ; captain, Fourth battalion 
second establishment. 

Anderson, John, private. Captain Waddell's com- 
pany. First regiment, Monmouth. 

Anderson, Kenneth, adjutant First regiment, Mon- 
mouth. 

Baird, David, captain. First regiment, Monmouth. 

Baird, John. 

Bowne, Joseph, corporal. Captain Waddell's company. 
First regiment, Monmouth. 

Bowman, John, Captain Dunn's company, First regi- 
ment, Monmouth. 

Brewer, Joseph, captain, Monmouth. 

Craig, David, private. Captain Walton's troop light 
dragoons, Monmouth. 

Craig, James, ensign, Captain Walton's troop light 
dragoons, Monmouth. 

Craig, John, Captain Waddell's company. First regi- 
ment, Monmouth. 

Craig, John, first lieutenant, Captain Elisha Walton's 
company. First regiment, Monmouth. 

Craig, Samuel, troop light horse, Monmouth. 

Craig, William, teamster. 

Campbell, William, Continental army. 

Campbell, John, Captain Waddell's company, First 
regiment, Monmouth. 

Clayton, Jonathan, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 

Cale, Jacob, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, 
Monmouth. 

Conover, David, Monmouth. 

Conover (Covenhoven), Theodorous, sergeant. Cap- 
tain Hankinson's company. First regiment, Mon- 
mouth. 

Conover, John M., troop light dragoons. 

Covenhoven, Cornelius, Captain Hankinson's com- 
pany. First regiment, Monmouth. 

Covenhoven, Lewis, sergeant, infantry; sergeant, 
(roop light horse, Monmouth. 

Covenhoven, John, Captain Hunn's company. First 
regiment, Monmouth. 

Covenhoven, John, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 

Covenhoven, William, Captain Hankinson's com- 
pany, First regiment, Monmouth. 



Combs, Joseph, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons. 

Combs, Thomas, captain rangers, Middlesex. 

Combs, John, Captain Waddell's company. First reg- 
iment, Monmouth. 

Chambers, John, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 

Cheeseman, William, private, .sergeant. 

Davis, William, captain. 

Dey, John, Monmouth. 

Edwards, Thomas, second lieutenant, Monmouth. 

Emmons, Abraham, Monmouth. 

English, David, Middlesex. 

English, James, surgeon. State troops. 

English, James, Monmouth. 

Errickson, Michael, Monmouth. 

Forman, David, paymaster, Monmouth. 

Forman, Jonathan, cornet, Cajitain Walton's troop 
light dragoons, Monmouth. 

Forman, .Jonathan, Captain Waddell's company, First 
regiment, Monmouth. 

Forman, Tunis, sergeant. 

Forman, William, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 

Freeman, Henry, fifer. Continental army. 

Gordon, David, Captain Elisha Walton's company, 
First regiment, Monmouth. 

Gordon, Ezekiel, Middlesex. 

Gordon, James, Middlesex. 

Gordon, Jonathan. 

Hays, John, Captain Bond's company, Fourth bat- 
talion, second establishment. 

Hankinson, James, Captain Walton's light dragoons, 
Monmouth. 

Hankin,sou, Kenneth, captain, Colonel Forman's bat- 
talion. 

Herbert, Daniel, Captain Walton's troojj light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 

Herbert, James, troop light horse, Monmouth. 

Henderson, John, captain, Monmouth. 

Henderson, Thomas, lieutenant-colonel, Colonel For- 
man's battalion. 

Johnson, Peter, sergeant. Captain Walton's troop 
light dragoons, Monmouth. 

Johnson, William, Third battalion, Continental army 

Low, Alexander, sergeant, Monmouth. 

Laird, Moses. 

Laird, William, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, 
Monmouth. 

Laird, William, Captain Nixon's troop horse, Middle- 
sex. 

Laird, Richard, sergeant, Pulaski Legion, Continental 
army. 

Leonard, Samuel, sergeant, Captain Waddell's com- 
pany, First regiment, Monmouth. 

Lloyd, John, Captain Waddell's company. First regi- 
ment, Monmouth. 

Mount, Mathew. 

McKnight, Joseph, Monmouth. 



688 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



McChesney, Robert. 

McDerniott, William. 

Newell, Hugh (grandfather of Governor Newell), 
blacksmith, Cajitain Brewer's company, Mon- 
mouth. 

Perrine, John, Middlesex. 

Perrine, Lewis, Captain Walton's troop light dragoons, 
Monmouth. 

Perrine, Mathew, Middlese.x. 

Eeid, Aaron, Captain Walton's troop light horse, 
Monmouth. 

Reed, John, sergeant, Captain Hankinson's company. 
First regiment, Monmouth. 

Rogers, John. 

Rogers, Samuel, lieutenant, Tice's company. First 
regiment, Monmouth. 

Rue, John, Captaiu Walton's troop light dragoons, 
Monmouth. 

Scudder, Nathanial, colonel. First regiment, Mon- 
mouth ; killed in skirmish with Refugees at 
Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, N. J., October 
15, 1781. 

Schenck, Ruliff, Captain Flanagan's company. Third 
battalion, second establishment, Continental 
array. 

Seabrooks, Stephen, troop light horse, Monmouth. 

Smith, Thomsis, Continental army. 

Sprowls, Moses, ensign. First regiment. 

Sutphen, Derrick, sergeant. Captain Barnes Smock's 
company artillery. 

Sutphin, .Joseph, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 

Sutphin, John, Captain Hankinson's company, First 
regiment, Monmouth. 

Suydam, Jacob, Middlesex. 

Thompson, Joseph, Captain Waddell's company. First 
regiment, Jlonmouth. 

Tone, William, Captain Nixon's troop light horse, 
Middlesex. 

Van Cleve, Benjamin, captain, Captain Smock's com- 
pany. First regiment, Monmouth. 

Vanderveer, John, Monmouth. 

Voorhees, John, First battalion. Second regiment; 
First regiment. 

Walker, Aaron, fifer, Continental army. 

Walker, George, served as captain in the Second bat- 
talion, second establishment. Continental army. 

Walton, Elisha, major, First regiment, Monmouth. 

Wilson, Joseph. 

Woodhull, John, D.D., chaplain. 

Wickofi', Jacob, Captain Hankinson's company. First 
regiment, Monmouth. 

Wikoff, William, corporal. Captain Waddell's com- 
pany. First regiment, Monmouth. 

Yetman, James, private, Continental army. 

Yetman, John, Monmouth. 

Perrine, Peter, captain. Third battalion, Middlesex. 

Rhea, David, lieutenant. Captain Walton's company. 
State troops (horsemen)* 



Coward, Enoch (grandfather of Captain Enoch L., of 
Fourteenth Regiment). 

Henderson, William, Captain Holmes' company, 
Fourth battalion, second establishment. Conti- 
nental army. 

Clayton, John, Captain Walton's troop light dra- 
goons, Monmouth. 



Soldiers 


0/1812-15. 


Anderson, John L., cap- 


Kerr, Joseph, 


tain. 


Myres, Nathaniel, 


Brewer, Daniel, 


Malatt, Jlathias, 


Boyde, John, 


Nesbit, John, 


Bowne, Peter, 


Perrine, Robert, quarter 


Bruen, Cyrus, 


master, 


Coward, Enoch, 


Robinson, James, cap 


Combs, AVilliam, 


tain. 


Clayton, John, 


Robinson, John, 


Conover, Robert, captain. 


Rue, William, 


Conover, John I., 


Teneyck, William, cap 


Conover, Benjamin, 


tain. 


Craig, John, 


Thompson, Joseph, 


Craig, Joseph, 


Thompson, Pearson, 


Craig, Robert E., 


Van Schoick, Samuel, 


Emmons, Isaac, 


Voorhees, Stephen, 


Freeman, Simeon, 


White, William, 


Gordon. Lewis, 


Wilson, Robert, 


Gordon, John E., 


Yetman, Eseck, 


Hampton, William, 


Yetman, Walter, 


Laird, David (navy), 


Gordon, James. 



Soldiers of the War of the Rebellion. 



Abraham, James, 
Breece, William, 
Combs, William, 
Duncan, William, 
Dey, Roland, 
Fisher, David R., 
Fisher, David A., 
Gordon, Conover, 
McChesney, George S., 



Rue, John, A., 
Reid, SpaiTord W., 
Smith, Josiah, 
Smith, Jacob, 
Van Aman, James N., 
Woodhull, Dr. Addison, 
Weeden, John E., 
Yetman, Tunis. 



Manalapan township is divided into six school 
districts, which contain five hundred and ninety- 
eight children of school age. The school prop- 
erty is valued at eight thousand five hundred 
dollars. 

In Lafayette School District, No. .32, the 
first .school-house was built over sixty years 
ago on the present site, and was rebuilt about 
1860. The district at present contains sixty- 
nine children. 

In the Session School District, No. 33, the 
first school was the Latin School, opened by the 
Rev. Dr. John Woodhull. Dr. J. T. Wood- 
hull, in an article on "Revolutionary Reminis- 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



689 



cences, written iu 1862, speaking of his father, 
Rev. Dr. WoodliuU, saj-s, — 

"And the same year of his settlement (1779) 
he built a house on an acre of ground leased of 
the congregation for the purpose of establishing 
a school.' This being the only school of this 
kind in this part of the State, it became very 
popular and flourishing. Many eminent men 
were here trained for usefulness. Among 
them I must name S. Berrien, who was after- 
wards Attorney-General of the United States, 
the two Breeses — Sidney and Arthur — Rev. 
Dr. Clark, Rev. Ira Condict and George Ord, 
who wrote the life of Wilson, the ornitholo- 
gist. ..." 

A very bad boy, who had been punished for 
some delinquency, remained at home one Sun- 
day until the neighbors had all gone to church, 
when he, with a little fellow, his cousin, %vent 
to the school-house and set it on fire, which 
consumed it and all it cont^iined. A short in- 
terruption ensued, but another house was speed- 
ily erected and the school continued to flour- 
ish. It was discontinued about 1794. 

There is no account of any other school there 
until 1827, when Asa S. Colton, who later be- 
came a clergyman, taught a classical school for 
a short time in the vicinity of Tenncnt Church, 
from which place he removed to Freehold, and 
there taught. Several years afier, the district 
ei'ected a school-house on the Tennent Church 
lot, which was used until aliout 1863, when the 
present building was erected. The old house 
was abandoned, moved back and made a part 
of the horse-sheds. The district contains at 
present one hundred and thirteen children. 

About 1830, William Wilson, a Scotch- 
man, who had been a minister in his own 
coiuitry and had become dissipated, came to 
this part of New Jersey and tauglit school in 
several places in this county, and about 1835 
became a teacher at Tennent school. To this 
place he became much attached. It was he 
who erected the wooden slab over the grave 

' This was not the first classical school of the -vicinity. 
March 14, 1778, Joseph Rue advertises that he will open 
a Latin school at the house of Henry Perine, Freehold, 
April 13, where the scholars can be accommodated in the 
best manner at the lowest expense. 
44 



of Colonel Monckton in the old Tennent 
Churchyard. He several times expressed a 
wish to be buried by the side of Monckton. 
After teaching here several years he removed 
to Forked River, where he died. Mrs. Achsah 
Hendrickson and others of his former pupils at 
Tennent united in causing the removal of his 
remains to the Tennent burial-ground, and 
there erected the stone that now marks his 
grave. 

In Englishtown School District, No. 34, the 
first school of which anything is known was 
kept in 1817 in the old tavern-house, now the 
residence of John Laird. Joseph Lewis was a 
pupil there in that year. In 1835 the school- 
house that stood on tlie site of the present 
Mount Vernon school-house was removed to 

"No Chance," and was kept by Lord, 

Vorhis, and last, and for many years, by 



Miss M;try D. Hankinson, who, later, kept a 
school in her own house. Another house was 
built beyond the Presbyterian Church for both 
.school and church purposes. This house was 
used until the present edifice was erected, in 
1871. Among the teachers at this second house 
were Francis Frary, Horace Rood and David 
Stratton. The latter taught many years. The 
district now contains one hundred and sixty-one 
children. 

In Manalapan School District, No. 35, the 
first school of which any account has been ob- 
tiiined was kept in the carriage-house of Dr. 
John T. Woodhull for his own children, but a 
little later the other children of the neighbor- 
hood also attended. Dr. Kearney was a teacher 
there. The school was afterwards removed to 
a room in Dr. Woodhull's residence. About 
1830 the people of the neighliorhotxi united 
and built a school-house on Dr. Woodhull's 
farm, on the north side of the ManalajJan road. 
At this place Condit Gulick (brother of Peter 
Gulick, the missionary), a Mrs. Emery, William 
Woodhull, James Crawford and Elizabeth How- 
ard M'ere teachers. No deed was given of the 
lot on which this house was erected, and upon 
the sale of Dr. Woodhull's property the school- 
house was sold with it. Then the present school- 
lot was purchased of Major John Perrine, and 
the hou.se erected on it in 1840. The first teacher 



690 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



was Miss Elleu Shaw, who was succeeded by 
Miss Gertrude Couover (afterwards I\Irs. Nelsou 
Conover). During her term of teaching, the 
trees that uow surround the school-liouse were 
set out. The district now contains seventy-six 
children of school age. 

In Black's JNIills School District, No. 36, a 
school was taught in 1826, at which James A. 
Perriue and Thomas Smith were pupils, under 
a Mr. Emery. The school-house was situated 
southwest from Black's ]Mills. It was then an 
old house, but was used for school and church 
purposes. It is now used as a tenant-house. 
After 1855 a lot was purchased of James 
Showles, on the ]\Ianalapan road, and the present 
school-house was built. In 1804 it was moved 
to the adjoining lot, where it uow stands. The 
district now contains sixty-seven children. 

In Mount Vernon School District, No. .37, a 
small school-house was built, about the year 
1820, on the site of the present house. iNIajor 
John Anderson was the first teacher in this 
house, and about 1823 Miss Mary D. Hankin- 
son began teaching, and continued till 1835, 
when she removed. The house was soon after 
moved to "No Chance," near Englishtown. 
No other school-house was built in this locality 
until 1860, when the present one was erected 
on Mount Vernon, and in 1882 it was removed 
to the present site, which was the site of the 
old school-house of 1820. The district now 
contains one hundred and three school childi-en. 

Englishtown is the principal village (as, in 
fact, the only one to which that name can prop- 
erly be given) in Manalapan. It is situated in 
the northern part of the township, a little north 
of the Jamesburg and Freehold Agricultural 
Eailroad, on which it is a station. This village 
existed, under the same name, in the time of 
the Revolution, and was a halting-place of the 
American army on its way both to and from 
the battle-field of Monmouth in June, 1778. 
On the night of the 29th (the day following 
that of the battle), General Washington had his 
headquarters in an old tavern that stood on the 
site now occupied by the house of John Laird. 
The village received its name from James Eng- 
lish, the original proprietor of the land on 



which it was built. Two of his sons, John 
English and Dr. James English, Jr., were both 
born before 1800. The latter practiced med- 
icine in this vicinity until his death, in 1834. 
A more extended account of him, as also of Dr. 
David C. English (who died in 1860), will be 
found in the history of the Monmouth Medical 
Society, in a preceding chapter.* Dr. Daniel 
Polhemus and Dr. "NA^illiam Debow were prac- 
titioners in Englishtown and vicinity in the 
year 1836, and for some years previously. Dr. 
Polhemus' residence was where Craig Bowne 
now lives, and Dr. Debow lived in the Disbrow 
house. 

In 1820 there were two taverns in English- 
town, one kept by Mrs. Henry Perriue, where 
Daniel Stevens now lives, and the other by Mrs. 
Williain Gaston, on the corner where Fleming's 
Hotel now stands. A store was kept by Isaiah 
Disbrough, where the store of Peter Stevens 
uow is. David and Daniel H. Laird also kept 
a store where David's grandson (Augustus Dye) 
now lives. In 1837, Nathaniel S. Rue, Jr., 
and George W. Sutphin announced a " New 
Concern," under the firm of Rue & Sutphin, 
" at the stand lately occupied by John ]\I. Per- 
rine, at Englishtown, where they intend to keep 
constantly on hand a general assortment of dry- 
goods, groceries, cpieensware, hardware, etc." 
The grist-mill of the place was owned and run 
for many years by Jacob Keeler, afterwards 
by Charles Van Cleef, and later passed to the 
possession of William Parker, the present 
owner. A school-house stood in that part of 
the town called " No Chance," and in it Miss 
Mary Hankinson taught for several years. After- 
wards a school-house was built beyond where 
the Presbyterian Church now stands. It was 

1 One of the early physicians who practiced in the 
township was Dr. Gilbert Tennent, a sou of the Eev. Wil- 
liaraTennent. He ilied in early manhood in 1780. 

Dr. .John T, Woodhull and Dr. Gilbert S. WoodhuU, 
natives of the town.ship, were both practicing physicians. 
Dr. .John T. retired from active practice while in middle 
life. Dr. Gilbert S. enjoyed an extensive practice. He 
lived where .John Van Doi-en now resides, and died about 
1832. 

Dr. Charles G. Patterson, born 17'J0 and died 1835, 
who was a well-known and popular practitioner in Ma- 
nalapan township, is more fully mentioned in the history 
of the Monmouth Medical Society. 



I 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



G91 



used until the erection of the present school- 
house, in 1871. 

The post-office of Englishtown was estab- 
lished February tj, 1818. The first postmaster 
was John S. jNIcChesney, who was succeeded by 
Benjamin Day. He remained in office until 
December, 1839, and was succeeded by Daniel 
H. Laird, who continued until 18;")6. The 
next was Joel T. Clayton, who held the office 
till ]\Iareli 31, 1859, and was succeeded by John 
M. Vorhis, who remained postmaster until 
1861. His successor was Peter Clayton, who 
held the office ten years. His successor is the 
present postmaster, Peter W. Stevens. 

The Englishtown Presbytekian Church, 
a branch of the old Tennent Church organization, 
was formed in 1860, and the church edifice was 
built in the same year in the village for the bet- 
ter accommodation of the members living iu 
that vicinity. In 1874 the building; was re- 
paired, and upon completion was reopened for 
service October l.jth in that year. In De- 
cember, 1876, on petition of members residing 
in and near Englishtown, the Presbytery sev- 
ei'ed the connection of this with the Tennent 
Church, and this was made a separate organiza- 
tion. The new society secured the services of 
the llev. Donald jMcLaren (previously jiastorof 
Tennent Chiu-ch) as a stated supply. He was 
succeeded by Rev. J. Livingston Smith, who 
became the pastor and was installed June 24, 
1879. He resigned January 24, 1881. The 
Rev. Charles Everett, the present pastor, a re- 
cent graduate, was installed as jrastor June 14, 
1881. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, at 
Englishtown, was organized in 1842, in the old 
school-house, and on the 23d of January, 1843, 
the following-named trustees were elected : 
J. O. Burtt, Sr.,Elisha McCabe, Simeon Pettit, 
Daniel Sanford and Gilbert Applegate. A lot 
was purchased of David and Daniel Laird ; an 
edifice, thirty by thirty-five feet, was erected in the 
following summer, and used until 1878. In 
the summer of 1877 the present lot was secured 
and foundations of a new building laid in De- 
cember of that year. It was finished the follow- 
ing year, and dedicated October 10, 1878. 

The first pastor of this church was the Rev. 



Robert J. Andrews. Among his successore ha\-e 
been the following named : John Ford; 1859, 
R. B. Sutclitf; 1860, Peter Y. Calder; 1862, 
Albert Atwood ; 1865, J. P. Connelly ; 1867, 
George B. White; 1870, J. D. McCurdy; 1874, 
R. B. Stephenson; 1875, W. A. Marsey ; 1876, 
H. J.Conover; 1878-79, S. F. Gaskell ; 1880, 
W. F. Randolph ; 1881-82, J. W. Grant ; 1884, 
D. Clinton Cobb. 

Saint John's (Episcopal) Church was 
established in 1860 as a branch of Saint Peter's 
Church of Freehold. A church edifice was 
erected, and opened for service April 9, 1861. 
The Rev. Thomas J. Taylor, a missionary, was 
in charge of the congregation. It was feebly 
sustained for several years, and in May, 1877, 
the building was sold to J. E. Keeler, who used 
it for a drug-store. 

Columbia Lodge, No. 88, K. of P., was 
chartered July 7, 1873, and was instltutetl with 
seventeen charter members. The first meetings 
were held iu tiie school-house. In 1880alodo:e- 
room was fitted up in the second story of Truut- 
man's barber-shop, and formally opened in 
September of that year. The lodge has a mem- 
bership of sixtj'-one. The present officers are : 
Chancellor Commander, J. C. Rue ; Vice Chan- 
cellor Commander, J. AV. Gaskell ; Master of 
Finance, J. C. Sutphin ; Master of Exchequer, 
S, C. Bowne ; Keeper of Records and Seals, 
W. L. Conover. H. W. Long, of this lodge, is 
Supreme Representative of the Supreme Lodge. 

The fruit and vegetable canning factory of 
H. S. Evans, situated near the depot, was estab- 
lished iu the spring of 1883. All kinds of 
fruits and vegetables are canned in tin and 
glass. As many as one hundred hands are some- 
times employed in the fruit season. 

The shirt-fiictory of E. T. Danser was started 
iu 1882. It employs thirty to forty hands. The 
building is forty by one hundred and ten feet in 
dimensions. 

Black's Mills post village is a small set- 
tlement or hamlet in the southern part of the 
township, on the Manalapan and Freehold turn- 
pike road. 

How long 231'ior to 1823 tiiere was a grist- 



692 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



mill at the locality now called Black's Mills is 
not known, but in that year a mill was owned 
there by Thomas and John Black, of Burling- 
ton, N. J. On the 26tli of January, the next 
year (1824), they purciiased the water-power of 
INIanapalan River of Jonathan Fornian, and 
soon after purchased other rights. The mill 
was enlai-ged and a saw-mill added, and both 
were run by them for many years. During this 
time a tavern was opened there and kept by 
one Nailor. The mills passed to Esek Harts- 
horne, who (April 1, 1841) sold them to .Simon 
Abrahams, who was tiien keeping the tavern. 
From Abrahams it passed, in December, 1847, 
to Thomas and John Black, who, on the 1st of 
April, 1859, sold the property to the present 
owner, Charles H. Snyder, who had previously 
run the mill for several years. The tavern was 
kept, after Abrahams, by Joseph I. Thompson. 
After the purchase of the mill by Mr. Snyder, 
and the building of his new house, the old 
tavern-house was moved up the hill and on the 
opposite side of the street, and has since been 
used for various purposes. The grist-mill has 
been enlarged and improved, and is now foiu* 
stories in height and contains machinery for 
making flour by the roller process, with a capa- 
city of seventy-five barrels of flour in twenty- 
four hours. The water-power of tlie Manala- 
pan River is used, and also an engine of forty- 
horse power as an auxiliary. 

In 1840, James Lloyd established a store at 
the Mills. Later, he removed to Freehold, but 
returned to Black's Mills Corners, where he 
built a store and kept several years. John I. 
McDowell, about 1844, also built a store at the 
Corners, on the site of the present store, and 
kept it several years. It has been kept since 
1856 by S. W. Reed, who has acted as assistant 
postmaster from that time. The post-office 
was established June 1, 1856, and Charles S. 
Jewell was appointed postmaster. He was 
succeeded by James Van Brackle, L. P. Clay- 
ton and T. D. Probasco, the present incum- 
bent. 

A Methodist Church was organized at Black's 
Mills about 1823, and a church bulling erected, 
which was also used as a school-house. On the 
28tb of August, 1846, John Imlay, Wesley Gill 



and James Connelly, trustees of the church, sold 
the property to James Reed. 

Maxalapanville village, or, more properly, 
hamlet, lies on the Manalapan and Freehold 
turnpike road, and on the township line of 
Manalapan and Millstone. A hotel was opened 
here fifty or sixty years ago. It passed, in 1859, 
from the estate of James H. Clayton to Jacob 
C. Clayton; later, to Vincent W. JNIount, who, 
in 1873, sold to L. G. Davison, the present 
owner. A post-office was established a few 
years ago, and the postmasters have been David 
Baird, N. W. Morris and D. A. Vanderveer. 
John Hunt opened a store about twenty years 
ago, which is now kept by J. B. Davison. 

Near this place, in Millstone, is the Manala- 
pan Presbyterian Church, Manalapan School- 
house and Bergen Mills. 

Africa is a hamlet situated on the west line 
of the township. It was settled by a number 
of colored people prior to 1840. An African 
Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, and 
later a church edifice was erected. The society 
was incorporated August 9, 1843. The church 
still maintains its organization, and is well sus- 
tained by the colored people in the vicinity. 

Mills and Manufactories. — On the west 
line of the township of Manalapan, a mile 
north from Smithburg, stands a woolen-factory 
that was built over fifty years ago by William 
Preston. In 1844 it was in possession of Asher 
Smith, at which time it had a pair of carding- 
machines and fifty spindles. 

The mill was doing custom-work only, and 
manufac;tured cloths and blankets. It was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1846, and soon after was 
bought by George J. Miller and rebuilt. After 
a few years it was sold at public sale, and pur- 
chased by Asher Smith, by whom the business 
was continued until 1862, when it was rented 
by Robert S. Blain, who purchased it in 1866, 
and is the present owner. 

On Wemrock Brook, near where the Manal- 
apan and Freehold turnpike crosses it, a dis- 
tillery was built by Elisha Combs before 1805. 
The distillery is still continued by James A. Per- 




i 



I 



MA^ALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



693 



rine, who, in 1866, erected at the same place a 
grist-mill. It is known as Perrine's ^liiis. 

The Lafayette or Matchett Mills site has been 
occupied by a mill nearly, if not (^uite, a hun- 
dred years. It was for many years, and up to 
1844, owned by William Abrams, in which 
year it passed to Cornelius Matchett and "Wood- 
hull Johnson, who were in possession nineteen 
years. In 1877, Peter Jernee, tlie present owner, 
came into possession. 

Taylor's Mill is situated on the Tepahemus 
Brook, and the place is a very old mill-site. It 
has had many owners, among whom were 
Nathaniel Rue, Charles Higgins and Joseph 
Lutes, the last of whom sold to Joseph R. 
Taylor, who, in 1877, rebuilt the mill. The 
roller process of flouring is now used, and its 
capacity is fifty barrels in twenty-four hours. 
In addition to the water-power, a twenty-horse 
power engine is ased. 

The grist-mill now owned by James S. 
Parker, on the main head branch of ^lanalapan 
River, was built about 18oo, by one Xesl>it. 
Prior to that time it M'as a saw-mill, owned by 
David Van Schoick. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

JoHX Rue Perrixe. — Mr. Perrine enjoys 
the reputation of being in the foremost rank 
among those representiitives of that branch of 
industry which enables IMonmouth County to 
take a leading place among- the agricultural 
counties of the United States. His paternal 
grandfather, John Perrine, was a Revolution- 
ary soldier. His father, Major John Perrine, 
Jr., who served creditably as an officer in the 
War of 1S12, was born July 22, 1782, in Mon- 
mouth County, M'here he cultivated a productive 
farm. He married Sarah, daughter of Allison 
Ely, whose children were Allison E., Barclay, 
Eleanor (Mrs. William T. :\Iil]s, of Brooklyn), 
John Rue, Lewis, Sarah Ann (^Ii-s. John T. 
Mills), James A. and Achsah (who died in 
youth). John Rue Perrine was born January 
27, 1812, at Bergen's Mills, Millstone township, 
and received at liome thorough instruction in 
the rudimentary English brandies. At the a^e 



of sixteen he removed to Jlanalapan township 
and engaged in tiie superintendence of his father's 
business, consisting chiefly of a farm and an ex- 
tensive distillery. The latter, in 1837, pur- 
chased additional lands in Manalapan township, 
and in 1841, the farm on which the subject of this 
biographical sketch resides. Here he has since 
been engaged in farming. To say that Mr. 
Perrine is simply a farmer conveys but little 
idea of his agricultural undertakings, of the 
judgment and foresight indicated in his varied 
operations, and the success which has made his 
name a .synonym for the most advanced and im- 
proved methods in his department of labor. 
:Mr. Perrine was, on the 10th of March, 1842, 
married to Jane, daughter of "NA'illiam Van 
Dorn and Catharine Polhemus, of ^larlboro' 
township. Their children are William Van 
Dorn, Catharine Polhemus, John, and Mary 
Patterson, of whom Catharine Polhemus is tiie 
only survivor. The deatli of Mrs. Perrine oc- 
curred on the 28th of August, 1877. A Demo- 
crat in his political proclivities, Mr. Perrine has 
declined all offices other than those connected 
with Ids township, which a praiseworthy degree 
of public spirit imjjclled him to accept. He 
has been identified with many important enter- 
prises and wields an extended influence in con- 
nection with the business interests of the com- 
munity. I\Ir. Perrine was educated in the faith 
of the Presbyterian Church, to wliich lie still 
adheres. 



Garret B. Cdxover. — The great-grand- 
father of Mr. Conover was William, who had 
among his children a son Benjamin, whose 
children were three sons — William, Garret B. 
and Joseph — and several daughters. Garret B., 
the grandfather of the subject of this biogra- 
phy, for whom he was named, was born in 
Freehold township, where he was an industri- 
ous farmer. He married Lydia, daughter of 
Peter Forman, of ^lanalapan townshij), whose 
children were Benjamin G., Eleanor, Katy, 
Lena, ^Nlary and Alice. 

Benjamin G., of this number, was born in 
1788, in Freehold township, and spent his life 
in .the county of his birth. He married Elea- 
nor, daughter of James Herbert, Esq., who 



G94 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



resided near Englishtown. Their children are 
James M., born in 1809 ; Garret B., October 
24, 1811 ; Elizabeth (Mrs. Joseph Preston), in 
1813 ; Peter F., in 1815 ; William, in 1817 ; 
Daniel, in 1820; and Lydia (Mrs. Joseph John- 
son), in 1826. The birth of Garret B. occnrred 
in Upper Freehold, though his youth was j:)rin- 
cipally passed in Freehold and Raritan town- 
shijjs. He attended such schools as were to 
be found at Englishtown and Freehold, and 
liaving removed to his present farm, assisted 



married Teresa, daughter of James I. 



Reid, 

of Manalapan (then Freehold) township. Their 
cliildren are James, born in 1838 (deceased) ; 
.Sarah Ellen (Mrs. James Craig), in 1839, who 
has one child ; Catharine (Mrs. L. D. Bugbee), 
in 1841, who has two children ; Jane Ann, in 
1843 ; William, married to Elizabeth Rue, who 
has four children ; Sidney (deceased) ; and Gar- 
ret B., Jr., married to Adaline Duncan, who 
has fonr children. Mr. Conover was never 
active in politics. Though of Democratic ante- 




cJ^///;^^/- '^ ^^y^^^A^ 



for some years in its cultivation. On the occa- 
sion of his father's death he assumed the man- 
agement of the property, with the care of his 
mother and the younger children devolving 
upon him; though but twenty-two years of 
age, this responsible cliarge was met with a 
courage and cheerful spirit worthy of all jiraise. 
In 1835 he rented a farm in Manalapan town- 
ship, to which he removed with the family, and 
afterwards purchased. In September, 1830, he 



cedents he has been either an Old-Line Whig or 
a Republican, but not especially interested in 
questions of public policy. He has, however, 
been deeply intei'ested in all that pertains to the 
cause of religion, and has been for twenty years 
an elder in Old Tennent Church, to whicli he has 
been a liberal contributor, and foremost in every 
enterprise involving its welfare. His prominence 
in all church-work has led to his being often cho- 
sen as delegate to the meetings of the Presbytery. 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



695 



The Du Bols Family. — This is not intended 
as a record of all the descendants of Louis Du 
Bois (the common ancestor, who was a French | 
Huguenot refugee, and came to America in 1660) 
and Jacques Du Bois, who was supposed to 
have Ijeen his brother, and came to this country 
in 1675, as the family has become too numer- 
ous to make such an undertaking practicable ; 
neither does it purpose to introduce at length 
the generation now upon the stage. The 
famih' have two genealogical records, from which 



Xormandy. It begins the genealogy with Geof- 
froi du Bois, describing him as a knight ban- 
neret under William the Conqueror, whom he 
accompanied to the conquest of England, in 
1066. It is carried on in seventeen generations 
in the eldest male line (all of whom are desig- 
nated as Seigneurs and Chevaliers) to 1648. 
There is not the space to enter more fully into 
j their history in France. The date of the birth 
I of Christien (Christian) Du Bois, the father of 
. Louis, is not known, as the records of Wicres 




^. 



^?^: 



^J^-uiGi 



AX</00^ 



a few notes are taken. The name Du Bois is 
composed of two French words, signifying " of j 
the forest." It was used as an ancient family ' 
surname botli in Artois and Xormandy, before 
AVilliam the First, King of England, left his 
native shores, and has remained unchanged to 
the present day. In the heraldic records pre- 
served in the Royal Library of Paris, under the 
head of " du Bois," it is expressly said that the 
family of that name is one of the oldest of the 
noble families of the bailiwick of Contentin, in 



were almost illegible from age, bad ink and 



mutilation, tlie names of those who would not 
recant their faith being often intentionally 
erasetl. The baptismal dates of three of his 
children could be distinguished (18th June, 
1622, 13th November, 1625, and 27th October, 
1626), but not their names. Louis Du Bois 
was born at AVicres, near Lille, the chief town of 
Artois, in Northern France, October 27, 1626. 
He fled to Holland to escape religious persecu- 
tion, and was married to Catharine Blanshan, 



696 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



or Blaujean, October 10, 1655, at Mannheim, 
Germany, his wife being the daughter of a 
burgher of that place. Two sons were there 
born to them. They then emigrated to America, 
sacrificing everything to secure peace of mind and 
liberty of conscience, and firet stopping at Hur- 
ley, then three miles from Kingston, X. Y., 
afterwards moving to New Paltz, N. Y. On 
their arrival Louis Du Bois is said to have rev- 
erently opened the old French Bible and read 
the Twenty-third Psalm, after which he led the 



sketch l)cing descended from I^ouis, the third 
child, who married Margaret Jansen on the 
22d of ^lay, 1720. He doubtless emigrated 
soon after their marriage, to "West Jersey, where 
he acquired lauded property amounting to one 
thousand aud uinety-oue acres. 

Of their eleven children, Benjamin, next to 
the youngest sou (the grandfather of the present 
Benjamin), was born March 30, 1739, and mar- 
ried Phrebe Denise. For sixty-tliree years he 
was pastor of the Freehold and Middletown Re- 




assembled colony in a prayer of thanksgiving 
and supplication. One of the first efforts of the 
Huguenot band was to build a church (a rude af- 
fair of logs) upon the lot now occupied by the 
stately edifice of the First Reformed Church of 
Kingston, founded by Hasbrouck, Du Bois and 
Lefevre. The children of Louis Du Bois were 
ten in number. The Du Boises of Monmouth 
County are descended through the third son, 
Jacob, his wife having been Geritje Gerritsen. 
They had eleven children, the subject of this 



formed Churches. The dominie left ten chil- 
dren, five of whom emigrated to Franklin, Ohio. 
Tunis Du Bois, his son, was born February 23, 
1773 ; his first wife was Sarah Yau Derveer, 
their children being four in number. His second 
wife was Sarah Smock, of whose seven chil- 
dren five sons and one daughter are now living, 
and settled in Monmouth County. The spirit 
of the old Huguenot, Louis, who left his native 
land for conscience' sake, seems, in some measure, 
to have descended to his posterity. In Penn- 



MANALAPAN TOWNSHIP. 



697 



sylvania, three have been known as ministers of 
the gospel ; in New Jersey, one ; in New York, 
at least two ; and in Ohio, one. 

Henry Du Bois, son of Tunis D. Du Bois 
and his wife, Sarah Smock, was born April 4, 
1808, in Freehold township, upon the farm 
where the yeare of his childhood were spent. 
After receiving, at the public school, instruc- 
tion in the English branches, he began farming 
with his father, and continued thus employed 
until tn-enty-four years of age. He was, on the 



Mary E. Thompson ; and Maggie A. ]Mr. Du 
Bois, on the occasion of his first marriage, pur- 
chased the farm in ilanalapan township which 
is his present residence. Here he has always 
been engaged in agricultural pursuits, though 
impaired health has precluded active labor. He 
was formerly interested in local politics, as a Dem- 
ocrat, and for many years filled the oiEce of com- 
missioner of appeals, as also school trustee of the 
township. He has been for years a member of 
the Monmouth County Agricultural Society. 




(2^-^ycK.--'^^n/iyni J^^-^^-uy^ 



^-^^H!^ 



18tli of April, 1832, married to !Mai-garet, 
daughter of Peter Conover, of Matawan . Their 
children are Peter C. (deceased), married to 
Anna Virginia Corson ; Sarah M. (deceased) ; 
Mary C. (Mrs. Lafayette G. Schenck); John R., 
married to Anna D. Spader ; Tunis D., mar- 
ried to Sarah E. Smock, ilrs. Du Bois died 
July 13, 1848, and he married again, on the 
r2th of February, 1851, Ursula P., daughter of 
Christian Probasco, of Atlantic township. 
Their children are Jacob V. X., married to 



^Ir. Du Bois has, during his active life, been a 
man of much industry, and is ranked among the 
most prosperous farmers of his township. He 
is a member of the Reformed (Dutch) Church 
of Freehold, in ■nhich he was formerly both 
elder and deacon. 

Benjamin Du Bois, the second son of Tunis 
D. and Sarah Smock Dubois, a resident of 
Manalapan township, was born May 10, 1810, 
and on the 1st of February, 1832, was married 
to Helena A^^ikoff. He is a successful farmer 



698 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



in Manalapan township and among its most 
representative citizens. 

Livingston Du Bois, the youngest brother of 
Henry and Benjamin Du Bois, also of" ]\Ianala- 
pan township, was born April 18, 1827, on the 
homestead in Marlboro', now occupied by Tunis 
V. Du Bois, where in childhood he attended the 
district school, and nntil twenty-five years of 
age gave his attention to the labor connected 
with the cultivation of his father's laud. He 
was married, December 6, 1854, to Mary T., 
daughter of George Hunt, of INIanalapan town- 
ship, the ceremony having occurred in the resi- 
dence at present occupied by him. Their 
children are William H., John Henry (married, 
March 4, 1884, to Anna V. Conover), George 
L., Joseph Ely, Wilson G. (deceased), Anna H. 
and Frank B. Mr. Du Bois after his marriage 
resided for one year at the home of his father- 
in-law, and at the expiration of this period pur- 
chased a farm in Manalapan township, which 
he cultivated for twelve years. He then became 
the owner, by purchase, of the Hunt homestead, 
on which he now resides. A Democrat in his 
political faith, he has declined office other than 
fre<juent ser\ice as member of the township 
committee of Manalapan. This office — a 
very onerous and responsible one during 
the late civil war — entailed great responsi- 
bility in the filling of the township quota 
and the securing of substitutes. ]\Ir. Du 
Bois' activity and zeal on this occasion 
elicited from his fellow-townsmen much praise. 
He is identified by membership with the Mon- 
mouth County Agricultural Society. In reli- 
gion he is a Baptist, and connected as a member 
with the Freehold Baptist Church, of which he 
has been at various times a trustee. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

EAEITAN TOWXSHIP AND THE ToWX OF 
KEYPORT. 

Raritax is the northernmost township of 
Monmouth County, having Raritan Bay as its 
northern boundary. On the east it is bounded 
by the township of Middletown, on the soutli 



by Holmdel and on the west and northwest Ijv 
Matawan township and creek and by Raritan 
Bay. Several small streams flow northwardly 
through the township into Raritan Bay, the 
principal of which are Wakake, Chingarora 
and I^upatcong Creeks, the last two named en- 
tering the bay at the town of Keyport. The 
New York and Long Branch Railroad crosses 
the southwest corner of the township, and the 
Freehold and Keyport Railroad enters the last- 
named town from Matawan. The population 
of Raritan township by the United States cen- 
sus of 1880 was three thousand eight hundred 
and ninety-one, — this including the town of 
Keyi)ort. 

Raritan township (t;dven from the territory ot 
Middletown) was erected in 1848 with the fol- 
lowing described boundaries, viz. : 

"Beginning at Tanner's Landing, on the shore of 
Raritan Bay ; thence running southerly along the 
new road, near Thomas Arrowsmith's, to the road 
leading from the village of Middletown to Keyport ; 
thence along the road by Daniel D. Hendrickson's to 
the corner of John P. Luyster's and AVilliam H. 
Hendrickson's land; thence westerly to the road run- 
ning by Hendrick V. Luyster's ; thence along the said 
road to the road leading from Jliddletown to Holm- 
del; thence along the road by John Golden to the 
corner of lands of Ann Ogborn, deceased; thence 
following the road through Morrisville to the road 
leading from Holmdel to Leedsville; thence southerly 
to the Atlantic townshi|> line between the lands of 
Joseph Conover and Aaron Van Mater; thence along 
the line of said Atlantic township in a westerly 
direction to the line of Freehold township ; thence 
following the line between Freehold and Middletown 
townships to the line between the counties of Mon- 
mouth and Middlesex; thence down the said county 
line to Raritan Bay; thence along the shore of said 
Bay to the place of beginning." 

In 18o7 a large portion of the territory of 
Raritan was taken to form the uew townships of 
Matawan and Holmdel, erected by an act passed 
in tiiat year. In tlie histories of those town- 
ships the boundaries are given of the territory 
thus taken from Raritan. The following is a 
list of chosen freeholders of Raritan township 
from its erection to the present time: 

1848-50. Thomas Arrowsmith. 
1848-52. William H. Hendrickson. 
18.').3-56. Jonathan I. Holmes. 
1857. Henry H. Seabrook. 



RARITAN TOWNSHIP. 



699 



1858-60. Jolin Cottrell. 
1861-62. Kichard B. Walling. 

1863. John Cottrell. 

1864. Christian D. Emmons. 
1865-66. Thomas S. R. Brown. 
1867-69. EuselHus M. Walling. 
1870. John M. Sproul. 
1871-72. John Brittan. 

1873. Theodore Aumack. 
1874-76. Thomas S. R. Brown. 
1877-78. Theodore Anmack. 
1879-81. William C. 8mith. 
1882-83. Sidney Walling. 
1884. George M. Britton. 

The territory iu Raritau and Middletown 
townships, extending along the bay from what 
is now Port Monmouth westward to Union 
City, was known as Wakake. or Weikec, and 
was first .settled by Richard Hartshorne, who 
came to this country from London in September, 
1669. His first purchase was at Wakake, where 
he settled, and fi-om which place he mentioned 
himself as "Richard Hartshorne, of AVeikec." 
It is evident that he lived there as early as May 
24, 1670, as at that time he made a purchase 
which is recorded in the town-book of ]Middle- 
town as follows : 

" Maj' 24, 1070 : Memni-andnm Richard Hartshorne 
and John Hawes gave order the 27 oti' ft'ebruary 
to have this following writing Recorded . . . Viz. : 
Know all men by these presents : that I .John Hawes 
now resident in the Towne of Middleton : in the 
province of New Jearsy : doe acknowledge to have 
sonld unto Richard Hartshorne : now living in Wei- 
kec house in the afl'oresaid province : my house and 
lands : toghether with three or four acres of meadow 
for the summe of three hundred and fifty gilders : in 
part of well I doe acknowledge to have receaved of 
the above said Richard Hartshorne : two hundred and 
twenty gilders : and further I the artoresaid John 
Hawes doe engage myselfe to make the above said 
house sufficient: by the last of Aprill next ensuing 
the date hereof: that is to say : I John Hawes am to 
daube the house within and without: and to make 
the chimney : and one Outlett: and to lay the ffloares 
(the above sd Richard Hartshorne finding boards and 
nailes and allsoe shells to make lime for the doing of 
the above said worke) : and further I the aforesaid John 
Hawes am to make a cellar under the out left : and 
allsoe one window in the house with foure lights : 
wherein I am to make shutts to the lower lights: all 
well I doe engage myselfe to perfournie by the time 
above said : and in case of non perfourniance : to 
forfeit to the aftbresaid Richard one hundred gilders: 
and further the aflbresaid Richard Hartshorne doth 



engage to pay unto mee John Hawes or to my As- 
signees one hundred and thirty gilders : when the 
affbresaid work is done : and further it is agreed be- 
tweene both parties: that I John Hawes shall enjoy 
the affbresaid land : soe long as his wife liveth : in 
case it bee desired: and in case the aftbresaid John 
Hawes shall bee putt out of the house : wherein hee 
now liveth : then hee is to live in the house that hee 
hath now sould: during the time that his wife liveth : 
in case it bee desired : and after her decease the above 
said Richard Hartshorne is to enjoy the aftbresaid 
house and land: both hee: and his lieires forever : 
This agreement betweene Ijoth of us above written is : 
that the aftbresaid John Hawes am to leave the house 
in as good condition : as it shall bee in : when it i* 
finished acording to agreement: and likewise the 
fence that is now about the ground all wch is agreed 
unto : both by John Hawes and his wife whereunto 
they have sett [their hands and .seals]." 

The John Hawes here mentioned, lived at 
Wakake, as is shown by the action of a town- 
meeting held shortly after, in reference to giv- 
ing him title to certain lands " in Weikec 
Neck." Before this purchase (May 9th, in the 
same yeai') it was ordered and agreed at a town 
meetinor that " the land which now borders about 
Weikec necke shall be laid out into thirtj'-five 
lot.s." 

Richard Hartshorne was not one of the original 
Monmouth patentees, but he became a patentee 
by the purchase of William Goulding's interest,' 



' Tlie following is the deed showing the sale of William 
Gouli-ling, the patentee, to Kichanl Hanshorne: 

" November 25 : 1672. 

'■ Williain GoulJing of Graves End and Richard Harts- 
horne of Weikec in the Province of new Jearsey came 
this day Declaring their consents : and order to have this 
fl'ollowing Deed Recorded ; wch is as ffolloweth : . . . 

"This Presents wittnesseth that I, William Goulding, 
of Graves End upon Long Illand in the west riding of 
Vorkeshire : doe hereby acknowledge absolutely to have 
sould : asigned : and made over : for ever : from me : my 
heires : Executors : Administrators : and Asjignes : all 
my right : title : interest : and Claime : unto a ceitaine 
tract and Parcell of land liing and beeing in middleton, 
in the Province of new .Jearsey : and wch I sometimes 
bought of Pattentees of that tract of land : wherin the 
sayd middleton is inc'uded and knowne by the name 
of : (number 25) with the meadow Ground : and all privi- 
ledges ; and appurteanances : there unto belonging unto 
Richard Hartshorne of Weikec : in the same province : 
above said : his heires : Executors : .Administrators : or 
assignes : and for him the s.aid Richard to possess : and 
enjoy : in as large and ample mannor in every respect '• 
as I the said william : might or could by vertue of any 



700 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



creek that parts Conoskunck and Chingarora, 
which said three uecks are bounded by the bay- 
to low-water mark." 

Of the causes and incidents of this purchase 
Eichard Hart~horue said, in a letter written 
soon afterwards, — 

" The Indians came to my house and laid their 



and the meeting of the patentees hereafter re- 
ferred to was evidently held at his house, which 
had been built before the purchase from the In- 
dians. The Indian deed was as follows : 

May 22, 1676, Perropa Wawapa Emoras, 
Indians, " chiefe sachems of Ramsing, for a 
valuable sum of money in Indians' tradeing 
goods," paid l)v Richard Hartshorne, granted to [ hands on the post and frame of the house, and said 
him " a certaine parccll or tract of land Iving in that house was theirs ; they never had anything for 

the province of Xew Jersev, being three necks of "- ^"d '^^'^ '^'^ ^^ ^ ^0"'^ ""' buy the land, I must be 

f ,, , , , T 1- ■ -ITT I 4 I gone. But I minded it not, thinking it was Davis 

land, called by the Indians ^\ acake, Arowonoe, : j^^^^ ^_^j ^,^^^. ^,^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ something of me; they 

Conoskunck,andl)eginningattheeasternn]ostside ^^ ^^^^ t^u ,„e they would kill my cattle and burn 
of Wacake Xecke by the creek, and so up along my hay if I would not buy the land or begone ; then 
the sd creek, called ^Vakecake Creek, about j I went to the Patentees, which were James Grover, 
two miles or thereabouts, till vou come about a ' Richard Stout, John Bound [Bowne] and Eichard 
„ ., , , ; ,, T r- Gibbons; they told me it was never bought, nor had 

quarter of a mile about or to the southwards of a ^^^ ^^^.^^^ anything for it. Nichols desired of them 
piece of Meadow, called Walter ^\ all's meadow, \ ^^j ^■^^ Indians also only to have leave to set a trad- 
which lies on the east side of Wakecake ing-house, and at that time they did not intend any 
Creek, and from thence running westerlv uppon , one should have the land, but keep it for the use of 
a straight line to a great rock that is a 'little to ! ^^^ country, always giving leave for any man to trade 
the southeast of the Indian path that goes from 



Wakecake to the Indian town called Seaperk- 
amecke," and westerly to a small creek. Xorth- 
west to an oak-tree which parts Wakecake and 
Arowonoe ; from thence southwest to a white- 
oak ; from thence we.st l)v noitli across the neck, 
called Arowonoe to an oak-tree, on the creek 
which divides " Arowonoe, Conoskunk, and from 
thence runninsj over the creek, west bv north 
across Conoskunck neck till it comes to the 

purchase or grant from the said Pattentees : and further I 
the said William Goulding doe acknowledge to have soiild : 
and fully made over unto the afforesaid Richard : his 
heires : Executors : and assignes : all the priviledges : the 
wch I am at present possesed with in that pattent : that 
is to say : my Pattentteeshipp : for him in my place and 
stead : as need shall require to officiatte : and doe with 
the rest of the Pattentees : and to have all such priviledges 
proffits : and beneffitts : as is given to mee l>y Pattent 
from his roiall highnes the Duke of Yorke : ond his Debuty : 
or by vertue of any purchase from the Indians : and in con- 
sideration of the premises : I the said ■william : have received 
full and plenary satisfaction : part in hand: and part by 
bill : iu wittnes hereof I have hereunto sett my hand and 
seale this twenty three day of the month called Aprill one 
thousand six hundred and seventy. 

"William Goclding. 
" Wittnesses 
'' .James Bowse, 
" JoHX Stoutt. 
"This is a true Copy Extracted out of the principall 
" By Order 

" Eow.iKD Tartt : Town clearke." 



with goods and not otherwise ; but I told them I 
would not live on those terms, and not only so, but it 
was dangerous, for the Indians threatened to kill my 
cattle; they told me, no man had power to buy but 
the patentees, and they would buy it ; thus it con- 
tinued some months. I considered the thing as well as 
I then was capable, and went to Gravesend and bought 
William Goulder out, and when I came back the In- 
dians were at me and I did. James Grover, Richard 
Stout, Samuel Spicer were at Wakecake, and paid for 
it, I beiug then a patentee as well as the rest." 

He also says, in a private memorandum : 
"When Captain [Richard] Stout bargained 
with the Indians, he gave them a barrel ot 
cyder, and I g-ave them an order for an anker 
of brandy, so that tlicy shciuld not drink it on 
the premises." 

The laud of Richard Hartshorne extended 
up Wakake Creek nearly to its head. On 
July 10, 1(375, when the "southwest and 
southerd parts of Midcltowne" were boundetl, 
the line was run "from the southerdmost part 
of Richard Hartshorne's meadow, which was 
formerly ^^'alter Wall's, which lyes at the lied 
almost of Wakecake Creeke." 

It will be remembered that the land embraced 
in the Indian deed was bounded southward by 
Walter Wall's meadow, so that it is evident 
that after 1672 he purchased land south of his 
original tract, which embracetl Walter ^^'all's 
meado\\. That Mr. Hartshorne remained at 



RARITAN TOWNSHIP. 



701 



"Weikec" imtil after 1700 is shown from the 
fact that, December 22d, in that yeai-, the pro- 
prietors granted to AVilliam La^vl•enee, of Mid- 
dletown, a tract of laud on the east side of 
AVakake Creek, bounded by the creek and 
lands of Richard Hartshorne and " fifteen acres 
of unappropriated sedge and meadow on ye east 
side of said creeke, from Hartshorne residence 
to ye mouth of ye creek. ..." 

During the most of his public life Mr. Harts- 
horne resided at Wakake ; yet he was owner of 
a very large tract on the Xavesiuk Highlands, 
which, in 1703, he gave to his son, William, 
who moved to, and resided at Portland, soon 
after which Kichard Hartshorne moved to ^Nlid- 
dletown village, and built a house, which is 
still standing, and where he died in 1722. 

The lands which William Lawrence pur- 
chased, consisting of two hundred and eighty 
acres, were left by him to his son, Elisha Law- 
rence, who moved to the place ; and it is stated 
that he kept a store there, which was plundered 
by the pirates who infested the Raritan Bay. 
He sold this land, in 1717, to Thomas Kearney, 
who lived at what is now Keyport. A tavern 
was kept at Wakake, in 1699, by Samuel Wil- 
letts. A landing was also made at the place a 
little distance uji the creek from its mouth. 
Afterwards a dock or pier was built out into 
the bay from the shore below- the moutii of the 
creek. This was called Tanner's Lauding. It 
was used as late as 1820, having been for many 
years previously the principal landing and port 
of Monmouth County for passengers and freight. 
The first steamboat which ever came to jNIon- 
mouth County ran up to this landing and Mid- 
dletown Point. It was a side-wheel boat, 
commanded by Captain Penoyer. 

The school districts of Raritan township are 
four in number, viz. : Keyport District, No. 49, 
(elsewhere more fully mentioned) ; Union Dis- 
trict Xo. 50; Bethany Distrct, Xo. 51; and 
Granville District, Xo. 52. 

Union School District, Xo. 50, has fifty-six 
scholars. The first school-house in this section, 
was built by the Florence and Keyport Com- 
pany about 1850, soon after they began their 
operations. The same house is still used. 



Bethany School District, Xo. 51, has one 
hundred and thirteen school children. The first 
school-house in this section was built on a knoll 
across the road from where the old Bethany 
Church stood. It was built about 1800. Al- 
fred Walling, of Keyport, now deceased, said 
of it:' " Fifty years ago I commenced my col- 
legiate couree in that old school-house. It was 
eighteen feet square, with eight feet posts and 
double-pitched roof. It was enclosed with pine 
boards and shingle roof. The side was filled in 
with common yellow clay by letting in slots or 
rungs to the posts or joists about nine inches 
apart to keep the clay in its place. This was 
the inside finish. It had five small, seven by 
nine, six-light windows. A stationary writing- 
desk %\as made on one side of the room, and 
common wooden benches without backs were 
the seats." 

A new house was built in 1828 about one 
hundred yards north of the old one and on 
the same side of the street. This was used 
until the district was enlarged, taking in a part 
of Holmdel township. In 1871 the present 
school-house was built near the almshouse, 
and on the township line between Holmdel and 
Raritan. 

As nearly as can be ascertained, Timothv 
Murphy was the first teacher in the old house. 
He was succeeded by Charles Kelly, a Catholic, 
who for many years taught a classical school in 
the first and second houses. He was succeeded 
by William Brown, Peter Van Derhoof and 
James McBirney. Mr. Kelly died in 1836, 
having taught school in this vicinity over forty 
years. 

Granville School District, Xo. 52, includes a 
part of the township of ]\Iiddletown. The first 
school-house was built manv vears ago on a lot 
of land donated by Andrew Wilson. It was 
used until 1871, when it was torn down and 
replaced by the present school-house. The dis- 
trict contains one hundred and forty children 
of school age. 

Graxa'ILLE is a little village lying on the 
bay coast, and on the line between Raritan and 

' In an article vfritteu by him in 1879. 



702 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTl', NEW JERSEY. 



Middletown townships. It contains a store, a 
church, school-liouse and several dwellings. A 
post office named Keansburg was established at 
the place November 1, 1884, of which Mrs. W. 
W. Ramsay is postmaster. A post-office had 
been established earlier, of which Benjamin 
Wilson was postmaster. This was discontinued. 

Near the place, and ou the shore, are the 
works of the Uniontown Tile and Brick Com- 
jiany, whose office is 145 Broadway, New York. 
The large buildings of this company were 
erected in 1883, and ninety men employed. 
The works are now nearly completed. A 
boarding-house has been erected, and it is the 
intention of the company to employ two hun- 
dred men in 188-3. 

There is also on the shore a fertilizer factory, 
owned by Charles Preston, of Green Point, 
L. I. The buikliug, three stories high, was 
erected in 1878. From ninety to one hundred 
men are employed when the works are in opera- 
tion. 

The Granville Methodlst Episcopal 
Church was organized in 1806, and the present 
chapel was erected in that year. The lot was 

pm-chased by Tout, of New York, and 

donated to the society. The pulpit has been 
supplied mostly by students from Drew Theo- 
logical Seminary. The pastors have been as fol- 
lows: 1866-67, Eev. John B. Westcott, 

Mead, Owen; 1870, A. J. Garretson ; 

1874-75, W. W. Woodward ; 1876, G. H. Mason ; 
1877-78, W. W. Ramsay; 1879-80, A. Lowry ; 
1881, J. M. Reed; 1882, P. K. White; 1883, 
H. W. Cheeseman; 1884, Edward Phreaner. 
The society has a membership of fifty-two. 

Near Granville is the Waackaack Beacon, 
located on the east side of ^Vakake Creek. It 
is seventy-six feet above the level of the sea, 
and is supplied with a second order lens. It 
was built under an act of Congress approved 
August 31, 1852, and completed in 1856. 

Hazlett Railroad Station and settlement is 
in the south part of Raritan township, near Old 
Bethany. A post-office was established there 
in 1876 and Rezo Schenck was ajipointed post- 
master. He was succeeded by the present post- 
master, Walter T. Hoff. A hotel was erected 
in 1882 which is now kept by Richard Worrell. 



Uniox City, on Raritan Bay, northeast of 
Keyport, is located on laud which was owned in 
the time of the Revolution by Peter Snyder and 
Colonel Richard Poole. The land at Union 
City, in comparatively recent years, extended 
half a mile out into the bay, to the Black Rocks, 
and tliere are those now living who remember 
planting corn where now are the waters of the 
bay. Vessels, not many yeai-s ago, came up 
Wales' Creek to what is known as Graham's 
Landing. 

Union City came into existence through the 
operations of the Florence and Keyport Com- 
pany, which was incorporated February 14, 
1846, with a capital stock of two hundred thou- 
sand dollars, in two thousand shares of one hun- 
dred dollars each. The object of the company 
was to lay out a city on Raritan Bay, build 
docks, dwellings and roads, and establish a line 
of trade and travel from New York to Florence, 
on the Delaware River. There were fourteen 
stockholders, and Isaac S. Lloyd, of Florence, 
was chosen president. In 1852 the hotel (frame, 
four stories high) known as the Monmoutli 
House wa.s erected, a dock two thousand two 
hundred feet in lengtli was built, a basin was 
formed for vessels, ten dwelling-houses were 
built, and also a large steam sawmill. 

In that year also a Plank-Road Company 
was incorporated to build a road from Florence 
to Union C'ity, and a two-mile ser^tion of the 
road was built. The ''Armenia" steamer was 
chartered to run to the place from New York. 
The hotel was run by the company a year or 
two and then sold to William Quinlan, who, 
after a few years, leased it (in 1872) for ten 
years to John Mount, who kept it until 1882, 
since which time it has been vacant. No busi- 
ness is now done at Union City, and nothing 
remains of it but the name, the vacant hotel and 
a few dwellinsrs. 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 

Keyport, the principal town or village of 
Raritan township, is situated on Raritan Bay, 
between the mouth of Matawan Creek on the 
west and that of Chingarora Creek on the east. 
The site of Keyport was part of the large tract 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



703 



owned by Joliu Bowiie, one of the ]\It)nmouth 
patentees. On the "ilst of July, 1774, he sold 
to Thomas Kearney, of Ne^\' York, merchant, 
two-thirds of one hundred and forty acres, and 
to ^Michael Kearney, also a merchant, of Ne\'\- 
York, the remaining one-third of the same tract, 
for sixteen hundred pounds. The land is de- 
scribed as lying at Chingarora, commencing at 
the mouth of " Lupakitongue " Creek, running 
south by west up the creek ; from there north- 
Avesterly to the bay and along the coast to the 
place of beginning. This tract is now known 
as Brown's Point. The name is doubtless a 
corruption of Boirne, as no one now living 
recollects (nor is there any tradition) that any 
person named Brown was ever an owner or a 
settler there. 

On the 1.3th of Januarj-, 1715, Ihomas 
Kearney purchased of John Bowne a half- 
interest in forty acres of meadow-land on Lu- 
paketongue Bay, and November 14th, the same 
year, he purchased a one-tliird interest in the 
one hundred and forty acres of Michael Kearney. 
Ou August 21, 1717, he purchased of Abraham 
Watson one hundred and twelve acres for one 
hundred and twenty pounds, bounded east, north 
and west by land formerly of John Bowne. 
vShortly afterwards he moved from New York 
to this place, as is jiroved by descriptions found 
in later deeds. 

On the lytli of November, 1717, Thomas 
Kearney purchased of Elisha Lawrence several 
tracts of land for three hundred and twenty 
pounds, — one of two hundred and eighty acres 
adjoining Richard Hartshorue, at Wakake, six 
acres adjoining Steven Arnold and son to the 
beach (this last tract was purchased by Lawrence 
November 26, 1698, of John Crawford), a tract 
of forty acres on the west side of the brook that 
leads to Wakake Creek, a tract of eight acres 
and another of ten acres on the east side of 
M'akake Creek, and fifteen acres of sedge and 
meadow, also on the east side of the creek. On 
the 18th of November, 1717, he (Kearney) pur- 
chased of Richard Salter an undivided half of 
an undivided twenty-fourth part of the property, 
then belonging to the proprietors. This interest 
came to Richard Salter by will from John 
Bowne. On the 8th of February, 1717, Kearney 



purchased of Lawrence Smith forty acres of 
land in the vicinity. 

These lands aggregated six hundred and 
forty-five acres, which Kearney had purchased 
within three years. Ou this property he erected 
a house, which for generations has been known 
as the Kearney homestead. In a road record 
of 1768 mention is made of a road that led "to 
Major Kearney's," upon a hill called " Wolf- 
Pit Hill." This hill was doubtless the eleva- 
tion on which the Kearney house now stands, 
on land of Thomas Kearney's first purchase. 
The " Major Kearney " liere referred to was the 
Major Philip Kearney of whom frequent 
mention is made in the annals of the Revolu- 
tion. 

The lands mentioned above do not embrace 
the part of Keyport lying east of the Lupat- 
cong Creek. The Kearney estate was added to 
by later generations, and embraced at one time 
over nine hundred acres. The Kearney plan- 
taticm was named Keygrove Farm and was so 
known for many years. The point, prior to 
the Revolution and down to 1829 was known 
as "Fishing Point." It was celebrated as the 
home of the Chingarora oystei-s, which were 
free to all. Nearly every farmer for miles 
around owned clam-rakes and oyster-tongs, 
and obtained a part of his living from the bay. 

James Kearney, a descendant of Thomas, and 
owner of the estate, died in Richmond County, 
N. Y., January 17, 1811, aged sixty-one 
years. He was buried on this estate, in the 
family vault. Edmund Kearney then came into 
possession, and moved to the place in the April 
following, and at his death, December 25, 1822, 
was in posession of this property, then em- 
bracing seven hundred and eighty-one acres. 
It was described as being " divided into niany 
fields and pastures, all included by an exterior 
boundary fence, and by the creeks or rivulets 
forming with the shore on Raritan or Prince's 
Bay the exterior boundary tliereof.'' A part 
of the estate was fine, arable land, but the 
greater part was covered with a lieavy growth 
of valuable timber. 

This large tract of land, by reason of ife tim- 
ber and its coast advantages attracted the atten- 
tion of business men as an excellent place to 



704 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



establish a town. James P. Kearney ' oue of 
tlie heirs-at-law, came of age the next day after 
his father's death, and on the iJth of December, 
1823, he mortgaged his interest to William 
Forman for money loaned. This not being paid 
in 1829, and Kearney being then in necessitous 
circumstances, conveyed (April 15, 1820) all 
his right, title and interest in the property to 
Daniel Holmes and John W. Holmes, whn 
made application to 'the Orphans' Court for a 
division of the estate. It is stated that the 
purchase by the Holmeses was for the purpose of 
bringing about a sale, that a port town might 
be established. In accordance with their appli- 
cation, the Orphans' Court, at the A])ril term of 
1829, appointed James Hojaping, Edward Tay- 
lor and Leonard Walling commissioners to 
divide the estate. These commissioners reported, 
July 10, 1829, that they had caused a map of 
the estate to be made, and after viewing it, were 
of the opinion that a division could not be 
made without great prejudice to the owners. 
Upon this report the court ordered the com- 
missioners to make sale of the property at pub- 
lic auction. The sale was made on the od and 
4th of November, 1829, to the following- 
named purchasers : 

Lot No. 1, 224.82 acres, Isaac K. Lippincott. 
Lot No. 2, 56.42 acres, Thomas Carhart. 
Lot No. 3, 32.85 acres, Amos Walling. 
Lot No. 4, 18.43 acres, Jonathan Tilton. 
Lot No. 5, 59.52 acres, Ezra Osborn, Esq. 
Lot No. 6, 56.24 acres, Ezra Osborn, Esq. 
Lot No. 7, 48.46 acres, Isaac K. Lippincott. 
Lot No. 8, 24.11 acres, Richard C. Burrowes. 
Lot No. 9, 7.34 acres, Isaac K. Lippincott. 
Lot No. 10, 16.51 acres, Ezra Oslwrn. 
Lot No. 11, 59.13 acres, James Sproul. 
Lot No. 12, 26.02 acres, Thomas J. Walling. 
Lot No. 13, 49.42 acres, Amos Walling. 
Lot No. 14, 40.35 acres, Joseph Oarhart. 
Lot No. 15, 61.34 acres, Horatio Kearney. 

The sales amounted to nineteen thousand 
nine huudred and forty-one dollars and nine- 
teen cents, deeds to be given April 1, 1830, 
when one-half of the purchase money was to 
be paid, and remainder on April 1, 1831. 

At the time of this sale it was suspected that 

' Edward Kearney left eight children, — Thomas, Anne, 
Catharine, Anastasia, Horatio, James P., John and Jlary. 



parties from ]\Iiddletown Point, fearful that 
Fishing Point Lot, No. 8, might be purchased 
for the purpose of building a dock, had come 
there with the intention of buying it, that 
it might remain unimproved, and thus 
leave Middletown Point without a commercial 
rival on Earitan Bay. LTpon this, Im'o or three 
men, with a view, of the practicability of a dock 
at the place, decided to buy Lot No. 8, which 
was done on the second day of the .sale. Others 
then joined with them and purchased other con- 
tiguous lots. No thought of a dock company was 
had before the sale, but circumstances rapidly 
developed such a project, and brought about 
the formation of a Dock and Improvement 
Compau}^, of which the following-named were 
the original members . Leonard Walling, Joseph 
Taylor, John I. Taylor, Davis S. Bray, John 
Hopping, James Hopping and Isaac K. Lip- 
pincott. The object of this company was to se- 
cure Lots 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, which was done, 
and others were also obtained afterwards. On 
the 9tli of April, 1830, the place was surveyed 
and laid out into twenty-four lots by Leonard 
Walling, " near the fishing-point on the easterly 
side of Brown's Point Cove." 

In February, 1830, a road or highway was 
laid out from the Middletown village and Mount 
Pleasant road to this new settlement and in the 
proposed village plat made in April following, 
it is laid down as pa.ssing between Lots No. 
8 and 21. I^ot No. 8 was known as the 
" Fishing Point Lot." 

The lands secured Ijy the company amounted 
to more than two hundred acres. In 1830 a 
dock was constructed on the site of the pres- 
ent Keyport Dock. A large store-house was 
erected in the same year. The dock and the 
store-house were in charge of Leonard Wal- 
ling, who also built a residence here in 1830. 
In the spring of 1831 the place first received 
the name of Keyport. In 1832 a tavern-house 
was built and opened to the public. In the 
same year the sloop " New Jersey," of fifty 
tons, was built, eight miles below, on Comp- 
ton's Creek, and was put on to run from 
the dock to New York, under command of 
James Hopping. The ne.\t vessel was put on 
in 1830, and was .soon followed bv others 



THE TOWN OF KEITORT. 



705 



which ran from Keyport to Xew York, cany- 
ing market supplies and produce, which had 
then begun to come in large quantities from 
the interior to Keyport for shipment. From 
this time the shipping business of the port at 
Middletown Point began to decline, and finally 
ceased altogether. 

The old Kearney homestead was purchased 
by Isaac K. Lippincott, who owned it for 
nian\' years. It is now occupied by Mrs. 
Barnes. In 1833, Isaac K. Lippincott erected 
tha first store of Keyport, and the same year 
Nimrod Bedle and Lewis Morris built dwell- 
ing-houses. On the 21st of May, 1832, the 
company divided sixteen of the twenty-four 
lots among the individual members. At that 
time the company consisted of James and John 
Hopping, Ezra Osborn, John I. Taylor, David 
L. Bray, Leonard '\\'alling, Joseph Taylor and 
Isaac K. Lippincott. 

In Xovember, 1829, Septimus Stevens was 
landlord of a tavern at Brown's Point, which ; 
was about one-(juarter of a mile from tiie new 
proposed village, and the Keai-ney sale was 
held at his house. The new tavern was erected 
on Lot No. 5. 

Gordon's "Gazetteer" of 1834 says of 
Brown's Point (Keyport), — "There are here a 
good landing, two taverns, three stores and 
twelve or fifteen dwellings." A statement in 
the Monmouth Democrat of 1837 says Key- 
port then had less than twenty houses and 
about one hundred population. In 1846 Key- 
port contained seventy dwellings, two stores, 
one good public-house, two docks or wharves 
and ten or twelve mechanic shops, besides other 
buildings. The property retained l>y the com- 
pany at the division, in 1832, was sold, February 
25, 1839, to Oliver Vanderbilt for seven thou- 
sand dollars, embracing fifteen acres, with all 
the buildings and improvements. 

The site of Lockport was purchased at the 
sale of November 3 and 4, 1829, by James 
Sproul. It was nick-named Lockport in the 
early days, and was separated from the other 
land byNecius Pond, which is now entirely filled 
up and built over. Bedle's mill is on the pond. 
In 1844 there were one hundred houses upon 
it. 

45 



The dock was built by the Keyport Company 
in 1 830, as before mentioned. They also built two 
sloops,— the "New Jersey" and the "Middle- 
town," — which were run from Keyport to New 
York. As business increased others were added. 
On February 29, 1839, the company sold 
their docks and business to Oliver Vanderbilt, 
of Castleton, Richmond County, N. Y., for 
seven thousand dollars. A line of staaes was 
established in 1836 to run from Keyport to 
Long Branch, and on :May 2, 1839, the low- 
pressure steamboat "Wave," commanded by 
Captain Joseph Stoney, commenced making 
regular trips to New York, and in the next year 
a line of stages, to connect with the " Wave," 
was established to run from Keyport to Free- 
hold; the stage-office was at the hotel of William 
Jacques (the Pavilion). 

The property passed to other hands, and on 
February 19, 1851, the Keyport Dock Com- 
pany was incorporated. The docks were rebuilt, 
and the steamer "Minnie Cornell" was built to 
run t<;> New York for both passengers and 
freight. It is still in use. A large amount of 
market produce is shipped daily from this dock. 

The Farmers' Transportation Company was 
chartered November 20, 1865. The corpora- 
tors were mostly farmers of Holmdel town- 
ship, who had large quantities of produce to 
ship. Joseph Rose was chosen president, and 
Rufus Ogden secretary. The present dock was 
built and the steamer " Holmdel " placed on 
the line. The dock and business was sold, in 
1878, to G. W. Walling, superintendent of 
police of ^ew York, who now owns it. 

The Chingarora Dock Company was organ- 
ized in 1846, and built the dock called Chinera- 
rora Dock. The company was incorporated 
February 2, 1851. The "Golden Rule" and 
other sloops were built and put on the line. 
About 1875 the property passed to Captain 
George AV. Johnson, and in 1881 to T. S. R. 
Brown, who now 'owns it. 

One of the first enterprises of the old Keyport 
Company was the building of the hotel in 1832, 
as before noticed. Its location was on Front 
Street, nearly opposite the present post-office, on 
the site of John Sproul's bakery. It was kept by 



706 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Primrose Hopping uutil about 1834. He was 
succeeded by Tobias S. Hendrickson. The 
hotel was named the Atlantic. On September 1, 
1842, Tunis J. Ten Eyck, who had kept a public- 
liouse at Middletown Point, became landlord of 
the hotel. He was succeeded by John L. Doty, 
who was succeeded, in 1846, by Joseph J. Reeves, 
who kept it for a few years. After he retired 
it was kept by several, until its destruction by 
the fire of September 21, 1877. Jesse C'oldrick, 
of Tom's River, had leased the property and 
was moving in at the time of the fire. It was 
not again rebuilt. 

In 1840, William Jacques built the Pavilion 
Hotel, and kept it until his death, July 4, 1849, 
while engaged in firing a salute. The property 
passed to Elisha Thomson, by whom it was 
operated until destroyed by the fire of 1851. 
INIr. Thomson died the week after the fire and 
the property was purchased Ijy D. L. F. Schenck 
and rebuilt. It is now kept by Jacob Sickles. 

The Mansion House was built by George 
Davison, of Burlington, N. J., who rented it. 
It was destroyed by fire in 1877 and rebuilt. 
It is now carried on ])y Van jMater. 

The first grist-mill at Keyport was built in 
1856 by Andrew McDowell. It is now owned 
by Stephen G. Lambertson. In 1867, James 
M. Burrowes and James Bedle erected the mill, 
now owned by James Bedle, on the site of 
Necius Pond. 

On the site of the armory building, several 
years before that was erected, Uriah H. Dudley 
erected a canning-factory, which was used for a 
time, then burned, rebuilt and again destroyed 
by fire in February, 1877. Later, the citizens 
donated to Austin Nichols & Co., of New York, 
a lot of land on which to erect a cauninu-fac- 

o 

tory, which was built and continued until its 
destruction by fire, in 1880. The lot now be- 
longs to the village. 

The Keyport post-office was established at 
Keyport :\Iarch 12, 1833, with Leonard Walling 
postmaster. Captain Joseph D. Hoff had at that 
time opened a store on Front Street, nearly op- 
posite the present post-office, and the office was 
then kept in this store, with Captain Hoff as 
assistant postmaster. In 1835, Captain Hoff 
sold the business to Henry Seabrook, who was 



appointed postmaster and served until 1856, 
when Dr. J. E. Arrowsmith was appointed and 
served until 1861, when Rufus Ogden, the 
present postmaster, M'as appointed. 

The great pier of the Freehold and New 
York Railway at Keyport, which was built by 
that corporation in 1880, is a really magnificent 
structure, though at the present time very little 
business is done on it. It was built at the 
Keyport terminus of the railway, and extends 
out into Raritan Bay for a distance of nearly 
two thousand feet. No expense was spared to 
make the pier substantial, and to fully adapt it 
to the uses which it was intended to subserve. As 
it is a fine specimen of engineeringskill, peculiarly 
unique in its construction (there being no other 
pier similar to it in this or any other country), 
a minute description of the structure is here 
given. 

Crossing First Street, on the east side of the 
town of Keyport, at a point about midway be- 
tween Myrtle Avenue and Cedar Street, the 
railway runs, parallel with the two last-men- 
tioned streets, down to the shore of Raritan 
Bay. The company purchased of the State the 
riparian right to the bay-shore between Myrtle 
Avenue and Cedar Street. Bulkheads were 
erected along the shore extending one hundred 
and fifty feet outward into the bay, giving what 
is called the "bulkhead privileges," and fur- 
nishing excellent advantages for loading and 
unloading small craft, such as sloops, schooners, 
canal-boats, etc. The depth of water at the 
outer edge of the bulkheads at mean high water 
is about eight feet, and at high water steamboats 
can have no difficulty in making a landing 
there. The pier ])roper begins about sevent)'- 
five feet back of high-water line and extending 
out into the bay eighteen hundred and twenty- 
five feet, then deflects to the right, making a 
total length of nineteen hundred and twenty- 
five feet. For a distance of thirteen hundred 
feet from the shore end the structure is eighteen 
feet in width, fourteen feet being occupied by 
the railway, and four feet by a foot-walk, 
which runs along the east side of the pier, pro- 
tected by a guard-rail, three feet high, extend- 
ing along the easterly edge as a protection ( 



I 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



707 



against falling overboard into the water below. 
As has lieeu already stated, the pier tor thirteen 
hundred feet from the shore end is wide enough 
only to admit of a single track and a footway. 
Beyond that it gradually broadeus for a distance 
of two hundred and sLxty feet, and becomes 
forty-eight feet in width. The object of secur- 
ing this additional width is to provide space for 
the laying of two side-tracks. The one on the 
west, or left side, leaves the main track first and 
furnishes some two hundred feet or more of 
parallel track before reaching the wharf proper, 
this to be nsed as a siding for unloading freight 
by gravity from the cars into scows, barges and 
other small craft. The east side-track leaves 
the maiu track at a point further forward, and 
becomes parallel therewith when it reaches the 
wharf proper. The construction of the pier 
for the two hundred and sixty feet referred to 
is of the same general character, in respect to 
bents, stringers, footway, etc., as that of the 
thii'teen hundred feet already described. 

The wharf proper begins fifteen hundred and 
sixty feet from the commencement of the pier, 
and is constructed as follows : The structure at 
this point broadens to a width of sixty-five 
feet, extending twenty-seven and one-half feet 
to the west of the main track and thirty-seven 
and one-half feet to the right of the same. It 
thus admits of three platforms, — the first twemy- 
two and one-half feet in width, situated on the 
westerly side, and to be used for freighting pur- 
poses ; the second being a passenger platform 
ten and one-half feet in width, between the 
main track and the easterly siding; the third 
being a freight platform thirteen and one-half 
feet wide, and located just to the right of the 
easterly side-track. The bents of this portion 
of the pier reai'h the great length of sixty-five 
feet. 

The forward end of the pier extends in a 
northeasterly direction, at an angle of thirty 
degrees with the main structure, so as to con- 
form to the direction of the channel of the bay, 
as well as to the course which the boat is to take 
in approaching or leaving the dock. This end 
of the pier is provided with two chutes for pas- 
senger jjurposes, the intention having been to 
make this part of the pier tlie main landing for 



passengers. On each corner of the wharf 
propel- are immense mooring or belaying piles, 
while at convenient intervals along the string 
piece are iron belay ing-cleats. The outer end 
of the pier is projected to the northeast some 
eighty feet, forming a wing thirty-three feet 
wide by eighty feet long. The northwest face 
of the pier is one hundred and thirty-four feet 
in length. The extreme end of the wing, 
which is more exposed to the action of the 
waves and storms than any other portion of the 
structure, is protected by extra piling. 

ifention has ah-eady been made of the fact 
that the piling averages fourteen by sixteen 
inches in diameter. In length the piles vaiy 
according to the depth of the mud into which 
they are driven. Beginning at the shore with 
twenty-five feet lengths, they gradually increase 
as they extend outward to seventy, eighty and 
even eighty-five feet. They were all driven 
down to a firm foundation, chiefly of clay, by 
means of one of Ross & Sanford's steam pile- 
drivers, with a hammer weighing three thousand 
three hundred pounds. As the ordinary ham- 
mer used for such purjjoses is from sixteen 
hundred to two thousand pounds weight, one 
can faintly imagine what gigantic force was 
brought to bear upon these piles in order to 
secure that remarkable stability which charac- 
terizes the whole structure. The work of con- 
structing this immense pier was commenced on 
the 20th of May, 1880, and was finished in the 
following August. 

The building of vessels was one of the fii-st 
industries in Keyport. In 18-31,. John Cottrell 
established a yard on Brown's Point and con- 
tinued for twenty years. It is still carried on 
by his son, Francis Cottrell. In 1832, Roose- 
velt & Hoff established a yard on the lot now 
occupied by Warn's drug-store, where they 
built for three years. B. C. Terry carried on 
the business first at Brown's Point and after- 
wards at Lockport, where the business is still 
conducted by Mrs. Terry. In April, 1854, he 
had on the stocks three first-class ferry-boats 
and two steamboats. From 1866 to 1869 no 
work was done, but in 1870 business was re- 
sumed. 



708 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The first physician who settled in Keyport 
was Dr. John Griggs, who came about 1833 and 
remained until 1848. Dr. J. E. Arrowsmith, 
still a resident of the village, became a resident 
in 1845. Dr. Wilmer Hodgson settled in 1870 j 
Dr. George T. Welsh in 1874. 

The Fiest National Bank of Keypoet, 

now only about one year old, is the result of ef- 
forts which have been made, at different times 
for nearly half a century, to secure the estab- 
lishment of a banking institution at Keyport. 
The first of these efforts was made in Decem- 
ber, 1836, when notice was given that applica- 
tion would be made to the Legislature of New 
Jersey for a bank with $50,000 capital, to be 
called the People's Bank, and located at Key- 
port. This effort failed, and another was made 
in 1854 ; again in 1858 ; and again in 1859 
and 1862; but all efforts to establish a bank at 
this place failed until April 23, 1884, when the 
First National Bank of Keyport was chartered. 
A lot was procured on Front Street and a ln-ick 
banking-house, twenty-tiiree by forty-five feet, 
was erected. Business was begun on Septem- 
ber 1, 1884. The following are the officers of 
the bank: Directors, Michael Taylor (presi- 
dent), George W. Walling, Ezra A. Osborn, T. 
S. R. Brown, Thomas Aumack, John W. Keuugh, 
Chrineyonce S. Holmes, John W. Hoff", Alfred 
Walling, Jr. ; Cashier, Garrett S. Jones ; Assist- 
ant Cashier, A. W. Brown. 

Michael Taylor. — John Taylor, who was 
of English extraction, and a Frieud by birth- 
right, resided in Chesterfield township, Bur- 
Ungton County, where, during the War of the 
Revolution, he followed his trade of a weaver 
and was also a prosperous farmer. To his 
wife, a Miss De Cou, were born children, — 
Marmaduke, Thomas, Jedediah, Isaiah, Phoebe 
(Mrs. Dowell), Sarah (^Irs. Applegate), Maria 
(Mrs. Woolmau) and Caroline (Mrs. Ross). 
Isaiah Taylor was born in Chesterfield township 
in 1789, and during his lifetime continued the 
occupations of a farmer, having married Sarah, 
daughter of John Hall, of the same township, 
whose children were Albert, deceased ; John, 
deceased; Edna (Mrs. Robert Gillam), de- 
ceased ; Susan, who married, first, Jonathan 



Williams, and, second, John Snyder ; ]Maria, 
deceased ; Michael ; Charles, of Burlington 
County ; and Joseph, of Boi'dentown. Michael 
Taylor was bcjrn at Recklesstown, Chesterfield 
township, Burlington County, on the 15th of 
May, 1820, in the dwelling which was also the 
place of his mother's birth. Having spent 
tlie first twelve years of his youth with his 
parents, he became a member of the family of 
Margaret Allison, of Burlington, N. J., a 
Quaker preacher, who married Benjamin Parker, 
of Shrewsbury, to which township she later 
removed. Here he remained until the age of 
sixteen, when, desiring to be independent by 
the mastery of a trade, he chose that of a black- 
smith, and having completed his apprenticeship, 
removed to Red Bank for one year in the capa- 
city of a journeyman. He then established a 
business and continued it until 1848, when, 
changing his vocation to that of an agricultu- 
i-ist, he purchased a farm of one hundred and 
twenty acres on Rumson Neck, in the same 
county. Selling this property ten years later, 
at an advance, he made a second purchase at 
Cream Ridge, in Upper Freehold township, and 
remained eleven years at this point, when an 
advantageous offer induced him to part with 
the land, and Middlctown became his home. 
This farm was three years alter sold to D. D. 
Withers, Esq., at an advance, and after a brief 
interval spent at Red Bank, Mr. Taylor, with 
his family, removed to his present location, 
familiarly known as the John H. Holmes farm,, 
and among the most valuable in the county. 
Michael Taylor was, on the 4th of October, 
1842, married to Sarah, daughter of Captain 
Hendrick H. Bennett and his wife, Elizabeth 
Heyer. Their children are Elizabeth B., widow 
of Henry D. Probasco ; Evelina ; Charles A., 
married to ]Mary K. Thompson ; Henry B. 
deceased, married to Emma Van Yalken- 
burgh, of New York ; Sarah E. ; Emma H., 
wife of William H. Reid ; Maria L., wife of 
Henry E. Armstrong ; George INIcC, married 
to Julia Whiting; Julia, wife of John W. 
Hance ; Charlotte H. ; Frank ; and Clarence, 
deceased. 

Mr. Taylor has always been in his political 
predilections an active and pronounced Demo- 







<:>. 




THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



709 



crat, and an influential representative of his party 
in the county. He was chosen representative to 
the State Legislature from 18(J2 to 1865, and 
during the latter year was, on the occasion of a 
tie vote, nominated for Speaker by his party. He 
has also served as freeholder and in various other 
township offices. He is a member, and was in- 
strumental, with others, in founding the Mon- 
mouth County Agricultural Society, of which 
he was for two years president. He is president 



invaluable as administrator and counselor, and 
all important issues affecting the township or 
county have received both encouragement and 
substantial aid from him. His religious svm- 
pathies are with the Reformed (Dutch) Church 
of Holmdel, of which several of the family are 
members, and to which he is a liberal con- 
tributor. 



Geokge W. Walling is the grandson of 




^W^-^ ^j^/^^i.:..^ 



of tlie First National Bank of Keyport, and 
was formerly director of the Princeton Fire 
Insurance Company. He is a director of the 
Monmouth Park Railroad, and, together with 
Nathaniel S. Rue, Samuel Stockton and ex- 
( Governor Fort, was one of the projectors of the 
I'embertou and Hightstown Railroad, for 
"which he secured the charter while a legislator. 
Mr. Taylor's known business capacity and ac- 
knowledged integrity have made his services 



Daniel D. Walling, a Revolutionary soldier, 
and his wife, Helena Hoif. His father was 
Leonard Walling, who married Catharine 
Aumack, of Middletown (now Raritan) township. 
Their son, George W. Walling, was born near 
Keyport, Monmouth County, on the 1st of 
May, 1823, and in 1832 removed with his 
father to Keyport, where he received such in- 
struction as the schools of the place afforded. 
He then entered the latter's store, and later 



710 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



embarked upou a schooner sailing for Virginia. 
He also, at a subsequent date, spent occasional 
winters in North Carolina, superintending his 
father's interest in that State. On the death of 
tlie latter he resumed the life of a mariner, both 
on the Hudson River and on Long Island 
Sound. During the year 1845 he was engaged 
in the revenue service on the steamer " Spencer." 
The removal of Mr. "Walling to New York, in 
September, 1847, greatly intiuenced his later 
career, and eventually brought him into prom- 
inent notice in connection with the municipal 
police. He was, December 22d of that year, 
appointed to the position of patrolman on the 
New York police force. He was reappointed for 
four years, and during this time was detailed as 
stage inspector. On the 30th of September, 
1853, he was promoted to the position of captain 
of the Eiffhteenth "NA'ard, and continued thus to 
act until 1866, having meanwhile been detailed 
to harbor service at Seguines Point. He was, 
November 21, 1866, made inspector, having 
meanwhile had charge of the detective office and 
made many important arrests, notably those in 
connection with the crime of counterfeiting. On 
the 23d of July, 1874, Inspector Walling was 
made superintendent, which office he continues 
to fill with satisfaction to the people. In his 
long career the superintendent has had many 
hair-breadth escapes, participating, as he did, in 
nearlv every riot that raised its bloody and 
destructive hand in the city of New York since 
1847. 

In person, Superintendent Walling is tall and 
muscular, but without any superabundance of 
flesh. He has a decided military Ijearing, a 
firm but kindly face, a keen, bright eye that 
sparkles when interested in conversation or 
when listening to the details of some fresh 
crime, and laying his plans for the capture of 
the criminal. 

Superintendent AValling was, on the 30th 
of January, 1854, married to Sarah Rosina, 
daughter of William Bennet, of Long Island. 
Their children are Ada (deceased), wife of 
Henry Cuppia; George (deceased) ; Edward S., 
a policeman ; Leonard B. : Frank ; Theresa (de- 
ceased) ; William; Herbert (deceased) ; and Percy. 
The superintendent is a Republican in politics, 



but takes no active part in the political move- 
ments of the times. He is identified with the 
business interests of his former home as a direc- 
tor of the First National Bank of Keyport. 
His religious sympathies are with tiie Baptist 
Church. 

The first successful newspaper of Keyport 
was the Keyport Press, which was established 
in 1863. In the previous year B. F. Under- 
wood, F. D. AA^oodrufl" and Jacob R. Smith 
started a job printing office on Front Street, 
Keyport, uuder the firm-name of Underwood 
&Co. September 24, 1863, they founded the 
Keyport Press, a three-column, semi-monthly 
paper, which, after running aliout six months, 
ceased to be issued, the enterprise proving a 
failure. Mr. Underwood withdrew from the 
business, whicli was continued by Smith & 
Wooclruti^ until 1866, when they sold out to 
G. W. & C. S. Henderson, who founded the 
WeeMy Star on March 7, 1866. Its publi- 
cation was continued but a short time, and the 
office came back to Smith & Woodruif' s hands. 
^Ir. Woodruff bought Mr. Smith out in March, 
1867, and in January, 1871, sold out to Dr. 
Wilmer Hodgson, who immediately started the 
Keyport Weekly. December 9, 1871, he sold 
out to E. McKinney & Brother. January 
1, 1877, W. F. Le Roy bought the office. The 
office was sold to Charles E. Close & Co., April 9, 
1881, but on account of the dissatisfaction of the 
advertisers and subscribers, Mr. Le Roy resumed 
control the next week, but sold out to Gil- 
more & Clay, October 22, 1881. They sold the 
office to Mr. Le Roy, June 22, 1882, when the 
paper was run by his sons, M. D. & H. D. Le 
Roy, until December 1,1882, when it was pur- 
chased by the present pi-oprietor, E. D. Petteys. 

The Keyport Enterprise was first issued by 
Armstrong Brothers, September 18, 1879, — a 
five-column, four-page newspaper, indejjendent 
in politics. It was soon changed to seven col- 
umns. The office and material Mere purchased, \ 
February 14, 1884, by Frederick F. Arm- I 
strong, the present proprietor. The office is 
at the foot of Broad Street. 

The Keyport Express was started, June s, 
1860, by J. H. Sibily & Co. The Weekly Star 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



711 



was first issued in Keyport, April 2o, 1866, by 
G. W. & C. S. Henderson. Neither of these 
papers were successful, and both were discon- 
tinued after a brief existence. 

The CAI.^'ARY Methodist Episcopal 
Church at Keyport dates back in its organ- 
ization about fifty years. Soon after the com- 
mencement of the Keyport Company's opera- 
tions at this place, in lS.31-32, Nimrod Bedle 
settled here. He was an earnest Methodist, 
and induced Father Stuart to visit him, and 
hold services at his house, on which occasion 
he {>reached the first sermon ever heard in 
Keyport. From this time he visited the place 
once in two weeks. In 1835 a Sunday-school 
was organized M'ith twenty pupils, and in the 
same year a class A\as also organized, and John 
Sproul, Richard D. Walling, Cornelius Carhart, 
William and Nimrod Bedle were elected trus- 
tees of tiie church. It was soon after decided 
to build a church, the society having pre\'iously 
held worship, alternate Sundays, with the Bap- 
tists in the school-house. 

The Keyport Company had offered a lot to 
any society which would erect thereon a church 
edifice; and under that offer, this society re- 
ceived the lot next to the school-house on 
Church Street. A contract was made with 
AVilliam .Tacques to erect a house, thirty-five 
by forty-five feet in size. The Revs. Long and 
Dunn were then in charge of the district. In 
March, 1841, the Rev. John Spear was ap- 
pointed to the charge. The church building 
was completed in the summer of that year, and 
was dedicated by Bishop Janes. This building 
was used until 1856, when the present church 
was erected on the corner of Osborn and Cross 
Streets. It is forty-five by seventy-five feet in 
size, with lecture-room forty-five by thirty-six 
feet. The basement was inclosed and used in 
the winter of 1856-57, and finished in the fol- 
lowing summer. The audience-room was fin- 
ished later, and was dedicated February 17, 
1859. The old church was sold to the school 
district, and used for school purposes. 

In 1842 the church was under charge of 

Vandewater; in 1843, White and Rogers; 

1844, John Mathews. The charge then em- 



braced Harmony, Chapel Hill, High Point, 
Chanceville, Bethany and Keyport. In 1846- 
47 the Rev. ^Ir. Burrowes resided at Keyport, 
in the parsonage built during the first year of 
his term. The following-named pastors have 
served the church from that time: 1848-49, 
Socrates Townseud; 18.50-51, J. S. Beegle ; 
1852-53, Samuel Jacquett ; 1854-55, John 
Scarlett; 1856-57, Robert S. Harris; 1858- 
59, Joseph Chattle; 1860-61, F. A. Morrell; 
1862-63, W. AV. Christine; 1864, H. B. Bee- 
gle; 1865-67, J. G. Phelps; 1868, R. V. 
Lawrence; 1869, Edward Hewitt; 1871-73, 
R. J. Andrews; 187.3-75, B. C. Lippincott; 
1876-77, G. L. Dobbins; 1878, S. F. Wheeler; 
1879-80, Philip Cline; 1881-83, G. C. Stan- 
ger; 1884, George C. Maddock. The church 
has now a membership of about two hundred. 

The first Sunday-school of this church was 
held in an upper room of the house of John 
Snyder, that stood on the corner opposite 
Warn's drug-store, and now owned liy Peter 
Stout. Twenty scholars were there gathered, 
who were taught by Miss Susan Bedle, Miss 
Louisa Bedle, Miss Mary Bedle, Stephen Sto- 
ney, Asher Collins, and John Snyder and his 
wife. William Van Dine was elected superin- 
tendent. As the numbers increased, the lower 
part of the house was used. Afterwards the 
school was held in the old red school-house, 
until the church adjoining was built, in 1841. 
In April, 1857, the school was moved into the 
present church. About this time branch schools 
were established at Oak Shades and Union, 
which Avere kept up with indifferent success. 
In 1869 a school was established, with one 
hundred members, at Mechanicsville, and was 
held in the blacksmith-shop of Thomas Car- 
hart. This school continued, and is now the 
school of St. John's Methodist Episcopal 
Church. The superintendents have been AVil- 
liam A'an Dine, 1835-42 ; Robert B. Warden, 
1854-57 ; Rufus Ogden, 1857-76 ; Richard 
AVharton, 1876-84. JNIiss Alary C. AValling 
has acted as female superintendent since 1853. 

The First Baptlst Church of Keyport 
came into existence in 1840. For some time 
before its organization the Revs. Stout, of 
Middletown, Hu-es, of Holmdel, and Carpenter, 



712 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of Jacksonville, preached occasionally ; Mr. 
Carpenter finally having a regular appointment, 
.semi-monthly, preaching in a small school-house. 
There were at that time, however, but (qw Bap- 
tists in the jjlace, yet these had prayer-meetings, 
which were known as Baptist prayer-meetings. 
It is but due him to say that these meetings 
were commenced and kept going mainly by 
Samuel Sproul, who had been recently liaptized, 
and was licensed to preach by the Middletown 
Church soon after his baptism, and who also 
jjreached, from time to time, to the little com- 
pany at Keyport. 

That which seems to have led to the formation 
of a church was the coming to the place 
of Rev. Frederick Ketchura, of Burlington, 
who held, upon invitation in connection 
with the Bajjtists wiio resided here, a series of 
meetings, holding them in the afternoon in a 
grove, and in the evening in a school-house, re- 
sulting in the conversion of a number of per- 
sons. It was now agreed to ask the motlier- 
church to establish a branch at Keyport. This 
being refused, the brethren were brought to the 
alternative of either organizing another church 
or lose much labor and influence ; and as there 
were a number ready for baptism, and these, as 
well as those already members of Baptist 
Churches residing in the community, were aud 
would be a long distance from cluirch privileges, 
and as the town had a prospective growtli, it was 
resolved that a council be called to consider the 
jjropriety of constituting them into a Baptist 
Church. The council was called and met in a 
grove in Keyport, August 5, 1840. At that 
time seven persons presented letters of dismission 
from ]\Iiddletown First Church : viz., Samuel 
Sproul, Abigail Sproul, Lydia Tilton, James 
Sproul, Rebecca Smith, Elizabeth Sproul and 
Caroline Sproul, and two from Second Middle- 
town (now Ilohndel), viz., Stephen P. Van 
Brackle and Jane Van Brackle ; from the Bap- 
tist Church, Elmira, N. Y., two, viz., Elijah 
Ferris and Maria Ferris. The council exam- 
ineil tlie letters, approved of them, and com- 
mended the action of those who desired organi- 
zation ; and upon the same date — the record is — 
the council proceeded to constitute them into a 
regular Bajitist Church. The name by which 



they were organized was the Third Church of 
Middletown. The same day the church was re- 
organized Mr. Ketchum baptized twelve per- 
sons. In Se)jtember of the same year applica- 
tion was made to the State Convention, not for 
pecuniary assistance merely, but tiiat a mission- 
ary might be appointed to lal)or among them ; 
aud in answer to this request. Rev. Jackson 
Smith was appointed as such missionary. He 
remained upon the field but a few months, and 
went from thence to the pastorate of the church 
at Lyons Farms. He died Ajiril 18, 1850. 

In the year of their organization they united 
witii the Central New Jersey Association. In 
1843 they changed from the Central to the 
East, and in 1872 they united with the Trenton. 
In February, 1841, they again made applica- 
tion to the Convention for help, and also that 
Rev. William V. Wilson be requested to accept 
an appointment from the board as missionary. 
He did so accept, and at once entered upon his 
work. He was ordained ]SIay 12, 1841. The 
services were held in the church at Middletown, 
as the church at Keyport had, as yet, no house 
of worship. Mr. Wilson entered upon his 
work and at once set about the erection of a 
house of worship, which was accomplished 
during the first year of his pastorate. The ad- 
ditions to the church, by baptism and letter, 
were frequent, and the growth was steady and 
healthy from the very commencement of Mr. 
Wilson's ministry. 

In 1850 the name of the church was changed 
from the one taken at the time of organization 
to the First Baptist Church of Keyport. In 
October, 1853, twenty-three members were 
granted letters of dismission, to unite in the 
formation of a church at Matawau. In Aug- 
ust, 1853, Mr. Wilson resigned, and though 
almost immediately recalled, he did not accept. 
During his pastorate the church had grown 
much in numbers and the congregation had 
become too large for the house, so that meas- 
ures were taken at that time to secure more 
and better accommodations for the increased 
congregation. 

In March, 1854, a call was extended to Rev. 
Mr. Bullard, of Brooklyn, to become pastor, 
but was declined, he, however, consenting to 



THE TOWN OF KEY PORT. 



713 



supply them for some time. Inuring tliis time 
the attention ol" all seems to have been absorbed 
in discussing, " shall we build ? " or, " enlarge 
the house of worship ? " and the question M'as 
decided diiFerently at every meeting held. In 
June of the same year a call was given to Kev. 
John Q. Adams, of New York, which was 
accepted, and he at once enteied upon his labors. 
In September, l<So5, Mr. Adams resigned and 
removed to New York, having served buta little 
■over one year. The church was dependent ujion 
supplies for almost a year ; a call being again 
extended to Mr. Wilson, and declined, and one 
to Rev. D. S. Parmelee meeting with the same 
fate. In July, 18.56, Rev. F. A. Slater was 
invited to become pastor, and soon afterward 
■commenced his work as such. 

Soon after his settlement active measures 
Mere adopted looking to tlie Ijuilding of a new 
house of worship, and though much had been 
■done, there was nothing to show substantial 
progress. By much persistent and patient iab(jr 
he saw the present commodious house of wor- 
ship almost complete ere he ceased his pastorate. 
He resigned in 1.SG2 and removed toGreenport, 
L. I. In December of the same year Rev. 
A. P. Graves Ijecame pastor. He also pushed 
forward to completion the new house of wor- 
ship, and it was dedicated during his adminis- 
tration. In August of 1864 he resigned, and 
closed his laljors the following month, serving 
the church a little over two years. 

In June, 1865, Rev. F. T. Cailhopper, of 
Philadelphia, was called to the pastorate and 
soon commenced his labors. After about four 
years' labor he resigned, and subsequently be- 
came pastor at New Rochelle, N. Y. For a 
long time tlie church was without a pastor, de- 
pending upon supplies, among whom the Rev. 
R. ]\IcGonegal served them statedly for six 
months. During this time a new parsonage 
was erected. In April, 1870, Rev. J. K. Man- 
ning, then pastor of Calvary Church, Cape 
May County, N. J., was called to the pastorate. 
After some delay the call was accepted, and he 
ooramenced his labors in October following. 
His successor was the Rev. S. K. Dexter, 
who was installed December 4, 1883, and is 
still the pastor. Following is a list of the 



pastors of this chiu-ch and their terms of ser- 
vice, viz. : 

Rev. William Y. Wilson, from March, 1841, 
to August, 1853; Rev. John Q. Adams, from 
July, 1854, to November 1, 1855; Rev. F. A. 
Slater, from August 1, 1856, to September, 
1862 ; Rev. A. P.Graves, from January, 1868, 
to September, 1864 ; Rev. F. T. Cailhopper, 
from June, ]<S65, to July, 1869; Rev. J. K. 
Manning, from October, 1870, to 1883; Rev. 
S. K. Dexter, from December, 1883, to present 
time. 

The Reformed (Dutch) Church of Key- 
port was organized, with thirteen members, by 
a committee of the Classis of New Brunswick, 
on the 28th of April, 1847. On that day 
Abraham Van Woert and Daniel Sloan, Jr., 
were ordained elders, and Peter L. Snyder was 
chosen deacon. At the .same time Nathan F. 
ChapmaTi, a licentiate of the Cla.ssis, and an 
agent of the " Domestic Board," who had occu- 
pied the ground as such since December, 1846, 
was ordained to the " \^ork of the ministry" and 
formally c'ommissioned to take charge of the 
field. 

The original undertaking, however, out of 
which this small nucleus of a church was gath- 
ered was begun by Rev. A. C. Millspaugh, of 
Middletown. For several years prior he had 
been accustomed to meet, on Sabbath afternoons, 
in private houses, with a small company of those 
who were actuated by the principles of a common 
faith. But early in the year of 1845 he began 
a more thorough prosecution of the work, by 
holding religious services in a school-house in 
the place. This movement was so spontaneous 
and successful that little more than two years 
elapsed before a permanent organization was 
effected as the fruits of his endeavor. 

The first meeting of consistory was held at 
the office of Joseph D. Hoif, justice of the peace, 
on the 18th of May, 1847, when they subscribed 
to the customary oath of allegiance required by 
the laws of the State, — 

"We — Abraham Van Woert, Daniel Sloan, Jr., and 
Peter L. Snyder — do swear that we will support the 
Constitution of the United States, — so help us God. 

"We do sincerely profess and swear that we will, 
and do, bear true faith and allegiance to the govern- 



714 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ment established in this State, under the authority of 
the people, — so help us God. 

"And we do swear that we will faithfully execute 
the trust reposed in us, as trustees of the Protestant 
Reformed Dutch Church of Keyport, according to the 
best of our abilities and understanding, — so help us 

God. 

"Abraham Van Woert, 
"Daniel Sloan, Jr., 
"Peter L. Snyder. 

"Sworn and subscribed before me this 18th of May, 

1847. 

" Joseph D. Hoff, 

"Justice of the Peace." 

About this time lots were secured, souie by 
purchase, others by donation, and arrangements 
made for the erection of a house of worship. 

The site selected was at the rear of the village, 
and located on what is known as the Osborne 
estate, and is bounded, respectively, by Warren 
and Elizabeth Streets on the north and south 
and by Osborne and Division Streets on the 
east and west, presenting a clean front on all 
sides, and giving to the new organization the 
space of an entire block. This was a good, 
though not altogether wise selection. The church 
would undoubtedly have been more largely at- 
tended and more prosperous if it had been 
located in a more central part of the town, and 
where a lonely walk and dark and uuiddy roads 
would not have been so generally required as a 
sacrifice to the comer's devotion. 

But now that the ground had been secured, 
and a portion of the funds collected or subscribed 
for the erection of a church edifice, the good 
people of the new enterprise determined to push 
forward the work. 

At the next meeting of consistory, held on 
the 31st of May, 1847, a committee, consisting 
of Cornelius Ackerson, David Warner and 
Daniel Sloan, Jr., was appointed to select a 
plan and superintend the erection of a church. 
Early in 1848 the corner-stone of the edifice 
was laid and in May, 1851, the building was 
finally completed. 

The dedication wa.s next in order, and the 
'Rev. Dr. Bethune, so eloquent and so popular 
in his day, was invited to preside and preach the 
sermon. The record says, — " The church was 
dedicated to the service of the Triiuie God, 
Father, Son and Holv Ghost, on the 27th dav 



ol June, 1851, by the Rev. George W. Bethune, 
before a numerous audience, in a most solemn 
manner." 

The church has received, since her organiza- 
tion, at divers times and for diiferent periods, 
the services of five pastors, exclusive of the 
present incumbent. Rev. E. Mead. 

That of the Rev. Nathan F. Chapman ex- 
tended from April, 1847, to April, 1850; that 
of Rev. John Minor from January, 1851, to Oc- 
tober of the same year ; that of Rev. Jeremiah 
Searle from December, 1851, to November, 1853 ; 
that of Rev. Dr. Lockwood from the spring of 
1854 to April, 1869 ; that of Rev. A. A. Zabris- 
kie from December 1, 1869, to March, 1873 ; 
that of the present pastor began in October, 
1873. 

During these successive pastorates the church 
has been reinforced by constant supplies of 
fresh recruits. During the five previous pastor- 
ates no less than ninety-eight have l;)een en- 
rolled on the books of the church, — sixty-one by 
certificate and thirty-seven on profession of faith. 
And in addition to these, there have been gath- 
ered into the " fold of the good Shepherd," in 
the course of the present pastorate, one hundred 
and three new members, — twenty-six by letter and 
seventy-seven on profession of faith, — making, 
in all, a total of two hundred and one accessions, 
exclusive of the thirteen original members. 

From the beginning, up to the second 
year of the present pastorate, the church has re- 
ceived assistance from the Domestic IMissionary 
Board to the extent of from one hiuidred to 
four hundred dollars a year. But substMjuently 
she has undertaken the work solely upon her 
own resources, and results have so completely 
justified the effort that there seems little 
reason to fear she will ever again become a jien- 
sioner on the bounty of others. She now raises, 
for congregational and benevolent piu'poses, the 
annual sum of about one thousand dollars. 

The church is surrounded by a beautiful 
ffrove of cultivated and native forest-trees. A 
neat and commodious parsonage, with suitable 
out-buildings and barn, were erected some years 
ago. Prominent among the promoters of this 
enterprise appear the names of Captain Emson, 
P. P. Conover and D. L. F. Schenck. A neat 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



715 



walk, paved with brick, aud leading from the ] 
street up to the church-doors, may also remind 
" Zion's travelers " of the bounty of Captain 
Emson's purse. Two years ago the ornamental 
paper which had been laid upon the walls dur- 
ing the term of Rev. A. A. Zatiriskie was re- 
moved to make way for more permanent and 
elaborate decorations in oil and colors ; and the 
neat and pretty designs on ceiling and side walls 
may remind the " dwellers in Zion " of another 
bountiful friend of the church, the late Peter 
Hulst, who, at the same time, contributed in a 
very generous way to make extensive improve- 
ments and repairs in the fences, buildings, etc., 
of the church. 

There are at present about one hundred mem- 
bers. The consistory is composed of the follow- 
ing brethren : Deacons, H. A. Crawford, J. W. 
Schultz and B. Decker, Jr. ; elders, David P. 
Van Brackle, Peter P. Couover and G. S. 
Luyster, — all excellent men, and endowed, as 
Ave trust, with the Spirit of the Lord. 

St. Mary's Episcopal Church at Keyport 
had for its first house of worship the old Bap- 
tist Church edifice, which they purchased about 
1864, and which was burned in the great fire of 
September 21, 1877. The corner-stone of the 
present church was laid by Bishop Scarborough, 
April 26, 1878, and the edifice was first used for 
divine service July 1, 1878 

The first rector was the Eev. T. M. Riley, 

who was succeeded by Rev. Siebt. After 

him came Rev. Telfair Hodgson, who resigned 
in February, 1869, and went abroad. He was 
recalled, and in October, 1870, again became 
rector. He preached his farewell sermon Sep- 
tember 10, 1871. He was succeeded by the 
Rev. J. D. Moore, Rev. Dr. Parkman, S. H. S. 

Gallaudet, Thomson and the Rev. J. W. 

Norwood, the present rector, who assumed 
charge November 1, 1884. 

The Presbyteriax Church at Keyport 
was organized on the 10th of October, 1878. 
The first regular pastor was the Rev. James C. 
Elliot, who preached his first sermon May 8, 
1880, and was installed pastor July 29th the 
same year. He resigned May 1, 1882, and was 



immediately succeeded by the Rev. John Han- 
cock, ^^■ho has served the church to the present 
time. The corner-stone of the present church 
edifice was laid on the 16th of October, 1S79. 
The church was completed the next year, and 
was dedicated June 10, 1880. The church now 
has thirty-three members. 

St. Joseph's Rojiax Catholic Church 
Congregation was organized before 1854. 
Two acres of land were purchased between Mata- 
wan and Keyport, and a brick church thirty by 
forty feet in size was erected, to which adilitions 
were made at different times. On June 27, 
1879, the corner-stone of the present brick 
church was laid. The church was completed 
in the summer and fall of 1880, and dedicated 
November 1st in that year. The cost of the 
structure was $22,000. The old brick church 
now stands in the rear of the new one, and con- 
nected with it. It is used as a parochial school. 
The parish contains eight hundred communi- 
cants and twelve hundred souls. A brick par- 
sonage was erected in 1877. In 1882 sixteen 
acres (if land were purchased of Captain Cornel- 
ius Brittan for a burial-ground connected with 
the church. 

Father John Kelly, now of South Amboy, 
was the priest in charge for over twenty years. 
He was succeeded by Father ISIcGovern, July 8, 
1876, who remained but one year, and was suc- 
ceeded by Father Garret A. Spieriugs, who still 
has charge. 

The Raritan Cemetery is located south 
of Keyport, but adjoining the corporate limits, 
on the south side of Chingarora Creek. A 
burial-ground containing about four acres of 
the farm of William Van Dine had been in 
use many years prior to 1867. On the 2d of 
April, in that year, the Raritan Cemetery Com- 
pany was incorporated, with power to enlarge 
the ground to an area of ten acres. The act of 
incorporation named as trustees Cornelius Brit- 
tan, Theodore Aumack and Alfred Walling, Jr. 
The additional land was purchased, laid out in 
the modern style, and is now in use as one of 
the cemeteries of Keyport. The other one, 
called Green Grove Cemetery, is located on 
Green Grove Street, in the southeastern part of 
Keyport, within the corporation limits. 



716 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEKSEY. 



Keypoet School District, No. 49, em- 
braces the territory of the town. The first 
school-house within it was buih iu 1832 by the 
citizens of tlie place on a lot situated on Church 
Street, donated for the purpose by the Key|)ort 
Company. The house was used until 1856, 
when the ^Methodist Church on the lot adjoin- 
ing was purchased by the district and was used 
as a school-house until the erection of the pres- 
ent school-house, in 1871. 

In 1870 the increase of the village demanded 
greater facilities for schools, and it was voted to 
erect a new and more commodious house, and 
establish a graded school. Keyportwas formed 
into District No. 49 by act of April 4, 1871. 
A lot was purchased on the corner of Broad 
Street and Mott Avenue; the corner-stone of 
the school-house was laid August 3, 1871, and 
the building was completed in the spring of 
1872. It was dedicated March 28th in that year 
with great ceremony. A procession of children 
marched through the streets to the school-house, 
headed by the Keyport Band and the Raritan 
Guards, Rufas Ogden and George W. Holmes 
actins; as marshals. The dedicatorv address was 
delivered by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Lockwood, 
county superintendent. The keys were deliv- 
ered by the town commissioners to the princi- 
pal, Mr. Carson. 

The building is in the form of a cross ; the 
transepts are each thirty-six feet wide and sixty- 
nine feet long. The building is three stoi'ies in 
height ; the upper story is a large hall for lec- 
tures. The school-rooms have a capacity of ac- 
commodating one thousand pupils. The cost of 
snjuuds, buildinsrs and furniture was tweutv-six 
thousand dollars. Professor S. V. Arrowsmith 
is the present principal. The district has now 
eight hundred and seven children of school age. 

Wheeler's Academy, in Keyport, was opened 
in the year 1843 by Uriah E. Wheeler. It was 
located on Broad Street, and was continued until 
1862. 

Holmes' Academy was opened in 1857 by 
George W. Holmes, who for several yeai's taught 
in the public schools. He, with his daughter, 
still continues the academy in the building at 
the corner of Front and Church streets, where 
it was opened by him twenty-seven years ago. 



The school has an average of seventy-five pupils. 

Csesarea Lodge, No. 64, F. and A. M., was 
chartered January 18, 1865, and was instituted 
with twenty-three members and the followiug- 
named officers, viz. : Samuel Lockwood, W. M. ; 
Brewster H. Porter, S. W.; Holmes C. Crawford, 
J. W. 

Prior to the formation of this lodge a warrant 
of dispensation had been granted (June 22, 
1864), by the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, to 
fourteen persons to organize the Alpha Lodge 
in Keyport. Under that dispensation the lodge 
was organized and continued until January 4, 
1865, when the warrant was surrendered and 
application made by most of the members of 
Alpha Lodge for a charter of Csesarea Lodge, 
which was granted, and the lodge organized as 
above mentioned. 

Meetings of Cjesarea Lodge were held in the 
Holmes Academy, corner of Front and Church j 
Streets, until January 1, 1883, when they moved 
to rooms fitted up for their use over !McKinney's 
drug-store, corner of Broad and Front 
Streets. The lodge has now a membership of 
fortv-six. The following; is a list of Past Mas- 
ters : Joseph K. Lewis, John Brittan, Benjamin 
B. Pearce, A. B. Stouey, David "Warner, Benja- 
jamin Decker, Jr., George W. Holmes, Benja- 
min B. Lufl'burrow, James H. Johnson, Mai-cus 
B. Taylor. 

The present officers are Marcus B. Taylor, 
W. M.; Charles Miller, S. AV.; G. Morris Brit- 
tan, J. "\V.; D. AYarner, Sec. ; B. Decker, Sr., 
Treas. 

Delta Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M., was insti- 
tuted October 5, 1865, under John C. G. Rob- 
ertson, G. H. P. The constituent members of 
this chapter were from Hiram Chapter, No. 1, 
now at Red Bank. The first officers were 
Samuel Lockwood, M. E. H. P.; Joseph Van 
Cleaf, E. K.; and Brewster H. Porter, E. S. 
The chapter meets in Csesarea Lodge-room, and 
has now seventeen members. 

Chingarora Lodge, No. 110, I. O. of O. F., 
was instituted with twenty-eight members !March 
17, 1853, and continued in existence until Janu- 
ary 21, 1856. Its meetings were first held in 



THE TOWN OF KEYPOKT. 



riT 



Storm's Hall, but the Iddge afterward united 
with the Rechabites aud Order of United 
Americans, and fitted up rooms in Chingarora 
Hall, where they met until they disbanded. 

Bayside Lodge, No. 193, I. O. of O. F., was 
instituted August 23, 1883, with fifteen mem- 
bers. A room was fitted up in Odd-Follows' 
Hall, in the Salz Block. The lodge has now a 
membership of thirty-three. The present officers 
are P. G., D. E. Roberts, M.D.; N. G., O. C. 
Bogardus ; V. G., JohnR. Dufour ; Rec. Sec, 
John R. Farout ; Per. Sec, S. P. Dye ; Treas., 
W. E. Warne. 

Kevport Division, No. 7, S. of T., was estab- 
lished December 10, 1860. It meets in Wood- 
ruff's building, and has a present membership 
of forty. 

The Raritax Guard is a military com- 
pany which was formed at Keyjiort in the 
fall of 1861, with twenty-two members and the. 
following-named commissioned officers : Thomas 
Robinson, captain ; William Warner, first lieu- 
tenant ; George W. Taylor, second lieutenant. 
The company having filled its ranks, most of 
the members volunteered for service in the War 
of the Rebellion, and formed the nucleus of 
Company B, Twenty-ninth Regiment New 
Jersey Volunteers. On their departure for the 
army, Rufus Ogden was elected temporary cap- 
tain over the remnant of the company during 
the absence of the majority at the front. On 
their return, June 24, 1863, a public recep- 
tion was given them by the citizens, and Captain 
Ogden turned over his men to the proper officers. 

In the railroad riots of 1877 the company 
was called out and proceeded to Phillipsburg, 
N. J., where they remained until the restoration 
of order among the railroad employes. On the 
return of the company the members held a 
meeting and each man donated his pay to form 
a fund to build an armory. The fund was 
raised by subscription to three thousand dollars, 
and one thousand dollars in timber was given by 
the farmers of the vicinity, which was cut and 
hauled to the mills during the winter months 
of 1877-78. The armory was built on a lot 
purchased of Uriah H. Dudley, located on 



Front Street. The building was completed at 
a cost of about seven thousand dollars, and was 
opened in 1879. It is fifty-two by one hun- 
dred feet in size ; the drill-room is fifty-two by 
eighty-six feet and eighteen feet in height. 
The captains of the Guard have been Thomas 
Rol)inson, Rufus Ogden (temporary), William 
Warner, Alfred Walling, Jr. (now judge), 
James W. Hill, Benjamin A. Lee (now major 
of Third Regiment), Thomas L. Seabrook, Os- 
car F. Stanhope. The company has now about 
fifty members. Rufus Ogden and John S. 
Halstead have been members from tiie forma- 
tion of the company, Halstead having filled the 
office of orderly sergeant for seventeen years. 

Keyport Hook-axd-Ladder Compaxy, 
No. 1, was incorporated February 27, 1878. 
The members of the company at that time 
were H. J. McCabe, E. Maynard, Jr., F. D. 
Woodruff, Elias H. Force, A. Van Nostrand, 
A. Salz, W. L. Conover, John F. Runyon, Ru- 
fus Ogden and George Cooper. This company,, 
with its apparatus, is the entire Fire Department 
of Keyport. 

On Friday, the 21st of September, 1877, at a 
little after eleven o'clock p.m., there broke out in 
Keyjiort a fire which proved to be the most ex- 
tensive and disastrous one that ever visited the 
place. The fire originated in the building of 
Abraham Morris (occupied by him as a butcher- 
shop), from which it spread rapidly and with 
little or no check until the arrival of a fire-en- 
gine and company from !Matawan, Keyport 
being destitute of fire apparatus at that time. 
The origin, progress and extent of the great 
conflagration were narrated in a comuuniication 
to the Monmouth Inquirer of the next week, as- 
follows : 

" In the rear of Abraham Morris' butcher-shop is a 
vacant room, whose outside door hung loose upon one 
hinge. In this room William H. Madden, who lived 
next door, says he first saw the fire. There were four 
rooms over the butcher-shop, occupied by Mrs. Ann 
Riley and Mary McGerry. Mr. Jlorris left the butcher- 
shop at nine o'clock, and all was then right. He ques- 
tioned Mrs. Riley as to when and how she first saw 
the fire. Mrs. Riley told Mr. Morris that she was. 
awakened from sleep by a crackling noise, and got up 
to ascertain the cause of it. She passed out of her 



718 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



room to a rear room, just above the one in which Mr. 
Madden saw the fire, and upon looking out of the 
side window tlie flames and smoke from without 
puffed up in her face. Between this building and the 
adjoining one, occupied and owned by Mr. Charles 
Miller, there was about one foot of space, and there 
were no windows on the side of Mr. Miller's house 
adjoining to Mr. Morris' building. 

" From Abraham Morris' building the fire extended 
north, taking first Mary J. Hill's dwelling-house, oc- 
cupied by William H. Madden, and then the adjoin- 
ing building, a shoe and tobacco-store owned and oc- 
cupied by Hughey Daugherty. This was the last 
building on the north side of Broad Street standing 
south of the yards belonging to the livery stable. The 
wind was blowing from the northwest, a fresh, brisk 
breeze, which did not lull till after two o'clock. The 
space between Daugherty's store and the stables 
broke the flames from extending further north, and as 
the wind was coming from the northwest the greatest 
peril was looked for ahead. Every moment the danger 
increased, for the flames were becoming less and less 
controllable as they spread along these wooden struc- 
tures, and swept one and another down to the ground, 
Almost at the same time that Morris' building was 
burning the fire extended southward, fanned into 
activity and intensity by the brisk wind that was 
blowing. It soon caught David Warner's cigar-store, 
owned by Charles Miller, and from thence extended 
till it took Charles Miller's barber-shop and house, 
upon the rear part of the same lot. 

"The mass of burning matter being then so large, 
the sparks and even flames were spreading in almost 
every direction. It was very apparent then that 
nothing could stay its onward course ou the west side 
of Broad Street. Accordingly, the greatest scene of 
confusion ensued, wherein, as before in a measure, 
people buckled to and tried their utmost to save the 
goods in the various houses and stores. Families 
living in the second stories were almost frenzied. Cries, 
shouts and screams came from the women and chil- 
dren, and the greatest turmoil and confusion followed. 
Croods were carried out as fast as possible by willing 
hands, but the flames rolled on in their terrific fury so 
fast that people had to run for their lives and let their 
goods and chattels be consumed. 

"The Pavilion Hotel, owned by C. D. Emson and 
Cyrenius Van Mater, caught fire several times and 
was somewhat damaged, but by almost superhuman 
exertions was saved. The trees in front of the Pavil- 
ion were thought to have stayed the flames some. 
Adam Huylar's grocery-store, owned by William W. 
Conover and Samuel T. Hendrickson, of Red Bank, 
narrowly escaped burning. The building was fire- 
proof, but it came near succumbing to the flames. 

Upon the other side of the street, after Warner's 
cigar-store and Miller's barber-shop and house fell as 
victims, Joseph Maurer's lager beer saloon and dwell- 
ing were the next to fall. Then followed Walcott & 



Matthews' confectionery store and dwelling, and his 
bake-shop in the rear, and all out-buildings. While 
these were burning, the Mansion House, owned by 
Messrs. John S. Sproul and Necourseli Johnson, at 
the northeast corner of Broad and Front streets, 
caught fire from the sparks so speedily winged from 
the opposite side of the street. While the Mansion 
House was burning the fire was the hottest, and the 
flames sped away across to St. Mary's Episcopal 
Church (Rev. Mr. Love, rector), all of which was 
consumed almost in a twinkling. 

"From the church it spread to Dr. MoKinney's 
house, at the south wing of the drug-store, which was 
soon enveloped in the onward-marching flames. Ad- 
joining his house was Dr. McKinney's drug-store and 
the Western Union Telegraph oflice on the first floor, 
and the law and insurance office of Mr. Alfred Wall- 
ing and surveyor's office of Mr. George Cooper, on 
the second floor, all of which business centres shared 
the same sad fate. Upon the opposite side of the 
street, next to the corner, Andrew Campbell's ' Rail- 
road Hotel,' owned and occupied by Mr. Campbell and 
his family, was going through the fiery furnace. At 
the northwest corner of Broad and Front Streets stood 
an unoccupied grocery-store and dwelling-house com- 
bined, owned by Asher Holmes, which was the next 
building laid in ashes by the attack of the flames. 
Van Arsdale and Ellison's butcher-shop, around the 
corner, was next swept away. Theodore M. Ander- 
son's cigar manufactory, owned by Asher Holmes, 
next gave way before the flames like a tinder-box. 
The fire then communicated with Cyrenius Waite's 
cigar-store, owned by Asher Holmes, and down it went 
among the other ruins. 

" The Keyport post-oflice and harness-shop, in the 
rear, owned by Rufus Ogden, joined its neighbors, and 
although a receptacle for governmental matter, yet it 
too gave way before greater powers. Two other build- 
ings, Wolcott and Matthews' dwelling-house, occupied 
by Sands Selleck and Benjamin Decker's shoe-shop 
and house combined, were destroyed, the latter being 
torn down, on the north side of Front Street, before 
the flames could be stayed. 

"At this point, Washington Engine, forty-five men 
strong, came from Matawan with its active foreman, 
Jesse Sickles, and assistant, Henry Wyckofl^, being 
summoned to the scene of the conflagration by a 
horseman, who had been previously dispatched to 
Matawan. The firemen fought nobly to check the 
flames at this point, and succeeded in preventing their 
spreading further on that side of the street. The 
wind, however, carried the flames across the street to 
the south side of Front Street, and although a des- 
perate eftbrt was made to save the handsome building 
across the street, all eflbrts proved futile. 

" The Atlantic Hotel and out-buildings, owned by 
John S. Sproul, of Keyport, John J. Hopping, of 
Middletown, and George Schenck, of Holmdel, was 
the first victim. Then came Morritz Naftal's cigar 



THE TOWN OP KEYPORT. 



719 



niaiuifactory, and A. vSalz's building, occupied by F. 
Eckehardt for a barber-shop. A. Bloclc's clothing- 
store, a splendid three-story brick building, an orna- 
ment to any town, owned by the heirs of William 
Walling, deceased, next succumbed to the all-devour- 
ing element, and fell a mass of smouldering ruins, 
with nothing to mark its former fine, substantial ap- 
pearance but the charred and burnt brick walls, tow- 
ering high above the mass of ashes that represents 
what once was the wooden structures belonging to 
Keyport's citizens. Down Broad Street the flames 
swept, taking first Bedle & Thomas' stone and marble- 
store and then attacking and conquering a dwelling 
occupied by William E. Storms, owned by the Wall- 
ing estate, and sweeping the last two structures on 
that side of the street before reaching four vacant 
lots, namely, a two-story double house, occupied by 
Jacob and Edward Brown, and owned by the Walling 
estate, and Fred. Hoffman's saloon, occupied by 
the same. The stables in the rear were saved. Then 
came four vacant lots between the burnt district and 
the northwest corner of Broad and Cross Streets, 
which served to stay the flames from progressing far- 
ther south. 

" Nearly opposite the brick building owned by the 
Walling estate stood the structure occupied by the 
Keyport Weekly. Between this building and the drug- 
store was a vacant space, which served to break the 
progress of the flames in a measure, and with favoring 
wind and hard and determined struggles of Mr. Wil- 
liam F. Leroy and his band of printers, who were 
pronounced exceedingly plucky, the building and 
contents were saved. 

" Besides the Weekly building, William Bedle's 
three-story brick house, with undertaker's shop in the 
basement, owned and occupied by Mr. Bedle, and a 
double frame house adjoining, occupied by Asbury 
Bedle, and owned by Alfred Walling, Jr., were saved. 
The most vigorous eflbrts were made by the citizens 
to stay the flames at this {)oint, but the wind shifted a 
little, so that the two-story frame house belonging to 
John Van Woert, of Long Branch, caught fire and 
burned very rapidly. Flames then communicated 
with James Brown's two-story frame double house, 
both of which were soon consumed. At this point the 
flames were controlled by several active, venturesome 
young men, who plied their energies and used water 
very freely in their eflbrts to save the carpenter-shop, 
barn and dwelling owned by Asher Holmes, which 
stood just beyond Maurer's house, a yard only inter- 
vening. Here, then, we have at last found the extent 
of the fire in each direction, stayed at the points des- 
ignated by heroic battling or by fortuitous circum- 
stiinces." 

lu tliis great couflagratiou, which swept the 
central part of the town of Iveyport, there were 
destroyed two hotel.s, one church and twenty- 



five otlier buildings, including dwellings and 
business places. Thirty families were made 
homeless by the fire, and the total loss was 
stated to be two hundred thousand dollars. 

Mechanicsvili.k is a small village at the 
southeast corner of Keyport, forming, in fact, 
a part of the corporation. In 1843 there was 
but one dwelling-house standing where now is 
the village called Mechauicsville, now a part of 
Keyport. In the next year Thomas Carhart, a 
carriage-builder, erected a shop at the corner 
where now stand the carriage-shops of Theodore 
W. Aumack. The name of the place was de- 
rived from the fact that a number of mechanics 
were employed there. In 1850, Thomas Car- 
hart sold his interest to Samuel Carhart, whose 
son Timothy conducted the business for ten 
years and sold to John Herbert, who leased it, 
after a year or two, to Theodore W. Aumack, 
who now carries on the business. Thomas Car- 
hart, after the sale of his business, erected a 
shop where B. H. Harvey now occupies. The 
brick shop which Mr. Carhart erected in 1856, 
two stores, a carriage-sliop, blacksmith-shop, 
St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church and a 
few dwellings constitute the village at present. 

St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church 
at Mechauicsville is the successor of the old 
Bethany Church Society (Methodist), which was 
organized not far from the year 1800 at the 
place known as Bethany, in the south part of, 
and near the Holmdel line. The first members 
were of the families of Murphy, Carhart, Bedle, 
Hofl", Polin and others. Meetings were first 
held in 'Squire Thomas Murphy's house. In 
1822 a lot of land was purchased for fifteen 
dollars of John Dorset, containing one-quarter 
of an acre, on which was erected the Bethany 
Church. The early ministers were Bartholo- 
mew Weed, Betts, Walker, Moore, Lang, 
Stuart, McLaughlin and others. From this 
Church sprang the churches of Keyport, Mata- 
wan, Cliflbrd, Granville, Harmony and others. 
It was sometimes called Dorsettown Church. 
In 1870 the building was removed to Meehan- 
icsville and placed on a lot donated by Andrew 
Polin. It was dedicated January 1, 1871. 



720 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Father Bartholomew Weed, who was present 
at the dedication of the old church in 1822, 
took part in the dedication of the present church. 

The pastoi-s who have served this church 
since its removal to ^Mechanicsville are O. EUer- 
son, E. Livingston, Allen J. H. Bennett, J. S. 
Parker, E. W. Woodward and the present pas- 
tor, G. G. Senser. 

Rufus Ogden has in his possession a roll of 
the scholars of Bethany Sunday-school in 1828. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Thomas S. R. Brown. — Mr. Brown is <if 
Scotch ancestry, and descended from a family 
who first settled in Browntown, Middlesex 
County. His grandfather, Lewis Brown, a na- 
tive and continuous resident of the above place, 
married, first, a ]\Iiss Blue, and, second, Rebecca 
Owen. Among the children of the first mar- 
riage was Benjamin L. Brown, born in Brown- 
town, where he learned and successfully fol- 




J^^Cir^ fcS^^/^^>^^t/>^ 



It contains the names of one hundred and 
twenty-eight pupils, of whom are now living 
the Rev. Jame^ O. Rodgers, Eusebius Walling, 
of Freehold, Peter Stout, of Holmdel, Timothy 
Murphy, of Keyport (who became a teacher the 
next year and afterwards superintendent), G. 
W. Walling (now superintendent of police of 
New York City) and Taylor W. Walling, of 
Keyport. William I. Brown, now of Ocean 
County, was teacher in that year. 



lowed the trade of a carpenter. He married Susan, 
daughter of Daniel Brown, whose ten children 
are Thomas S. R., Richard, Charles M., Cor- 
nelius H., Amos, Adelia (Mrs. Stephen Arose),. 
IVLargaret (Mrs. Richard P. Burlew), Jane (Mrs. 
James Bowne), Sophia (Mrs. John Bloodgood) 
and Eliza (Mrs. Benjamin F. Ely). 

Thomas S. R. Brown was born on the 8th of 
September, 182.3, in South Amboy township 
(then Madison), Middlesex County, X. J., on 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



721 



the farm of bis father, where, until seventeen 
^-eai-s of age, he continued to reside, alternating 
between the sessions of the neighboring school and 
the labor of the fields. He then became an ap- 
prentice to the trade of a mason and builder, and 
iu 1 846 sett led in Keyport, \\'here he conducted for 
twenty years an extensive business, taking large 
contracts and becoming interested in much of 
the building iu that portion of the county. He 
subsequently abandoned his trade and engaged 
in oyster-planting. In 1866, Mr. Brown em- 



township, including that of freeholder. He was, 
for 1866 and 1867, as a Democrat, elected to the 
State Legislature, and identified with various 
influential committees, on one or more of which 
he was chairman. Though a supporter of all 
evangelical denominations, he was more closely 
allied to St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church 
of Keyport. Mr. Brown was, on the 15th of Jan- 
uary, 1846, married to Margaret, daughter of 
David Lamberson, of Middlesex County, whose 
only surviving child is Caroline, wife of Wil- 






^e^. 



barked in the hardware business and the sale of 
coal and lumber, which he still conducts in con- 
nection with his interest in the oyster-beds. He 
has been largely influential in the development of 
the town which is his home, and of all its impor- 
tant enterprises. He was one of the incorpora- 
tors of the First National Bank of Keyport, and 
is president of the Middletown Point and Key- 
port Gas Company. HLs public spirit has led 
to his identification with politics in the county 
and his acceptance of various offices in the 
46 



liam C. Bedle. He was a second time married, 
to Sarah, sister of his first wife. By his union 
to Mary, daughter of John M. Beers, was born 
a son, Arthur M., and his children Richard 
R., George W. and Susan are the issue of his 
last marriage, to Maria L. Hunt. 



Hexry H. Seabrook. — Mary, M'idow of 
James Seabrook, in, 1676, married Thomas 
AVhitlock, and removed from Westchester 
County, N. Y., to Shoal Harbor, (now Port 



722 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Monmouth), in IMonmouth County. Her son 
James settled on the "NVhitlock property, at the 
latter point, having married ]\Iary Grover. 
Their son Daniel, who succeeded to the estate, 
married Mary, daughter of Nicholas Brown, 
whose son, IMajor Thomas Seabrook, married 
Martha, daughter of Dr. Stephen Tallman. A 
son by this marriage, Thomas by name, married 
Anna, daughter of Aaron Longstreet, of Pleasant 
Valley, ISIonmouth County. Their children 
were Aaron, who died in infimey; Mary; 
Aaron, married to Euphemia C. Wilson; Elea- 
nor, wife of William Applegate; Lydia, mar- 
ried to Rev. W. V. Wilson; Thomas; Martha, 
wife of Rev. W. V. Wilson ; and Henry 
H. The last named and youngest of these 
children was born September 10, 1813, on the 
homestead at Shoal Harbor, where his childhood 
was spent, his education having been received 
at New York and New Brunswick. His first 
mercantile experience was acquired in a whole- 
sale drv-goods store in New York, after which, 
on returning tt) his native county, he purchased 
the interest of his father in a store at ^liddle- 
town, the business being conducted under the 
firm-name of Aaron Seabrook & Co. His next 
venture was in connection with Charles J. Hen- 
drickson, after which he ren;oved to Keyport 
in the spring of 1839, and engaged in various 
commercial undertakings, becoming identified 
with steamboat, turnpike, railroad and other 
prominent interests of the place. In 1841 he 
succeeded Leonard Walling as postmaster and 
was for twelve years the incumbent of the office. 
He was the principal manager of the Middle- 
town Point Steaml)i)at Company, which built, 
under his direction, the steamer " Chingarora," 
plying between New York and Keyport, after- 
wards sold in New Orleans, the steamer " Key- 
port," later sold at Washington, the "Matawan" 
and three others, also disposed of advantageously 
by him. Mr. Seabrook was, in 1852, married to 
Therese, daughter of Leonard Walling, the only 
one of the eight original proprietors of Keyport 
who settled on his purchase. He laid out the 
town, built two sloops and the dock, the hotel, 
and, aside from his extensive mercantile interests, 
was the leading spirit of the new and gro\\"ing 
hamlet. He was the son of Daniel Walling 



and Helena Holf, the grandson of John and 
Elizabeth Roberts Walling and the great-grand- 
son of Thomas Walling. The children of Henry 
and Therese Seabrook are, Annie L., wife of 
William L. Conover ; Thoma.s L., Avho married 
Maud L. Barney; Henry, deceased; Helena, 
deceased ; Harry, a physician in New Y'ork 
City ; and Martha Washington. Mr. Seabrook 
manifested little interest beyond the casting of 
his ballot in the political movements of the day, 
and invariably declined office, his influence and 
time, apart from that required by his varied 
business interests, having been given to those 
moral and philanthropic schemes which had for 
their purpose the upbuilding and elevation of the 
community. In this good work Mrs. Seabrook 
has proved his earnest successor. He united in 
1852 Avith the Baptist Church of Keyport, in 
which he was deacon, as also first correspond- 
ing secretary of the New Jersey Sabbath-School 
Union, which office he held until his death, in 
March, 1872. 



Rev. Elias Mead. — Is a native of Al- 
bany County, N.Y''. He was married. May, 188] , 
to the young and interesting granddaughter 
of Captain Peter Hulst, Keyport, N. J. ; was 
the fifth son in a family of thirteen chil- 
dren, five of whom are living. Two perished 
during the late civil war in the Union army. 
Peter died at Fairfax Court-House; Lucius fell 
on the bloody field of Gettysburg. A braver 
man never faced the foe. Hon. John Sanders, 
in a eulogy on the heroes of Schenectady, pro- 
nounced him " one of Nature's noblemen." 

The ancestore of Mr. Mead were all patriotic 
men. Both grandsires were identified with the 
country in her early struggles for freedom and 
right. Peter Cole, his maternal grandfather, 
was a musician in the American army in the 
War of 1812. Jeremiah Mead, the father of 
his father, served in the array of Washington 
during the War of the Revolution. In that I 
important time that "tried men's souls" he 
gave all, — laid upon the altar of his country 
both life and fortune, demanding no higher 
honor than victory, and no sweeter reward than 
the vindication of his country's rights. 

This Revolutionary soldier was blessed with 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



723 



a patriarclial family. He had four sons and 
ten daughters. All reached maturity except 
two, who were accidentally taken out of tlie 
world. The sons, following the bent of their 
father, became farmers. One, however, having 
a taste for letters, qualified himself for more 
important service, and rose by his personal 
attainments to the occupancy of a seat on the 
judicial bench of his native county at Albany. 
Like Nimrod of old, "he was a mighty hunter," 
also a successful farmer, a keen lawyer and an 
able judge. 

Jasper, the third son, inherited the paternal 
estiiblishment at Chesterville, Albany County, 
N. Y. There the subject of this sketch was 
born. In 1848, however, and during the child- 
hood of Mr. Mead, his father removed to 
Schenectady County and settled on a farm in 
the Mohawk Valley. Here he was brought up, 
receiving such educational advantages as the 
district school afforded. In the spring and 
summer of 1862 he attended the academy at 
Charlton, Saratoga County, where he studied 
the languages and prepared himself for a classi- 
cal course in college. But cash was not very 
plentiful, and he was compelled to resort to a 
variety of methods in order to get along. At 
one time he boarded at home and walked seven 
miles and a half to recitations ; at another he 
did chores for his bread, and built fii-es and 
swept the academy for his tuition; at others he 
taught school, and so acquired the means for 
prosecuting his studies. But when he was 
about to enter college he was sent by his father 
with a power of attorney to settle the estate of 
a deceased brother in California. He returned 
in 1865 and entered, in the fall of that year, the 
sophomore class in Union College. The next 
year, having determined to enter the Christian 
ministry, he was transferred to the junior class 
of Rutgers, at New Brunswick. Here he re- 
mained until 18(37, and by crowding the labors 
of two years into one, finished his academic 
course three terms in advance of his classmates. 

^Ir. Mead entered the Theological Seminary 
at New Brunswick in 1867, and graduated in 
1870. His first charge was in the Reformed 
Church at Coeymans, on the Hudson. He found 
the church in a feeble condition, iucomjjlete in 



its organization and scarcely able to sustain a 
jirayer-meeting. The first year of his ministry 
was spent in " healing the breaches," reconciling 
persons at variance and "holding fiirth the 
word of life." The close of that year witnessed 
an ingathering of some twenty souls, mostly 
people in advanced life. The results of the 
following year were alike precious, for the close 
of that witnessed an ingathering of upwards of 
fifty, mostly young people, and the church that 
had been without a prayer-meeting was blessed 
with two, — a church prayer-meeting and a young 
people's prayer-meet i ng, — wh ich were producti ve 
of much good. The following year the num- 
ber of accessions was not so large, but the time 
was spent in organizing and consolidation, and 
the precious materials which had recently entered 
found employment in this impoi'tant work; and 
when, a few months later, he was called away 
from that field, he left a strong and efficient 
church, thoroughly organized and equipped. 

About this time overtures were made from 
the Reformed Church of Keyport. Persons 
desirous for her growth commended this weak 
church to the attention of the young and suc- 
cessful pastor at Coeymans. With profound 
reluctance and after much persuasion, he was 
finally induced to take hold of the work, under 
the representation that the soil was very fertile 
and the " field white to the harvest." 

He came, and the good Spirit came with him, 
and before the year closed twenty-two souls had 
been added to the church, — three by letter and 
nineteen on profession of faith. But the show- 
ers of divine grace continued to fall on the 
thirsty soil of Keyport, and fourteen were ad- 
ded the following year, and twenty the year 
after that. But while the good work was yet 
in progress a conspiracy was formed : secret 
meetings were held and charEres of a most ri- 
diculous character were naade against the pastor, 
and presented to Classis. At the same time 
the daily press was utilized to give publicity to 
the most damao-inor and unfounded statements. 
Immoral and vicious circulars were also printed 
and, in the dead hour of night, strewed about 
the streets, thrown into yards and thrust under 
the doors of the inhabitants, and the powers of 
hell were invoked to crush the man who had 



724 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



imperiled his life to save souls. All this Mr. 
Mead endured in heroic silence and without re- 
taliation, in the strong belief that God would 
vindicate the right. The reports were, however, 
discredited ; the charges, in eveiy material point, 
were disproved ; while blessings continued to de- 
scend on the field of his labors. That same 
year witnessed a precious work of grace in the 
church, and eighteen more were added to the 
fold, so that when those who had been innocently 



Daniel W. Holmes. — Asher Holmes, the 
father of the subject of this biographical sketch, 
who resided in Raritan township, married Lydia 
Walling, and had children, — Catharine, John, 
James, Abby, Lydia, Asher, Daniel W., Mary, 
Azelia, and others who died in early life. The 
birth of Daniel W. occurred October 18, 1814, 
on the homestead, in Raritan township, where 
modest educational opportunities were enjoyed ; 
after which, at the age of fourteen, he entered a 







or otherwise involved in the trouble withdrew, 
the membership was not in the least dimin- 
ished. 

Resolute and active and buoyant with hope, 
this pastor has clung to his enfeebled church as 
a mother to her suflering child. Awed by no 
threats and cajoled by no rewards, he has worked 
steadily on with a determination that no cal- 
umny could weaken, and a perseverance that 
never stoops but to glean the fruits of a nobler 
success. 



store in Middletown as clerk. Removing later 
to Keyport, he became clerk for Henry H. Sea- 
brook, and e\'eutually embarked in mercantile 
pursuits at that point, having erected a store for 
the purpose. His mercantile career was suc- 
cessful, and extended over a period of thirty 
years, during which time he was regarded as 
among the influential citizens of the village. 
His frugality and devotion to business enabled 
him to leave, on his death, a considerable estate. 
He married, in 1849, Miss Almira, daughter of 



THE TOWN OF KEYPORT. 



725 



Thomas Bedle, of Raritan township, whose birth 
occurred July 14, 1823. Their children are 
Arabella and Charles Alviu, both deceased. 
Mr. Holmes was content, as a Democrat, to cast 
his ballot, and allowed the party reins to be 
held by other and more ambitious hands. He 
was devoted to his own business interests ; rarely 
identified himself with public schemes and 
through life observed a becoming modesty and 
reserve. Though educated a Baptist, he wor- 



Rachel Dorsett in 1797, died June 3, 1859; 
they had seven children, viz., Alice, James, 
John, Joseph, Jonathan, Samuel, and Samuel 
(2d). 

John Sproul, of this family, was born in Mid- 
dletown townsliip, Monmouth County, April 
15, 1803, and later removed to Key port, where 
he was one of the earliest settlers of that local- 
ity, and among the original purchasers of the 
Kearney estate, upon which the village of Key- 





i^^ 



shiped with the ^lethodist Episcopal Church. 
His death occurred on the 17th of ]March, 1874, 
in his sixtieth vear. 



John S. Sproul. — James Sproul, of Scotch 
descent, served as ensign in the American Revo- 
lutionary army, and was killed in a skirmish at 
Short Hills, in this State, previous to which he 
was married to Zilpha McChesney, and they 
had two children, — Oliver and Elisebeth. Oliver 
was born October 10, 1776, was married to 



port is located. By trade a builder, he latterly 
devoted his attention to farming. He died in 
October, 1851. His wife was Sarah Ann, 
daughter of John Stout. Their children were 
Edgar, John S., Martha (deceased), Alice 
(deceased), Sarah S. (Mrs. Stephen Arrowsmith) 

i and Susan (deceased). 

Jolin S. Sproul was born on the 7th of June, 
1835, in Keyport, where he has since that 
date resided. He received a thorough academic 

i education, and on the completion of his studies 



726 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



at once engaged in active business as a builder 
and operator in real estate. He has, at various 
times, erected stores and dwellings and a spacious 
hotel known as the Mansion House, though much 
of his time is devoted to other matters, including 
the lively business. He was, in 1874, married 
to Alma A., daughter of "William ]Matthews, of 
Kevport. The children of this marriage are 
John, Jr., Paul W. (deceased) and Mark P. 
Mr. Sproul is associated with the fraternity of 
Masons as a member of Cwsarea Lodge, Xo. 
64, and of Delta Chapter, No. 14, of that order, 
situated at Kevport. In his political belief he 
is a declared Republican and very active in the 
promotion of the interests of his party and 
its success. He has served as freeholder and 
been frequently nominated for minor township 
offices. In 1873 and 1874, Mr. Sproul was 
elected to the State Legislature, and served at 
this time on committees on railroad and canals, 
State prisons and reform schools and on com- 
merce and navigation. Though still wielding 
an extended political influence, he has devoted 
much of his time to the management of his own 
interests and been indifferent to the rewards of 
party service. 

Peter D. Hulst. — The subject of this 
sketch was born at Bushwick, Kings County, 
N. Y., June 1, 1804, and died at Keyport, 
N. J., June 8, 1884. He was the eldest of eleven 
children, all of whom lived to mature age. 
The first break in the family was made by the 
death of the youngest daughter, who had mar- 
ried and become the mother of three children. 

At an early period the ancestors of ]Mr. 
Hulst emigrated from Holland and settled in 
the town of Bushwick, li. I. There his father, 
Anthony, was born, also his grandfather, John, 
and his great-grandfather, Anthony. His 
mother (Sarah ]Meserole), his grandmother 
(Deborah Blake) and his great-grandmother 
(Lettv Van Dyne) were well connected, having 
descended from prominent individuals in their 
respective family lines. 

j\Ir. Hulst was by choice, profession and prac- 
tice a farmer. At Bushwick and Dutch Kills, 
where he resided at diiferent times and followed 
his chosen occupation, he was quite famous. 



The old neighbors still speak of the remarkable 
farming operations, which called for toilsome 
days and sleepless nights, producing grand 
crops and yielding plenty of cash. 

He never slighted, never neglected business, 
— never put off until to-morrow the thing that 
could be done to-day. Under his skillful and 
diligent management the abundant pi-oductions 
of the field kept the wheels of his market- 
wagon revolving. The writer has frequently 
heard him remark that, excepting the holidays 
audthe Sabbath, he never allowed a day to pass 
without contributing a load of stuff to supply 
the demands of Washington Market. In at- 
testation of these facts he received scores of 
prizes, in the shape of silver cups, medals and 
cash, from the American Institute and County 
Agricultural Societies, for the best stock, finest 
fruit and various productions of the field. In- 
deed, each year brought its new crops, and every 
new set of crops a harvest of prizes to reward 
the industrious, hard-handed, open-hearted, in- 
defatigable farmer. 

But this was not to continue always. j\Ir. 
Hulst and his prudent and industrious lady, 
having accumulated more than a competency, 
sold their beautiful and valualde establishment 
at Dutch Kills, and retired for repose to Key- 
port, N. J., in the fall of 1867, having already 
purchased the fine homestead of the late Cap- 
tain T. V. Arrowsmith. The premises, how- 
ever, were not altogether to his liking, and the 
man of leisure found new occupation in meeting 
the demands of this new situation. The build- 
ings were accordingly renovated, fences repaired, 
walks relaid and the grounds iu every way en- 
larged and improved. 

^Ir. Hulst never as])ired to any official posi- 
tions. He could never be induced to take any 
political office for the remuneration there might 
be in it. But whenever any such office as that 
of town commissioner was thrust upon him, 
which haj^pened again and again, he always 
served without pay, and conducted the aifairs 
of the office as he did the affairs of the farm, — 
gave them his personal undivided attention. 

In generosity he was also notable. The 
fresh vegetables and delicious fruits of his ex- 
tensive gardens attested his bounty to scores and 




' '^ - byAMMUc '-'. !* 



!■ 




MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



727 



scores of neighbors. He never sold anything 
from the productions of his gardens. All that 
was not required to supply his own board was 
freely given away ; and the same free-hearted 
spirit was extended to the Reformed Church, 
which he constantly and regularly attended. 
No man there, in congregation or among the 
members, ever surpassed IMr. Hulst in the 
matter of liberality. 

He was married, in March, 1833, to Han- 
nah, daughter of Cornelius Vancott, at Green 
Point, Kings CV)unty, X. Y., by whom he liad 
four children ; but none of them survive him. 



CHAPTER XXY. 

MARLBOROUGH TOWXSHIP. 

The township of Marlborough ' was erected 
ill 1848, being taken from the territory of 
Freehold. By the act of erection the bounda- 
ries of Mai'lborough were fixed and described 
as follows : 

" Beginning at the northwest corner of the town- 
ship of Freehold, in tlie line between the counties of 
Middlesex and Monmouth, and at the point where the 
line of the townships of Middletown and Freehold 
meet ; thence running along the line between the said 
townships of Freehold and Middletown in a south- 
easterly direction until it comes to the line of Atlantic 
township, in said county of Monmouth, at the point 
in said line where the lines of the townships of Free- 
hold, Middletown and Atlantic meet ; thence along 
the line of Atlantic township in a southwesterly di- 
rection till it comes to a point opposite the house of 
"William I Sickles ; thence leaving the said Atlantic 
line and running westwardly in a straight line to the 
brook near John Griggs' distillery; thence down said 

1 The name Marlborough was given first to the village 
and afterwards to the township, because of the extensive 
marl-beds found in the vicinity, and because here was 
made the first use of marl as a fertilizer in Monmouth 
County. In 1768 an Irishman, ditching on the fiirm of 
Peter Schenck, near the site of the village of Marlborough, 
discovered a substance which he recognized as marl, hav- 
ing seen the use of it in the old country. Upon his report, 
it was tried on a field and produced extraordinary results 
in the crops. In 1795 marl was dug on one of the tribu- 
taries of Hop Brook, and, being used on the farm of John 
H. Smock, produced results which soon caused an exten- 
sive use of it in that region. 



brook its various courses till it comes to a point four 
hundred yards west of David R. Vanderveer's house; 
thence northerly in a straight line to a point one 
chain north of John F. Barricklo's house; thence 
westerly in a straight line to a point in the line of 
Middlesex County, lying one chain south of Richard 
Magic's house ; thence down said line to the begin- 
ning." 

The township of Marlborough lies (as shown 
by the preceding description) on the northwest 
border of Monmouth, having the county of 
^Middlesex as its northwestern boundary. On 
the north it is bounded by the township of ilata- 
wau, on the east by Holmdel and Atlantic, on 
the south by Freehold and on the southwest by 
the townsliip of Manapalan. The streams of 
Marlborough are unimportant. A principal 
branch of Hop Brook forms its eastern 
boundary against the township of Holmdel, 
and another tributary of the same brook flows 
southeastwardly through a part of ^Marlborough, 
and enters the main stream at the point where 
this township joins Holmdel and Atlantic. Two 
or three other small streams, flowing northwest- 
wardly, unite in that part of ilarlborough, 
forming a creek, which flows in the same direc- 
tion into jNIiddlesex County, where its waters 
join those of South River. The only railroad 
line in the township is that of the Freehold and 
New York Railway, which traverses it from 
south to north, running from Freelnild to ^Nlat- 
awan. The population of Marlborough town- 
ship by the United States census of 1880 was 
two thousand one hundred and ninety-three. 
The list of chosen freeholders elected for the 
township from its erection to the present time 
is as follows : 

1848. Garret D. Schenck. 
1848. John W. Herbert. 
1849-50. William H. Conover. 
1849-53. Joseph I. Van Derveer. 
1854-55. William H. Johnson. 
1856-63. Joseph I. Van Derveer. 
1865-68. Charles H. Conover. 
1869-72. Benjamin S. Van Derveer. 
187.3-79. Lafayette Conover. 
1880-81. Daniel P. Van Dorn. 
1882-84. Gideon C. McDowell. 

The first settlements in what is now jNIarl- 
borough township were made about the year 
1685, at a place then called Topanemus, which 



728 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Avasa little west of the present village of ^larl- 
borough. The settlers there were Quakers, the 
first who came to the vicinity being George Keith, 
who was a leader and preacher in that sect. 
In ancient records he is mentioned as the first 
settler in Freehold ; but Freehold township 
(which was laid out soon after Keith came) in- 
cluded the present township of Marlborough. 
A Quaker Meeting-house was built at Topane- 
mus, in 1(392, largely through Keith's influ- 
ence ; but he soon afterwards aliandoned the 
Quakers and went over to the Church of Eng- 
land, and in 1702 (having, in the mean time, 
returned to London) he was sent to New Jer- 
sey, as a missionary of that church, by the 
Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts. Soon afler his arrival in America he 
came to Monmouth County, where he preached 
at various places, one of the principal of which 
was Topanemus. Referring to his visits to 
Monmouth County, his journal has the follow- 
ing entries : 

" October 10, 1702.— We went to the meeting of the 
Quakers at Toponemes, in Freehold, in East Jersey, 
who used to keep a separate meeting from the other 
Quakers for their gross errors, and joined with me and 
my friends in the separation about 1692 ; and it hap- 
pened to be their yearly meeting, where divers came 
from West Jersey and Pennsylvania. One of their 
preachers praved and preached before I began. After 
he had done, I used some church collects I had by 
heart, in prayer. 

" October 10th, 1703, Sunday.— I preached at Topo- 
nemes, in Freehold, in East Jersey, on Acts 24: 12, 
and had considerable auditory, divers of them late 
converts from Quakerism to the Church. ]\Ir. Inness, 
above mentioned, did read the prayers. Mr. Talbot 
stayed to preach in several places in Pennsylvania 
and West Jersey for some time. 

" January 30th, 1704. — I preached at the house of 
Mr. Thomas Boels, in Freehold, in East Jersey, on 
1 Cor. 15 : 58." 

The greater part of Keith's former friends, 
the Topanemus Quakers, were converted by 
his preaching to the Episcopal faith and form 
of worship), which resulted in the erection, at 
Topanemus, of a church of that denomination, 
which was named St. Peter's. It was used for 
worship for some years, but was afterwards 
torn down, and parts of it were used in the 
building of St. Peter's church at Freehold ; in 



the historical account of which a more full 
mention is made of the old church buikling at 
Topanemus. 

The old Topanemus burial-ground, which 
was at first connected with the ancient church 
of St. Peter's, is situated on the dividing line 
between the farm of Hendrick E. Conover and 
Huldah Barriclo estate. It contains nearly 
half an acre, a jjart of which is heavily wooded. 
The last two persons buried in it were Huldah 
Barriclo and John E. Barriclo. Among the 
inscriptions on old headstones in this ground 
are the following : 

" Under 

Here Lyes Interred the Body 

of Coll. Johx Andersox, once 

President of His Majesty's Counsil for 

the Province of New Jersey, who 

Departed this life March the 28th, 

Anno Do 1736, aged 71 years. 

"His Country's true Friend, obliging to neighbours, 
Gave no man otfense. Paid each for their labours. 
Was easie at home, or abroad dare appeare, 
Gave each man his Due and no man did fear. 
The same in all seasons From flattery far." 

"Here lies the body of John Eeid,' who came 
from Scotland, his native Country, with his wife, 
Margaret, and three daughters, to New Jersey the 9th 
of Decbr., Anno Dom 1683. He died the 16th of 
Novbr., Anno Dom 1723, Aged 67 years." 

The old Scots Meeting-House, which was 
situated about two miles northwest of Topanemus, 
was built about 1692 l)y Scotch Presbyterians, 
who settled along; the western border of the 
county between 1683 and 1690, many of them 
beinor emigrants who came from Scotland in the 
ill-fiited ship "Caledonia" in 1685. A more 
extended account of this old meeting-house and 
its congreffation will be found in the histors- of 
the old Tennent Church, in ^lanalajjan town- 
ship. 

The graveyard adjoining this old meeting- 
house still exists, and is called the old Scotch 
Burying-Ground. The site of the old church 
can be plainl}- seen by the depression in the 

' John Reid located first at Perth Amboy, but a short 
time, came to Monmouth County and settled on a tract of 
land called " Hortensia," lying adjacent to Hop Brook, 
He became county judge and surveyor-general of the prov- 
ince, and held many other important offices. His daughter 
Anna, became the wife of the Honorable John Anderson. 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



(29 



ground and the absence of grave 



Til is shows 

that the building stood east of the centre, facing 
the old road leading to Englishtown. This 
burying-ground is a short distance from the 
farm-house where Ii-a Conover lived until his 
death. A few years ago this old burial-ground 
was cleared up and fenced. The grave of Rev. 
John Tennent is in the centre, and marked by 
a flat slab. The names on many of the old 
tombstones show their Scottish origin. For 
example, that of Michael Henderson, who died 
August 23, 1722 ; John Hendereon, who died 
January 1, 1771, in his seventy-fourth year; 
Samuel Crawford, who died July 8, 1748, aged 
thirty-five years. 

On an adjacent tombstone in this inscription : 
" Here lies the body of William Crawford, late 
High Sheriff of ^liddlesex County, who de- 
parted this life the 22d day of March, 1760, in 
his 50th year." 

Very near this is a double tombstone, sculp- 
tured with a ghostly semblance of the human 
face, with the following inscription : " Here 
lies the body of ^largaret, wife of William 
Eedford, who eauie from North Britain 1682, 
who died April 17, 1729, aged 84 years." 

" Here lies the body of "William Redford, 
■who came from North Britain 1682, and died 
March, 1725-26, aged 84 years." On this side 
of the yard is the grave of Richard Clark, whom 
the headstone shows was born in Scotland, 1663, 
and died ^Nlay 16, 1733, aged seventy years. 

Other tombstones record the names of Arch- 
ibald Craig, who died January 19, 1758, aged 
seventy-three years ; of Mary, his wife, No- 
vember 1, 1752, aged sixty-nine years; of An- 
thony Ward, born in Great Britain, and died 
in 1746, aged seventy-six; and of Elizabeth, 
wife of Jeremiah Reeder, who died 1735, aged 
seventy- nine. There are a great manv graves 
without headstones, and only slight irregulari- 
ties in the ground to sliow they ever existed. 
In late years only the Quackenbush, the Boice 
and Probasco families have buried in this old 
ground. 
The Old Brick Chukch of Maelborough,' 



' This history of the Bricli Church is by the Rev. Theo- 
dore W. Wells. 



first known as the Reformed Church of Nave- 
sink,- afterwards as the Dutch Reformed Church 
of Freehold and Middletown, was formed in the 
year 1699. The earliest reliable information 
obtained of a Reformed Church in the county 
is that in that year the Dutch families of Mon- 
mouth County were sufficient in number to have 
stated i)reaching. This service was rendered 
according to agreement by ministers from Long 
Island at apjwinted times in rotation. Their 
names were Wilhelmus Lupardus, Vincentius 
Antonides and Bernardus Freeman. They 
were j^a^tors of the collegiate churches of 
King's County, L. I. Of the Rev. Mr. Lu- 
pardus nothing is known. The Rev. Vincen- 
tius Antonides, who is described as an amiable 
Christian gentleman, had a son, named Johan- 
nes, who married Johanna Kowenhoven, and 
settled in Middletown about 1720. He was a 
deacon in this church in 1726. The Rev. Ber- 
nardus Freeman, before his settlement at Flat- 
bush, was a missionary among the I\Iohawk 
Indians, and was celebrated in his day ft>r his 
knowledge of the Indian language. 

These ministers, it is said, found their ser- 
vices here exceedingly burdensome because of 
" the distance they were compelled to travel, 
and the danger of crossing the great bay in 
small boats." 

The church records begin with this state- 
ment, recorded in the Low Dutch language : 
"In the year of our Lord, 1709, on the 19th 
of October, the Rev. Joseph Morgan, a minis- 
ter of the gospel of Jesus Christ, was installed 
as pastor of the Reformed congregation of Free- 
hold and Middletown, in the presence of Rev. 
Bernardus Freeman, of King's County." Then, 
as now, it M'as the Reformed Church ; nor 
should it be overlooked that it is spoken of as 
the Reformed congregation of Freehold and 

'' Dominie Erickzon, when commencing the record of 
baptisms administered by himself, in 173G, says: "Bap- 
tismal record of the Reformed congregation of the Xeve- 
zink.'' The whole region between the ocean and the Rari- 
tan River was known as the Navasink ; so called because 
occupied by a sub-tribe of the Lenape Indians, the Nava- 
sinks. This same region is sometimes called the Raritans. 
Families settling here are said to have removed to the 
"Raritans," on the old church records of Flatbush, Long 
Island. 



730 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Middletown, — one congregation, with families 
residing in the two townships of Freehold and 
Middletown and sometimes called the Congre- 
gation of the Navasink. The consistory was 
composed of Peter Van Deventer and John 
WyckoilP, elders, and Jacob Van Dorn and 
Garret Schenck, deacons. There were forty- 
nine in the commnnion of the church, forty- 
iive of whom had been received by certiticate 
and four by confession of faith in Christ. 

The first installed pastor of a Reformed 
Church in New Jersey was Rev. Guillaume 
Bertholf, who was installed at Hackensack in 
1694. The second pastor of a Reformed 
Church installed in the State was Rev. Joseph 
Morgan, at Freehold, in 1709. 

Until 1826 there was no other Refoi'med 
Church in ^Monmouth County. Now there are 
nine, all of them the oifspring of the old 
mother church, over M'hich, in 1709, the Rev. 
Josejih Morgan was installed. At this time 
Mr. ]Morgan was pastor of the Scotch Presby- 
terian Church, the germ of the well-known Old 
Tennent Church. He was a Presbyterian min- 
ister and a Dutch dominie at the same time. 
When he appeared in court to take the neces- 
sary oaths as minister of the gospel, he was 
presented by representativ'es of both congrega- 
tions. These oaths were required because he 
was not a minister of the Church of England. 
According to "An Act of Parliament for 
exempting her Majesty's Protestant subjects 
dissenting from the church of England from 
the penalties of certain laws," every minister 
not in the communion of the English Church 
was obliged to take oath that he would not teach 
the doctrine of transubstantiation, nor anything 
contrary to the doctrine of the Trinity, as taught 
in the thirty-nine articles of the English Church. 
This was called " qualifying," and in this man- 
ner Dominie Morgan " qnalified " himself in 
December, 1 709, having been " presented by 
several of said congregation, viz., Jacob Laen, 
John Wikof, John Sntfin, William Heudrick- 
son, .John Essmith, William Wilkins and Auri 
Mattison, in behalf of themselves and the rest of 
their brethren." The first three of these persons 
were in the communion of the Reformed Church ; 
the others represented the Scotch Presbyterians. 



During his whole ministry Dominie Morgan 
was connected with the Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia, to which he was amenable. The circum- 
stances which led to his settlement among the 
Dutch ^\•ere his ability to preach in the Low 
Dutch lauffuaire, and the willingness of himself 
and the Scotch Presbyterians to give the Dutch 
three-fourths of his services, — an arrangement 
it would have been impossible to make had 
not the Dutch congregation been the most 
flourishing. 

At this time Monmouth County was little 
less than a forest. Here and there was a clear- 
ing ; but the settlements were widely scattered, 
the streams unbridged and the roads not much 
more than paths through the wilderness. 
Horseback riding for many years was a neces- 
sity. In the latter part of his ministry Dominie 
iMorgan, it is said, attracted attention by riding 
through the country in a two-wheeled cart or 
gig, — probably the first thing of the kind brought 
into the county. 

Mr. Morgan was probably of Welsh origin. 
He was born in 1674. When twenty-three 
years of age he was ordained in Connecticut to 
the gos2)el ministry. He was thirty-five years 
old when becoming the pastor of this church. 
He had previously been settled over the Pres- 
byterian Churches of Bedford and East Ches- 
ter, in New York, and afterwards ministered to 
the churches of Hopewell and Maidenhead, 
N.J. He was persecuted in his ministry on ac- 
count of the manner of his ordination and his 
use of notes in preaching. He incurred the 
ill-will of Dominie Frelinghuysen, of Six-Mile 
Run, the most influential Dutch minister in this 
section of the State, by baptizing the children 
of some of the disaffected members of his con- 
gregation, who applied for such service. The 
baptismal register contains the record. In bit- 
ter retaliation. Dominie Frelinghuysen denounced 
him as " the friend and advocate of a lifeless, 
God-dishonoring formality." In 1728 various 
charges were brought against him, such as prac- 
ticing astrology, countenancing promiscuous 
dancing and transgressing in drink, but they 
were not sustained. Al)out ten years after this 
intemperance ^vas proved against him and he 
was suspended from the ministry. He was 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



731 



fully restored in 1 738. Two years later, hav- 
ing heard George Whitefield preach, he was so 
aifected with Whitefield's spirit that he went 
forth as an evangelist, proclaiming the gospel 
towards the sea-coasts of New Jersey and other 
places destitute of the means of grace. He 
died while engaged in these missionary labors, 
sixty-six j-ears of age, and was laid to rest in a 
grave unknown. 

He was a man (jf more than usual ability, a 
learned man and a scholar. He was the author 
of a number of pj'inted sermons on various 
subjects, and published several theological treat- 
ises. A Latin letter written by him to Cotton 
Mather, the most eminent clergyman of New 
England, bearing date 1721, is preserved at 
Worcester, INIass. The testimony of the con- 
sistory, at the time of his leaving this congre- 
gation, gives him a reputation for piety and 
ministerial fidelity scarcely equaled by any of 
the ministers at that time in the eountr}^. 

In 1714, five years after the installation of 
Dominie Morgan, the land on which this build- 
ing stands, and the adjoining farm of Mr. 
Daniel P. Conover, became the property of the 
church. It was first bought of one Eichard 
Salter, or Sadler, in 1709, for the sum of four 
hundred and fifty pounds, by Ghertie Romain, 
widow of Stoifell Romain, " for the use of the 
Dutch Presbyterian minister." In 1714 it was 
conveyed by Jacobus Romain, her son, to John 
Schenek and Cornelius Cowenhoven, of Mid- 
dletown, and Peter Tyson, of Freehold, in 
trust for the use of the congregation. Because 
of the uncertain tenure of lauds and the conflict 
of titles at that early day, the same property, 
with the addition of thirty acres, was deeded, 
in 1748, to Cornelius Van Der Veer, of Mid- 
dletown, and John Hans, of Freehold, " in 
trust for the Low Dutfh cong-regation of Prot- 
estants, as the same was established by the 
Synod of Dort, in the years 1618-19, to be 
equally divided between the two congregations 
of Freehold and ]Middletown, both in quantity 
and quality." This deed was executed by 
Thomas Kinnan. The property was occujiied 
by Dominie Morgan as a jiarsonage. It is 
described as containing " one hundred acres of 
good arable land, as good as any in Freehold, on 



which a family may subsist comfortably." 
Dominie Morgan, it is said, realized at least 
thirty pounds a year from his farming opera- 
tions, " besides his own bread." Its location is 
designated " five-quarters of an hour's distance 
from the water's edge, and the half of a quarter 
of an hour's distance from the church." 

The question now arises. Where was the 
church located "? Two places are referred to as 
the probable site. The Rev. Aaron A. Marcel- 
Ins says, in a book of historical notes, that the 
old church stood either on the brow of the hill, 
on the right-hand side of the turnpike, just as 
vou cross the bridffe near the mill in o-diiiirfrom 
the church to Marlborough, or on Hendrickson's 
Hill, the large knoll on which a solitary apple- 
tree is now growing, almost directly in the rear 
of the present parsonage at INIarlborough. Be- 
tween these two places it is not difficult to de- 
cide. There is in the former place an old grave- 
yard, whose existence has probably led to the 
conclusion that a church once stood there. It 
was formerly known and called Hance's bury- 
ing-ground, and was a portion of the estate of 
John Hance,' one of the original proprietors 
under the Nicolls patent. This proves conclu- 
sively that the old church did not stand there. 
Burying-grounds invariably take the name of 
the church to which they belong. The tradi- 
tion which fixes the site of the old church on 
Hendrickson's Hill is probably correct. In 
tracing back the title to the jiroperty in ques- 
tion, it is found that more than a century ago a 
quarter of an acre of land, which takes in Hen- 
drickson's Hill, was deeded several times to 
different parties, until at length it became the 
property of Mr. John H. Smock, who owned 
the adjoining land. The building which for- 
merly stood on Hendrickson's Hill, and was 
taken down more than fifty years ago, was just 
such a building as a jiioneer people would be 
likely to erect as a house of worship. It was 
about twenty feet square, with a steep gable 
roof. The sides were shingled. The door was 

1 Some persons think this name should be spelled Hans, 
pronounced Honce. If so, the property in question did 
not belong to the John Hance mentioned, but to a Dutch 
family, whose name is found on the baptismal register in 
1736, — Johannes Hanse and Lena Willemse, his wife. 



732 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



iu the middle of one of the sides, and was quite 
large. There was a window on each side of the 
door. There were no partitions within, but one 
room occupied the whole space. Such a build- 
ing would not have l)een erected for dwelling 
purposes. It was used as a dwelling in later 
years, but only after additions were built and 
alterations made. It was a very old building 
when taken down. It is also well known that 
fifty years ago, when the congregation was di- 
vided in opinion and sentiment concerning the 
location of the Brick Church, some ^^•ished to 
have it placed on Hendrickson's Hill. As at 
that time there was no village at Marlborough., 
the only apparent reason for such a desire is the 
fact, then better known than at present, that 
the first church stood there. 

At this time (1709) there was no house of 
worship belonging to the Reformed Church at 
Middletown. The deed for the IMiddletown 
Church property was executed in 1723. This 
was after the erection of the church. In de- 
scribing the property, the deed locates the place 
of beginning a certain number of chains "south- 
east of the meeting-house." The date of the 
erection of the church is unknown. It was 
probably commenced as early as 1721, as at that 
time there was a permanent increase in the num- 
ber of elders and deacons composing the con- 
sistory. This church Mas located about half a 
mile beyond the present Holmdel parsonage, 
on the road leading to ^liddletown village, 
near an old burying-ground. Some old papers 
in possession of Dr. William Reiley show 
conclusively that it must have been built in 
squares, without pews. There seems to have 
been eleven of these squares, besides benches. 
There are still extant curious lists of these 
squares and their occupants, which show that 
the present congregation is, to a great extent, 
descended from those who reared the old build- 
ing. It was pulled down and destroyed in 
1764. The property on which it stood was 
conveyed to Daniel Heudrickson and Johannes 
Polhemus by Andrew Johnson, or Middle- 
town, in consideration of the sum of three 
pounds, " for the sole use, benefit and behoof of 
the people belonging to the religious society 
known as the Dutch Presbyterians." Previous 



to the erection of the Middletown Church the 
only Reformed Church building in IMonmouth 
County was the one located on Hendi-ickson's 
Hill, in the present township of Marlborough, 
then forming a part of the township of Free- 
hold. This is the reason why the congregation 
is always called, in the early church records, the 
consregation of " Freehold and Middletown." 
Dominie Morgan's ministry lasted twenty-two 
years. He received one hundred persons into 
the communion of the church, the first of whom, 
Jan Romain, Benjamin Keener, Derrick Barka- 
low and Janake, his wife, were received the 
l;^>th of May, 1711. He baptized five hundred 
and eighty-two infants, the first of whom was 
Abraham, son of Jacob Van Dorn, October 20, 
1709. In 1721 a revival was enjoyed, when 
twelve persons united with the church at one 
time. He preached his farewell sermon August 
2, 1731. 

The Rev. Gerardus Haeghoort, a licentiate of 
the Classis of Amsterdam, Holland, succeeded 
Mr. Morgan. He came in answer to a call sent 
bv the consistory to the above-mentioned Classis, 
with the request that they would send them a 
suitable minister. Accompanying this call there 
is an interesting description of such a minister 
as the consistory suppose would be acceptable 
to their people. He was to be a person of com- 
petent abilities, not more than thirty-five years 
of age, whether married or unmarried it mat- 
tered not. He was to be sound in the faith of 
the Reformed Church, well educated, exemplary 
and prudent. . 

The call also contained the following stipula- 
tions : The pastor is to preach in two places, — 
Freehold and I\Iiddletown, — on alternate Sab- 
baths, the two meeting-houses being "about an 
hour and a half's travel apart." He is to ob- 
serve New Year's day, Paas, Pinxter, Ascen- 
sion and Christmas days, " according to the cus- 
tom of a majority of the churches in this 
country." The Lord's Supper is to be adminis- 
tered quarterly and alternately in either church, 
the ])reparatory service having been held on 
the preceding Thursday. 

For such services the consistory promise him 
the entire use of the parsonage and farm in 
Freehold, "on which, in a short time, the 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



733 



church will be placed, not far from the minis- 
ter's house." They promise him annually 
seventy pounds good current money, in exact 
half-yearly payments, — a custom still in vogue. 
They also promise to repair the parsonage accord- 
ingly to the dominie's wishes, after his arrival, 
and likewise to furnish him with a good riding- 
liorse. The congregation is described as " five- 
quarters of an hour's travel in breadth in the 
middle, and full three Dutch or twelve Eng- 
lish miles in length." And the consistory as- 
sure the Classis that if the minister they send is 
not accustomed to farming, " he could let the 
farm for two-thirds of its yield, or hire a far- 
mer for fifteen j)ounds, or by the assistance and 
instruction of friends, he would be able in a few 
years to manage the farm." 

This call was signed by Jan Kowenhoven, 
Gai-ret Schenck, Elbert Williamse and Corne- 
lius WyckofF, eldei-s, and Dirk Barkalow, Hen- 
drick Kip, Jan Van Mater, and William 
Covenhoven, deacons. It wa.s moderated and 
attested by the Rev. Gaultherus Du Bois, who 
seems to have been very much in the esteem 
and confidence of the people. He Mas pastor 
of the Collegiate Reformed Church of New 
York City. " He was more like a bishop," 
says Dr. De Witt, " among the Dutch Churches, 
than pastor of a single organization." 

Mr. Haeghoort, having accepted this call, was 
solemnly ordained by the laying on of hands, 
and installed pastor of the church of Freehold 
and Middletown by the Classis of Amsterdam, 
Holland. On the 9th of August, 1731, he was 
introduced to his charge by the Rev. Gaul- 
therus Du Bois, who preached a sermon on the 
occasion. Four years afler his arrival he re- 
signed his call to become pastor of the Reformed 
Church at Second River (now Belleville) Essex 
county, N. J. 

For fifteen vears Mr. Haeghoort's relations 
to the church at Second River were delightful 
and pleasant. Dissatisfaction then took the 
place of hai'mony and love. The church-doors 
were closed against him, and he preached to a 
few friends from the steps of the church. His 
salary was withheld, and for so long a time 
that the possession of some property brought 
with him from Holland alone saved him from 



needing the very necessaries of life. He main- 
tained his ground, triumphed over his enemies, 
and continued the pastor of the church until 
1776, when he died, and was buried within 
the walls of the church, immediately in front 
of the pulpit. 

During the first year of Mr. Haeghoort's 
ministry, and previous to September, 1732, the 
congregation commenced the erection of a house 
of worship on the site now occupied by the 
Brick Church. They were so evenly divided in 
sentiment and desire that at a meeting called 
for deciding the location of the church, they 
agreed that the church should stand on the site 
to which the first load of stone for building 
purposes was carted. It was late in the after- 
noon when the meeting adjourned, but Mr. 
Roeleif Schenck, more frequently called Black 
Roeleff, immediately went home, hitched up 
his team, gathered the stones and carted them 
to the lot on which this building stands. That 
decided the matter. 

The building which the congregation erected 
on the site to which Roeleff carted the stones 
was a good, substantial edifice, nearly as large 
as the present one. There were three windows 
on each side, and a large double-arched door in 
the centre of the gable end fiicing the road. It 
had a steep, hip roof, surmounted by a small 
belfry, crowned with the four points of the com- 
pass and a large brass rooster. This is now in 
the possession of Mr. Asher Holmes. There 
were galleries extending about three-fourths of 
the length of each side, and entirely across the 
front. The building was ceiled within with 
boards standing on end. The ceiling: overhead 
met from each side in the centre, from which a 
large wooden ornament resembling an acorn was 
pendant. The pulpit was small, but quite high. 
It was reached by a narrow flight of stairs, and 
over it hung a sounding-board to give volume 
and depth to the minister's voice. For many 
years there were no pews in the building. The 
congregation sat on benches, the men around the 
wall, the women in the centre. Some used 
double chairs, such as was generally used in 
wagons in those days, and may occasionally be 
seen even now about old farm-houses. Some 
of the families would ride to church in these 



734 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



chairs, and then taking them out of their wagons, 
would carry them into church for use during 
service. Others kept such seats especially for 
use in the sanctuary. A great many would ride 
to church on horseback. One horse generally 
carried a man and his wife, and very frequently the 
baby also. Carriages were unknown. The first 
family carriage in this vicinity was owned by 
Mr. John H. Smock, and was purchased about 
eighty years ago. Farm-wagons without springs 
were thought to l)e comfortable. There were 
no means for heating the chui'ch. Stoves were 
not in existence. Private houses were made 
warm by the use of large fire-places, but churches 
were built without chimneys. 

In this building the congregation worshiped 
more than ninety years. It wa.s taken down in 
1826 to make room for the present church edi- 
fice. Mr. Haeghoort continued the pastor of 
the church only four years, and when resigning 
his call, August 17, 1735, left one hundred and 
nineteen persons in the communion of the 
church, sixty-seven of whom were in the con- 
gregation of Freehold and fifty-two in that of 
Middletown. 

The year following the resignation of Mr. 
Haeghoort the Eev. Keynhai'd Erickzon was 
recommended to the consistory by the Rev. 
Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuj'sen,' of Raritan. 
The result is thus recorded in the handwriting 
of Mr. Frelinghuysen : 

" In the year 1736, in December, a meeting of the 
Consistory was held at Freeliold of the Navesiuk, at 
whicli were read the call of the Rev. Reynhard Erick- 
zon, and liis honoroble dismission and certificate from 
the congregation at Schenectady. The which certifi- 
cate being found lawful and constitutional, the Rev. 
R. Erickzon was received and recognized as pastor 
and teacher of the congregation of Freehold and 
Middletown, by the Rev. Consistory of that place. 
" T. J. Frelinghuysen, President Pro Tem." 

Dominie Erickzon was a Swede. He came 
to America in 1725. He was then about twen- 

' The first minister of the Reformed Church in Central 
New Jersey. 1720. Gilbert Tennent, George Whilefield .and 
Jonathan Edwards speak of him as one of the great 
divines of the American Church. He was the great- 
grandfather of the late Honorable Theodore Frelinghuysen, 
who for many years was president of Rutgers College. — 
See Conoin's Manual of the Reformed Church, p. 87. 



ty-five years of age. He sailed from Holland 
with his brother and sister in the .ship " King 
George," Captain Saul Payton. He was first 
settled at Hackensack, Paramus and Schraalen- 
bergh, where his labors were very greatly 
blessed, and converts were multiplied. After a 
three years' ministry he removed to Schenec- 
tady, N. Y. He was married twice, — the first 
time, in 1726, at Hackensack, to Maria Provost; 
the second time, while settled here, in 1736, to 
Sarah Luyster, the widow t)f Rulif Brokaw, 
and dauo-hter of Johannes Ltivster and Lucretia 
Brewer, ^vho resided near ^liddletown village. 
In the latter part of his ministry — which 
lasted for twenty-seven years — he became a 
victim to the drinking customs of the day. 
The consistory made out charges against him, 
withheld his salary and excluded him from the 
pulpit. He continued to reside in the parson- 
age until 1770, six year after his successor was 
called. He then removed to New Brunswick, 
and resided with his daughter, Mrs. Van Nor- 
den. He died soon after this, and his widow 
returned to Middletown, her native place. His 
remains, it is said, were also conveyed to Mon- 
mouth County for burial. If so, he lies in an 
unknown grave, though worthy of being honored 
as one of the fathers of the American Reformed 
Church. An excellent portrait of him is in the 
possession of Rev. Garret C. Schenck. 

In 1764, the same year in which Mr. Erick- 
zon's ministry closed. Rev. Benjamin Du Bois, a 
voungman, just licensed by the American Classis 
to preach the gospel, was called to occupy the 
vacant pulpit. There is no record to be found 
of his installation and ordination. He was born 
at Pittsgrove, Salem County, N. J., March 30, 
1739, and was baptized in the Presbyterian 
Church there, in which his father was an elder. 
He was the son of Lewis Du Bois, a lineal de- 
scendant of the French Huguenots of New 
Paltz. His mother's name was Margaret Jan- 
sen, who was born in Kingston, of Low Dutch 
descent. He was educated at Poughkeepsie, 
and studied theology with Rev. Johannes H. 
Goetschius, of Hackensack, N. J. A short time 
after his settlement here he married Phemertje 
Deuise, the daughter of Tunis Denise and Fran- 
cvnthe Heudrickson, of Freehold, a woman of 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



735 



intelligeuce aud activity, ^^prightly, prudent and 
pious. Tliey had ten children, — four sons and 
six daughters, — all of whom were married, were 
highly respected for their virtuous ^^riiiciples 
aud became members in full communion of the 
church. Four of them settled in this locality, 
and their descendents are very largely repre- 
sented here to-day. 

During the period of Mr. Du Bois' ministry 
a new house of worship was erected at Middle- 
town, on the place where the old one stood. 
The subscription for defi'aying the necessary ex- 
penses bears date February 28, 1764. This 
was in the midst of the Coetus difficulties, and 
the decided Conferentia jirinciples of the con- 
gregation are manifested by the peculiar word- 
ing of the subscription. It is expressly stipu- 
lated, "The church for which we subscribe is 
to be the National Church of the High Synod 
of Dort, established in the years 1618 and 
1619." The house of worship thus erected 
was known for many years as the Red ISIeeting- 
House. It corresponded in size with the one 
at Freehold, and was very much such a build- 
ing. It was used for divine worship until the 
erection of the Holmdel Church. 

In 1785 the church building at Freehold was 
repaired aud improved. A chimney was built 
and a large stove purchased. The rude benches 
which had formerly been used were taken out 
and replaced with pews. To meet this exjjeuse, 
the pews were sold at public auction. The 
terms of the sale are carefully penned in the 
handwriting of the pastor. From these it 
appears all right and title to a pew should cease 
so soon as a j'ew-holder or his heirs should 
cease to pay for the support of the minister. 

The contention respecting the change from 
Dutch to English preaching commenced with 
the settlement of Mr. Du Bois. The English 
language was introduced in the Freehold con- 
gregation during the first year of his ministry, 
without much opposition. But not so at Mid- 
dletown. In that congregation there were some 
who yielded a very reluctant consent, aud a 
few who bitterly opposed it to the very last. 
At a meeting of the consistory in 1766, held 
at Freehold, it was "Hesoh-ed, that those who 
wish to enjoy the services of our minister in 



the Euglisii language, in our church at Middle- 
town, shall have their request to the half of the 
service in that congregation." About twenty 
years after this, in 1785, it was resolved, in a 
church council at Middletown, that the Dutch 
and English preaching shall be in proportion 
to Dutch aud English subscription for salary. 
The following year it was ascertained, in com- 
pliance with this resolution, that the proportion 
of Dutch service should not be more than three 
Sal)l)aths a year, and it was left to the optiou of 
the pastor to make an address in English after 
the Dutch service. It was also " Resolved, 
that if, for want of Dutch singers, it seem expe- 
dient, the pastor, if he choose, may have Eng- 
lish singing and preach iu Dutch." The 
dominie certainly enjoyed the preaching in 
Dutch. 

In 1817,]\Ir.Du Bois was relieved from the ac- 
tive duties of the ministry by the labors ofacol- 
league,but he was never declared Emeritus, an([ the 
pastoral relation was dissolved only by his death. 
He was the settled pastor of this church for sixty- 
three years. That is Ity far the longest pastor- 
ate in the history of the Eeforraed Church in 
America. He received one hundred and sixty- 
six persons into the communion of the church, 
baptized twelve hundred and eighty-three in- 
fants, married seven hundred and twenty-five 
couples. The last marriage ceremony he per- 
formed was September28, 1818, when he united 
in marriage Denise Denise aud Altie Hulse. 
He died August 21, 1827. 

During the ministry of ]\Ir. Du Bois, com- 
munion Sabbaths were called Great Meeting- 
days. The audience was larger than at any 
other time. Every communicant, if possible, 
was present. The services were long. Many 
brought a lunch to eat between the mornins; and 
afternoon sessions. It was a time of reunion 
and friendly cheer, as well as of holy communion 
with God. But this is not all. There were 
in those days, as now there are, those who im- 
proved every opportunity to make a few pennies. 
There was in front of the okl church a large 
chestnut-tree, and under that tree, on Great 
^Meeting days, there \vas always to be seen a 
man with a wagon offering for sale cakes 
and small beer. Nor were customers lacking. 



736 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



After the sermon the great majority of those 
who were not communicants were in the habit 
of leaving the church and thought it no harm to 
refresh themselves with the offered cake and 
beer. There are those now living who can re- 
member, that as children, they beguiled the time 
of service by feeling of the pennies in their 
pockets, with which they expected to treat them- 
selves at the small beer wagon when the sermon 
closed. 

In 1817 the Classis of New Brunswick, in 
answer to an application from the consistory of 
the Reformed Church of Freehold and ^Middle- 
town for ministerial supplies, because of the 
infirmities of their pastor, appointed three young 
men, M'ho had just been licensed, to occupy the 
pulpit. One was afterward known as Rev. Isaac 
N. WyckofF, D.D., for many years pastor of the 
Middle Reformed Church, at Albany. Another 
was afterwards known as Rev. John Ludlow, 
D.D., LL.D., professor of Hebrew, ecclesias- 
tical history, church government and pastoral 
theology. The third was afterward known as 
Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken, D.D., professor 
of didactic theology. In September of that 
year the consistory presented a call to the Rev. 
Mr. Van Vranken. His ordination and instal- 
lation as pastor took place in the Freehold 
Church thefirst Sabbath of April, 1818. The 
sermon was preached by Rev. John L. Zabris- 
kie. Revs. James S. Canon, John S. Vreden- 
bergh and Benjamin Du Bois delivering the 
charges to the pastor and people, and taking 
part in the devotional exercises. 

Since the organization of the church its pas- 
tors had resided in the Freehold congregation, 
and now, as the parsonage at Freehold was oc- 
cupietl by j\Ir. Du Bois, the ^liddletown people 
desired their new pastor to dwell among them. 
To gratify their wishes, the consistory inaugu- 
rated measures for the purchase of a parsonage 
at ISIiddletown. The property selected was that 
now occupied by Rev. Dr. William Reiley, of 
Holmdel. There Dr. Van A^ranken commenced 
house-keeping, and there he dwelt until 1826. 
He was born at Hopewell in 1790. He gradu- 
ated from the Theological Seminary at New 
Brunswick in 1817. A short time, after he 
married Miss Maria Gansevoort, of Albany, a 



descendant of Wessel Gansevoort, of Groningen, 
"one of the Morning Stars of the Reformation 
in Holland." This lady died while Mr. Van 
Vranken was pastor of this church. Dr. Van 
Vranken was again man-ied twice, — first, to a 
Miss Swift, of Poughkeepsie, and then to Mrs. 
Mary Boulden, of Delaware. 

In 1834, after a pastorate of sixteen years. 
Dr. Van Vranken accepted a call to the First 
Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie. There he 
remained about three years, when he removed to 
New York and became pastor of the Broome 
Street congregation, from which position he was 
called in 1841, by the General Synod of the Re- 
formed Church, to occupy the chair of didactic 
theology in the seminary at New Brunswick. 
This position he filled with credit to himself 
and honor to the church until the day of his 
death, January 1, LSfjl. 

In 1825, seven years after Mr. Van Vrau- 
ken's installation, the consistory petitioned the 
Classis of New Brunswick to organize two 
churches out of the church they represented. 
The causes which led to such a request were the 
great extent of the congregation and the dis- 
tance which many were compelled to travel every 
other Sabbath to enjoy divine worship. There 
were twenty-seven gates between the house of 
Mr. Uriah Smock, near the village of Marl- 
borough, and the church at Middletown, to be 
opened and shut, both in going to and returning 
from church. IMany other residences were shut 
in in like manner. And now the imperative 
necessity of a new house of worship at Free- 
hold, the location of which had occasioned con- 
siderable feeling, and disturbed to some extent 
the peace of the congregation, brought on the 
issue. Shall we continue under one pastorate or 
become two distinct churches ? 

Dr. Van Vranken desired to build one large 
church in the centre of the two congregations, 
to take the place of the two houses of worship in 
which he was then preaching on alternate Sab- 
baths. The people were divided in opinion. The 
Classis appointed a committee to investigate the 
matter, possessing talent enough to settle the 
gravest questions of state. Its chairman was 
Rev. James S. Canon. Associated with him 
were Revs. John L. Zabriskie and James B. 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



737 



Hardenbergh, and the elders, John Freling- 
huysen, of Somerville, and Jacob R. Harden- 
bergh, of New Brunswick. This committee, 
after holding divine service in the church at 
Middletown, met with a committee appointed 
by the two congregations to present tlieir views, 
and then conferred with other prominent and 
influential ones who chanced to be present. The 
meeting was liarmonious, and with one mind 
desired the division of the congregation, believ- 
ing it would tend to the enlargement of each of 
the congregations, and be the means also of 
making friendship therein. Dr. Canon recom- 
mended the formation of the two congregations, 
according to the requirements of the church 
constitution. The Classis adopted his recom- 
mendation, and also, with others, the following 
resolution: "That the line which divides the 
township of Freehold from the township of 
Middletown be recommended to be the line of 
division, for the present, between the congre- 
gations of Freehold and Middletown, when 
formed." By this action of the Classis, the 
united congregations of Freehold and Middle- 
town, which for nearly a hundred and twenty- 
five years had enjoyed the labors of the same 
pastors, had mingled their voices in the worship 
of God, had consecrated their children to the 
Lord at the same baptismal font and had 
gathered about the same communion-table, were 
severed in twain, November 28, 1825, the 
larger portion becoming the First Reformed 
Church of Freehold, the other the Reformed 
Church of Middletown, which has since been 
incorporated the Refoi-med Church of Holm- 
del. 

Henceforth their history flows in two distinct 
and separate channels. It is proposed to trace 
here the course of only the main branch of the 
divided stream, — the First Reformed Church of 
Freehold. Eighty families and sixty-eight 
communicants were represeutetl by this cor- 
porate title. The consistory was composed 
of three elders and three deacons. Garret 
Wyckoff, Daniel I. Schenck and Aaron Smock 
were the elders; Joseph Van Cleef, Denise 
Schenck and Garret G. Conover ^\•ere the 
deacons. 

The first act of the consistory was to extend 

47 



a call to the Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken to 
become their pastor. It was accepted at once, 
aud Mr. Van Vranken's relation to the " United 
(Congregation of Freehold and Middletown" 
dissolved by Classis April 19, 182G. On 
Sunday, the 22d of the previous January, he 
had preached a farewell sermon to the Middle- 
town congregation, and, vacating their parson- 
age, had moved within the bounds of the 
Freehold congregation April 11th. Mr. Van 
Vranken was a very popular preacher, and his 
great popularity as a pulpit orator caused the 
Classis, when dissolving his pastoral relation 
with the united congregations, and approving 
the call of the First Church of Freehold, to 
adopt tlie useless and impracticable resolution, 
"that it be enjoined upon the consistories of 
Freehold and Middletown, so .soon as may be 
convenient, to take the late recommendation of 
Classis, in regard to a division line between the 
two congregations, into their serious consider- 
ation." It was never convenient. The con- 
sistories were wiser than the Classis. No body 
of men can dictate the place where Christian 
families shall worship. Convenience, inclina- 
tion or preference will invariably determine 
church relations. Arrangements were made, 
but never perfected, for the installation of Mr. 
Van Vranken at the Freehold Church, on the 
third Sabbath of July. A question was raised 
in relation to the necessity of installation ser- 
vices. As Mr. Van Vranken had already been 
installed the pastor of the same people who 
now called him again, and had never vacated 
the pulpit he occupied, it seemed to many a 
superfluous thing to have him reinstalled. It 
took the ClassLs two full years to decide the 
matter. The letter of the law was obeyed, and 
formal installation services were held April 16, 
1828. The Rev. James Romeyn preached the 
sermon. The Rev. James B. Hardenbero'h 
delivered the charge to the pastor and the 
Rev. J. Tenbrook Beekman the charge to the 
people. 

The settlement of the affairs of the two con- 
gregations was pushed forward with energy. 
At a meeting held the 2d day of January, 
1826, it was unanimously agreed "that the 
church edifice, and grounds adjacent tliereto, 



738 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEUSEY. 



should be considered the exclusive property of 
the congregation worshiping therein; that all 
the other property, whether real or personal, 
belonging to the corporation of the United Con- 
gregations at the time of their separation, shall 
be equally divided between the two, the one 
moiety, or half, to each ; that all moneys in 
hand at the time of their separation, or there- 
after to be collected, shall be equally divided, 
whether arising from subscriptions, bonds, notes 
or otherwise and that all debts shall be equally 
borne by each, and paid previous to any di- 
vision of the property." A fairer settlement 
could not be adjusted. Its realization Mas at- 
tended with difficulties. Ill feeling was engen- 
dered, bitter words were spoken and the peace 
of the two congregations greatly disturbed. 
The storm soon passed by, the final settlement 
between the congregations taking place May 
6, 1826. At this settlement the consistory of 
this church received $2555. They were the 
possessors, also, of $2500 received from the 
estate of Tunis G. Van Der Veer. They also 
had $3750, the half of the sum received from 
the sale of the parsonage farm, — making a total 
of $8805, with which to commence their inde- 
pendent career. 

The only real estate of which they were pos- 
sessed was the land adjacent to an old church, 
so thoroughly out of repair that the building of 
a new one was an imperative necessity. They 
had no parsonage, and for this purpose pur- 
chased the small farm of about eighteen acres, 
in the southwestern portion of the congrega- 
tion, now owned and occupied by Mr. Daniel 
Van Mater. There the pastors of this church 
resided for nearly forty years. When the 
property was purchased, it cost the congrega- 
tion $3766. 

Early in the spring of 1826 measures were 
inaugurated for securing a new church. There 
was considerable difficulty in determining its 
location. Some of the congregation desired to 
have it built on Hendrickson's Hill, the place 
already mentioned as the site of the first Ee- 
formed Church in Monmouth County. But in 
April the consistory unanimously resolved to 
erect a new house of worship "on the site of 
the present church." They also determined 



that the building should be forty-five feet wide 
and fifty-five feet long, and that it should be 
of brick, with a steeple and a gallery. Mr. 
James I. Baird and Mr. Garret H. Smock were 
appointed a building committee, subject to the 
direction of the consistory. 

On Sunday, the 4th of June, Mr. Van Vran- 
ken preached a farewell sermon to the old 
building, which since 1732, a period of ninety- 
four years, had echoed with the praises of 
Almighty God, and to many was endeared 
above all the places of earth. After the old 
building was taken down, and while the new 
one was in course of erection, Mr. Van Vranken 
preached at the court-house, in Freehold village, 
and also in the vicinity of Colt's Neck, sometimes 
at Mr. Statesir's, and frequently in a barn on the 
old Stoutenburgh farm, the property now owned 
by Mr. llyall. The work on the new church was 
pushed forward with energy and zeal. So far 
as practicable, the materials of the old building 
were used in the construction of the new. A 
well was dug, not far from the road, in the 
present churchyard, to supply the necessary 
Mater. This M-ell remained many years after 
the church Mas finished. A shed for cooking 
purposes was put up on the church-grounds, 
not far from the building, that the laborers 
might be boardetl, and much expense saved. 
The bricks were made and burnt on the farm 
now occupied by Mr. John H. Van Mater, ad- 
joining the church property. Captain Isaac 
Herbert, who was learning his trade with Mr. 
James Thompson, the blacksmith, on M'hose 
anvil all the necessary iron fixtures for the 
church were wrought, carted the first load ot 
sand with an ox-team. The day was very 
Marm, and one of the oxen, when returning 
home, fell dead in the road. The greater part 
of the carting was done by Joseph Van Der Veer, 
who, M-hen the present pastor moved into the 
parsonage, came to bid him Melcome, saying he 
had welcomed Dominie Van Vranken, and 
every minister since his day, to their home in 
the parsonage. 

The corner-stone of the new building was 
laid some time in July, and the building Mas 
completed the folloMing year. The marble 
tablet in the front of the building was the gift 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



739 



of Mr. Hull, a stone-cutter at Matawan. It 
bears this inscription : 

REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 
Erected A. D. 1826. 
" Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house 
of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give 
the sacrifice of fools." Eccle. 5: 1. 

The first religious services held within the 
walls of the new church were the funeral cere- 
monies of the Rev. Benjamin Du Bois, August 
23(1. 

The building cost about ten thousand dollars, 
rather more than less. Its appearance,wheu com- 
pleted, differed within from its appearance at 
present. The pulpitwas higher; back of the pul- 
pit there was a window, and above the window a 
gilded dove. The elders' and deacons' seats, 
and other pews filling up the space, were each 
side of the pulpit, where the stoves now stand. 
The change was made in 1853, through a com- 
mittee of which Mr. Uriah Smock was chair- 
man. No other material alterations have been 
made. 

The building was dedicated by the pastor 
Sunday, the 9th day of September, 1827. The 
pastor also preached a sermon suitable to the 
occasion. An original anthem and an original 
hymn, prepared for the occasion, were sung by 
the choir. The singing was led by Mr. Garret 
H. Smock. Among those who assisted him 
were Mr. John Conover, Mr. Garret S. Smock 
(deceased), Mrs. Sydney Schenck, Mrs. Benja- 
min Du Bois, Mrs. John Henry Van Der Veer, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Du Bois, Mrs. Jacob Probasco, 
Mr. Aaron Smock, Miss Phoebe Van Der Veer 
and Mr. Daniel Polhemus Smock, who after- 
wards for many years was the church chorister. 

Mr. Van Vranken continued to occupy the 
pulpit of the new church for about seven years. 
In July, 1834, he received a call from the 
Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie, and his 
pastoral relation with this people was dissolved 
by the action of Classis the 23d of that month. 
During the eight years of his pastorate, imme- 
diately following the separation of the congre- 
gation, the eighty families and sixty-eight com- 
municants, with which the First Church of 
Freehold commenced its independent existence, 



became one hundred and thirty families and 
one hundred and fifty-nine communicants. 

The Rev. James Otterson was Mr. Van 
Vranken's successor. He was formally installed 
the first Wednesday of January, 1835. Dr. 
Abraham Messier, of Somerville, preached the 
sermon. The charge to the pastor was delivered 
by Dr. Howe, of New Brunswick, and that to 
the people by Dr. Sears, of Six-Mile Run. The 
relation thus formed was of short duration. It 
was dissolved November 27, 1838. Mr. Otter- 
son died of paralysis at the residence of his 
namesake .son, in Philadelphia, September 17, 
18G7. 

To succeed Mr. Otterson the consistory called 
the Rev. Aaron A. Marcellus in 1839. He was 
installed the last Wednesday of May. On this 
occasion the Rev. James K. Campbell, of North 
Branch, preached the sermon. The Rev. J. 
Tenbrook Beekman delivered the charge to the 
pastor and the Rev. .J. C. Sears the charge to 
the people. 

Mr. Marcellus was born at Amsterdam, N.Y., 
in 1799. His ancestors were Dutch. He gradu- 
ated from Union College in 1826, from the 
Theological Seminary at New Brunswick in 
1830, and the same year was licensed to preach 
the gospel by the Classis of New York. His 
first settlement was as pastor of the Reformed 
Church at Ly.sander, N. Y. In 1831 he re- 
moved to Schaghticoke, in 1834 to Manhattan. 
In 183G he became principal of the Lancaster 
Academy, which position he resigned, in 1839, 
to take charge of this church. This was by far 
his longest pastorate, extending over a period 
of twelve years. In 1851 he resigned his call 
and commenced teaching in New York City. 
In 1856 he assumed the pastorate of the church 
at Greenville, but after a ministry of about three 
years commenced teaching at Bergen, where he 
died in 1860. 

In 1835 the rapid growth of the village of 
Freehold, and the large number of the families 
of the congregation residing in its vicinity, 
caused the consistory to purcha.se a lot in the 
village from Mr. Cyrus Bruen, and to com- 
mence the erection thereon of a house of 
worship. The corner-stone was laid with 
appropriate ceremoni&s by the Rev. James 



740 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Otterson in the spring of 1836, but when the 
frame was raised and partly inclosed, work 
was suspended for want of funds. The build- 
ing remained in this unfinished condition for 
nearly two years. The consistory thought of 
abandoning the enterprise, and would have 
done so, it is said, but for the earnest protest 
of Mrs. John H. Smock. When her husband 
related the views of the consistory, she shook 
her head and made reply, saying, " No, John ; 
no. That church ought to be finished and 
must be finished." Mr. Smock was of the 
same opinion. He started a subscription, ad- 
vanced money and pushed the wovk forward 
with such success that the completed building 
was dedicatetl by the Rev. James Otterson, 
February 1, 1838. It cost the congregation, 
exclusive of the lot, about five tliousand 
dollars. 

At one time an attempt was made to again 
consolidate the Freehold and Middletown con- 
gregations, and ciill two pastors for the three 
pulpits. When Mr. Marcelhis was called, in 
1839, it was stipulated that he should preach 
twice on the Sabbath, — in the Brick Church in 
the forenoon, and in the church in the village 
of Freehold in the afternoon. But this ar- 
rangement soon proved very unsatisfactory to 
the village people. They naturally desired a 
morning service, and finally resolved to organ- 
ize the Second Reformed Church of Freehold. 
Mr. Ebenezer Couover and Mr. David Buck 
were appointed a committee to petition Classis, 
and the church was organized the first Tuesday 
in October, 1842. The church was formed 
almost entirely from this congregation, and they 
at once requested a fidl warranty deed for the 
church property in tlie village. The consistory 
refused to grant their request, because those still 
remaining in the Brick Church congregation had 
expended at least three thousand five hundred 
dollars in the erection of the building, and the 
congregation having been weakened in their 
ability to support a pastor, did not feel able to 
present the new congregation with a house of 
worship. But desirous of encouraging the 
enterprise, they oifered to give them a clear 
title for fifteen hundred dollars. This generous 
offer was not accepted. They then offered 



the church for one thousand dollars, but even 
this magnanimous offer was i ejected ; and so, 
finally, in 1846, four years after their organi- 
zation, the village congregation offered this con- 
sistory seven hundred and fifty dollars for the 
village church. The offer was accepted, and 
thus was consummated the cheapest transfer of 
real estate the county clerk has ever recorded. 

The ministry of Mr Marcellus was very 
greatly blessed, so that, although a church had 
been formed out of the congregation, he had the 
satisfaction of seeing their places more than 
filled. When commencing his ministry the 
membership of the church was one hundred and 
thirty-seven. When the pastoral relation was 
dissolved it was one hundred and nighty-four. 
To the ministry of Mr. ]\Iareellus two import- 
ant institutions of the church owe their origin, 
— the Sabbath-school and the week-day j)rayer 
meeting. The Sabbath-school was organized 
in 1840. It was held, for want of a better 
place, in the gallery of the church, and there it 
has ever since convened. It is known as the 
Brick Church Sabbath-School, and is in session 
only through the warm months of tiie year. 
The first year of its existence it reported one 
hundred and eight scholars, with an average at- 
tendance of eighty. Its first superintendent 
was Mr. William Statesir. He was succeeded 
by Mr. William Spader, who superintended the 
school for twenty years with great ability and 
success. Mr. Lafayette G. Schenck was super- 
intendent a short time, when Mr. Lafayette 
Schenck, the present superintendent, assumed 
the office. There are in this school four large 
adult Bible classes, an infant class, thirteen 
teachers and one hundred scholars. 

In 1851 the Rev. Ralph Willis succeeded 
Mr. Marcellus. He was installed September 
23d. Mr. Willis was a graduate of Rutgers 
College and of the Theological Seminary of 
New Brunswick. He was licensed by the Clas- 
sis of Philadelphia, and ordained to the gospel 
ministry as pastor of the Reformed Church at 
Bethlehem, N. Y., in 1842. His ministry here 
embraces a period of over sixteen years. The 
pastoral relation was dissolved February 28, 
1868. 

In 1852 a second Sabbath-school was organ- 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



741 



ized at Marlborough. It met in the district | 
school-house, and was intended only as a winter 
school. It was at first superintended by Mr. 
Willis himself. Those who have occupied the 
office of superintendent are too numerous to 
mention. Those who have done so for the 
longest period are !Mr. Lafayette G. Schenck 
and Mr. John Baird. Since the erection of the 
chapel this school has been maintained both 
summer and winter. It is known as the Marl- 
borough Chapel Sabbath-School. 

In 1855 the church-grounds for burial pur- 
poses were enlarged by the addition of an acre 
of land on the ^\•est side of the church, and in 
1866 a similar addition was made on the east 
side, and the sheds which formerly stood in the 
rear of the church were removed to their present 
position, greatly enhancing the appearance of 
the cemetery, which is rapidly becoming one ot 
the most picturesque and beautiful. The church 
liiiilding was also put in thorough repair and 
the wood-work painted. The improvements 
cost the congregation about two thousand dol- 
lar. 

In 1868 the Rev. George Swain succeeded 
Mr. Willis. He was installed September 1st. 
He was a graduate of the college and seminaiy 
at New Brunswick, and had been ordained, in 
1866, by the Classis of New Brunswick, at 
Middlebush, Somerset County, N. J., -which po- 
sition he resigned at the call of this people. At 
his installation the Rev. Garret C. Schenck pre- 
sided and read the form. The charge to the 
pastor was delivei-ed by the Rev. Samuel Lock- 
wood, and the Rev. James Bolton delivered the 
charge to the people. Mr. Swain's ministry 
proved to be a short one. He resigned his call 
in April, 187.3, to take charge of the Gates Av- 
enue Presbyterian Church, of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
This position he occupied about two years, when 
he became pastor of the Old Presbyterian 
Church, at Allentown, Monmouth County, 
where he still resides. 

Immediately after the settlement of Mr. 
Swain, measures were inaugurated for securing 
a lecture-room or chapel in the village of 
Marlborough. Various causes rendered such a 
building desirable. The village was growing, 
and many of its inhabitants, in the communion 



of the church, were unable to attend the services 
in this house of worship with regularity and 
convenience. In 1869 a suitable lot of about 
half an acre, on the west side of Main Street, in 
the centre of the village, was purchased by the 
consistory, and a committee appointed to secure 
the erection of a chapel. Messrs. L^^riah Smock, 
Peter L. Cortelyou, Lafayette Schenck and Dr. 
Lewis I. Gordon constituted this committee. 
They pushed the work forward with energy and 
zeal. The building they erected is twenty-six 
feet wide and forty-six feet long, and cost the 
congrejiation two thousand seven hundred and 
twenty-five dollars. The pulpit was provided 
by the consistory of the Second Reformed 
Church of Freehold. The bell was donated by 
Mr. Peter L. Cortelyou. The head light over 
the door was the gift of Mr. David R. Hobart. 
The clock was presented by the Hon. Garret A. 
Hobart, of Paterson, N. J., and the Bible and 
hymn-book by Mrs. John E. Conover. The 
building was dedicated, entirely free from debt, 
November 21, 1869. 

In 1870 the congregation determined to dis- 
pose of the farm which for forty years had 
been the home of their pastors, and build a par- 
sonage at ISIarlborough village. To carry out 
this desire a committee was appointed, consisting 
of Messrs. Peter L. Cortelyou, Uriah Smock, 
Peter C. Van Der Veer, A. W. Hobart and 
Peter C. Du Bois. A suitable lot near the 
chapel, but on the opposite side of the street, 
was purchased of I\Ir. William W. Herbert 
for five hundred and fifty dollars. The farm 
was sold for six thousand one hundred and ten 
dollars, and a pleasant home erected for the 
pastor's use. The building cost four thousand 
three hundred and twenty-five dollars; the 
necessary grading and fencing and outside 
improvements, about thirteen hundred dollars. 
The house is an ornament to the village, and 
with slight alterations, to be made in the future, 
will be as convenient and ample a dwelling- 
place as any one could desire. 

The present pastor was called from the First 
Reformed Church of Bayonne City, N. J., the 
latter part of July, 1873. He commenced his 
labors the first Sabbath of September, and was 
installed the 7th day of October. The Rev. 



742 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Dr. Hageman presided, read the form and de- 
livered the charge to the pastor. The sermon, 
by request of Classis, was preached by the Rev. 
Ransford Wells, D.D., then of Brookfield, 
Conn., from Hebrews xiii. 17, — "Obey them 
that have the rule over you, and submit your- 
selves, for they watch for your souls as they 
that must give account." The charge to the 
people was delivered by the Rev. James B. 
Wilson. 

Since 1709 the congregation has been in 
charge of ten pastors. They have been of 
various nationalities, and the record is amusing. 
Of AVelsh, Hollandish, Swedish, French and 
English descent there has been one each ; of 
Scottish descent, two ; of American Dutch, three. 
The present pastor is the only one "to the 
manor born," — the only New Jersey Dutch- 
man, born, baptized, educated, licensed and 
ordained in the Reformed Church, who has 
ministered here. 

Of the membership of the church, three have 
consecrated themselves to the gospel ministry. 
The first to do so was the Rev. William 
Scheuck, who was born October 13, 1740. His 
parents were Court Schenck and Maria Cowen- 
hoven. They lived on the farm now occupied 
by Mr. Uriah Smock, and gave their child, 
William, to God in holy baptism, January 20, 
1741. When twenty-three years of age he 
married Miss Anna Cummings, a daughter of 
Robert Cummings, high sheriif of Monmouth 
County, and a granddaughter of the wife of 
Rev. William Tennent. He commenced study- 
ing for the ministry in the fall of 1763, gradu- 
ated from the College of New Jersey, at Prince- 
ton, in 1767, studied theology with Rev. 
William Tennent, and was licensed by the Pres- 
bytery of New Brunswick in 1770. He was 
ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church at 
Allentown, N. J., in 1771. In 1777 he assumed 
the pastorate of the Reformed Churches of 
North and South Hampton, Pa., where he 
remained for three years. This was his only 
charge in the church of his fathers. In 1780 
he removed to Pittsgrove, N. J., and became 
pastor of the Presbyterian Church in which 
Rev. Benjamin Dubois was baptized. After a 
ministry here of six years he settled at Ballston, 



near Saratoga. Here he continued until 1793, 
when he removed to Huntington, L. I. This 
was his last pastorate. In 1817 he resigned his 
charge, retired from the active duties of the 
ministry, and moved to Franklin County, Ohio, 
where he died September 1, 1823, in the eighty- 
third year of his age. One of his grandsons has 
for many jeavs been an admiral in the United 
States navy. 

The other members of this church who have 
entered the ministry are the Rev. Garret C. 
Schenck, who united with the church February 
2, 1827, and the Rev. Edward P. Livingstone, 
who united with the church in December, 1854, 
and who is laboring in the West with remark- 
able success. 

The Baptist Church at Maelborough 
is of recent origin, as compared with many of 
the other religious organizations of the county. 
The first record of Baptist preaching in Marl- 
borough was by Rev. W. D. Hires, of Holm- 
del, who began some time in 1836, but how 
often and for what length of time there is no 
account. There were a few Baptists in the 
vicinity; among them was Miss Ella G. Her- 
bert, a member of the Freehold Baptist Church, 
who died October 16,1861. In her last will 
she bequeathed five hundred dollars to purchase 
a lot upon which to erect a house of woiship 
for a Baptist Church, yet to be formed. As no 
Baptist meetings were held in the place, no- 
thing was done until the spring of 1865, when 
Mr. O. C. Herbert, a brother of the deceased, 
purchased a small shoe-shop, placing it on 
Hudson Street, and fitted it uj) for a select 
school. Soon after. Rev. James Teed preached 
in the school-room. Hearing of this. Rev. D. 
S. Parnielee, of Freehold, appointed a meeting 
for the fourth Sunday in June, 1865, in the 
school-room, and preached from Matthew vi. 
33, and was followed in remarks by Rev. 
Sidney Dyer, of the American Baptist Publica- 
tion Society, of Philadelphia, when a Baptist 
Sunday-school was organized, of fourteen 
.scholars and six teachers. William C. Reid, 
of the Freehold Church, was chosen superin- 
tendent. The Rev. Mr. Dyer secured a dona- 
tion of ten dollai-s from the Publication Society, 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



743 



the Freehold Church gave tea dollars, and the 
friends at Marlborough added to those sums 
sufficient to purchase a library of one hundred 
volumes and other needed supplies ; Mr. O. C. 
Herbert gave the use of the room for the Sun- 
day-school and preaching services; the Rev. 
D. S. Parmelee engaged to supply with preach- 
ing the fourth Sunday of each month, and thus 
was commenced the school and embryo Baptist 
Church. During the summer the school in- 
creased to thirty scholars. At this time Rev. 

C. D. Warner, a licentiate of the Holmdel 
Baptist Church, commenced preaching on the 
second Sunda)-^ of each month. 

In the autumn of 1865 subscriptions were 
taken in Marlborough, Freehold and Holmdel 
for the erection of the house of worship, and 
Mr. O. C. Herbert, of Marlborough, James W. 
Perrine, of Freehold, James C. Taylor and C. 

D. Warner, of Holmdel, were appointed a 
building committee, with instructions to erect a 
house of worship at a cost not exceeding two 
thousand dollars, and on the 26th of August, 
1866, the corner-stone of the meeting-house was 
laid in the presence of a large assembly. Ad- 
dresses were delivered by Rev. D. H. Miller, of 
Trenton, and D. S. Parmelee. The stone, in 
which were deposited the usual documents and 
papers, together with the history of the Baptist 
interest in Marlborough to that day, was laid 
by D. S. Parmelee. A collection was taken, 
amounting to about three hundred and ninety- 
five dollars. 

About this time the Rev. C. E. Wilson, of 
Holmdel, began preaching in Marlborough the 
third Sunday of each month, and F. A. Slater 
on the first Sunday of each month, so that a ser- 
mon was heard at four p.m. every Sunday in each 
month, and the record adds, as a significant fact, 
" at no expense to us." 

The house was inclosed and the lecture room 
finished and dedicated February 10, 1867 ; ser- 
mon by Rev. D. B. Stout, of Middletown, Rev. 
D. S. Parmelee ofl'ering the prayer of dedication. 
Revival meetings were then commenced and 
continued until the 19th of April, and on the 
6th of June following fifteen converts were bap- 
tized. Mr. Warner continued his services until 
April 1, 1869, and Mr. Wilson until May of 



the same year, Revs. Parmelee and Slater con- 
tinuing for some time longer. 

On the 16th of March, 1869, agreeably to the 
advice of a council, the Baptists of Marlborough 
and vicinity met in the lecture-room of the 
church, at four p.m., to take measures for the con- 
stitution of a regular Baptist Church. After a 
sermon from D. S. Parmelee, Rev. F. A. Slater 
was chosen moderator and D. S. Parmelee clerk, 
after which letters of dismission were presented 
by fifteen persons from the church at Freehold, 
eleven from Holmdel, two from Oxford, N. 
Y., one from Herbertsville and two from 
Matawan, — -in all, thirty-one. After the read- 
ing of the letters, it was resolved to unite in 
covenant relations as a church of Christ, subject 
to the judgment of a council of recognition, and 
to adopt as the church covenant and articles of 
faith that generally known as the " New Hamp- 
shire Confession.'' 

On the 25th of the same month the council of 
delegates, from twelve Baptist Churches, met at 
Marlborough, and resolved that the recognition 
take place immediately after the dedication ser- 
vices. The dedication sermon was preached by 
Rev. H. F. Smith, of Xew Brunswick; the 
prayer was offered by Rev. D. S. Parmelee. 
The recognition services followed immediately. 
Prayer by Rev. D. B. Stout ; Iiand of fellowship, 
Rev. C. W.Clark; address to the church by 
Rev. F. A. Slater. A statement of the debt 
upon the church property was then made, when 
a subscription of more than four thousand dollars 
was taken, — sufficient to liquidate the entire debt. 

In October, 1869, the church was visited by 
E. C. Romine, a licentiate of the church at 
Sandy Ridge, who continued with us until No- 
vember. On the 26th he was, by a large coun- 
cil, ordained to the work of the ministry, the 
veteran evangelist, Rev. Jacob Knapp, preach- 
ing the sermon ; soon after which Mr. Romine 
left to engage in evangelistic labors elsewhere. 

The following-named ministers have served 
the church as pastors during its history of fifteen 
years : Rev. George Johnson, from March, 1 870, 
until February 1, 1871, resigned on account of 
ill health ; Rev. E. C. Romine, called for three 
months from May 1, 1871; Rev. S. L. Cox, 
from February 25, 1872, until July 1,1873; 



744 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. NEW JERSEY. 



Rev. James Thorn, from September 21, 1873, 
until August 2:], 1874; Rev. B. C. Morse, 
settled as pastor December 20, 1874, ended by 
his being called up higlier, April 29, 1876. 
Rev. S. L. Cox commenced a second pastorate 
over the church, the first Sabbath of September, 
1876, and resigned September 2, 1878; Rev. 
J. James Baker, the present pastor, commenced 
his labors March 1, 187!). The first deacons 
were R. R. Sutphen and Ruloff Voorhees, since 
which time S. T. Hendrickson, H. S. Conover, 
H. Emmons, Lemuel Wooley and P. V. Broach 
have served in that office. The board of dea- 
cons at present consists of W. H. Heyer, O. C 
Herbert and Wdliam C. Weeks. In the clerk- 
ship the church has been served by O. C. Her- 
bert, James E. Johnson and H. W. Heyer. 
The present clerk is George B. Herbert. 

The Roman Catholic Congregation of 
St. Gabriel's, in Marlborough township, was 
first organized, in 1871, by the Rev. Father 
Kivelitz, of Freehold. Mass was celebrated 
once a month, and religious instruction given to 
the children once a week, in a private house. 
In 1878 a church building was erected (on a lot 
donated by Patrick Fallon), and was consecrated 
on the 4th of November in that year by Arch- 
bishop Corrigan. The church, which is located 
near the Bradevelt Railroad Station, is a brick 
structure, thirty by fifty feet in dimensions, and 
capable of seating two hundred and twenty per- 
sons. During the past four years Mass has been 
celebrated here every second Sunday by Father 
Kivelitz, who is still in charge of the congre- 
gation. 

The Schools of Marlborough are taught 
in the seven school districts comprised in the 
township, which contain six hundred and eighty- 
six children of school age. The school property 
is valued at six thousand three hundred dollars. 

Pleasant Valley District, No. 38.— The earliest 
school-house in this district was doubtless the 
one that stood on the land of Captain John 
Schenck,' now owned by his grandson, David 

'Captain John Schenck, whose residence was in the 
eastern part of Marlborough township, where, as above 
mentioned, his grandson, David Schenck, .Ir,, now lives. 



Schenck, Jr. David Schenck, Sr., was born in 
1783, and attended school first in this old house, 
about 1790. This house was used until 1834, 
when it was abandoned. The present house was 
built about 1840, and, with occasional repairs, 
is still in use. The district now contains ninety- 
seven children. 

Magee School District, No. 41. — The lot on 
which this school-house stands was sold by John 
Quackenbush, December 2, 1822, to Richard 
Magee and Isaac Quackenbush, "trustees of the 
school in the neighborhood." A school-house 
was erected on this lot soon after, and was in 
use until 1871, when it was rebuilt. It is 
known also as the Wooley or Union School- 
house. William Bayley, Cassidy and 

William Crozier were among the early teachers 
in this house. The district contains forty-five 
children. 

Morganville School District, No. 39.— The 
land on which the school-house of this district 
stands was donated, over fifty years ago, for 
school purposes by Jonathan Morgan. The 
house was rebuilt in February, 1873. The 
district contains one hundred and five children. 

Robertsville School District, No. 40. — This 
house was built in 1832, for both school and 
church purposes. It is still in use. The dis- 
trict contains forty-three children of school age. 

Marlborough School District, No. 42. — The 
lot on which the school-house was originally 
built was donated for school purposes to the 
district by Joseph Vandeveer. It was situated 
a half-mile from the present location. Later, a 
house was built in Marlborough, a short dis- 
tance from the present house. About 1860 it 
was sold to Daniel Van Doren, on whose place 
it now stands. The present house was built at 
that time, and was rebuilt in 1874. The dis- 

and who, in his time, was one of the prominent men of 
Monmouth County, as also one of the bravest and best of 
her military officers. He was a devoted patriot in the 
Revolution, rendering valuable service to the popular 
cause, and hearing a leading part in several well-contetted 
skirmishes with the enemy. He was bovn August ^8_ 
1745, and died on his birthday, lf34, at the good old 
age of eighty-nine years. He was buried in the old 
family burial-ground, in Pleasant Valley, in the western 
part of Holmdel township, whexe a fitting monument 
markn his grave. 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



745 



trict contains two hnndred and sixteen children 
of sciiool age. 

The Strong or Spring Valley School District, 
No. 44. — More than lialf a century ago Abram 
Pease left by will to the people in this locality 
a tract of ground for use as a burial-place, which 
was accepted and is still in use. About 1854 a 
' school-house was erected by James Strong upon 
this lot and used until 1870, when the present 
house was erected at a cost of six hundred dol- 
lars, and the old house abandoned. The present 
lot was donated for school purposes only by Cor- 
nelius Honce. Tiie district contains fifty-two 
children. 

Brick Church School District, No. 4;'..— The 
first school-house in this locality was on land 
now owned by John Herbert. Peter G. Cono- 
v^er, now eighty-seven years of age, attended 
scliool in the house several years after 1805, 
under Henry Smith, teacher. He says it was 
tlien an old house. It was abandoned about 
1825, and about two years later the present 
house (then a one-story building) was erected on 
the present site, adjoining the old Brick Cliurch. 
Among the early teachers in this house were 

Weisenfelt and James I. Ives. The latter 

taught seven years in this place. ^Vbout 1857 
a stoiy was added to the building as it is at 
]>resent. The district contains one hundred 
and twenty-eight pupils. 

Marlborough is the most important of the 
several small villages of the township. Its lo- 
cation is in the southeastern part of the town- 
ship, on the line of the Freehold and New 
York Railway, of which Marlborough is a sta- 
tion. 

^lany years ago the place was known as 
" Bucktown," and here was located the old 
" Buck Tavern," kept by John Buck, and, after 
him, by his son of the same name. In 1831 it 
passed to the proprietorship of Kortenius Hiers 
(Hyers), by whom it was owned till after 1841. 
Its last proprietor was Isaac Herbert, and it 
was torn down in 1844. In 1845 the present 
Marlborough Hotel was erected at the comer, 
and was occupied by Uriah Smalley for several 
years. It has since been kept by John I. Sut- 
phin, Gordon Sanford, William Applegate, Wil- 



liam Church, Captain James Stone and others. 
The present proprietor is J. Akinson. 

The Marlborough post-office was established 
before 1840, from which time until 1848, John 
Heyer was postmaster. He was succeeded by 
his son, William Heyer, who was, in turn, suc- 
ceeded by James Thomson, in 1852. A. W 
Hobart became postmaster in 1855, and was 
succeeded in 1861 by W. H. Heyer. The pres- 
ent postmaster is J. A. Butcher, who was ap- 
pointed in 1873. 

Of tlie old resident physicians who practicetl 
in the township, were Drs. James Magee, Fain, 
Croft and Charles A. Conover. Dr. J. D. Ely 
is now a resident in Marlljorough village. 

The first store in Marlboroua;h villasre was 
ke[)t by John Smock, and the second by Daniel 
H. Vau Mater. The village now contains, 
besides hotels and stores, a school-honse, the 
chapel of the " Brick Church " (Reformed) and 
a Baptist Church. The two churches here 
named will be found mentioned more fully in 
another part of the history of this township. 

In the fall of 1866 an association was formed 
at Marlborough to establish a select scIiool in 
the village. It was incorporated February 25, 
1867, and Dr. D. H. Van INIater, O. C. Herbert, 
C. H. Conover, UriaJi Smith and John Baird 
were elected trustees. A lot was secured and 
a house erected upon it. The school was 
opened and was conducted with varied success 
until the spring of 1884, when the building 
was sold and moved to the railroad, where it 
was fitted up as the Marlborough station, and 
is now in that use. 

RoBERTsviLLE is a Small settlement in the 
western part of the township. About 1830 a 
tavern was opened at this place by one Bowne, 
who died before 1835, when it was owned by 
Mrs. Ann Bowne and kept by her son-in-law, 
John Magee. In that year the property was 
sold to ]\Iathew Roberts, who continued the 
tavern until his death, in 1876. The school- 
house at Robertsville was built in 1832, and 
services were held in it by the Methodists from 
that time. A society has been organized and a 
new church building is now being erected. 
Dewitt Mcllvaine is the pastor in charge. 



746 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH CUUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Hillside, or Hulsetown, lies on the eastern 
boundary of the township, adjoining the north- 
western corner of the townsliip of Atlantic. 
At this place, about 1825, John Hulse leased 
land of Peter G. Conover, and established a 
tannery, which was carried on about twenty- 
five years and then abandoned. A little settle- 
ment had grown up around it and a store had 
been stiirted, which is still in lousiness. Between 
the settlement of Hillsdale and the railroad 
station (now called " Bradcvelt ") are the Brick 
Church (lieformed) and the Roman Catholic 
Church of St. Gabriel, both of which are else- 
where more fully mentioned. 

MoRGAXViLLE, in the northeast part of the 
township, derives its name from the family of 
Jlorgau, who were early settlers here W. S. 
Cloke established a store here in 1853, and 
built a store building in 1855. A school-house 
was at that time located on the present site. A 
post-office was established in 18(38 and E. P. 
Coats was appointed postmaster. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1870, by Charles Malcolm, the present 
iucuml)ent. In 18()9 a Methodist Church was 
erected at a cost of two thousand one hundred 
dollars. The pastors have been Rev. E. H. 
Bacon, S. P. Crasaboon and S. M. Nichols. 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

David I. Van Derveer. — The earliest rep- 
resentative of the Van Derveer (signifving " fi-om 
the ferry ") family was Janse Van Derveer, 
who emigrated from Alkmaar, in North Hol- 
land, in the ship " Otter," in 1659. He mar- 
ried, about 1G72, .Tannetje, daughter of Giles 
De Mandeville, to N\"hom were born six sons 
and four daughters. Dominicus, one of the sons, 
born 1679, married, first, Jannetje, and, second, 
Maria Margaretta Nortlyck. He was the father 
of seven sons and five daughters. Tunis Van 
Derveer, the first member of the family to set- 
tle in IMonmouth County, was born about 1704, 
and married, about 1723, Alhie Schenck, whose 
childi-en were John, Jacob, Phoebe, Garret, 
Nelly, Tunis, Cornelius, Allehy and David. 
Tunis, of this number, the grandfather of David 
I., was born .Vpril 19, 1739, and married Janee 



Honce, whose children were Tunis, John, David, 
Arthur, Jane, Helen and David (second). John, 
the father of the subject of this biographical 
sketch, was born April 4, 1763, and married, in 
1 789, Ann Bowne, ^hose birth occurred ^larch 
23, 1769. Their children are Joseph, born in 
1790; Tunis, in 1792; John, in 1895; Jane, 
in 1798; Lydia, in 1800, who died in 1802 ; 
Hannah, in 1803; David I., April 19, 1806 ; 
Anna, in 1S08 ; Catherine, in 1811 ;and Sarah, 
in 1814. David I. spent his early youth on the 
homestead, now occupied by his son, D. Arthur 
Van Derveer, receiving his education in the 
rudimentary branches at the neighboring public 
school, after which he engaged with his father 
in farming. He was, on the 13th of February, 
1828, married to Mary, daugiiter of William 
and Ann Davis Covenhoven, whose children are 
Hannah (Mrs. David C'. Perrine),born in 1829; 
William C, of Carlisle, Ohio, in 1831 ; John 
D., of Monmouth County, in 1836; and David 
Arthur, in 1.S44. ^Ir. Van Derveer, desiring 
to retain possession of the homestead which had 
been for a century and a half associated with the 
family history, after his marriage purchased tiie 
property, and continued during the remainder 
of his life to cultivate its productive acres. The 
political antecedents of the Van Derveer family 
are Democratic, and David I., though in this 
regard in full sympathy with them, rarely in- 
terested himself activcl}- in the local political 
issues of the day, and invariably declined office. 
His integrity and executive ability rendered his 
services frcfjuently in demand as trustee, execu- 
tor and guardian, which offices were filled with 
fidelity and acceptance. He was a member of 
the IMonmouth County Agricultural Societv, 
and much interested in matters jjertaining to 
agriculture. In 1831 he became connected by 
membership with the Tennent Church, in which 
he filled the office of deacon, and later trans- 
ferred his membership to the Presbvferian 
Church at Freehold. The death of Mr. Van 
Derveer occurred on the 2.3d of July, 1884, in 
his seventy-ninth year. His son, D. Arthur 
Van Derveer, now cultivates the farm and gives 
special attention to the breeding of Jersey cat- 
tle, in which he has been successful. He mar- 
ried, on the 2d of November, 1865, Miss 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



747 



Ella G., daughter of Tunis Y. Sclienck, and 
has two sous, — Tunis S., and Arthur P. 



John W. Hekhert. — Francis Herbert, the 
first representative of that name in Ne\v Jersey, 
and a grandson of Philip Herbert, fourth earl 
of Pembroke, witli thirty associates, came from 
Long Island in 1677, and settled in ^liddle- 
towu, ^lonmouth County. He married Han- 
nah, daughter of the celebrated Quaker, John 
Bowne, who located on Long Island in 1659. 



proprietors of East Jersey, and settled in Mid- 
dlesex County. Their children were three sons 
— Jolin, William and Obadiah — and two daugh- 
ters, — Sarah and ElizaV)eth. William Herbert, 
father of John W., who was born in 1771, in 
Middlesex Coimty, N. J., married, in 1801, 
Eleanor, daughter of Benjamin Conover, of 
Monmouth County, and granddaughter of Gar- 
ret Conover and Xoeltje Van JNIater. They had 
children, — Obadiah, Conover, William W., John 
W., Abby E., Hannah (wife of Garret Cott- 




CO^Z/-^f/X 



They had four sons — Thomas, Francis, David 
and Oliadiah — and three daughters — Elizabeth, 
Delwrah and Mary. Obadiah, in 1729, mar- 
ried Hannah, daughter of William Lawrence, 
Jr., grandson of Sir Henry Lawrence, president 
of Cromwell's Council, and son of William 
Lawrence, Sr. William Lawrence, Jr., mar- 
ried Ruth Gibbons. Obadiah, one of the nine 
children of Obadiah Herljert nnd Hanuali Law- 
rence, married, in 1765, Elizabeth Warn, grand- 
daughter of Colonel Thomas Warn, one of the 



i/^ c/ A^2>^^ (?6eA^(^-^^^*^^ 



rell) and Eleanor. Jnlui \< . Herbert was born 
on the 1 ;lth of June, 1 820, in Madison town- 
ship, ^Middlesex County, and at the age of seven 
years removed with his family to the farm now 
owned by him in Marlborough township, IMon- 
mouth County. His father, though a success- 
ful farmer, was largely engaged in building, 
and later, in the production of ship-timber, 
which was attended with much profit. He was 
actively identified with the public interests of 
Middlesex County, as justice of the peace for 



748 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



many years, and on his removal to Monmouth 
County was appointed one of its associate judges. 
Johu W. Herbert received his education at tlie 
district schools near his home, and, in connec- 
tion with his brother William, cultivated tiie 
farm for a period of eight years, after whii'h he 
received the property as a gift from his father. 
This farm he made his home, and has since con- 
tinued the healthful pursuits of a farmer, hav- 
ing added to his possessions by the purchase of 
other tracts in adjacent portions of the county 
until he now has one thousand acres of valuable 
land. Judge Herbert married, on the 24th of 
February, 1851, Agnes D., daughter of Savage 
Wright, of Piseataway lownsiiip, Middlesex 
County. Their children are Johu W. Jr., 
a graduate of Rutgers College and Columbia 
College Law School, and an attorney in Jersey 
City; William, a student of the Trenton Busi- 
ness College, and a resident of Omaha, Neb., 
and now in the postal service; Richard, 
educated at New Brunswick, who resides on the 
farm ; Kate, a graduate of Vassar College, 
wife of D. M. Kelly, of Brooklyn ; and Jeanne, 
who was educated at Saratoga. Judge Herbert 
is one of the representative and public-spirited 
citizens of the county, and was largely instru- 
mental in securing the organization of the 
township of Marlborough, in 1848. A stanch 
Republican in his political principles, he was 
elected the same year its first freeholder, held 
the office of school superintendent from 1850 
to ISl}."), was for fifteen years assessor and 
from 1874 to 1879 associate judge of the 
Superior Court of Common Pleas. He also, 
in early years, pursued the profession of a 
surveyor. Judge Herl)ert was, in 1872, a dele- 
gate to the Republican National Convention 
at Philadelphia, as also to the National Con- 
vention of 1884 which met in Chicago. He 
was for ten years chairman of tiie County 
Republican Committee of Monmouth, and 
for sixteen years its treasurer. He was 
tendered and declined the nomination for 
Congress in 1872, and in 1875 received the no- 
mination a.s candidate for the State Senate. 
His ability and integrity have caused him fre- 
quently to be chosen to fill the responsible po- 
sitions of executor and administrator. He has 



been for years treasurer and superintendent of 
the Monmoutii County Plank-Road Company, 
and is director of other turnpikes in the county, 
as also president of the Matawan Propeller Com- 
pany. He was, from 1861 to 1865, engaged in 
journalism as proprietor and editor of the Mon- 
mouth County Inquirer, which enjoyed a period 
of signal prosperity luider his able management. 
He was also owner of a carriage-factory at Key- 
port, and, in connection with Theodore Aunch, 
conducted for twelve years a large and success- 
ful business. Judge Herbert's religious associ- 
ations are with the Reformed Church of Marl- 
borough, to whicli he has ever been a liberal 
contributor. 



Lafayette and Stacy P. Conovee. — 
The common ancestor of tiie Covenhoven (or 
Conover) family in ^Vmerica was Wolf hert (Jer- 
ritsen Van Covenhoven, wlio emigrated from 
Ammersfort, in tlie province of Utrecht, Hol- 
land, in 1630, having been sent over by tiie 
patroon of Albany to look after his landed in- 
terests. He remained three or four years at 
Albany and then came to New Amstertlam, 
where he was engaged for a short period in 
farming on Manhattan Island. He had three 
sons, — Garret, Jacob and Peter, — of whom Gar- 
ret settled on a farm at Flatlands, married Altje 
Cornelipe Cool (or Cole), and had two sons, 
William and John, and two daughters, Neeltje 
and Maritje. He died about 1644. His son 
William was born about 1636 and died about 
1728. He married, for his second wife, Jannctje 
Montfoort, in 1665, and had six sons and five 
daughters. His son John, the great-grandfather 
of liafayette Conover, was born April 9, 16S1, 
and died in 1756. He married, about 1704, 
Jacoba Van Derveer, and removed to Monmouth 
County, settling on the farm where Peter G. 
Conover now resides. Tliey had seven sons and 
one daughter. Tiieir son Garret was born 
April 27, 1726, and died November 1, 1812. 
He married, first, about 1748, Neeltje Van Ma- 
ter, who was the mother of three sons and two 
daughters. He married again, about 1786, Ann 
ScJienck, who was born August 9, 175.3, and_ 
died April 5, 1803. To this union were born 
three daughters and two sons. The daughters 



I 




*B^' 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



749 



wore Eleanor, born December 13, 1787, who 
married De Lafayette Scheuek ; Jane, born No- 
vember 9, 1789, who married Stacy Prickot: 
and Aim, born September, 1790, who married, 
first, William Scheuek, and, second, Theodore 
Rue. The sons were John, born December 17, 
1791, who married Ann Smock, and Peter G.^ 
burn January 2, 1797, who married, Xovember 
10, 1819, Charlotte, daughter of John Lyell, 
and has children, — John L. ; Lafayette ; Stacy 
P. ; Garret P. ; Charles, deceased ; Ann Eliza, 
deceased (Mrs. David Beard) ; Eleanor, deceased 
(^L-s. Alfred Conover) ; Emma (Mrs. Ferdi- 
nand Hyers) ; Amanda, deceased ; and Jane, 
deceased. Lafiiyette, of this number, was 
born Fel)ruary 21, 1822, on the homestead in 
Marlliorough, still in possession of his father, and 
until the age of fifteen was a inipil of the dis- 
trict school of the neighborhood, after which his 
services were recjuired upon the farm. He was, 
in 1846, married to Elizabeth, daughter of "\Vil- 
liamR. and granddaughter of Ruloff P.Schenck, 
of the same township. Their children, area son, 
Charles E., married to Ella, daughter of John 
Farrv, of ^Nlatawan, who has two children, 
Florence May and Elizabeth ; and a daughter, 
Jane Elizabeth, married to Charles H. Mills- 
paugh, whose children are Lafayette, Josephine, 
Ellen and Laura. 

Mr. Conover, on his marriage, removed to 
IVLddletown township, where, in connection with 
his brother, John L., he purchased a farm and 
remained two years. In 1850 he returned to 
Marlborough and became owner of the farm 
which is his present residence. Here he has 
since been engaged in general farming and made 
liorticulture a study, pear-culture having been 
attended with mui'h success and corresponding 
profit. He is a member of the board of direc- 
tion of the Monmouth County Agricultural So- 
ciety, was director and treasurer of the Holm- 
del Transportation Company, which he form- 
erly, in connection with a partner, controlled, 
and was also a member of the board of direction 
of the Freehold and New^ York Railroad. 

Mr. Conover is in politics a Democrat, having 
served for seven years on the Board of Chosen 
Freeholders and been placed on the building 
committee appointed to superintend the con- 



struction of a new court-house and jail, on the 
destruction by fire of the original buildings. 
He has also acted as member of the township 
committee, collector, et<'., and been identifietl 
with the most important interests of both town- 
ship and county. Mr. Conover has been as- 
sociated since his youth with the Reformed 
(Dutch) Church. Stacy P. Conover, the third 
son of Peter G. and Charlotte Lyell Conover, 
was born on the 5th of June, 1828, at the an- 
cestral dwelling-house in Marlborough, and 
received a rudimentiiry education at the district 
school near his home. In youth he became 
familiar w^ith the labor of the farm, and assisted 
in itscultivation until his majority was attained, 
when he managed it on shares until 1856, at 
which date a portion of the land was purchased 
by him. 

He was married, on the 3d of July, 1860, to 
j\Iiss Ellen L., daughter of Daniel Schenck, of 
jSIarlborough township. Mr. Conover, in 1 862, 
purchased the farm on which he at present re- 
sides, in the same township, and is still engaged 
in the employment of an agriculturist, devoting 
special attention to horticultui-e. Mr. Conovev's 
extensive business interests have not, howevei', 
rendered him iudiiferent to affairs connected 
with his towu.ship. A Democrat in his political 
predilections, he has held various local offices 
and been an influential factor in the develop- 
ment of his section of the county. He is a 
member of the board of direction of the Free- 
hold and Keyport Railroad. His religious 
views are in accord with the doctrines of the 
Reformed (Dutch) Church, in which the fam- 
ilv for generations have worshiped. 



J. V. N. WiLiJS is a son of Ralph Willis 
and liucretia A. Van Nuise, the former born in 
London, England, in 1815, and the latter near 
New Brunswick, N. J., in 1811. Rev. Ralph 
received his primary education in London and 
in Yorkshire, having been a pupil of " Dough- 
boy Hall." In 1830 he emigrated to this 
country, whither his father, Edwin Willis, 
within a few years fallowed, settling with his 
remaining family in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 
Rev. Ralph, after pursuing a preparatory course 



750 



HISTOEY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



of study in Philadelphia aiid in the grammar 
school at New Brunswick, in 1835 entered 
Rutgers College, from which he graduated with 
reputation in 184fl, when he became a member 
of the Theological Seminary of the same place. 
At the conclusion of his theological course he 
was called to the pastorate of the Reformed 
Church of Bethlehem, N. Y., where his name 
and usefulness have still honorable mention. 
Leaving this charge in 1851, he became pastor 
of the Brick Church, Monmouth County, N. J., 
where he remained an honored and successful 
pastor until the spring of 1868, when he as- 
sumed, in connection with his official position 
as county superiutendent of public instruction, 
the care of the Reformed Church of Spotswood, 
N. J., whose interests, both spiritual and ma- 
terial, he greatly advanced. This reverend gentle- 
man still holds, at this wi-iting, the office of 
superintendent of instruction, his efficiency and 
adaptability having secured his reappointment, 
term after term, for the past seventeen years. 
In addition to this pul)lic service, his old age 
is Jionored with the responsible jiosition of 
rector of the Theological School at Xew Bruns- 
wiclv, where he resides with his remaining 
family iu circumstances of competence and 
comfort. 

John V. N. Willis was born in Bethlehem, 
N. Y., August 15, 1843. His primary edu- 
cation was obtained at the ^Yoodhulls' school. 
Freehold, and, for a time, in Philadelphia. His 
more advanced studies were under his father's 
tuition, at Marlborough, N. J. At the age of 
nineteen he assumed the care of the home farm, 
preferring the occupation of a farmer to that of 
any other. After his marriage to an estimable 
lady, Ann Schanck, he purchased a farm in 
Atlantic township, which he retained but a short 
time, disposing of it for the purchase of the 
Schanck homestead, Marlborough, where he 
still resides. Here, together with general farm- 
ing, he devoted much attention to the raising 
and training of fine horses, owning at one time, 
among others of note, the famous trotters " Edwin 
Booth" and "Sensation." In 1876 his attention 
was diverted from fine horses to fine c;ittle, making 
the Jerseys his specialty, being the first to intro- 
duce registered Jerseys into this section. This en- 



terprise at first was not looked upon with favor 
by his more cautious neighbors ; but with a self- 
reliance that was always a prominent trait in 
his character, he persevered. In the spring of 
1879 his oifering at the Breeders' Combination 
Sale in New York comprised the two-year-old 
heifer " Daisy Maid of Bloomfield " and her 
calf, with some yearlings. Prices at that time 
did not range so high as at present, yet the cow 
and calf were sold to Mr. T. A. Havemeyer, of 
New York, for fifteen hundred dollars, 
and the yearlings brought prices ranging 
from three hundred to four hundred dollars 
each. At the subsequent sales, held in the 
American Institute Building, his stock has 
always been much sought after by the prominent 
breeders of the country, and have always com- 
manded large prices. At the Breeders' Contri- 
bution Sale in New York, in May, 1883, Mr. 
Willis received the second prize, a costly silver 
cream pitcher, presented by his associate 
breeders for the second highest average, being 
$1224.50 per head. His contribution at the 
sale was all of young animals, and included the 
little bull-calf " Koffee's King," only twenty- 
one days old, which was bred by Mr. Willis, 
and brought sixteen hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, which was within fifty dollars of the 
highest price ever paid up to that time for a 
Jersey Ijull-calf. At a similar sale, in Xew 
York, in May, 1884, Mr. Willis contributed 
fifteen head of young Jerseys, which secured 
for him the admiration of the visitors and of 
the press, and their sale aggregated ten thousand 
three hundred and thirty-five dollars. 

Again, at the annual sale in New Yoi'k, in 
April of the present year (1885), he carried off 
the prize offered to the person contributing tiie 
five animals selling for the highest price, whether 
bred by the contributor or not. This much-cov- 
eted prize consisted of a beautiful solid silver 
punch-bowl, mounted on an ebony pedestal, and 
\vas valued at one hundred and sevent3'-five dol- 
lars. The average obtained at the sale for five 
of his cattle was nine hundred and thirty-one dol- 
lars per head, which was also the highest average 
obtained by any participant in the sale. Mr. 
D. F. Appleton, of New York, in presenting the 
prize to Mr. Willis, paid a very high compli- 




^'V-ln'A.EPamlue 




r\j>,\A/jj^ 



» 



MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. 



751 



meiit to his ability to select and develop the very 
best animals, and said that his consignments to 
these sales had always been greatly admired. 
He has also been a successful prize-winner at 
local and State fairs, receiving many herd and 
individual prizes. His stock in the hands of 
others has also been successful in winning prizes 
at St. Louis and at other points in the West. 
He was sent, as an expert in Jersey cattle, by the 
American Jersey Cattle Club, to test the great 
cow " Princess II.," who made twenty-seven 
pounds ten ounces of butter in seven days, at 
that time, the largest vield on record ever made 
by any cow. He has also acted as judge of live 
stock at the most prominent exhibitions lately 
in Baltimore, Rhode Island, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
New Jersey and elsewhere. At the present 
time Mr. Willis' herd comprises a large num- 
ber of superior animals of various ages and the 
most popular and varied strains. He ranks 
among the first l)reeders of fine cattle in the coun- 
try, and as a judge of the merits of young cattle 
and of their future promise, and as a conditioner, 
it is couceded that he stands in the front rank. 
The Jersey Bulletin, publislied at Indianapolis, 
under date of May 1, 1884, said : " [He] is an 
extraordinary judge of the possibilities of young 
stock, and is one of the first managei"S and 
liandlers in the country." October 29th, it said : 
" [He] possesses the utmost instinctive power of 
judging of the probabilities of young calv^es." 
December 3lst, it said : " [He] has an intuitive 
knowledge of the capabilities of animals to feed, 
has had a most thorough education, training and 
experience in rearing, feeding and the manage- 
ment of cattle, aud in tact and talent in this di- 
rection is equaled by few." 

Mr. Willis is a Democrat in politi&s, and a 
popular man in his section, in which his party 
has been in the ascendancy for many years. He 
has frequently had public positions tendered to 
him, but has always declined to accept them. 
He was appointed by Governor Abbett to 
represent the Third Congressional District 
on the board of visitors to the State Agricul- 
tural College, his commission bearing date of 
April 18, 1884. He has also recently l)een 
re-elected as a member of the board of njana- 
gers of the Monmouth County Agricultural So- 



ciety, of which society he has been an active aud 
prominent member for a number of years. He 
is still a yoimg man, and can scarcely be said to 
have readied the prime of his mental abilities. 
Should he escape accident and disease, he has a 
bright future before him, and the kindest re- 
gards of his friends and associates will accom- 
pany him in his career. 



Daniel P. Van Dokn. — The Van Dorn 
family are of Holland descent, the progenitor of 
the fiimily in New Jersey having been Jacobus 
Van Dorn, a native of Holland, who settled 
on Long Island, from whence he removed to 
Monmouth County in 1698, pm-chasing six 
hundred and seventy-six acres of land in Marl- 
borough township. At the organization of the 
First Church of Freehold, in 1709, Jacobus Van 
Dorn was one of the two members appointed to 
fill the office of deacon. 

The noi'thwest corner of the land above re- 
ferred to is now in possession of the subject of 
this l)iographical sketch, having come to him 
by inheritance througli an unbroken line of 
ancestors, embracing a period of more than one 
himdred aud eighty years. In the direct line of 
descent from Jacobus, who married Maritje 
Bennet, a lady of large wealth, was Peter Van 
Dorn, born July 4, 1755, on the ancestral land 
in the present towuship of Marlborough, where 
he followed the occupations of a farmer. He 
married Jane Williamson, whose birth occurred 
July 5, 1758. Their children were Mary, 
Jacob, Elbert, Williampe, Anne, John, Wil- 
liam, Isaac, Peter, Jannetje, and Sarah. William, 
of this number, was born March 2, 1790, 
and married, November 28, 1815, Catherine, 
daughter of Daniel Polhemus, of the present 
Atlantic township, a soldier of the Revolution, 
who was confined in the famous Sugar-House 
Prison, in New York. To this marriage were 
born four children, — Catherine, Jane, Daniel P. 
and Mary, — of whom Jane, born January 14, 

1819, married, ]March 10, 1842, John Rue Per- 
rine, of Manalapan, whose only daughter is 
Catherine Polhemus Perrine. Mrs. Perrine's 
death occurred August 28, 1877. 

Daniel P. Van Dorn was boru Octol)er 7, 

1820, on the homestead still occupied by him. 



752 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



which has been his life-time residence. He was 
educated at Matawan, in his native county, 
and later at Lenox, Mass., after which, on his 
return, he assisted in the routine of labor con- 
nected with the farm until the death of his 
father, when he received as his patrimony a 
portion of the land, and acc[uired the remainder 
by purchase. He has since that time been 
devoted to the varietl labors of an agricultur- 
alist. Mr. Van Dorn was, on the !lth of Se]>- 



the State Legislature in 1854, serving during 
the session on various important committees, 
including that on banks and banking. He has 
also acted as chosen freeholder and filled other 
township offices. Mr. Van Dorn was educated 
in the faith of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, 
to which he still adheres. 



Obadiah C. Herbert. — The ancestry of 
the Herbert family having been already gixcn 




tember, 1874, married to Anna J. Roche, of 
North Hadley, Mass. Their only child is a 
son, William, born on the 20th of August, 
1875. Mr. Van Dorn has been identified with 
many of the most important interests of the 
county. He was one of the early projectoi's 
and is still a director of the Freehold and New 
York Railroad. He is also a member of the 
Monmouth County Agricultural Society. His 
political principles have always l)een those of 
the Democratic party, w'hich he represented in 



elsewhere in this volume renders repetition here 
unnecessary. The subject of this biographical 
sketch is the son of Conover Herbert, who 
married Elizabeth, daughter of ]Major David 
Provost, of ]\Ionmouth County. The children 
of this marriage are Obadiah ; Cornelia, wife of 
William H. Heyer; David P., deceased; Elea- 
nor G., deceased; Mary Louisa; William H., 
deceased; John W., deceased; Evelina E., de- 
ceased; and William C, married to Louisa 
Applegate. Obadiah C. was born on the 12th 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



763 



I 



of October, 1834, at Matawan, Monmouth 
County, where he remained until his twelfth 
year, subsequently residing for four years- with 
his uncle. Judge J. W. Herbert, in Marlborough 
township. His education was received in 
Marlborough and at Matawan, and later at the 
Madison University, at Hamilton, N. Y., from 
whence he was calle<l home by the illness of 
his father, whose death occurred in 1858. He 
assumed direction of the farm, and in 1859 
became, by inheritance and purchase, the owner 
of the paternal home, which is his present resi- 
dence. He was, in 1857, married to Maiy A., 
daughter of John Buck, of Freehold, their 
children being Ralph Willis, a practicing physi- 
cian at Mana.squan; Dora E., wife of Dr. 
Charles N. Cox ; Frank C. ; George B. ; Evan 
M.; Carrie O.; and Harvey C, deceased. Mr. 
Herbert has, since his marriage, been engaged 
in farming, though various business interests 
requiring close attention have influenced him to 
place the cultivation and improvement of his 
lands in the hands of his sons. On his farm 
are extensive and valuable marl-pits, which 
have brought their owner into promineut notice 
as the most extensive dealer in this remarkable 
fertilizing product in the State. (A comprehen- 
sive description of the marl-beds of the county 
will be found in the chapter on the geological 
formation of the county.) The whole of Mr. 
Herbert's farm is underlaid with marl, about 
twelve acres of which have thus far been profit- 
ably worked, the supply being practically un- 
limited. The market is chiefly found in adja- 
I'cnt portions of the State, the Freehold and 
New York Railroad, which runs over the land, 
affording superior facilities for shipment. Mr. 
Herbert was the projector and has been the 
1 ead ing spirit in the development of Marlborough, 
the village in which he resides. He purchased 
the ground, which was laid out in lots, build- 
ings erected, and manifested a spirit of energy 
and determination which insured its rapid de- 
velopment and growth. He still continues 
these improvements, and has recently devoted 
much attention to real estate operations and the 
purchase and sale of property in this and other 
localities. Mr. Herbert is a member, and was 
formerly an officer, of the Monmouth County 
48 



Agricultural Society. He is a Republican in 
politics, and although at times the incumbent 
of various township offices, has frequently de- 
clined such honors. He has, however, been 
more largely identified with religious work, and 
was an active member of the building com- 
mittee in the erection of the edifice of the First 
Baptist Church of Marlborough, of which he is 
both deacon and trustee, and has been, since its 
organization, superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 

The township of Ocean w^as erected from a 
part of Shrewsbury by an act passed February 
24, 1849, dividing the said township of Shrews- 
bury into two townships, by a line " beginning 
at the mouth of Shrewsbury South river, and 
running up said river to Eatontown Landing 
Creek, to the east line of Jacob White's land ; 
thence northerly, along the line of land between 
Jacob White and Peter Castler, to Parker's Creek ; 
thence up said creek to the Eatontown mill- 
brook ; thence up said brook to said mill ; thence 
up the pond to a point where line south ten degrees 
west will strike the road west of Asel Spin- 
ning's ; thence on a straight line to the road 
leading from Eatontown to Shark River, where 
said road crosses Cranberry Brook ; thence 
along said road, as it runs across Jumping Brook, 
to the northwest corner of SkuUthorp's farm ; 
thence on a straight line running west of the 
school-house, near John P. L. Tilton's, to the 
Howell line. The northwesterly part to be 
called the township of Shrewsbury, and the 
southeasterly part to be called the township of 
Ocean." 

In 1867 the Legislature of New Jersey 
passed an act declaring " That the township of 
Ocean, in the county of Monmouth, shall be 
hereby divided into two townships, by a line 
running a.s follows, to wit : Beginning at the 
mouth of Peter Reynolds' mill-brook, where 
it empties into Shark River, and running up 
said brook t<j said mill ; thence a straight line 



754 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



nortlieasterly to tlie southwest corner of Elisha 
J. Morrison's farm by a bridge over a stream 
which empties into Great Pond ; thence down 
the said stream to the aforesaid pond, and 
around the same to the north side thereof, to 
the southeast comer of Jeremiah White's farm, 
beins also the southwest corner of the farm of 
Garret Vanderveer; thence along the line of 
said White and Vanderveer due north to the 
Deal road, leading from thence to the Eaton- 
town and Long Branch turnpike road, by Elisha 
Lippincott's store ; thence along said Deal 
road to a cross-road at the foot of Negro Hill, 
near the Methodist Episcopal Church, leading 
to Lane & Corlies' store ; thence along the mid- 
dle of said cross-road to a stone planted for the 
northwest corner of John Lever's farm, being 
also the northeast corner of the farm of the late 
James T. Woolley, deceased ; thence north nine 
degrees east to the Turtle mill-brook ; thence 
down the said brook and creek to the southeast 
corner of George Hance's farm ; thence along 
the east line of said fai-m to the northeast cor- 
ner thereof, being a corner of lands belonging 
to William Morris; thence north thirty-five 
and a half degrees west to South Shrewsbury 
River, being the Shrewsbury Township line. 
The easterly part to be called the township of 
Ocean, and the westerly part the township of 
Ijincoln." This act was repealed in the follow- 
ing year, thus obliterating Lincoln township 
from the map of Monmouth County, and leav- 
ing Ocean township with boundaries the same 
as before the passage of the act dividing it. 

Ocean township was reduced to its present 
limits by the erection of Eatoutown township, 
in 1873, and Neptune township, in 1879. The 
descriptions of the territory taken fi-om Ocean 
to form these townships are given in their re- 
spective histories. The present boundaries of 
Ocean township (including Long Branch) are, — 
on the north, Middletown,' Shrewsbury River 
and Eatontown; east, by the Atlantic Ocean; 
south, by Neptune township ; west, by Shrews- 
bury River and Eatontown and Shrewsbury 
townships. The only stream of importance in 
Ocean township is Shrewsbury River. The 

' By Middletown, on the neck of land that extends north 
to Sandy Hook. 



railways of the township are the sea-shore line, 
which runs from Sandy Hook southward along 
the entire ocean-front of the county, the New 
York and Long Branch Railroad and the Eaton- 
town Branch of the New Jersey Southern Rail- 
road, which connect with the sea-shore line at 
Lonsr Branch. Bv the United States census 
returns of 1880 the population of Ocean town- 
ship (including Long Branch village) is given 
as six thousand and twenty-seven, of which the 
population of Long Branch was three thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-three. 

Following is a list of chosen freeholders of 
Ocean township from its erection to the present 
time, viz. : 

1849-50. Henry Wolcott, Jr. 

1849. Henry Howland. 

1850. Isaiah S. Lane. 
1851-50. Henry Howland. 
1857-62. Jordan Wooley. 
1863-64. Edward Wardell. 
1865-68. Jo-seph H. Cooper. 
1869-72. William H. Bennet. 
1873-74. Joseph H. Cooper. 
1875-78. James W. Conover. 
1879-82. Thomas R. Wooley. 
1883-84. John A. Eaton. 



LONG, BRANCH. 

Long Branch, the most famed sea-side resort 
in America, if not in the world, lies on the 
eastern border of Ocean township and on the 
shore of the sea. It comes down by tradition 
that the first name given by white men to this 
locality was " Land's End ;" but this is of very 
doubtful authenticity, and it is far more likely 
that that designation, if applied at all in this 
region, was given to Sandy Hook. The present 
name, which is known to have been in use for 
more than a century, was derived from the " long 
branch " of South Shrewsbury River, which here 
flows in a northwardly course, and is only a 
little distance back from the sea. 

In the list of associate patentees of Monmouth 
are found the names of John Slocum, Joseph 
and Peter Parker and Eliakim Wardell. These 
men all came to Monmouth County, and in May, 
1668, subscribed, with other "freeholders," to 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



755 



I 



the oath of allegiance, the heading of which is, — 
"The names of the inhabitants of Midleton 
upon Nauesink that doe subscribe to the oath 
of Aleagance to the King and Fidelitie to the 
Lords Proprietors." 

John Slocum received from the proprietors a 
grant of land lying in Shrewsbury township 
(now Ocean). In the early times, and before 
the Indian title was extinguished, it was neces- 
sary to buy their rights as well as to patent 
from the proprietors. An amusing tradition 
is related by Judge William H. Slocum, of 
Ocean Port, as to the manner in which his an- 
cestor, John Slocum, secured the Indian title to 
his land, viz. : It was arranged between him 
and the savages that he should engage in a 
wrestling contest with an Indian, who was se- 
lected by them for his strength and skill as a 
wrestler, the stake to be a certain amount of 
land which was agreed upon, and which Slocum 
was to have as a gift if victorious in the con- 
test. He was of large size and very athletic. 
"Great preparations were made to witness the 
encounter. The chosen Indian wrestler prac- 
ticed continually for the event. The day long 
expected proved cloudless and auspicious. The 
spot chosen was the present Fish Landing. A 
circle was formed, and the Indian champion, 
elated, confident and greased from head to foot, 
appeared. Slocum advanced coolly, and the 
struggle began; it was long and doubtful. 
Finally Slocum threw his antagonist, but in an 
instant the Indian was again on his feet. A 
murmur ran through the circle. Again the 
Indian made a violent effort and both fell. 
Another murmur was heard. Silence prevailed 
as they came together again, broken only by 
the roaring of the surf. A long struggle. Slo- 
cum inured to toil, hardy and rugged, proved 
too much for the Indian, and threw him, to the 
intense disappointment of the Indians and un- 
disguised joy of the whites. The terras were 
then all arranged. John Slocum had two 
brothers, and they located that part of Long 
Branch reaching from the shore to Turtle Mill 
Brook, embracing all lands lying north of the 
main road, from the sea to Eatontown, between 
these two points, to the south of Shrewsbury, 
except Fresh Pond and Snag Swamp, which 



was located by one of the Wardell family. A 
considerable portion of these lands continued in 
the possession of the Slocums until thirty or 
forty years ago. All are now gone into other 
hands." 

If this be true, it shows the way in which 
John Slocum secured the Indian title to the 
lands he purchased in 1670. It is stated that 
Slocum, Wardell, Parker and Hulett were to 
have the land resulting from the contest, and 
Slocum was selected as the strongest of the four 
men to meet the Indian ; but this is not true, as 
the records show that in 1670, Eliakim Wardell 
bought the Indian rights for four pounds. 

In 1683 John Slocum was foreman of the 
grand jury, chief ranger of Monmouth County 
and one of the commissioners for laying out 
roads. In 1688 a road was laid out "from the 
King's Highway that crosseth the brook, the 
bounds betwixt John Slocum and his brother 
Nathaniel," past Thomas Hulett and Henry 
Chamberlain to Whale Pond Brook, past 
Thomas Eaton's and Samuel White's to Horse 
Pound, In- his "little water pond" and through 
"Deale."" 

In December, 1683, John Slocum was ap- 
pointed captain of the State militia, and Janu- 
ary 14, 1692, he was appointed to assist the 
surveyor-general to lay out lands in Shrewsbury 
township. Besides the lands he purchased in 
1670, he came into possession of other lands 
from his father, Giles Slocum, of Newport, 
R. I. This tract belonged to Robert Carr, who 
was one of the original ])atentees, but did not 
settle here, and sold the laud to Giles Slocum, 
the deeds for which are dated in 1676. 

The land John Slocum received from his 
father is supposed to have been in what is 
now Shrewsbury, on Narumsen or " Rum- 
son." John Slocum evidently came to Shrews- 
bury (now Long Branch), as he received a 
grant of " three hundred and seventy-two acres 
of land within the bounds of Shrewsburv, be- 
ing in two parcels," for which he was to pay 
a quit-rent of a half-penny per acre, the first 
payment of which was to begin March 25, 1670. 
The land he settled upon was north of the 
main road leading to the sea, including Slo- 
cum's Island. Peter Parker and Eliakim War- 



T56 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



dell came with John Slocum. He (Slocum) 
married Meribah Parker, a cousin of Peter 
Parker, who received a portion of laud by his 
will. 

John Slocum made his will April 6, 1698, 
which was proved February 2, 1702. His 
wife, Meribah, was appointed executrix. He 
left no children, and the property mainly 
passed to John Slocum, a son of his brother 
Natha niel, and to Peter Parker and Patience 
Tucker, both of whom were his cousins. 

Nathaniel Slocum, the brother of John Slo- 
cum, was here before 1688, as is shown by the 
road record, and was then in possession of 
land on the road from John West's line to 
Turtle Mill Brook, and on the south side of 
the road he owned considerable land now in 
old Long Branch village. 

Peter Parker was in this section of coun- 
try between 1665 and 1670, but where he set- 
tled first, is not known. The land left to 
him by his cousin, John Slocum, is supposed 
to have been his residence after that time, as 
it was in the family until 1824. How many 
sons he had is not known, but his son Peter 
settled on the homestead, the site of which is 
now occupied by the new residence of Thomas 
Wi Cooper. He had ' three sons, — John, Wil- 
liam and Peter. John is said to have been 
drowned in the bay ; William moved to Rum- 
son's Neck, where lie was known as "Boatman 
Billy," to distinguish him from " Eich Billy," 
the descendant of Joseph Parker, who settled 
at Narumsunk. Peter settled on the home- 
stead, and carried on a small business with a 
sloop. He died in 1793 and left four sons, — 
John, Joseph, Benjamin and Robert. John 
purchased a farm partly on Pleasure Bay and 
down to Branchport, embracing what was 
known as the Sheep-Pen Lauding. Benjamin 
was a merchant in Eatoutown from 1796 to 
1 809. The homestead farm was divided between 
Robert and Joseph, who lived upon their places 
until their deaths. In 1854 the heirs sold the 
property. The farm of Robert was .bought 
by Samuel Cooper for twenty thousand dollars, 
and the farm of Joseph was purchased by N. 
W. Troutman. Peter Parker, of L(jng Branch, 
now ninety-one years of age, is a son of Joseph. 



It has often been stated that the property at 
Long Branch on which Green's Bath Hotel 
formerly stood was owned prior to and in the 
Revolution by Captain White, of New York, 
who was a British officer. There is nothing 
to confirm this statement, and the story grew 
out of the capture and death of Philip White, 
an account of which will be found in the gene- 
ral history. From other sources it is ascer- 
tained that the property was in possession of 
Ebenezer Wardell, one of the descendants of 
Eliakim Wardell, and who sympathized with 
the British. It was the residence of Ebenezer 
Wardell that was first used its a boarding-place 
at Long Branch. Watson, in his " Annals," 
says: 

" In consequence of the war the place was confis- 
cated. The house was first used as a boarding-house 
by Ellistou Perot, of Philadelphia, in 1788. At that 
time the whole premises were in charge of one old 
woman, left to keep the place from injury. Of her, 
Mr. Perot begged an asylum for himself and family, 
which was granted, provided he could get beds and 
bedding from others. Being pleased with the place, 
he repeated his visit there tliree successive years, 
taking some friends with him." 

In the winter of 1790-91, Lewis McKuight, 
of Monmouth County, purchased the property, 
consisting of one hundred acres, for seven hun- 
dred pounds, with the intention of making it a 
resort. He persuaded Mr. Perot and others to 
loan him money to improve it, which was done, 
and families from Philadelphia came there to 
spend a portion of their summers at " the 
Branch." 

This property was sold in 1820 to William 
Rcnshaw for thirteen thousand dollars, who 
built an addition to the liouse and continued it 
for boarders. ' He lived a few years and died 
before 1832. His widow continued the house 
until July, 1837, when she failed, and the prop- 
erty passed to James Green, who opened the 
Bath Hotel, which was much enlarged and was 

'On the 4th of March, 1828, a company' was formed, 
consisting of Thaddeus Whitlock, Alexander McGregor 
and John P. Lewis, for the purpose of establishing a line 
of steamboats " for the better maintaining and conduct- 
ing of the Bath Buildings Establishment at Long Branch." 

This was the first attempt of steamboats to run to Long 
Branch. 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



757 



destroyed by fire April 4, 1867, at a loss of one 
hundred thousand dollars. The site is now 
occupied by cottages, and the Hotel Scarborough 
opposite stands on the site of the stables. 

In 1792, Herbert & Chandler were conducting 
a hotel at Long Branch, and in May, 1793, they 
advertised in Dunlap's American Advertiser, 
publishetl at that time in Philadelphia, as fol- 
lows : 

" The subscribers beg leave to acquaint the public 
in general, and their friends in particular, that they 
continue in the same Hne of business in the bouse 
they occupied last year at the sea-shore in Shrewsbury, 
and have provided themselves with good waiters and 
laid in a good stock of liquors and everything neces- 
sary for the entertainment of ladies and gentlemen, 
and have provided large and commodious stables. 
They have also erected houses under the bank for the 
convenience of bathing, and will omit nothing to 
render the entertainment of those that may please to 
favor them with their custom in every respect agree- 
able. 

" Herbert & Chandler. 

"Long Branch, May 19, 1792." 

In 1806 the property was owned by Chandler 
& Brinley, who sold that year to Josiuxa Bennet, 
who enlarged it sufficiently to accommodate two 
hundred and fifty guests. He conducted it 
nutil the spring of 1815, when he became em- 
barrassed financially, and it was sold by the 
sheriff to a man from Freehold and three days 
later it was destroyed by fire. It stood on a 
bluff two hundred yards seaward from the 
Hotel Brighton. The land has since been 
washed away, and the site is now covered by 
the waters of the ocean. 

In 1810, Joseph Wardell, of Rumson, pur- 
chased a property at Fish Landing, also known 
later as Peggy's Point, on which his son Rich- 
ard settled and built a tavern. He died a few 
years later, and his widow, Margaret Wardell 
(better known as Aunt Peggy), kept it until 
about 1860, when it was sold to John Chasey, 
who afterwards traded it to Hugli Manahan, 
who erected on the site the large house called the 
"American," later known as the "Clarendon," 
and now as the " Ocean Wave." The south part 
of the lot was purchased by Helmboldj the drug- 
gist, about 1870. 

Long Branch as it was in 1819 is described 
in Niles' Register, of that year, as follows : 



" The company at this salubrious retreat is repre- 
sented to be very numerous and respectable this sea- 
son. The New York Advocate says there is a kind of 
military or naval regulation there which strangers 
often contravene from ignorance : that is, when the 
stipulated time for ladies' bathing arrives, a white flag 
is hoisted on the bank, when it is high treason for a 
gentleman to be seen there ; and when the established 
time for gentlemen arrives, the red flag is run up, 
which is sometimes done by mistake and produces 
rather ludicrous misunderstandings. A wag lately 
hoisted both flags together, which created some awful 
squinting and no little confusion." 

Obadiah Sears built next after Bennett, and 
continued until March, 1843, when his widow 
sold the property. The site is now occupied by 
Howland's Hotel. 

In 1831, Samuel Cooper, Job West, George 
W. West, Major Henry Wardell and John 
Wells purchased the greater part of what was 
known as the Dr. Elisha Perkins farm, and di- 
vided it. Samuel Cooper's part of the land was 
about thirty acres, on which he erected a two 
and a half story building, with accommodations 
for seventy boarders. The house was conducted 
by him for many years. On July 11, 1844, the 
following advertisement was inserted in the 
Monmouth Democrat: 

" SEA-BATHING AT LONG BRANCH. 



"Samuel Cooper 
Begs leave to inform the public generally that he has 
built two bathing-bouses purposely to accommodate 
Country people who wish to bathe and dine at his 
house during the hot wx^ather. 

"Price fur dinner, 50 cents. Good stabling and feed ' 
for horses. " SAMUEL Cooper. 

" L. S. SuTPHiN, Agent." 

The site of this liouse is now occu]iied liy Le- 
land's Ocean Hotel. In front of this hotel is 
the iron pier, which was finished in July, 1879. 
It extends out into the ocean six hundred feet. 
The large pavilion contains promenades, i-estau- 
rants and balconies, while below it are over si.x 
hundred bathing-rooms. The steamer " Ma- 
genta" began regular trips from the pier to New 
York, June 15, 1879. 

Gordon's "Gazetteer" of 1834 mentions Long 
Branch as "a mill-stream and tributary of 
Shrewsbury River. There is a small village of 
twelve or fifteen houses, one tavern and t\\o 



758 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



stores east of this stream, aud between it and the 
Atlantic, to which the name of Long Branch is 
given, a well-known and much frequented sea- 
bathing place on the Atlantic Ocean, \vhich has 
its name from the stream and hamlet above 
mentioned. The inducements to the invalid, 
the idle and the hunters of pleasure to spend a 
portion of the hot season here are many. Good 
accommodations, obliging hosts, a clean and 
high shore, with a gently-shelving beach, a fine 
prospect seaward enlivened by the countless ves- 
sels passing to and from New York, excellent 
fishing on the banks, three or four miles at sea, 
good gunning, and the great attraction of 
all watering-places, much and fashionable com- 
pany. During the season a regular line of stages 
runs from Philadelphia and a steamboat from 
New York to the boarding-houses here, of which 
there are several ; Wardell's, Renshaw's and 
Sears' are the most frequented. Many respect- 
able farmers also receive boarders, who, in the 
quiet of rural life, enjoy in comfort and ease 
their season of relaxation, perhaps more fully 
than those in the public hotels. Along the 
beach at Long Branch is a stvip of fertile black 
sand several miles iu length and exceeding more 
than a mile in width. The land adjacent to the 
ocean rises perpendicularly from the beach 
nearly twenty feet. The boarding-houses are 
twenty rods from the water, with lawns in the 
intermediate space." 

'f The following notes, referring to Long Branch 
watering-place, are from the diary of William 
E,. Maps, from July 5, 1835, to August 25, 
1843, and show the fluctuations of the summer 
business at that period : 

" July 5, 1835. — Visitors from the city are plenty in 
the neighborhood, — -boarding-houses filled. 

"July 1, 1836. — Not over twenty boarders on the 
coast. 

" July 15, 1837. — Boarders scarce on the shore ; Mrs. 
Renshaw has no guests. July 3 1st — Boarders still 
scarce on the shore, — houses averaging only about 
thirty each; proprietors discouraged. August 12th. — 
But few boarders out yet. 

"June 11, 1838. — Not many boarders on the shore, 
but i^rospect of a good season. July 9th. — The board- 
ers begin to come out. July 16th.— Boarders plenty. 
July 25th. — More boarders on the shore than for 
many years past. August 26th. — The summer has 



been the warmest, dryest and best season for boarders 
ever known. 

"July 13, 1839. — But few boarders at the shore. 
July 28th. — Boarding-houses just filled up. August 
1st. — Mrs. Renshaw, a boarding-house keeper, failed. 

"July 30, 1840.— Boarding-houses well filled. 

" July 16, 1841. — Boarders very scarce on the shore. 
July 31st. — Boarders quite plenty at this date. 

"July 19, 1842.— Boarding-houses about half-filled. 
July 31st. — Cleared up cold this afternoon. August 
1st. — Boarders frightened by the cold. August 15th. 
— Warm weather, but few boarders. 

"August 4, 1843. — Boarding-houses at the Branch 
well filled. August 14th. — Boarding-houses filled to 
overflowing. August 25th. — Mr. Montgomery, a guest 
at Green's, drowned." 

Long Branch, in 1840, was described by ex- 
Senator Stockton (in a paper dated August 10, 
1882), as follows: 

" I wonder how many people who now visit Long 
Branch realize the change that forty years have 
brought. My first sight of the sea was from these 
bluffs in 1840. My brother and I had driven down 
from Princeton, stopping on the way at Colt's Neck, 
where my father had a racing-stable, and where 
' Fashion ' was trained. Then one little steamer made 
the trip from New York, rounding the Hook and 
making her way into the Shrewsbury through an inlet 
at Seabright, almost at the spot where the Octagon 
Hotel now stands. The water rushed through it as 
in a mill-race, and the passage through was an event 
of the day. From the little dock inside, stages, with 
the tires of their wheels eight inches broad, toiled 
slowly along the sands to a farm, the borders of which 
is now Monmouth Beach, and thence to the upper end 
of Long Branch and to a low tavern known as the 
Fish House, at about the point where the telegraph- 
office now is. The foundations of this office are now 
almost washed by the sea. The Fish House was then 
several hundred yards from the beach. There were 
but two other hotels, — the Bath-House, about halfway 
between the present West End and Ocean, and the 
Conover House, still standing and occupied by the 
musicians employed in the West End Hotel. There 
was a bowling-alley on the beach, opposite the Bath- 
House, the site of which is now three hundred yards 
out in the ocean. Then all who came here drove from 
Philadelphia or Trenton or Princeton in their own 
carriages; few came from New York. The fare was 
plain. Great dishes of boiled hard-shell crabs and 
lobsters were on everj' table. There were beef, mutton 
and vegetables from New Jersey farms, and rich cream 
and milk, and iu the kitchen were colored cooks from 
the South. People came here for their health, and 
after supper every t)ne went to the beach aud there 
stayed until ten or eleven o'clock, unless a couple of 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



759 



fiddlers enticed the young people to a dance in the 
parlors. Every one bathed in the sea. A white flag 
gave notice that it was ladies' hour, and no man, ex- 
cept a husband, then ventured to the beach. When 
the red flag was up the men crowded the surf, and 
there was no pretence of bathing-suits. The hotels 
were then so far back that the bluflT concealed the 
bathers. Now, what with French dishes in the dining- 
room, a pretentious band in the parlor and the desire 
for display in dress and carriages, Long Branch is 
hardly any longer a place sought for health, but rather 
only for the opportunity it gives to exhibit new cos- 
tumes and the ability to spend money." 

The Monmouth House was built about 1848, 
and Abner H. Reed was the first proprietor. It 
was afterwards owned by Enocli Hendriekson, 
and last by Austin James. The encroachments 
of the sea made it necessary to move it inland. 
The site is now in the sea and nearly half a 
mile out from the Shelbourne. Cornelius Lane 
built a house afterwards known as the Lawn, 
near Stetson House, now West End. 

The Mansion House was built in 1846 by 
Jacob W. Morris, who, in 185G, sold it to Samuel 
Laird, under whom it was enlarged from time to 
time, until it became one of the leading hotels 
of the place. Upon the death of Mr. Laird, in 
1872, it was purchased by Mr. Mclntyre and 
William M. Gowtry, who are the present own- 
ers of the property. The Mansion House was 
partially destroyed by fire on the night of De- 
cember 19, 1884. Loss, sixty thousand dollars. 

In 1852 the Parker farms were owned by the 
heirs of Robert and Josejih Parker. Samuel 
Cooper purchased the Robert Parker farm, on 
which stood the old Parker homestead, the site 
of which is now occupied by the new residence 
of Thotnas W. Cooper. On this farm Samuel 
Cooper, in 1853, began the erection of the Metro- 
politan Hotel, which was blown down twice be- 
fore it was completed. It was opened for the 
season of 1854 by Joseph H. Cooper and 
Michael M. Vandyke. Afterwards it was sold 
to Dr. Arthur V. Conover, of Freehold. It was 
burned April 25, 1876, and rebuilt soon after a.s 
the Hotel Brighton, M'hich is its present 
name. 

The Allegheny House, once the residence ot 
Dr. Elisha Perkins, was in 1846 fitted up with 
a hundred rooms and occupied as a hotel until 
its destruction by fire, in 1866. Since that time 



the erection of building-s and changes of names 
have been so numerous that it is impracticable 
to follow them. In 1860 the hotels on the 
shore had accommodations for four thousand one 
hundred and twenty-five persons, with a number 
of smaller hotels and boarding-houses besides. 

Recently the idea has been entertained that 
Long Branch may be made an attractive and 
healthful resort for winter, as well as in the 
summer season. It is claimed that the temper- 
ature here in winter averages from five to ten 
decfrees warmer than in New York or Philadel- 
phia. The weather here until February is 
usually very pleasant. In December it is mostly 
dry and bracing, while in January the light 
suows are quickly melted by the sea air. It is 
not until March arrives, with its heavy, cold 
northwesterly gales, that the weather is unpleas- . 
ant. As to the healthfuluess of the place there 
can be no question. The sea air is, of course, 
invigorating, and the land breezes come from 
dense pine-forests which lie back of the Branch. 
The experiment of a fashionable winter resort 
at this place has now (December, 1884) been 
inaugurated by IMr. John Hoey, who has lat- 
terly made Long Branch his home the year 
around, and is well satisfied that it can be suc- 
cessfully established as a winter resort, and for 
this purpose he has now opened the largest four 
of the elegant cottages (more properly, man- 
sions), which he has erected from time to time, 
opposite his own home, on Cedar Avenue. 
These houses have been especially fitted and 
prepared for the object in view. Mr. Hoey's 
grounds, with their capacious gi-een-houses, filled 
with roses, palms, orchids and other plants, will 
be open to the visitors. The New York and 
Long Branch Railroad will run fast trains, 
stopping at Hollywood Station, within two 
minutes' walk of the cottages. Thus visitors 
can reach New York and return with ease. 
Mr. Hoey takes great interest in his new idea, 
and believes that in a short time a great many 
people may find as much benefit from a resi- 
dence at Long Branch in winter as in summer. 

The old village of Long Branch is situated 
more than a mile inland from the beach at the 
great watering-place of the same name. It luis 



760 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



been known as a village for more than seventy 
years, and there was a settlement here, years 
before the devolution. 

The first store at or near the present village 
was built by Michael Maps and Richard Wyckotf 
in 1812, at what is now known as Lippincott's 
Corner, and on the site of the house occupied by 
Miss Harriet Lippincott. The firm did busi- 
ness there until 1815, when they were succeeded 
by Elisha Lippincott, who continued there until 
1870. At the close of the War of 1812-15, 
Jacob Croxson erected a building on the 
east ])art of the present site of Van Wart's 
Hotel, and Thom;is Chandler opened a store, 
which he kept for many years. In 1830, Wil- 
liam W. Croxson, son of Jacob, opened a store 
in the building and kept it until 1842. In 
this store Mr. Croxson kept the post-office from 
1834 till he sold out. 

Elisha West built a small tavern about 1845, 
and opened a hotel, which was enlarged at dif- 
ferent times, and which he kept until 1868, 
when Jacob Van Wart, the present proprietor, 
purchased it. Alexander McGregor, who set- 
tled at Mechanicsburg (now Branchburg) in 
1809, and opened a store at the place in 1826, 
built a store building at what was known as the 
" Liberty Pole" (now Long Branch village), and 
put his nephew in charge. William R. Maps 
was a clerk in the store. The nephew not con- 
ducting the business properly, Mr. Maps was 
placed in charge, and in 1829 purchased the 
business and continued there many years. The 
store was on the site of the post-office block, just 
west of Mr. Maps' present residence. 

In 1835, John A. Morford began a store 
where Curtis, the hatter, now is, and continued 
till 1874. The firm was Wardell & Morford, 
which was changed, in 1859, to John A. Mor- 
ford &Son ; iu 1872, to Morford, Van Derveer 
& Co. ; in 1874, to J. A. Morford & A"au Der- 
veer ; and in 1883, to Morford, Brown & 
Co. The present brick building was erected in 
1874-75, across the street from the old store, 
and T. Con. Morford has taken the place 
of his father, — making a continuous business 
firm for nearly fifty years. William R. Maps, 
who began business as a clerk in 1826, is still 
in active business as a member of the firm of 



Maps, Slocuni & Stokes, and is also president 
of the Long Branch Banking Company. 

In 1838 the first Fourth of July celebration 
was held at Long Branch village, with the fol- 
lowing order of exercises : 

Salute of thirteen guns at sunrise fired from 
the hill adjoining Lewis Taber's. 

At six o'clock A.M., procession formed in 
Peter Slocum's woods, in rear of where Saint 
Luke's Church now stands. 

At ten o'clock a.m., procession moved by 
way of Elisha Lippincott's store, which stood 
on the corner where Miss Harriet Lippincott, 
his daugher, now resides, to the church (Branch- 
burg), where an address was delivered by Rev. 
James H. Dandy, of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Reading of declaration and an oration, 
by William H. Slocum, after which the pro- 
cession returned to the Liberty Pole by the way 
of Samuel Corlies to the boarding-house of 
Samuel Cooper (where the Ocean Hotel now 
stands), where dinner was served at four o'clock. 
The celebration was concluded with fire- works 
in the evening. Samuel B. Brittan was marshal 
of the day. The first division of the procession 
was commanded by Captain James Green, and 
escorted by the company called the Sea Ran- 
gers, commanded by Captain Joline. The 
second division (citizens) was under command 
of Captain John A. Morford. 

North Long Branch (formerly Atlantic- 
ville) lies on the sea-shore and on the extreme 
northern limit of Long Branch corporation, of 
which it forms a part. It contains a few houses 
and business places. A two- story frame school- 
house was built at a cost of five thousand dol- 
lars, and was opened in December, 1873. 

The sea-shore line of the New Jersey Southern 
Railroad passes through the village, and a 
station is located at the place. The Atlanticville 
Hotel has been open here for several years. 

Elberou is a southern suburb of Long Branch, 
and is so closely identified with the latter that it 
should be mentioned in that connection, though 
it is not within the corporation limits. The ground 
forming the site of this place was owned by Ben- 
jamin Wooley, from whom a lot of one hundred 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



761 



acres was purchased bv Lewis A. Brown, who 
laid it out in lots and streets, and commenced 
the improvements which have made Elberon 
what it is, — a most attractive and fashionable 
summer resort, and a place of elegant residences, of 
which the most famous is the Francklyn Cottage, 
to which the mortally-wounded President Gar- 
field was carried from the Executive Mansion, 
and in which he died. 

The Elberon Casino was incorporated in 
1882 with a capital of fifty thousand dollars 
and with the following-named corporators : H. 
Victor Newcomb, George R. Blanchard, John 
Sloane, James A. Garland, Horace Porter, Amos 
Cotting, Granville T. Hawes and Richard Tal- 
bot. The company was authorized to commence 
operations January 1, 1883, the object of its in- 
corporation being "to improve, beautify and de- 
velop the lands, ... to erect buildings for 
public gatherings and club purposes." The 
principal improvement made by the company is 
the erection and opening of the Elberon, 
which is one of the most elegant and perfectly 
furnished and appointed hotels on the sea-shore. 
In this hotel is located the Elberon post-office, 
established in 1881. 

The Long Branch Sanitary and Improve- 
ment Commission was incorporated by an act of 
the Legislature approved April 11, 1867, which 
provides for and requires the appointment annu- 
ally, by a justice of the Supreme Court, of three 
commissioners, to be styled "The Long Branch 
Commissioners," and 

" That the said commissioners, or a majority of 
them, shall have power to establish ordinances and 
regulations for the following purposes, to wit : To 
prevent vice and immorality ; to preserve the public 
peace and order ; to prevent, quell riots, disturbances, 
disorderly assemblages ; to lay out, regulate and im- 
prove roads and water the same, and to remove en- 
croachments thereon ; to lay out, regulate and im- 
prove parks and public grounds, with consent of the 
land-owners; to prevent indecent exposures, and to 
improve the sanitary condition of the place, and may 
carry said ordinances and regulations into eflect, and 
may enforce them by penalties not exceeding one 
hundred dollars for each violation thereof, which may 
be recovered by action of debt by said commissioners, 
by their official name and title aforesaid, before any 
competent tribunal having jurisdiction of the amount 
of such penalty, for money due and owing, generally 



giving the special matters in evidence, and execution 
may be awarded according to law, on judgments ren- 
dered under this act for the penalty and costs." 

The territory composing the jurisdiction of 
the Long Branch Commission is described in 
the act " That portion of the county of Mon- 
mouth bounded north by the road running from 
Branchport to Atlanticville, south l:)y Thomp- 
son's Pond, east by the Atlantic Ocean, and west- 
erly by a line running parallel with the coast 
and one-third of a mile west from high-water 
mark." 

A supplement to this act was passed April 3, 
1868, which appointtxl as commissioners Lewis 
B. Brown, Samuel Laird, Francis Corlies, Jacob 
Herbert and Cornelius Vanderveer, and described 
the limits to be as follows : 

" Beginning in the middle of the road leading from 
Branchport to the sea, at the intersection of the 
Long Branch and Sea-Shore Railroad ; thence, run- 
ning westerly along said road to Branchport, to the 
middle of the road leading in front of Cornelius Van- 
derveer's to the Eatontown and Sea-Shore turnpike ; 
thence along the same to the said Eatontown and Sea- 
Shore turnpike ; thence along the same westwardly 
to the northwest corner of lands late belonging to 
John W. Slocum, deceased ; thence along the line 
thereof southerly to the northeast corner of Henry H. 
Warden's farm, in the line of lands of Joseph Poole ; 
thence along the line of said Poole's land westward 
and southerly to the road fi-om Long Branch village 
to the Bath Hotel; thence westerly along the same to 
the road leading out of said last-mentioned road to 
Lane & Corlies' store; thence along the same to the 
Long Branch and Deal turnpike ; thence southerly 
along said turnpike to the southwest corner of a tract 
of land purchased by Lewis B. Brown of Amzi McLean 
and others; thence along the southerly line of said 
tract of land to the ocean at low-water mark ; thence 
along the ocean at low-water mark northerly to a 
point due east and opposite to a certain monument on 
the line of the said Long Branch and Sea-Shore Rail- 
road; thence southerly along the middle of said rail- 
road to the beginning, the last course from said monu- 
ment to said point of beginning being seven hundred 
and seventy-five yards, more or less." 

A supplement to the original act, passed in 
1872, provided for an addition of territoiy to 
the commission, as embraced in the following 
described limits : 

" Beginning in the road leading in front of Corne- 
lius Vanderveer's to the Eatontown and Sea-Shore 
turnpike, at the intersection of the same by the New 



762 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Jersey Southern Railroad ; thence running southerly 
along said road 'or avenue to said turnpike ; thence 
along the same westwardly to the northwest corner of 
lands late belonging to John W. Slocum, deceased ; 
thence along the line thereof southerly to the north- 
east corner of Henry H. Wardell's farm, in the line of 
lands of Joseph Poole; thence along the line of said 
Poole's land westward and southerly to the road from 
Long Branch village to the Bath Hotel ; thence west- 
erly along the same to the road leading out of said 
last-mentioned road to Lane & Corlies' store ; thence 
along the same to the Long Branch and Deal turn- 
pike; thence northerly along said last-named turn- 
pike to the road leading from Lane & Corlies' store 
to Mechanicsville ; thence along the same to south- 
westerly corner of lauds of Samuel Corlies ; thence 
with the westerly line of said Corlies' land to corner 
of lands of Tucker Woolley ; thence with the westerly 
line of said Woolley 's lands to the corner of lands of 
George W. Brown ; thence with the westerly line of 
said Brown's land to corner of lands of Joel Potter ; 
thence with said Potter's westerly line to the afore- 
said Eatontown and Sea-Shore turnpike ; thence along 
the same to southeast corner of lands of A. M. Chris- 
tellar and others, and known as the Kensington Park 
property ; thence northerly along the eastern line of 
the same to the said New Jersey Southern Railroad ; 
thence easterly along said railroad to place of be- 
ginning." 

A supplement, passed April 8, 1875, author- 
izes the commission "to establish a Board of 
Health, define its powers and duties and pro- 
vide for the protection and maintenance of the 
health of the inhabitants." Under this authority 
a Board of Health was established, and has proved 
a great benefit to the people of Long Branch. 

The presidents of the commission since its 
organization have been Joseph H. Cooper, 
Thomas R. Wooley, R. H. Woodward and 
George W. Brown. The president of the Board 
of Health is Dr. S. H. Hunt. 

The first physician of whom any knowledge 
has been obtained as having practiced near 
Long Branch was Dr. Elisha Perkins, a native 
of New England, who was an eccentric genius, 
and practiced medicine in accordance with his 
peculiar ideas. He lived here before 1800, 
and owned a large farm, and built a starch-fac- 
tery where St. James' Church now stands. A 
part of the farm reached to the beach. The 
old residence was standing in 1855, and is now 
used as a barn. He moved to Baltimore, Md., 
after 1812. 



Dr. Jacob H. Van Derveer began practice 
in this place in 1846. 

Dr. Z. W. Scriven began practice in 1851, and 
continued until his death, in 1876. 

Dr. Thomas G. Chattle came to Long Branch 
in 1855 and is still in practice here. 

Dr. James O. Green opened an office here in 
1864, and is still in practice. 

Dr. J. B. Goodeuough came to Long Branch, 
from Blue Ball, in 1875, and is now practic- 
ing here. 

Dr. James H. Chasey, a student of Dr. Scri- 
ven, graduated and located here in 1875. He 
is one of the present physicians of Long 
Brimch. 

Dr. Henry H. Pemberton came to the Branch 
in 1874. His brother, Dr. John Pemberton, 
began practice in 1880. Dr. George AV. 
Brown, a student of Dr. Chattle, began prac- 
tice in 1878. These are all now in practice 
at I^ong Branch. 

The Long Branch News, the pioneer news- 
paper of Long Branch, was first issued No- 
vember 1, 1866. It was a six-column paper, 
published by Major James S. Yard, of the 
Monmouth Democrat, with James B. Morris as 
assistant editor, and who succeeded Major Yard 
in the proprietorshijj in 1868, and continued 
till his death, in 1871. It was continued by 
Major Yard until April 6, 1872, when Mr. J. 
Stultz, the present proprietor, purchased it and 
became the editor. It is now an eight-column 
paper. The office is on Second Avenue, near 
Broadway. A daily edition was started for 
the summer months May 28, 1866, and con- 
tinued as such until 1882, when it was issued, 
as it still is, tri-weeklj'. 

The Long Branch Record was established 
in Long Branch village by R. M. Stultz, Janu- 
ary 4, 1883. On thelst of October following, 
L. S. Bennett became a partner, and it is now 
conducted by Stultz & Bennett. 

There are four post-offices within the limits 
of the Long Branch Commission, viz. : Long 
Branch village, Long Branch, North Long 
Branch and West End. The post-office at 
Long Branch village was established ]\Iay 28, 
1834, and was designated on the books of the 
department at Washington as " private." This 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BKANCH. 



763 



meant that tlie mail was airried at private ex- 
pense from the nearest post-office, whicli then 
was Eatontown, where an office had been estab- 
lished a few years before with John P. Lewis 
;is postmaster. The first postmaster at Long 
Branch was William W. Croxson, appointed 
May 28, 1834. The mail was carried from 
Eatontown to Long Branch by William R. 
Maps, who, in his diary, says : " April 19, 1838. 
— The last we expect to carry the mail from 
Eatontown." Uriah Smalley took the first 
mail contract, and carried it until about 1851, 
when James Reamer contracted for a term of 
years, but did not complete it. William West 
and John Van Wart carried the mail the re- 
maining time of his contract, and in 1856, 
John Van Wart made a contract to carry the mail, 
and continued until the railroad was opened, 
in 1861, when the mails were carried by the 
railroad company. 

The store of William W. Croxson was partly 
on the site of the present Van Wart Hotel. ]Mr. 
]\Iaps, in his diary of date February 6, 1839, 
says : " William W. Croxson moved the post- 
office from Long; Branch to Israel Williams' 
store without consulting the people. March. — 
People indignant on account of removal to !Me- 
chauicsville. Croxson brought it ba(;k on the 
6th." 

Mr. Croxson continued in the office until 
about 1846, when Charles Lyon was a2)pointed 
and served two years. The office was kept in 
his cabinet-shop. He was succeeded in 1848 
by Henry Howland, who was appointed and 
served until May 21, 1854, when John A. Mor- 
ford was appointed. The office was removed 
to his store, where Curtis, the hatter, now is, and 
where it remained until 18G0, when John Slo- 
cum was appointed postmaster, and remained 
until about January 1, 1875, when the present 
postmaster, J. A. Howland, was appointed. 
Under Slocum the office was moved to the east 
side of the present building and moved to the 
west side of the same building, when Mr. 
Howland came to the office, the west side having 
been fitted up with special reference to use as a 
post-office. 

The Long Branch post-office was established 
about 1864 with Charles Sprague (who then 



kept the Ocean Hotel) as postmaster. It was 
afterwards moved to the railroad-station and 
kept by James Allaire until 1871, when Lewis 
Slocum was appointed. He was succeeded by 
Matthias Wooley, the present postmaster, in 
December, 1874, when the office was removed 
to the present building, on Broadway, opposite 
Third Avenue. 

The West End post-office was established in 
September, 1881, with D. M. Hildreth post- 
master, who holds the position at the present time. 

The North Long Branch post-office was 
established in 1874, with George Hoyt as post- 
master. At his death George E. Ferguson 
became postmaster and continued a few months, 
being then succeeded by the present postmaster, 
C. E. Francis. 

The First Presbyterian Church at 
Long Branch Village was formed about 
1840. Long Branch was made a preaching- 
place of the Shrewsbury Presbyterian Church 
many years ago, and on the 12tli of July, 1846, 
the trustees of the church at Long Branch pur- 
chased a lot of Jonathan Slocum, not far from 
where the Reformed Church now stands, on 
which they erected an edifice, the corner-stone 
of which was laid July 12, 1848, and the church 
was dedicated July 29, 1849. It was used for 
worsliip until about 1855. On the 6th of March, 
1856, an act of Legislature was approved, au- 
thorizing Jacob H. Van Derveer, John W. 
Slocum and Charles Herbert to sell the prop- 
erty, which was done. The building is now 
ussd as a store. 

In December, 1883, the Presbytery of Mon- 
mouth were invited by a petition, numerously 
signed, to form a Presbyterian Church at Long 
Bi-anch. A committee was appointed, who ar- 
ranged to meet the petitionei-s in Library Hall, 
and, after examination of the case, organized 
the First Presbyterian Church of Long Branch, 
with about fifty members, who were largely 
members of the Second Reformed Church, and 
the elders of the Second Reformed Church were 
chosen as elders in the Presbyterian Church. 
Services are held in Library Hall. It is the 
intention of the society to erect a church in the 
near future. 



764 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The First Keformed Church of Long 
Branch dates back in its organization nearly 
forty years. Among those who settled at Long 
Branch were many families of the Reformed 
Church faith, and a request was made in 1847, 
of the " Particular Synod of New York," to 
" come and occupy the ground." In the year 
1847 the Board of Domestic Missions sent the 
candidate, Nathaniel Conklin, lately graduated 
from the Theological Seminary, to assume 
charge. He was ordained as an evangelist by 
the Classis of New Brunswick on the 4th of 
January, 1848. 

Efforts were at once and successfully made to 
obtain means to erect a church. A lot was 
purchased, and the corner-stone was laid, July 
18, 1848, by the Rev. Dr. Van Vrankiu, of 
New Brunswick, Rev. D. V. Scott, of Newark, 
and the Rev. William Reilley, of Holmdel. 
The church was completed and dedicated No- 
vember 22, 1849. The following, from the 
Minutes of the Synod, gives the history of the 
church to the resignation of the Rev. Mr. 
Wilson : 

" In the spring of 1851, Mr. Conklin received a call 
to another field of labor, and he left before the church 
was organized. A committee had been appointed for 
that purpose as early as April, 1849, but the act of 
organization had so far failed for want of material. 
But now, a new minister being needed, the Board of 
Missions required that he should be a pastor and no 
longer a missionary. And hence the necessity arose 
that the church be organized. This was accomplished 
on the 12th of July, 1851, nine persons presenting 
themselves for membership, of whom four were males. 
In the month of August following, a call was made on 
the candidate, James B. Wilson, a recent graduate of 
the seminary, to become their pastor. This call was 
accepted, and he was ordained and installed on the 
11th of November following. In that field he lived 
and labored for twenty-seven years, and with what 
success we may gather from a few leading facts. 

" The church, we have said, was organized with 
nine members. It found itself surrounded by a peo- 
ple who knew nothing of its doctrines, order or his- 
tory ; and who, indeed, were indifferent on the sub- 
ject. Passing by a few families, the whole population, 
except such as were regular attendants at the old 
Methodist Church, represented a mission field. The 
Board of Missions gave the pastor two hundred and 
fifty dollars for the first year. The church found itself 
in debt six hundred dollars. This wa.s paid in the 
next four years. lu two years more a parsonage was 



obtained, leaving a debt of only about six hundred 
dollars, and in seven years from the beginning of his 
ministry the church was self-supporting. And, better 
than all, in the eleventh year the church reported 
sixty-eight members in full communion. This church, 
so small in its beginnings, has come to be strong and 
influential. And not only did Mr. Wilson care for 
and labor to build up his own church, but he felt 
called upon to extend the influence of the Reformed 
Church as he had opjiortunity. Three churches, be- 
sides the First Church, are what they are to-day 
through his efforts and sacrifices. His connection 
with the church was dissolved during 1878. The 
present pastor, the Rev. Charles J. Young, was in- 
stalled February 6, 1879." 

The Second Reformed Church of Long 
Branch is of but recent date as to its organi- 
zation as a religious body. For many years 
prior to 1878 visitors at the sea-shore had desired 
a more convenient place of worship than the edi- 
fice of the Long Branch First Reformed Church. 
This resulted in the building of the "Sea-side 
Cliapel " by subscription. The corner-stone was 
laid August 16, 1866. Before the work was 
far advanced a lady from Hartford offered five 
thousand dollars to enlarge the chapel from the 
size intended. The offer wa.s accepted, and the 
chapel was completed and dedicated July 14, 
1867. Preaching was supplied by visiting 
clergymen for eleven years. lu 1878 it was 
thought advisable to place the chapel under 
control of some religious organization, and, in 
accord with the desire of most of the people 
constituting the congregation, the Second Re- 
formed Church of Long Branch was organized. 
May 28, 1878, with thirty members. The Rev. 
James B. Wilson resigned the pastorate of the 
First Churcii and was installed pastor of the 
new congregation. He continued until April, 
1881, when he resigned, and was succeeded by 
the Rev. William Phraner. The church dis- 
banded December 17, 1883. The chapel is now 
used for services during the summer season. 

The Roman Catholic Church of Our 
Lady, Star of the Sea, is located at Long 
Branch, at the corner of Second and Chelsea 
Avenues. 

Fifty years ago there was not more than five 
or six resident Catholics in Long Brancli and 
vicinity, and these were natives of Ireland. In 
the summer several families usually came from 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



765 



New York and Philadelphia. It is probable 
that visiting priests often offered Mass in the 
summer hotels for the accommodation of the 
Catholic guests, but the first well-authenticated 
instance of the offering of the ]SIass in the place 
was about the beginning of September, 1848; 
probably Bishop Hughes, of New York, was 
the celebrant. This Mass was said in the 
dining rooms of the Cooper House, now the 
Ocean Hotel. In that hotel Mass was said by 
visiting clergymen during five summers, and 
then Father John Kelly, of South Amboy, of- 
fered Mass at stated intervals in the house of 
Michael Hogan, which is yet standing back in 
the field near the Catholic Cemetery of INIount 
Carmel. 

The first Catholic Church built here was 
erected in 1852, on the corner of Chelsea Ave- 
nue and the New Jersey Southern Railroad, on 
tlie lot where Mr. Noyes' cottage now stands. 
Mr. Patrick McCormack, of Elizabetli, N. J., 
took a warm interest in its welfare, and it was 
mainly through his generous efforts that it was 
completed. It was known as "The Church of 
Our Lady, Star of the Sea." 

Fathers Kelly^ Killeen and Saloan ministered 
to the congregation after the church was built, 
and the last-named clergyman was obliged, 
owing to the increase of hLs flock, to erect the 
new church. Shortly after its completion the 
old church was pulled down. 

In 1877, Rev. James A. Walsh became resi- 
dent pastor, and remained until May, 1883. 
During the ministrations of these clergymen 
Catholicity increased both spiritually and tem- 
porally. 

The congregation has a handsome frame 
church fronting on Second Avenue and a com- 
fortable rectory on Chelsea Avenue. The 
present rector, Rev. James A. McFaul, took 
charge of the church May 1, 1883, and he is 
gratified with the continued increase of the con- 
gregation, both in winter and summer, and he 
feels that the Catholics under his charge are 
keeping pace with the progress of this beautiful 
seaside resort. The congregation numbei-s 
about two hundred and fifty in winter and 
about two thousand five hundred in summer. 
As a further proof of the progress of his churchy 



he points to the partly- completed new church 
of St. ]\Iichael (of which he is also the rector), 
situated at the West End, near Takanassee 
Lake. Mass was first celebrated in the tempo- 
rarily-roofed basement of the church on August 
19, 1883, at eight a.m. The church is closed 
in winter, but the summer congregation num- 
bers about four hundred. 

St. James' Episcopal Church was organ- 
ized in 1853 as a brauch of Christ Church of 
Shrewsbury, and was for a short time under the 
care of the Rev. Harry Finch, who served about 
five years. He was succeeded by the Rev. Jacob 
H. Moore, who served two years. The Rev. 
R. A. Poole was called, and remained from 
1860 to 1873, when he was followed by the 
present rector, the Rev. E. D. Tomj^kins. 

Soon after the organization the lot on Broad- 
way was secured and a small church building 
was erected, which has been added to from time 
to time. The church has at present about two 
hundred communicants. 

St. Luke's jNIethodist Episcopal Church 
had its beginning as a branch or preaching-place 
from the First Church of Long Branch, at 
Branchburg. 

In 1856 the Methodists of Long Branch vil- 
lage purchased the Presbyterian Church build- 
ing, which stood on Broadway, opposite the head 
of Washington Street, and is now used for stores. 
A parsonage was built, in 1861, on the lot ad- 
joining. The present church organization was 
effected in 1860 from members from the First 
Chuj'ch. Later, the society was incorporated as 
the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church. 
A lot \vas purchased at the corner of Main and 
Washington Streets, and building commenced 
in January, 1866. 

An act was passed February 23, 1866, which 
recites that the trustees of the church had }>ur- 
chased a lot and commenced the erection of a 
house of worship. It authorized the trustees to 
" sell the old house of worship known as the 
Long Brauch Village Church." The corner- 
stone of the church was laid May 4, 1866. It 
was finished and used, Ijut not dedicated until 
August 9, 1868, by Bishop Edward S. Janes. 
The name of the church was changed from 
Centenarv Church to St. Luke's Methodist 



766 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JP]RSEY. 



Episcopal Church, by act of incorporation, Feb- 
ruary, 18.S0. The following named have been 
pastors of the church : 1862, J. Atwood ; 1865, 
C. W. Heisley; 1866, J. J. Gross ; 1874, H. 
M. Brown; 1875, C. S. Van Cleve ; 1876, G. 
C. Maddock ; 1878, C. R. Hartranft; 1880, J. 
Moore ; 1883, R. Thorn. 

The Asbuey Methodist Episcopal 
Church, at North Long Branch, was erected 
in 1869. The corner-stone of the building was 
laid April 22d of that year, and it was dedicated 
on the 8th of August followiug. The society 
was organized in April, 1872, from members of 
St. Luke's Church. It has been served by the 
following pastors: J. W. Morris, 1873-74; W. 
P. C. Strickland, 1875-76 ; E. C. Hancock, 
1877-78 ; S.W.Lake, 1879-80 ; S. F. Wheeler, 
1881-83; S.S. Wetherby, 1884. 

The Simpson Methodist Episcopal 
Church was organized in 1882 from members 
of the Centenary Church. Its pastors have 
been J. A. Jones (1881-83), A. H. Eberhardt 
(1884). A church was erected in the lower 
village iu 1881-82, and was dedicated July 16, 
1880^ 

The Trinity African Methodist Epis- 
copal Church was organized in 1882 under 
the Rev. Alfred Garrison. A church was built 
on Liberty Street, near Brook. It was dedi- 
cated August 28, 1882. The present jiastor is 
the Rev. F. R. Martin. 

The Baptist Church edifice at Long 
Branch village is situated at the corner of Pearl 
Street and Bath Avenue. The land on which 
it stands was purchased in 1872, and prepara- 
tions were made to build, in the expectation of 
having the church completed in the spring of 
1873. This was not accomplished, and an 
eifort was again made in 1881, again resulting 
in failure. On the 17th of December, 1883, 
the corner-stone of a chapel was laid. The 
building, thirty-four by fifty feet in size, with 
a seating capacity of two hundred and fifty, 
was completed and is now in use. The church 
is under the charge of the Baptist Church of 
Eatontown, Rev. William Russell, pastor. 

" A Mormon obtained consent to preach in 



the school-house in the village, — the first ser- 
vices of the kind ever held in Long Branch." 
This is extracted from the diary of William R. 
Maps, where it is found under date of January 
7, 1842. On the 15th of February in the 
same year he made this entry : " Considerable 
diflScultv with the Mormon and anti-Mormon 
preachers." Again, Sunday, March 13tli: 
" Mormon preaches against the Methodists ; 
Betsey Tallman baptized by the preacher, — one 
of his first converts." March 27th : " Henry 
Brinley arrested the anti-Mormon preacher for 
disturbing Mormon meeting." The Mormon 
preacher made several converts, but beyond 
this fact nothing appears iu reference to the 
matter. 

The Long Branch School District 
(embracing Seabright, which is outside the 
limits of the corporation) contains six sub-dis- 
tricts and seven school-houses, including the 
High School building. The first house of which 
any information has been obtained as having 
been occupied for school purposes in this vicin- 
ity was built about 1780 on land then owned 
by Elisha West, and now by John Hoey, on 
Cedar Avenue, one mile east of Branchburg. 
This house was used until 1812. 

In 1811 the people living at the Bi-anch and 
along the shore became desirous of having a 
school-house nearer to them than the old one, 
and to that end Benjamin Wardell drew a 
subscription agreement, dated January 28, 1812, 
which, with the names a2)pended to it, is given 
below, — 

" Whereas, it is judged of great benefit to the 
inhabitants of Long Branch that a school-house 
should be built in some central situation in that dis- 
trict, and whereas, Benjamin Wardell agrees to give 
half an acre of land adjoining Tucker Cook's line, 
fronting the main road, for that purpose to be used, 
occupied and enjoyed by the said inhabitants, as long 
as they continue to keep a school in said house, con- 
templated to be built, which half-acre of land the 
subscribers shall put in good lawful fence, if the said 
Wardell at any time requests it, it being always 
understood, however, that the said land shall revert 
to and again become the property of him, the 
said Wardell, or his heirs, as soon a.s it ceases to be 
occupied for the purpose aforesaid." The names of 
the subscribers to the agreement and the sum sub- 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BKANCH. 



767 



scribed by each for the purpose of building the school 
house are here given : 

Enos Eastwood $5 00 

William Green 5 00 

Francis Emmons 5 00 

John Cook 5 00 

Samuel Slocum 10 00 

Benjamin West 10 00 

Joseph West 5 00 

Asher Wardell 5 00 

Job West 8 00 

Benjamin Wardell 10 00 

Joseph Parker 10 00 

Robert Parker 5 00 

John Emmons 5 00 

Richard Faber 6 00 

John Faber 5 00 

Cornelius Brower 5 00 

Gilbert Lane 6 00 

Peter Slocum 10 00 

Stephen Cook 6 00 

Joseph McKnight 10 00 

Joshua Bennet 10 00 

Bartholomew West 5 00 

William Throckmorton 5 00 

Joseph Tallman 5 00 

Henry Slocum 8 00 

The house was built on the site of the pres- 
ent No. 1 School-house, on JNIaiu Street ; John 
Wood was a teacher in the house in 1814, he 
having previously kept a j^rivate school. The 
house stood until about 1840. The question of 
a new house was agitated as early as 1835, and 
on the 3d of August in that year Peter Parker 
began taking subscriptions for a new house. 
The enterprise was delayed, and August 6, 1837, 
a meeting of the citizens was held to take meas- 
ures to build a new house. This was not done, 
however, until 1840, when a school-house was 
completed and used until 1867. This house 
was getting old, but opinion was divided as to 
the propriety of building a new one. The old 
school-house was set on fire four times in the 
last few years of its use, but was saved each 
time. In 1842 the district was known as No. 
6. M. Hampton, W. R. Maps and N. Woolley 
were elected trustees in March of that year. 
The new house was built in 1867, and is still 
in use. 

Within the territory of Sub-District No. 2 
the first school-house was built in 1844 on 
Broadway and Academy Alley, the site of the 
present Library Hall. It was used until 1881, 



when the lot was sold and a Jot was bought on 
Garfield Avenue, and the present brick building, 
one story, fifty by seventy-five feet in size, was 
erected at a cost of six thousand dollars. 

In Sub-District No. 3, North Long Branch, 
or Atlanticville, the first school-house was built 
before 1848, and stood on the road leading to 
Raccoon Island, half a mile north of the depot. 
The present house, thirty-four feet square, was 
erected in the rear of Atlantic Avenue in 1873, 
at a cost of three thousand eight hundred dol- 
lars. 

In Sub-District No. 4 the original school- 
house was built in 1840, on Deal turnpike, near 
West-end Avenue, and replaced by the present 
one-story frame, twenty-five by forty feet in 
size, in 1875, at a cost of three thousand dollars. 

Sub-District No. 5 (Seabright) is in the 
school district of Long Branch. The first house 
was built at the place in 1874, on River 
Avenue. It was burned in 1878, and replaced 
on the same lot, in 1879, by the present brick 
one-story house, twenty-five by forty feet. An 
addition was made in 1882, making it sixty- 
five by forty feet in size. Its total cost was 
three thousand six hundred dollars. 

In Sub-District No. 6 a one-story frame 
school-house, for colored children, was erected 
in 1884, on Brook Street. It is twenty-five by 
forty feet in size, and cost two thousand dollars. 

An act passed March 21, 1867, provided for 
the division of counties into school districts, and 
under it. District No. 6, of Long Branch, No. 7, 
of Branchville, No. 11, of Industry, and No. 
12, of Fresh Pond, were formed into District 
No. 85. In accordance with other provisions 
of the act, the voters of the district met Sep- 
tember 2, 1872, and passed a resolution instruct- 
ins: the trustees to erect a new school-house in 
Sub-Districts Nos. 3 and 4, and to establish a 
graduated school. An act of Legislature 
passed April 3, 1873, authorizing the organiza- 
tion of a Board of Education, and providing for 
the establishment of a graded school. In ac- 
cordance with this act, a Board of Education of 
Long Branch was elected, who proceeded to the 
erection of a High School building on a block of 
ground lying between Prospect and Academy 



768 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Streets and Morris and Willow Avenues. Pro- 
posals were advertised for, August 23, 1874, 
and a contract was soon after made for the 
erection of the present brick High School build- 
ing. It was completed at a total cost of thirty- 
two thousand dollars, and was dedicated July 
12, 1876. 

The High School building is of brick, three 
stories and basement, and of irregular form, the 
central part forty by sixty feet, with wing, 
making a total of seventy and eighty feet. The 
house has a seating capacity of seven hundred. 

The county superintendent, Rev. Samuel 
Lock wood, in his report of 1883, says of this 
district, — 

"It is a notable fact that No. 85, containing the 
large borough of Long Branch, with its vaster school 
interests, with an efficient Board of Education, though 
but one school district, is really a consolidation of a 
number of districts, each one of which has greatly in- 
creased school accommodations since entering this 
union, and all have the advantage of the fine central 
High School. But the other schools are all feeders to 
this, and are classified as primaries, and the princi- 
pal of the High School supervises the primaries. This 
efiieient solidarity is virtually an admirable exempli- 
fication and defense of the township system in vogue 
in some of the States. In the case here mentioned 
the principal is truly the local superintendent." 

The present (as he was also the first) princi- 
pal of the Long Branch High School is Pro- 
fessor James A. Green. 

Private schools have been taught at Long 
Branch nearly as follows: The first was taught 
by John Woods, about 1812. William R. 
Maps attended the school. It was taught in 
the new school-house in 1814. John Slocum 
attended school under him in that house. 

In 18(31, Miss Mary Shepherd opened a school 
on Broadway, in rooms of Mrs. Mary Morgan. 
She continued until 1865. The next yeav a 
school-house was built on Clark Street, in the 
rear of the St. James' Church. School was 
kept by a lady who later became the wife of 
the Rev. R. A. Poole, rector of St. James' 
Church. This school was afterwards taught by 
Miss Mary Moore until 1871, when the house 
was sold. 

In 1870 a school-house was built, twenty by 
thirty feet, on the corner of Grove Street and 



Broadway, in which school was kept by differ- 
ent ladies until 1875, when it was discontinued 

In 1863, William J. Hubard, a graduate of 
Jefferson College, Virginia, opened a private 
school for boys in a building erected for that 
purpose by N. W. Troutman, on the corner of 
Long Branch and Sea View Avenues. This 
school was kept about ten years. 

In 1871, J. T. Jones ojiened a private school 
for boys in a building known as Scriven's 
Store, on Broadway, corner of Pearl. He taught 
there two years, and was chosen principal of 
School No. 2. He was followed by W. D. Ire- 
land, who continued about a year, and was ap- 
pointed principal of School No. 3. 

In 1874, Mrs. J. S. Morris opened a private 
school and taught two years, and became a 
teacher in No. 2. 

Miss Z. A. Eaton, in 1876, was a teacher in 
the High School. After one year she resigned 
and married. Mrs. Z. A. Schroeder is now 
teaching a private school for young ladies on 
Union Avenue. 

The East Long Branch Reading-Room and 
Library Association owes its existence to the ex- 
ertions aud energy of Mrs. J. S. Morris, who 
was prominent in its organization. It was in- 
corporated in the winter of 1879-80. The old 
school-house lot No. 2 wa.s bought, and the cor- 
ner-stone of the present building was laid March 
2, 1880. It is a frame building, thirty by sixty 
feet, two stories, with library and reading-room 
in the first story and a hall in the second story. 
A small collection of books was procured at first 
and the library was opened in Washington Hall, 
where it was kept until the completion of the 
hall. The reading-room is supplied with news- 
papers and periodicals. The library contains 
about two thousand volumes. Mrs. Hugh J. 
Hastings is president. Mrs. J. S. ^lorris was 
secretary from the first until March, 1884, and 
was succeeded by Miss Caroline Scott. 

A Circulating Library Association was formed 
October 13, 1854, with rooms in a biuldiug 
which stood on the site of the Reformed Church 
parsonage. It closed after an existence of three 
years. In 1865 a library of about three thou- 
sand volumes was purchased in New York for 




^^^ -"^ ^ J^— '- ^'^''- 




OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BKANCH. 



769 



five l)undred dollai-s by Dr. J. O. Green, Dr. T. 
G. Chattle, George Cade and Richartl Davis, 
who brought it to Long Branch and opened it 
as a circulating library in Green's drug store, 
near Grand Street. It continued five or six 
years, and the volumes were then divided be- j 
tween the purchasers. Messrs. Cade, Davis and 
Chattle gave their portion of the library to the 
Young Men's Christian Association, which was 
formed in tlie winter of lS7")-76. Rooms were 
opened in Bergen Block Aj)ril 10, 1876. The 
rooms were afterwards moved over the Central 
Market, and were finally closed in 1<S81. 

The Loxg Branch Bankixg Company 
was incorporated March 14, 1872, with a cap- , 
ital stock of fifty thousand dollars, with rigiit to 
increase to two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars. The following-named persons were the . 
corporatoi-s : William R. Maps, Joseph E. j 
Lippincott, Aaron S. Bright, John A. Morford, 
Thomas G. Chattle, Bloom field Drummond, 
William H. Bennett, Eden Wooley, Abner Al- 
len, Francis Corlies, Samuel C. Morris and 
William Hathaway. William R. Maps was 
choseu president, and still holds tliat office. 
Joseph Burrows, Jr., was chosen cashier, and 
served until May, 1874, when T. Con. Mor- 
ford was elected, and served until May, 1883, 
when the present cashier, H. W. Johnson, was 
elected. The present capital is ninety thousand 
dollars, and the bank has a surplus of sixty thou- 
sand dollars The banking-house was erected 
on the corner of Main Street and Branchport 
Avenue, and was opened for business May 1, 
1873. 

William R. Maps was born September 
14, 1809, at Long Branch (then in the town- 
-ship of Shrewsbury), Monmouth County, 
N. J., of humble, though respectable, parent- 
age, whose ancestors figured conspicuously 
in the War of the Revolution ; and with their 
inherent patriotism they combined practical 
piety, and were among the first to compose the 
Methodist Episcopal Church of that place, and 
early taught their offspring the observance of 
religious principles, as a result of which the 
family of seven children all were religious, and 
members of Christian churches. A younger 
49 



brother, the Rev. Lewis T. Maps, was a member 
of the New Jersey Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and died while stationed at 
Paterson, N. J., July 11, 1846. 

]\Ir. W . R. Maj)s, at the age of thirteen, under 
the pastorate of the Rev. Bartholomew Weed, 
was united in church fellowship to the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church of that place, of which 
he has continued au active and efficient member, 
having been its recording and corresponding 
secretary over fifty consecutive years. He has 
also filled various other offices in the church, 
such as class-leader, Sabbath-school superinten- 
dent, trustee, steward, etc. During his minority, 
to tiie age of sixteen, he remained at home as- 
sisting his father, working on his farm nine 
months in the year, and attending school during 
the winter season. At that age, owing to ill 
health, he was obliged to abandon work on the 
farm and engaged as clerk in a country store. 

In 1826 he was employed by Alexander 
McGregor as clerk to take charge of his store at 
Long Branch, in whose employ he continued 
three years, on a salary of two hundred dollars 
per year, furnishing his own board and clothing. 
In 1829 he purchasedthestoreof Mr. McGregor, 
paying what little money he had saved from his 
small salaiy and giving his note without secur- 
ity (though a minor) for the balance, which was 
paid, principal and interest, within five years. 
INIr. ilaps, although always strictly temperate 
and a stanch friend of the temperance cause, was 
obliged to sell liquor while in the employ of 
others, as it was universally kept and sold in 
connection with groceries at that eai-Iy day. But 
when he commenced business on his own account 
he resolved that none should be sold in his store, 
notwithstanding the prophecy of friends that he 
could not succeed in the business without it, as 
it was a staple article of sale in the mer- 
cantile business and paid the best profit. But 
he resolved to test the experiment : hence he had 
a notice posted up conspicuously in the store 
announcing that "No more rum bought or sold 
here." This was the first, and for many years the 
only, temperance store in this section of country. 
How well it has succeeded time has demon- 
strated. 

On the 11th of February, 1832, he purchased 



770 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



the site for his future residence, and on the 16th 
of the following month commenced the erection 
of what has been his subsequent dwelling. This 
being completed, on the 15th of November, 
1832, he was married to Miss Mary A.Tucker, 
adopted daughter of William I. and ]\Iary Mar- 
tin, of Deal, N. J. He still resides in the same 
house where he commenced house-keeping more 
than fifty-two years ago. On the 17th of Sep- 
tember, 1838, his estimable wife died, leaving 
two daughters, — Hannah Maria and Mary Ann, 
the former now the wife of the Rev. Thomas 
Hanlon, princijml of Pennington Seminary, 
N. J., the latter the wife of A. S. Lokersou, of 
Ocean^Grove. 

On the 12tli of April, 1844, Mr. Maps mar- 
ried Miss Susan A. Hampton, of New York 
City, who died suddenly of heart-disease, May 
27, 1883, leaving a daughter — S. Augusta Brit- 
tan, widow of Joseph R. Brittan, deceased — and 
granddaughter, — Susie May Brittan. 

In 18o2,Mr. INIaps, being permanently located 
at Long Branch at that early day, and jiossess- 
ing an enterprising, progressive spirit, sought in 
various ways to give impetus to the importance 
of the place. Up to this time the nearest post- 
office was Eatontown, a distance of five miles 
from the sea-shore, and but a few years previous 
the nearest post-office was at Shrewsbury village, 
two miles farther off. It would be thought a 
great hardship, at the present time, to travel 
seven miles to mail or receive a letter. It was 
mainly through his persistent effijrts that the 
post-office was established at Long Branch. The 
Post-office Department refused to extend the route 
until it became self-sustaining, so that for three 
years he had to have the mail carried by private 
conveyance from Eatontown to Ijong Branch 
before the department would consent to an ex- 
tension of the route. 

]\Ir. Maps also manifested a deep interest in 
our common schools, which at that time were in 
a very low condition. The school-houses were 
generally small, badly managed, and many of 
them in a very dilapidated condition. He ad- 
vocated the building of a large two-story house 
in his district for two departments, but this met 
with opposition, and as a compromise, he suc- 
ceeded in securing the erection of two 



new houses, though smaller than he desired. 
Owing to the deep interest he manifested in 
the cause of education, he was elected and served 
for a number of years as school superintendent 
for the township of Shrewsbury before it was 
divided, embracing what is now comprised in 
Shrewsbury, Ocean, Atlantic and Eatontown 
townships, making it an onerous duty to visit 
all the schools once every quarter to examine 
and license teachers and give attention to all 
other matters appertaining thereto. 

Mr. Maps represented his township, then 
Shrewsbury, in the Board of Chosen Freeholders 
from 18.39 to 1847, having for his competitors 
during that time such prominent men as the 
Hon. Thomas G. Haight, Dr. John R. Conover 
and Captain James Green, alternately. Owing 
to the magnitude of this large township, and 
the amount of labor to be performed, the office 
was deemed of considerable importance. 

He has also filled various offices of resj)onsi- 
bility and trust, both in the township and in the 
church, with marked fidelity and efficiency. 
Mr. Maps, in 1872, having long felt the neces- 
sity of banking facilities for the accommodation 
of the citizens of Long Branch and for the suc- 
cess of business j^ursuits (having no bank nearer 
than Red Bank), took an active part in the es- 
tablishment of the Lono- Branch Banking Com- 
pauy, and at its organization was elected presi- 
dent of the institution, which position he still 
retains, giving entire satisfaction to all inter- 
ested. 

Eden Woolley is descended from English 
stock, his grandparents having been Benjamin 
and Catharine Cook Woblley, who resided at 
Poplar, Ocean township, Monmouth County. 
Their children were Patience, wife of George 
Corlies ; Deboi'ah, married to Jesse Cook ; 
Mary (Mrs. Thomas White) ; Elizabeth, wife of 
William Parker ; and one son, Jacob, born on 
the homestead, where he was, during his active 
life, a farmer. He married Elizabeth, daughter 
of Samuel and Elizabeth Tucker, of Deal, and 
had children, — Benjamin, Catharine (wife of 
John P. Lewis), Jacob, Tucker, Elizabeth (wife 
of John Howland), Joseph, Eden and Emeline 
(wife of John Corlies\ Eden Woolley was born 
March 5, 1805, on the homestead, where, after 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



771 



.iucli advantages as the country schools aif'orded, 
lie gave his services to his father in tiie cuhi- 
vation of the fiirni, which he afterwards success- 
fully managed. He was married, on the lOtli 
of October, ISSfi, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter 
of Daniel Williams, of Poplar. Their children 
are Mary Elizal)eth (^Irs. James E. Lippiucott, 
of Long Branch), born September 21, 1.S3G, and 
Sarah Louvinia (Mrs. Benjamin B. Hance of 
New York), born October 12, ls4l. On the 
death of :Mr. Woolley's fother, in 1x27, in his 



during his active life so occupied with business 
interests as to leave little time for the discussion 
of political questions. He is still true to the 
Quaker teachings of his youth, and worships 
with the Friends' Meeting. 

The Long Bkaxch Mutual Fire In- 
SURAXCE Company was incorporated on April 
9, 1.S07, with the following corporators: Jacob 
Herbert, Francis Corlies, Henry Howland, 
James iZ. Lippincott, Samuel Laird, Samuel C. 




0^/^^ l^trzr^ 



sixtv-sixth year, his son Eden inherited a 
farm, as did each of the sons, his property em- 
bracing a portion of the homestead. This he sold 
to his brother and ^Jiirchased land on which he 
at present resides, where he has since 1 835 fol- 
lowed the pursuits of a farmer, though much of 
the labor has latterly fallen to other hands as a 
consequence of his advancing years. Mr. 
Woolley is a director of the Long Branch 
Banking Company, and, as a Republican, has 
served on the township committee, though 



Morris, Thomas G. Chattle and Joseph H. 
Cooper. The first president was Jacob Herbert, 
who was succeeded by Dr. T. G. Chattle, who 
continued until its discontinuance. Dr. Chattle 
was secretary until chosen president, in 1870. 
He was succeeded by John E. Lanning. Tin; 
affiiirs of the company were closed in 1875. 

The Long Branch Police, Sanitary and Im- 
provement Commission was incorporated (as 
before mentioned) April 11, 1867, with power 



772 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



to purchase fire apparatus. Little was done at 
first, but iu January, 1871, the Oceanic Engine 
Company, No. 1, was organized with twenty- 
three members. In the spring of tiiat year the 
commission purciiased a four-wheel Babcock 
Fire Extinguisher, Xo. 2, which was used until 
1878, when it was exchanged for a Xo. 1 appa- 
ratus of the same kind. 

A supplementary act, approved April 3, 1.S73, 
provides and declares 

"That for the purpose of establishing an efficient 
Fire Department, and for procuring a hoolc-anil-hidder 
truck, or other fire apparatus, and preparing cisterns 
for a suitable water supply, and for procuring a suit- 
able lot and erecting thereon a building in which to 
keep said apparatus, it shall be lawful for the Long 
Branch Commissioners to raise, at such times as they 
may deem expedient, a sum or sums of money, not 
exceeding in all the sum of seven thousand dollars, j 
by taxation, in the usual manner for raising funds for 
the use of said commissioners. 

"That the said commissioners be, and they are 
hereby authorized to entrust the apparatus aforesaid 
to the Oceanic Fire Engine Company, No. 1, of Long 
Branch, for care and use, subject to such regulations 
as said board of commissioners shall deem essential 
to the welfare of Long Branch; and they are hereby 
authorized to raise by taxation and appropriate such 
moneys from time to time as may be necessary to 
keep the same in repair." 

The apparatus was turned over to the com- 
pany, and the present two-story building on 
South Street, near Bath Avenue, was erected, and 
is now occupied by this company and tiie Nep- 
tune Hose Company. The company has at 
present ninety members. 

At a meeting of the commissioners, December 
4, 1884, it was decided to purchase a steamer for 
this company, and one also for West End Com- 
pany. Atlantic Engine and Truck Company, 
No. 2, was organized December 13, 1873, with 
thirteen members. The steamer " Atlantic," with 
twelve hundred feet of hose, was purchased by 
the commission and placed under charge of the 
company, which now numbers about one hun- 
dred members. The engine-house is on Third 
Avenue, near Broadway. 

Xeptune Hose Company, No. 1, whose quar- 
ters are with the Oceanic, was organized in 1875, 
and now numbers thirty-five members. The 
company have twelve hundred feet of hose, which 
belongs to the commission. 



The Long Branch Fire Department was or- 
ganized by an ordinance of the commissioners, 
November 2, 1878, and the limits " divided into 
six tire districts, to be known as the First, Second, 
Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Fire Districts. 
The First District was made to include all that 
portion of the incorporated district lying south of 
Green's Pond ; the Second District, all that por- 
tion bounded on the north by Brighton Ave- 
nue, on the south by Green's Fond, on the west 
by Deal turnpike and on the east by the sea ; 
the Third District, all that portion bounded on 
the .south by Brighton Avenue, on the east by 
the sea, on the north by Bath Avenue, and on 
the west by road leading from John AA'oolley's 
corner to Lane's store, and by that portion of 
Deal turnpike running from said Lane's store 
to Brighton Avenue ; the Fourth District, all 
that portion lying between Bath Avenue and 
the New Jersey Southern Railroad, and west of 
the New York and Long Branch Railroad, also 
all that portion lying west of the west boundary 
line of District No. 3 ; the Fifth District, all that 
portion bounded on the south by Bath Avenue 
on the east by the sea, on the north by New 
Jersey Southern Railroad and Cooper Avenue, 
and west by New York and Long Branch Rail- 
road ; the Sixth District, all that jjortion lying 
north of the New Jersey Southern Railroad and 
Cooper Avenue." 

The ordinance provided for the election of a 
chief engineer and assistant chief engineer. An 
ordinance passed June 20, 1881, jsrovided 

" That the number of members of the Fire Depart- 
ment in the incorporated district of Long Branch 
shall consist of and be two hundred members, who 
shall be active firemen, duly enrolled, to be distrib- 
uted among the different companies of said Fire De- 
partment, as follows, viz.: The Oceanic Engine Com- 
pany, Number One (1), shall consist of and be sixty 
members; the Neptune Hose Company, Number One 
(1), shall consist ot and be forty members; and the 
Atlantic Engine and Truck Company, Number Two 
(2), shall consist of and be one hundred members, to 
be distributed as follows, viz. : sixty members to the 
fire-engine and forty to the truck of said Atlantic 
Engine and Truck Company, Number Two." 

December 2, 1884, an election of the Fire 
Department was held by the Oceanic, Atlantic 
and Neptune Companies and Thomas D. Baz- 
lev, of the Atlantic, was chosen chief engineer 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



773 



for 1884 and J. B. Flynn, of Neptune Company, 
was chosen assistant chief. 

The Board of Commissioners, at a meeting 
held December 3, 1884, decided to purchase 
two steamere for the Fire Department, — one to be 
placed in charge of the Oceanic Engine Com- 
pany, No. 1, and the other to be placed with 
a new company recently formed at West End. 

The Long Branch Water Supply Company is 
the successor of the Long Branch Reservoir and 
Water Comjiany, which was incorporated April 
11, 1867, with a capital stock of twenty-five 
thousand dollars and with the following cor- 
porators : Joseph H. Cooper, John Hoey, 
Charles Chamberlain, Samuel Laird, A. S. 
Bright, E. Boudinot Colt, Charles A. Stetson, 
J. Lester Wallack and Francis Corlies. Nothing 
of any importance was accomplished by this 
company during the seven years next following 
its incorporation. On March 15, 1874, the 
company was revived by act of Legislature. 
The right of AMiale Pond Brook was [nirchased 
for a water supply, and Green's Pond (now 
Takanassee Lake) was brought into use as a 
reservoir. Contract was made with Jesse W. 
Starr & Sons, of Camden, to erect tlie works 
and to lay mains. The work was commenced 
January 1, 1877, under the management of — 
Berkeubine, engineer. The mains were laid 
through Cedar Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Main 
Street to the corporate limits. The \vater was 
first used in June, 1877. Pipes were extended 
as required, and in "1879 attachment was made 
with the pipes of the Monmouth Beach and 
Seabright Water Company. In November, 
1882, a consolidation of these companies was 
effected under the present name and present 
management. 

The water svstcm of Long Branch extends 
from Elberon to Seabright, about ten miles. 
Over fifteen miles of pipes are laid. 

The Long Branch Gas-Iiight Compan)- was 
incorporated March 1.5, 1884. Nothing was 
accomplished until 1868, when (July 1st) con- 
tract was made with James H. Lowry for the 
erection of buildings and laying fourteen thou- 
sand feet of mains for forty thousand dollars ; 
works to be completed September 1st in the 
same year. They were not, however, com- 



pleted and accepted until October 22, 1868. 
They have at present about ten miles of pipe 
laid and connected. Joseph R. Thomas is 
president of the company and William ^^'. 
Silkworth is the secretary. The works are in 
East Long Branch. 

Arioeh I.,odge, No. 77, I. O. O. F., was in- 
stituted INIarch 13, 1848, with six charter mem- 
bers (of whom Hamilton Taber is the only sur- 
vivor). Odd-Fellows' Hall was fitted up and 
is still used. The lodge has a membership of 
one hundred and sixty-nine. 

Long Branch Encampment, No 49, 1.OO.F., 
was instituted in 1872. It now has forty-five 
members. Meetings are held in Odd-Fellows' 
Hall. 

Empire Lodge, No. 174, I. O. O. F., was 
instituted September 17, 1873, in Washington 
Hall, with ten charter members, and with 
Henry Hackman as Noble Grand. In April, 
1878, the lodge fitted up Odd-Fellows' Hall, 
in the third story of the building on Broadway, 
near Liberty Street, where their meetings are 
still held. The lodge at present has ninety- 
eight members. 

Long Branch C'ouncil, No. 429, R. A., was 
instituted in January, 1880, with nineteen mem- 
bers, in Templars' Hall, where they still meet. 
They have at jires^nt sixty-three members. 

Piqua Lodge, No. — , I. O. of G. T., was 
in.stituted May 14, 1868. In the next year 
a Templars' Hall, twenty-four by seventy 
eight feet, was fitted up over the store of Case 
& Conover, which was dedicated June 26, 
1869. The lodge disbanded several years ago. 
The hall is now used by the Long Branch 
Council, No. 429, R. A. 

Long Branch Lodge, No. 78, F. and A. M., 
was instituted Jlarch 3, 1867, with George W. 
Brown as Master. Meetings were held in Odd- 
Fellows' Hall about two years, and in 1869 the 
lodge removed to Templars' Hall, and in 
April, 1878, to Odd-Felhnvs' Hall, in the lower 
village, where they are at present. The lodge 
has at present one hundred members. 

Standard Chapter, No. 35, R. A. M., was in- 
.stituted in 1875, and now has forty-five mem- 
bers. Meetings are held in Odd-Fellows' Hall, 
in the lower village. 



774 



HISTOKY OF MOiNMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEli^EY. 



James B. Morris Post, No. 46, G. A. R., was 
organized July 5, 1880, in Odd-Fellows' Hall, 
where they still hold their meetings. The post 
has a membership of seventy-nine, witli the fol- 
lowing officers: W. T. Cobb, Commander; 
James INIinton, Senior Vice-Commander; Ste- 
phen H. Lippincott, Junior Vice-Commander ; 
Howard A. Brinley, Adjutant ; Charles E. Den- 
nis, Quarterraatser. 

Ocean Lodge, No. 83, K. of P., was instituted 
April 29, 187;>, with forty -five members, and 
George W. Brown as Chancellor Commander. 
Meetings are held in Odd-Fellows' Hall. The 
lodge now contains ninety-six members. 

Endowment Rank, Section 430, K. of P., 
was instituted June 29, 1881, and has at pre- 
sent fourteen members. Meetings ai-e held in 
Arioch Lodge-room. 

Long Branch Uniform Rank, No. 8, K. of P., 
was organized in November, 1882, with thirty- 
eight members. ^leetings are held in the 
White buildiuof. 

o 

Crescent Lodge No. 764, K. of H., was or- 
ganized May ."il, 1882, and now contains twen- 
ty-two members. Meetings are held in (_)dd- 
Fellows' Hall, in East Long Branch. The offi- 
cers are Albert Em bley. Dictator; James S. 
J5rown, Reporter; William ^^'. Silkworth, 
Treasurer. 



Braxchport joins the Long Branch corpo- 
ration on the north and west, and has Pleasure 
Bay as its northw'est boundary. It is op- 
posite Port-au-Peck, an old Indian camp- 
ing-ground. Eighty years ago and many 
years afterwards it was the property of the 
Wardells, and known as the Peter Wardell 
farm. It has a dock on Pleasure Bay from 
wliich two steamboats make trips to New York. 
A hotel is near the dock. Because of its prox- 
imity to Long Branch, it has no church or 
school-house. Two wooden bridges have been 
erected over Pleasure Bay at Branch port, and 
in 1880 the present iron bridge ^^'as erected at 
a cost of five thousand six hundred dollars. 

OcEANViLLE and Deal post-office are lo- 
cated a short distance south of Wi-eck Pond, 
and west of the south part of the incorporated 
district of Long Branch. At this place, in 



1823, Brittan Tucker was keej^ing a store, and 
the Ocean Mills were in operation a short dis- 
tance north of it. In 1825 a tavern was kept 
hei'e by Hannah White, and later l>y John R. 
Conk. In 1857, Brown & Cook established a 
store, and in 1860, Thomas Cook withdrew and 
built the store he now occupies. George Brown 
kept the other store and became the jaostmaster 
of the office established here in that year. He 
was succeeded by Vincent Brown, and the office 
is now held by John Metzger. The present 
hotel was built first as a wheelwright's siiop by 
Robert Bennett, and in 1854 was changed by 
John R. Conk into a hotel. It has been carried 
on by several, and at present is kept by Henry 
Gugel. 

In the northeast part of Ocean township, from 
the north line of the incorporated district of 
Long Branch to a point three-fourths of a mile 
below the Highland bridge over the Navesink 
River, are the lands of the Monmouth Beach 
Association, the Seabright Fishing Company, 
the village of Seabright and the Smith property. 
All these lands were originally patented by 
Eliakim Wardell, the first sheriif of Monmouth 
County, and also one of the associate patentees 
of Moniiiouth. He came to this county with 
the Slocums and Parkers, and took the oath 
of allegiance at the same time. He was a son 
of Thomas Wardell, who came to Boston be- 
tween 1633 and 1 640, and later moved to Exeter, 
N. H. He was a follower of Anna Hutchiuson. 
Eliakim, after marriage, settled in Ham])ton, 
N. H. His wife joined the Society of Friends, 
which brought ]5ersecution upon them, and they 
M'ent to Rhode Island, and thence, about 1667, 
moved to^Ionmouth County, where, in 1670, he 
secured a patent of laud in Shrewsbury, lyiug 
north of what is now North Long Branch, 
bounded by Pleasure Bay, South Shrewsbury 
River and the ocean. He bought the Indian 
rights of this tract for four pounds. He was 
evidently a man of influence, for, on December 
14, 1667 he was selected as a deputy to repre- 
sent Shrewsbury township in the council. In 
1669 hcM'as ajipointed constable; in 1673 was 
elected "schepen," or magistrate, under the 
Dutch. On May 13, 1683, he was appointed 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



775 



liigh sheriff of Monmouth County, and in 
1688 he was chosen a member of the Provincial 
Assembly of deputies. 

J^liakim Wardell lived on what is now Mon- 
mouth Beach. He had several children, of 
w horn Joanua became the wife of John Eaton 
about 1715 and settled at what is now Eaton- 
towu, as he at that time owned the mills there. 
Jacob, a son of P^liakim, settled on the original 
tract, and had two sons, Joseph and Peter. 
Joseph settled on Narumson, orRumson, where 
his descendants still live. His brother Peter 
remained at home a few years and moved away, 
and his children settled elsewhere. He returned 
to the old homestead in his old age and died 
there. After Peter left the homestead, Joseph 
bought out the heirs and placed his son Ben- 
jamin on the place. He was born in 1 763, and 
built the house now a part of the Monmouth 
Casino. He died in 1821, and left the property 
to his sons, Charles and Henry. Tiie former 
moved to New York and engaged in active busi- 
ness, and was prosperous. Henry remained on 
the homestead, where he lived until his death. 
Of other sons of Benjamin, John went to Colt's 
Neck and Mas in business there in 1812. 

In 1865, Dr. Arthur Y. Conover, a pliysician 
of Freehold, purchased of the heirs of Major 
Henry Wardell all the land from Atlauticville 
(now Xorth Long Branch), between the South 
Shrewsbury River and the ocean, to a mile north 
of Seabright, with the exception of the track of 
the railroad company. Dr. Conover removed 
to the old Wardell house, and, in 1869, sold 
Seabright to Mr. Mifflin Paul, and the place 
began to develop at once. 

In the spring of 1871, Mr. Keasbey, of New- 
ark, Cortland Parker and John Torrey, Jr., 
thoroughly examined all the capabilities of the 
place, staying in the old Wardell homestead, 
where Dr. Conover was residing. It was built 
in pre-Revolutionaiy times, and was filied with 
delightful relics of a past age, full of historical 
interest. The three g-entlemen then worked out 
the plan of the Monmouth Beach Association, 
and, enlisting with themselves seventeen others 
of the foremost men of New Jersey, including 
Secretary Robeson and Senator Cattell, formed 
the association definitely, ami l)y the 1 7th of 



June had purchased the entire place, from Mr. 
Gould's down to the Seabright line. Mr. Tor- 
rey, having leisure time and great energy, went 
to work, with the assistance of Harry Fosberg, 
a Swedish engineer, and laid out the whole 
place, shifting the New Jersey Southern track 
from the beach and running it back where it is 
now, at an expense of twenty thousand dollars, 
the company furnishing the iron rails. Ocean 
Avenue was then continued until it mot the 
Seabright road. 

In 1872 the old Wardell house was remodeled 
and made into the present Monmouth Casino. 
A survey of the property was made, and lots 
and streets were laid out the entire length of 
the tract. A charter had been granted in the 
winter of 1869-70 for the Seabright and Long 
Branch Turnpike Company, which was built in 
1870. This was purchased by the association 
and made part of the plan. A large gang of 
men were set at work grading the lots which 
are on both sides of (3cean Avenue. A large 
number of cottages have been erected. An 
Episcopal Church (St. Peter's of Galilee) was 
built on the extreme north line of the associa- 
tion's land and near the ocean, at a cost of eight 
thousand dollars, and was dedicated August 26, 
1873. It is supplied by visiting clergymen, 
and is used only during the summer season. 

The Seabright Fishing Company own a tract 
of land between Monmouth Beach and Sea- 
bright, it being two hundred feet on the ocean 
and three hundred feet on the river. There are 
upon it a few cottages, an ice-house, a steamboat 
wharf and boat-houses. At this place fish are 
packed for the New York market. On the 1st 
of June, 1884, two hundred and sixty-eight 
small l)oats were on the shore at this place, 
each having two men, and all loaded with fish. 

Seabright is situated on the narrow neck 
of land that lies between Shrewsbury River and 
the ocean. The land forming its site was sold 
June 25, 1869, by Dr. Arthur V. Conover to 
Mifflin Paul, who was the contractor of the 
Long Branch and Sea-Shore Railroad, and 
(1865) built the road from Long Branch to the 
steamboat wharf on Sandy Hook in 1865. The 
land he j)urchased extended from the north line 
of the Seabright Fishing Company's land one 



776 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



mile and tliree chains, northward to the Ocean 
House property (now Bellevue), owned by 
Lewis Smith. 

On the 1st of July, 1869, William W. Ship- 
pen, of Xew York, and Samuel B. Dod, of 
Princeton, became partners in the property, with 
the intention of developing it. A stipulation in 
the purchase was that a bridge should be built 
across the river, connecting with Rumson. A 
bridge between three hundred and four luindred 



Hoboken. In the spring of 1870, Robert Emory 
erected a hotel which has since been enlarged 
and improved, and is now the Seabrlght Inn. 

Mifflin Paul. — Josiah Paul emigrated from 
England and settled in Camden, N. J., where 
his death occurred in 1796 of yellow fever. 
His two sons were William A. and Benjamin. 
William A. was a native of Camden, and spent 
his life in the State of New Jersey, having mar- 
ried Elizabeth Bennett, of Bordentown. Their 




feet in length was built, which was torn down in 
1881 and replaced by the present iron bridge,at 
a cost of thirty thousand dollars. A station- 
house was erected at the place, on the line of the 
railroad. 

The Long Branch and Seabright Turnpike 
Company was chartered in the winter of 1869- 
70, and the turnpike built in 1870, under the 
management of Mr. Paul. Cottages were built 
in that year by MifHin Paul, William W. Ship- 
pen, Samuel Pud and Mrs. E. A. Stephens, of 



children are William B., Mifflin, Jane (Mrs. 
Joseph Rickey), Joseph, Harriet (Mrs. Robert 
Narraway), Richard, Sarah E. (Mrs. Howard 
Knowles) and Mary Ann (Mrs. William Utter). 
Mifflin Paul was born on the 6th of April, 
1814, at Moorestown, N. J., and in youth he 
moved with his parents to Groveville, Mercer 
County. Though deprived of opportunities for 
a thorough education, he devoted his leisure 
hours to intelligent reading and study, acquir- 
ing a thoughtful habit of mind and mental (lis- 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



777 



eipline, which made ample amends for the want 
of an academic course. In 1825 his father ex- 
changed his property in Mercer County for two 
farms in Jefferson County, N. Y., to which the 
family removed and continued to reside tor 
eight years. Mifflin Paul, in 1833, entered the 
employ of the Camden and Amboy Railroad in 
a subordinate capacity, and was finally pro- 
moted to the position of conductor, which he 
continued to fill acceptably for a period of 
eighteen years. He was then made superintendent 
of the Burlington and Mount Holly Railroad 
and directed the construction of the Pembei'ton 
Branch of the road. In April, ISOl, he re- 
moved to Hoboken, having been made general 
superintendent of the various railroad enter- 
prises projected by the late Edwin A. Stevens. 
He built the Hoboken and Newark Railroad, 
as also the Hoboken and Jersey City Horse- Car 
Railroad, and put both into operation, continu- 
ing for a while as manager of each. In 1865 
he commenced building the Long Branch and 
Sea-Shore Railroad, of which he was for four 
years superintendent. Determining, in 1869, to 
embark to some extent in real estate operations, 
he purchased one mile and three chains on the 
sea-coast, now familiarly known as Seabright, 
and at once began the work of Iniilding and 
improving the property. It is not extravagant 
praise to say that Mr. Paul was the moving 
impulse in all the improvements made at this 
point, and has manifested much enterprise and 
taste in his extensive and varied undertakings. 
He obtained the charter and built the bridge across 
the Shrewsbury River against great opposition 
from the freeholders of the county, who at the 
time placed an injunction on the same, thereby 
delaying its completion. He has also erected 
two hotels, various cottages and other attractive 
buildings. Mr. Paul was, in Septemlier, 1835, 
married to Catharine, daughter of Benjamin 
Yard, of Mercer County. The children 
of this marriage who grew to mature years 
were Sarah E. (Mrs. George B. Sandt), Loretta 
(deceased), Jane A. (Mrs. T>. \V. Bedford, de- 
ceased) and Julia A. Mr. Paul was again 
married, in 1855, to Mrs. Martha H., widow of 
John P. Martin, whose children are Martha M. 
(Mrs. Charles Dederer) and one who is de- 



ceased. Mr. Paul manifests little interest in 
the political issues of the day other than to vote 
the Republican ticket. His church relations 
are with the Baptist congregation at Red Bank. 
Of this church he is an active and useful mem- 
ber. 

The Octagt)n Hotel was built by Mr. Paul 
for his daughter, Mrs. George B. Sandt. This 
was used a few years, and in 1879 the 
present hotel was built on its site. The Penin- 
sula House was built on the river side in 1881, 
by Mr. Paul for his daughter, Mrs. C. H. Dede- 
rer. In the winter of 1884— 85 it was moved to the 
ocean side, when the original structure became 
the wings of a central building, then erected, 
making it the largest hotel in Seabright. The 
Hotel Shrewsbury was originally erected by 
Cornelius Stokem as a refrigerator for fish. 
It was later turned into a cottage, and in 1880 
into the present hotel, now kept by Wool man 
Stokes, Jr. A life-saving station is near the 
hotel. A post-office was established at this 
place in 1870, and located at the station. In 
August, 1872, John IMcgill, station agent, was 
appointed postmaster, and is still in office. In 
1881 the office was moved from the station to 
the present location. 

Seabright is Sub-District No. 5 of School- 
District No. 85, Long Branch. The first house 
was built in 1874, destroyed by fire in 1878, 
rebuilt of brick in 187!), and enlarged in 1882, 
at a total cost of three thousand six hundred 
dollars. 

Water is supplied to Seabright by the Long 
Branch Water Supply Company. A company 
had been formed at Seabright, who laid pipes 
and connected with the Long Branch Company. 
In November, 1882, the coni panics consolidated 
and are now working as one. 

The Ocean Fire Company of Seabright was 
organized May 25, 1881, with fifteen members. 
An engine was procured and an engine-house 
erected on Ocean Avenue. 

The Tabernacle Methodist Episcjopae 
Church was organized in February, 1875, 
with six members and with the Rev. AVilliam 
P. Strickland as pastor. He has been succeeded 

by Revs. John Wilson, Given, E. C. 

Hancock, J. E. Lake, C. E. Hill and the pres- 



r78 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ent pastor, A. M. Lake. Services were held for 
a time in private houses. A church edifice was 
heguu on Ocean Avenue in the spring of 1 875, 
and dedicated in June 26th in that year by 
Bishop Janes. 

In 1877 a small Presbyterian Church was 
erected, which was replaced in 1S80 by the 
Ijresent church. It is used only in the summer, 
and is supplied by visiting clergymen. 

A Roman Catholic congregation was organized 
in 1883. Services are held in Poppinga Hall. 

The iron bridge across the Shrewsbury River 
connects Seabright with Jumping Point, on 
Rumson Neck. JNIany fine residences have 
been built at the place. Opposite Jumping 
Point was at one time the old Shrewsbury Inlet, 
through which the waters of the river entered 
the sea. The inlet has been several times open, 
and as often closed, as at present, forcing the 
waters of the river to seek an outlet into Sandy 
Hook Bay. In the diary of Robert Harts- 
liorne (now in possession of his grandson, Ed- 
ward Hartshorne) are found the following en- 
tries : 

"January 10, 17o6, with a very violent gale 
from the northeast, the sea broke through the 
beach opj^ositethe mouth of Shrewsbury River." 

"On January 20, 1757, with a very violent 
gale from the northeast, the sea broke through 
the beach at Jumping Point, now Salter's." 
The place here mentioned was the land of Rich- 
ard Salter, opposite the Wardell property, 
which is now Seabright. 

Shrewsbury Inlet was closed before 1775, 
and again opened in 1778. It was again closed 
in 1810 and again opened about 18:10. In 1847 
the " Cricket " steamboat, owned by Thomas 
Hunt, then running from Port Washington 
(now Oceanic), was wrecked on the bar. The 
wreck gathered the sand around it and thus 
hastened the closing of the inlet in that year. 

Bellevue is the next property north of Sea- 
bright. It was part of the "Wardell estate, and 
there, over forty years ago, IMajor Henry "War- 
dell built a hotel known as the Ocean House, 
M-hich was kept by Anthony H. Haggerty. It 
was destroyed by fire ]\lay 20, 18(32, and came 
into possession of Lemuel Smith, who built the 
present Bellevue Hotel and still owns it. 



Beyond Bellevue (northward) is the High- 
land Bridge and a railroad station for the High- 
lauds of Navesink. On March 25, 1875, the 
Highland and Seabright turnpike was incor- 
porated, and contracted with ]\Ir. il. Paul to 
build a turnpike to connect Seabright and the 
Highland Bridge for the sum of .seven thousand 
dollars. It was finished and delivered to the 
company June 30, 1875, and on the next day, 
July 1st, a schooner ran into the draw of the 
bridge and destroyed it. It remained unused 
for three years. The turnpike was not used 
under this company. When the Navesink 
Bridge Company was organized, a new turnpike 
company was also organized (December 18, 
1878). April 15, 1879, Mifflin Paul was 
chosen superintendent, and the turnpike was 
soon after 2>ut in operation. During the inter- 
val from 1875 to 1878 encroachments had been 
made upon the turnpike by lot-owners building 
stables, fences, &c. These were ordered to be 
removed, which action, together with tlie fact 
that members of the first company felt aggrieved 
that the turnj^ike was under other management, 
occasioned long and tedious litigation, which is 
not yet entirely ended. 

The sea-shore from Deal Lake, the southern 
extremity of Ocean township, northwai-d to the 
southern line of the incorporated district of 
Long Branch is composed of numerous tracts 
of land taken up under se^veral different 
patents and purchases, concerning which tracts 
the following information has been gathered: 

In 1820, Jacob Corlies owned a large tract 
bordering (jn Deal Lake and the ocean, and 
now divided as follows : 

A tract of land thirteen hundred and t\\enty 
feet on the ocean and four thousand two hundred 
and twenty-four feet on Deal Lake is now called 
Locharbor. It is laid out into streets, and is 
being ini])roved. A life-saving station is on the 
dividing line between this tract and Asbury 
Park. 

The Abner Allen house and grounds are 
situated next north, and next north is the John 
C. Hathaway house. The next property is 
known as the Deal Beach, the territory of 
which, and for several miles back in the coun- 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



779 



try, ^^■as known as " Deale " or " Dale " before 
1 TOO. 

In 1693 pei-sons living in " Deale " peti- 
tioned for a pa8«^ge-way through Francis Jef- 
frey's and John Tncker's land to their meadows. | 

In 1712 all the land from Hog Swamp to the | 
beach was owned by Thomas White. On the 
9th of November in that year he made his will, i 
making his brother Amos and his wife, Eliza- 
l^eth, his executors. His property was disposed ■ 
of as follows : To Amos, his brother, of 
Shrewsbury, one-quarter "of my plantation 
situate, lying and being in the said Shrewsbury 
at a place commonly called Deale, and the fourth 
part of all my meadow upon Crosswork and 
Longwork." To his oldest son, Samuel White, 
" one-fourth part of Deale and Crosswork and 
I.ouo-work." To his second sou, Thomas, the 
.same. To his third son, Amos, the same. To 
his fourth son, Jacob, "'All that part of my 
plantation I now live on which lyeth to the 
west of the highway that goes through my 
plantation to Long Branch, with the half of all 
the meadows on the said plantation." To his 
■\-ouugest son, Levi White, " all that part of 
mv said plantation I now live on which lyes 
below the highway that goes to Long Branch, 
except the half of the meadow to be divided 
to the said Jacob White, as aforesaid." He 
gave to his wife, Elizabeth, all his remaining 
real estate in Shrewsbury during her widow- 
hood, and to his five daughters a certain amount 
of money. 

The land of Thomas White was on, the old 
highway from Long Branch to Squau ; the 
highway ran through the White farm, as is .shown 
l)V the will. The old homestead was, a few 
years ago, owned by James and Amos White, 
now by Thomas ]Murphy, west of the Deal 
Beach Station. The old house standing at the 
intersection of Deal Beach Station road and 
the Long Branch road to Asbury Park is said 
to have been built in 1770, and in 1820 was 
owned by Jacob ^^'hite. This was part of 
the old White tract. It is now o«ned by 
Bloomfield Drummond and Samuel Hendrick- 
son. 

Gordon's "Gazetteer " of 1834 says of Deal : 
" There are several boarding-houses at this 



place, where from fifty to one hundred per.sons 
may be comfortably accommodated." 

A post-otRce ^\•as established at Deal Beach 
Station in 1874. The postmasters have been 
Edward Combs, Abner Allen and Samuel W. 
Hendrickson. 

North \\ard from Deal is Elberon, \\-hich has 
alreadv been mentioned in connection with the 
Long Branch district. 

The Cextreville Methodist Episcopal 
Chukch edifice was built in 1882 at a cost 
of fourteen hundred dollars, and dedicated 
Septouber 20th, in that year. Services were 
held in 1881 in the school-house of the dis- 
trict, under the cai-e of the Eev. R. J. An- 
drews. He was succeeded in 1883 by the Rev. 
William Barnart, and in 1884 by the Rev. B. 
C. Lippincott, who is also in charge of the 
First Methodist Episcopal Church of Long 
Branch, located at Brauchburg. 

The school districts of Ocean towusiiip are 
three in number, — Long Branch, Deal and Poji- 
lar Districts, — all containing three thousand and 
fit^een children of school age. The Long 
Branch schools are noticed separately in the 
history of that place. 

Poplar District, No. 81, is situated in the 
west part of the township, west of Oceanville. 
The first school-house within the bounds of this 
district was built about 1784 on laud then 
owned by Nathan Wool ley, now by ]\Irs. Mary 
Beecroft. It was torn down about 183o, hav- 
ing then been in disuse for several years. 

In 1 830 a house was erected on land of John 
Howell, which was used im til about 1864, when 
it was abandoned and the present house was 
erected on land of Edwin WooUey. The district 
at present contains fifty-six children of school 
age. 

Deal District, No. 87, includes Oceanville 
village and territory adjacent to it. The first 
school-house in this locality was erected on or 
near the present school-house site before 1818, 
on what was then known as Sandy Lane. Jo- 
seph Wardell M'as a teacher there in 1823. 

In the summer of 1870 the school-house was 
raised and a second story added, at a cost of 



780 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



two thousand dollars. It was first used in 
December of that year. The district now 
contains one hundred and fifty-six children of 
school age. 



BIOCiRArHICAL SKETCHES. 

Thomas R. Woolley. — Britton ^yoolley, 
the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Woolley, was 
born April 15, 1765, on the homestead at Poplar, 
Ocean township, now owned by Eden Woolley. 
He married Mary Williams, whose children 
were Britton, Jordan, and a daughter, Mary 
Ann. His son, Jordan Woolley, was born ^lay 
22, 1815, on the homestead, and after a residence 
of some years in his native county made his 
home in the city of Philadelphia. He was for 
several years sheriif of the county, as also cor- 
oner, and for successive terms chosen freeliolder. 
He married Mary Jane Haslem, Nvho was of 
English bii-th, and had children, — Thomas R. 
and Mary Jane (wife of Edward R. Slocum). 
Mrs. Woolley died on the 1st of January, 1 84-t, 
and he was again married, to ^Margaret Van 
Brunt, to whom were born children, — Clay, 
Penn, Ada, Sarah, Maggie and Annie. The 
birth of Thomas R. Woolley occurred on the 
10th of March, 1841, in Philadelphia, where he 
received a rudimentary education, and after- 
wards entered a wholesale hardware-store and 
remained until his twenty-fii'st year in the capa- 
city of clerk. Removing to Long Branch, he 
was, in 1862, appointed under-sheriff of the 
county, serving three years with his lather, then 
sheriff, and two years mth his successor, Wil- 
liam B. Sutphen. He resigned this office in 
1867 for the purpose of embarking in the 
lumber business, which still engages his atten- 
tion. Mr. Woolley was, on the 4th of December, 
1864, married to Annie M., daughter of James 
C. West, of Long Branch, and granddaughter 
of George W. West, her maternal grandfather 
being Benjamin White. The children of this 
marriage are Thomas R., Charles P., Annie S. 
J. and Bloomfield Drummond, the last-named 
born April 3, 1876, being the only survivor. 
In 1866, Mr. Woolley was elected to the office 
of township superintendent of schools, and later 
served three years as member of the township 



committee of Ocean township. In 1879 he was 
made chosen freeholder, and held office until 
1883, when he declined re-election. He wa.s, 
in 1877, elected by the citizens, irrespective of 
party, commissioner for Long Branch, and served 
for four years as chairman of the board, when, 
having placed the town on a firm financial basis, 
he declined further service. He is also a mem- 
ber and president of the Long Branch Board of 
Health. Mr. Woolley is a director of the Long 
Branch Banking Company, treasurer of the Long 
Branch Building and Loan Association, and 
was formerly treasurer of the Long Branch Gas- 
Light Company. He is a member of Olive 
Branch Lodge, No. 16, of Free and Accepted 
Masons, of Standard Chapter, No. 35, and of 
Corson Commandery Knights Templar. He 
is also connected with the Odd-Fellows and 
Knights of Pythias fraternities. He is fre- 
quently solicited to fill the office of guardian, 
and has on many occasions been appointed ex- 
ecutor, these important trusts being invariably 
filled with unswerving fidelity to duty. Though 
of Quaker antecedents, Mr. Woolley manifests a 
liberal spirit toward all religious sects. 



JoHX Slocum. — John Slocum, grandfa- 
ther of John, the subject of this biographical 
sketch, a resident of Long Branch, and by oc- 
cupation a mariner, married ]\Iiss Susan War- 
dell, whose children were Henry, James, Peter, 
Weslej' and Susan. Henry, who was born at 
Long Branch, learned the trade of a carpenter, 
whicli he followed in the vicinity of his home, 
having married Lydia, daughter of John Bond, 
of Eatontown. Their children are James, John, 
George, Mary Ann (wife of Sidney Throck- 
morton), Michael C, Henry, Abram and Lydia 
(wife of E. G. Pitcher). John, of this number, 
was born November 28, 1811, at Long Branch, 
where, with the exception of a brief interval, he 
has since resided. He availed himself of such 
advantages as the winter sessions of a country 
school aftbrded, and at the age of seventeen 
resolved to render himself independent by 
mastering a trade. He chose that of a carpenter, 
aud continued his apprenticeship until his ma- 
jority was obtained. With skill as a workman, 
and excellent judgment in perfecting his plans, 






.m 




OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



781 



an extended husiucss was; soon establislied, the 
work being chiefly done by contract. He erected 
tlie Reformed (Dutcii) Church at Long Branch, 
built the first cottage on the coast and many 
other structures of consequence, continuing thus 
ciccupied until 1852, when, abandoning his 
trade, he embarked in the lumber business at 
Brauchport, under the firm-name of Pool, 
Slocum & Co., continuing this enterprise, with 
some changes of partnership, until 1865. Re- 



deatii occurred October 20, 1851, and he was 
again married, October 1 1, 1854, to Mrs. F/unice 
H. Maps, daughter of Michael Ferguson, whose 
children are Eunice H., (Mrs. Harry Hofter) 
and Lewis T. M., married to Elizabeth Goudy, 
of Chicago. Mr. Slocum has for years been 
identified with the business and public interests 
of Long Branch. He is a strong adherent of 
the Republican party, and from 1861 until 
1876 held the commission as postmaster of the 





'/yc/ 




moving at that date to Long Branch, he became 
a member of the firm of Maps, Slocum & Co., 
and still continues this business connection. 'Mr. 
Slocum was, in 18.''>4, married to Ann, daughter 
of Britton and Ann Woolley, of Long Branch. 
Their children are Deborah H. (Mrs. James H. 
Slocum) ; J. Howard, married to Rachel L., 
daughter of William Price, of New York; 
Henry B., deceased ; and Mary Ann, deceased, 
who grew to mature years. Mrs. Slocum's 



latter place, receiving his appointment from 
Presidents Lincoln and Grant. He was a mem- 
ber, and for several years chairman of the town- 
ship committee, and has filled various minor 
positions in both township and village. He is 
a member of St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal 
Church of Long Branch, in M-hich he has held 
the offices of steward and trustee since its organ- 
ization, and still acts in that capacity. 



782 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Thomas W. Cooper. — Uriah, the grand- 
father of Thomas W. Cooper, wlio was of 
English birth, resided at Long Branch, wliere 
lie died in his eighty-sixth year. He married 
Elizabeth Green, whose children were David, 
John, Benjamin, Sarah, Zilpha, William and 
Samuel. The last-named was born at Long 
Branch, and, though by trade a baker, in later 
years engaged extensively in real estate opera- 
tions. He married Rachel, daughter of Thomas 
Woolley, of Poplar, whose children were Joseph, 
Thomas W., Martha W. (wife of Francis Cor- 
lies), Isaac E. and five who died in childhood. 
The death of Mr. Coojjer occurred at Long 
Branch in 1864. His son Thomas W. was born 
on the 17th of July, 1830, at Long Branch, 
where he has since resided. He acquired at 
school a knowledge of the English l^ranches, 
and M'as early made useful b}' his father in the 
management of a hotel owned by him, which 
occupation was supplemented by employment 
on a farm. Having determined to exercise the 
functions of a landlord, in connection witii his 
brother Joseph, the Metropolitan Hotel, at Long 
Branch, was purchased and successfully managed 
for eight years. Mr. Cooper continued the busi- 
ness, in conjunction with farming, until l.S'Jfl, 
when he embarked in the real estate and insurance 
business. This, by attention and judicious man- 
agement, soon grew to large proportions, much 
of the property in the vicinity being immedi- 
ately controlled by him or intrusted to his care. 
He is himself the owner of much valuable prop- 
erty and has been extensively engaged in build- 
ing, either for purposes of rent or sale. He is 
a Democrat in politics and a strong Prohibition- 
ist, the cause of temj)erance receiving a substan- 
tial supjjort both through his means and influ- 
ence. He is an earnest friend to the cause of 
education and a member of the Board of Edu- 
cation of Long Branch, his efforts in building 
the new graded school and various other school 
edifices having won the commendation of all 
liberal-minded citizens. He has been a director 
of the Long Branch Banking Company and 
identified with other public and financial enter- 
prises. Mr. Cooper is connected by membership 
with Royal Arcanum Lodge, No. 429. He is 
a member of St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal 



Church of Long Branch, in which he fills the 
offices of steward and assistant superintendent 
of the Sunday-school, having been also one of 
the building committee in the erection of the 
edifice. Mr. Cooper was, on the 18th of Octo- 
ber, 18(50, married to Mary L., daughter of 
Samuel Wardell, of Long Branch. Their chil- 
dren are Carrie (wife of Frederick Van Derveer), 
Emma, Thomas W., Jr., and Clemmie L. 



Aaron Edwart>s. — Daniel Edwards, who 
was a native of Monmouth County, resided at 
Eatontown Dock (now Oceanport), where he 
continued the occupation of a tanner until his 
death, in 1815. He married Ann AVardell, of 
the same township and county, whose children 
were William T., Stephen, Joseph, Eliza (Mrs. 
James Lane), Henry D., Ann (Mrs. William I. 
Chaml)erlain) and Daniel. Henry, whose birth 
occurred upon the homestead, was left fatherless 
in early youth, and, on attaining a suitable age, 
determined to follow the fortunes of the sea. 
He married, in 1835, Phebe, daughter of James 
Joline, of Long Branch, whose only child is a 
son, Henry B. His wife having died, he was 
again married, on the 19th of January, 1837, 
to Lydia, daughter of Aaron Cook, of Long 
Branch. The children of this marriage are 
Aaron, Sarah (Mrs. Ten Brook Morris), Asbury 
(deceased), Eliza, Lewis, Charles (deceased), 
Daniel and Thelbert. Aaron, the eldest of these 
children and the subject of this sketch, was born 
October l(j, 1837, on the farm purchased by 
his father after his marriage, and located in the 
present Eatontown township, where his early 
years wei-e devoted to school, and, later, to his 
father's various business enterprises, in which 
he proved an invaluable aid. At the age of 
sixteen he accompanied tlie latter on his vessel 
and speedily developed a quickness of perception 
in nautical matters, which aided him, when but 
a youth, in acquiring a practical knowledge of 
navigation. His skill in this science enabled 
him, at the age of nineteen, to take command 
of a vessel and, when twenty-one, to become 
joint-owner with his father of a craft, which he 
sailed until 1868, when, i-etiring from the career 
of a mariner, he became interested with his 
brothers in the construction of three vessels, the 





^>r^-^^^z^ ^. ^^-^^ 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AM) LONG BRANCH. 



783 



building of which he personally superintended, 
remaining thus engaged until 1875. These 
vessels were employed in the carrying trade, 
aud, as an outgrowtli of this enterprise, the 
brothers, under the firm-name of L. Ar D. Ed- 
wards & Co., established at Pleasure Bay, in the 
same county, a depot for the sale of coal and 
masons' building materials. The business was 
continued at this point until 1875, when the 
present site at Long Branch was occupied, the 
Xew York and Lono; Branch Railroad having 



Charles L. Mr. Edwards is inclined to con- 
servative opinions in politics and rarely partici- 
pates actively in jjarty movements. He is a 
member of Long Branch Council, No. 429, 
Royal Arcanum, and of Mizpah Lodge, No. fil, 
I. O. O. F., of Oceanport. He is connected by 
memljership with the First ^letliodist Episcopal 
Church of Oceauport, and, as a trustee, aided in 
the construction of the edifice. 



Garret D. Vanoekveer. — The 



grand- 




<^ 



i::^^-zr^-i^ 



(^a 



't:/^u^t3^<>^<^<* 



laid side-tracks and offered other advantages for 
the accommodation of their large and incretising 
trade. In 1880 they erected a sash and blind- 
factoiy and a moulding and planing-mill, adding 
lumber and building material to their stock and 
otherwise enlarging the business, which, in this 
peculiar line, ranks among the most extensive 
in the State. Mr. Edwards was, in 1859, mar- 
ried to Mary C, daughter of Captain Thomas 
Riddle, of Oceanport. Their children are As- 
bury, Irene (Mrs. Lewis R. Williams) and 



fiuher of Mr. Vanderveer resided above Free- 
hold duriug the period of the Revolutionary 
War, at which time he suffered great loss from 
British soldiers. His children were Tunis, David 
G., Garret, John, Hendrick and several daughters. 
David G., a native of Monmouth County, spent his 
life in the immediate vicinity of Freehold, where 
he was an industrious farmer. He married 
Katy, daughter of Rev. Benjamin Dubois, and 
liad children, — Garret D., Joseph, Benjamin, 
Tunis, Henry, John, Eliza (wife of Peter Van 



r84 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Dorn), Sarah Jane (wife of Joseph Lefferson), 
Pha3be Ann, Sopliia (married to Addison W. 
Hobart), Margaret (wife of Thomas Hough) 
and Amanda (wife of Isaac Quaekenbush). 
Garret D. was Ijorii on tlie 2d of January, 1805, 
on the homestead, near Freehold. After such 
very limited opportunities as were afforded at 
the schools of that early day, he assisted in the 
cultivation of the farm, and afterwards made the 
township of Marlborough his residence, where he 
continued the employment of a farmer. He was. 



land until advancing years admonished him that 
the work should be done by other hands. He 
has always been a strong Democrat in politics, 
but held no office other than that of trustee 
of the public schools. He is a regular attendant 
upon the sei-vices of the Reformed (Dutch) 
Church at Long Branch, of which hi.s wife is a 
member. 



Anthoxy Truax — Mr. Truax is descended 
from Holland ancestry, his grandfather having 




^a^A^j:^^ ^T^^X^.,^^ 



in 1830, married to Eleanor, daughter of Daniel 
and Sally Polhemus, of Middletown township. 
Mr. Vanderveer later removed to Englishtown 
and cultivated a farm on shares, continuing to 
be a renter for some years after his removal to 
Middlesex County, N. J. He made other 
changes of location, but in 1839, preferring to 
be more independent than was possible on land 
owned by others, purchased the farm which is 
his present home, in Ocean township. He con- 
tinued to labor for the improvement of this 



been John Truax, who married Catharine Good- 
enough and had children, — Elias and Betsey 
(who married Eli Williams). He married, a 
second time, Mary Sutton, whose only son was 
Goodenough Truax. 

Elias Truax was born in Shrewsbury, now 
Ocean township, and survived until his ninety- 
fifth year, having been during his period of 
activity a successful farmer. He married Han- 
nah, daughter of William Layton, of Ocean 
(then Shrewsbury) township, whose children were 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



785 



Anthony, John ami Sarah Ann (wife of Hamilton 
Banta). Anthony was born on the 17th of July, 
J 810, in the present Ooeau township, and re- 
mained until his twenty-first year at the home of 
iiis parents, acquiring meanwhile the rudi- 
ments of English at the district school and 
lending a hand at labor on the farm. He then 
engaged for four years in the burning of char- 
coal, and later in the sale of fish between Loup; 
Branch and Philadelphia. Tiiis occupation 



period of forty years these duties have en- 
gaged much of his time and attention. In 1850 
he was appointed by the court at Freehold 
commissioner of wrecks for the Deal district, 
and for five years performed the duties of that 
office frequently under trying cir'cumstances, 
involving much peril and requiring great fore- 
thought and judgment. As a new departure 
from this routine of labor, he engaged in mer- 
cantile ventures at Pojilar, Ocean township, 






-^/y '^^uc'^^ 



was varied by the business of boating between 
Oceanportand New York, after which he found 
the occupation of a butcher both profitable and 
easily managed. 'S(iuire Truax was, in 1849, 
as the candidate of the Old-Line Whig party, 
elected justice of the peace for Ocean township, 
and such was his popularity' that for twenty 
years he continued to fill the office at the will 
of his constituents. His executive ability and 
fidelity to trusts have made him jastly popular 
as executor, trustee and guardian, and for a 
50 



and three years after in the commission business 
in New York City. He then retired to the 
farm, which he had mean\\hile cultivated in 
connection with his various pursuits, and 
which is his 23resent home, following also du- 
ring this lengthened period the calling of an 
auctioneer. During a jJractical experience of 
forty-five years he has sold a vast quantity of real 
and personal estate, has been appointed com- 
missioner to divide and settle estates, often 
chosen as assignee and acted as arbiter in the 



786 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



adjustment of difTerences. Squire Truax was, 
on the 15th of December, 1832, married to Miss 
Tenty Ann, daughter of Jacob and Mary White, 
of the same township. Their children were Henry, 
born in 1835 ; Hannah (wife of Matthias Wool- 
ley), in 1837; Jacob W. (deceased), in 1X39; 
Elias L., in 1841 ; Mary Catharine (wife of 
George C. Taylor), in 1843; Cornelia (de- 
ceased), wife of Charles E. Hulick, in 184(i; 
Anthony T., in 1847; George W., in 1849; 
Joseph C, in 1851 ; and Newell, deceased. 
'Squire Truax is a director of the Long Branch 
Banking Company, of the Eatontown and Sea- 
Shore Turnpike Company and various other 
local enterprises. He is actively identified with 
chui'ch-work as member and steward of the 
First Methodist Episcopal Church of Long 
Branch and of the Centreville Church of the 
same denomination, in which he is both steward 
and class-leader. 



Captain W. S. Green is the great-grand- 
son of Major-General James Green, of the 
Revolutionary army. His grandfather Mas 
William Green, who died in 1812. To his 
parents, James and Elizabeth Murphy Green, 
were born children, — Dr. J. O. Green, Elizabeth 
Green, W. S. Green, L. C. Green, E. S. Green 
and C. H. Green (deceased). Captain Green, 
the subject of this sketch, was born at Long 
Branch, August 13, 1837, and has lived all his 
life within hearing of the place where he first 
saw the light. He received his education at 
the Freehold High School, and after graduating 
he joined an older brother in the management 
of the large farm on which he was born. 

In the year 1861 he married Mary, the third 
daughter of the late William Hathaway, of 
Deal Beach, N. J. About this time the farm 
was divided, and that portion of it lying on 
the north side of Cedar Avenue fell to his lot, 
a portion of which he sold. This has since 
been converted into a beautiful park, and is now 
one of the attractions of this celebrated water- 
ing-place. The remainder has been beautified 
and improved by the erection of picturesque 
cottages, many of which are now owned by non- 
residents ; the remainder, four in number, are 
the property of Captain Green, from three of 



which he derives a substantial income. The 
other is reserved for his ))rivate use and that of 
his family, consisting of a devoted and prudent 
wife and two interesting daughters, Alice E. and 
Florence M. The monotonous breaking of the 
<urf upon the beach in storm and in calm was 
his lullaby. Born in sight and in hearing 
of the sea, he was inspired with a fondness for 
the ocean, and as he grew that fondness de- 
veloped into a feeling akin to passion. He 
never wearied of sailing in his boat and seek- 
ing the recreation and pleasure which it 
afforded. 

Many years ago, while the life-saving service 
was in its infancy and a volunteer one, he be- 
came greatly interested in its workings, and was 
always at hand to assist in the rescue of the 
crews of stranded vessels. 

When the United States government inaugu- 
rated the present system of life-saving on the 
coast, the position of cajitain of a cre\\- for that 
purpose was tendered him. Tiie highest ambi- 
tion of his life was thus realized ; his dream of 
many years was fulfilled. He accepted the 
position — not from necessity, but from choice — 
and entered upon its duties with a zeal and 
earnestness greater, perhaps, than any other in 
a like position. Realizing the dangers which 
awaited him, the arduous duties which devolved 
upon him and the responsibility of the high 
and saci'cd trust committed to him, he at once 
proceeded to gather aljout him a crew between 
whom and captain there must be a mutual con- 
fidence, — an essential fiietor to the success of 
this noble service. These men are professional 
experts in surfmanship and wreckcraft, and to 
this proficiency have added all the acquisition 
and experience of the trained life-saver. It is 
unquestionable "that the skill and bravery they 
have brought to the performance of their duty 
have contributed in an immense degree to the 
great success under their captain, which has 
given the service the high rank it occupies with 
commercial and maritime men and with the 
people at large. Notable among the wrecks 
from which Captain Green has been instru- 
mental in rescuing the crews was the ship 
"Adonis," stranded March 7, 1869, from which 
all were saved. Another \\as the Red Star 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



787 



steamer "Rusland," stranded March 17, 1877; 
from this, too, all were rescued. The next was 
the uufoi'tunate steamer " Pliny," from South 
America, from which all were landed in safety. 
Her captain, Mitchell, having lost his all, was 
taken to the home of Captain Green, and by 
him and his kind-hearted wife hospitably enter- 
tained for several months. Then followed the 
ill-fated schooner " Light Boat," from which 
Captain Green and his gallant men landed the 



was found and decently buried; Captain Green 
communicated with the friends of the drowned 
boy, and from them received expressions of 
gratitude and praise for his kindness to an un- 
known sailor boy. 

Asa reward of his kindness and bravery. Cap- 
tain Green has in his possession many memen- 
tos and testimonials expressive of gratitude 
from the rescued, their relatives and friends, 
which will be cherished Ity his children as a 




crew in safety. This brave act Mas done at 
daylight, and in the face of a terrible gale, on 
February 3, 1880. 

The next and last rescue to which the skill 
and heroism of Captain Green and his men were 
called was the ship " W. J. Stairs." From 
her all were brought to the shore in safety save 
one, the cabin boy. This, the only loss of life 
that has occurred in the captain's experience, 
was and always has been to him a source of re- 
gret, although unavoidable. The body of the lad 



^yLe^e^^Z£^, 



valuable and honorable inheritance. To detail 
the incidents connected with the rescue of the 
passengers and crews of these vessels would be 
simply to record the deeds of self-sacrifice and 
heroism which are constantly repeated as occasion 
offers. Captain Green has, during his connection 
with the Life-Saving Service, rescued more than 
three bundled persons from watery graves. He is 
regarded as one of the most skillful, intrepid and 
humane officers in the service, with a thoroughly 
disciplined and loyal crew under his command. 



788 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Tlie American Life Saving Service under its 
present elaborate system of relief is ten years 
old. Its development covers nearly a century. 
The initiatory movement was the organization 
by a few benevolent persons of the Massachu- 
setts Humane Society in 1876. In attempting 
to alleviate the miseries of shipwreck on the 
Massachusetts ooast, small huts were built ; and 
in 1807 the first life-boat station was estab- 
lished at Cohasset. The society depended 
upon voluntary crews, but so much was ac- 
complished of value that some pecuniary aid 
was received, as time wore on, from both State 
and general governments. The magnificent 
work of the Coast Survey, begun in earnest in 
1832, absorbed the resoui'ces of Congress for a 
decade and a half, during which period nothing 
was attempted in the way of life-saving except 
through volutary societies. A few public ves- 
sels were, indeed, authorized in 1837 to cruise 
nea,r the coast for the assistance of shijjping in 
distress, but it was through the movement in 
aid of commerce, which extended to tlie light- 
house system. In 1847 five thousand dollars 
were appropriated by Congress toward furnish- 
ing light-houses on the Atlantic, with the 
facilities for aiding shipwrecked mariners. The 
money, after remaining in the treasury two 
years unused, M'as permitted to be expended by 
the Massachusetts society upon Cape Cod. In 
the summer of 1848, the Honorable William 
A. Newell, then a member of the House of 
Representatives from New Jersey, incited by 
some terrible shipwrecks on the coast of this 
State, induced Congress, through his eloquence, 
to appropriate ten thousand dollars for provid- 
ing surf-boats and otlier appliances " for the 
protection of life and jiroperty from shipwTeck 
on the coast between Sandy Hook and Little 
Egg Harbor." Daring the next session a still 
larger appropriation was obtained. Twenty- 
two station-houses were erected on the coasts 
of New Jersey and Long Island, and although 
no persons were paid or authorized to take 
charge of them, and they were manned by ex- 
temporized crews, their value in several cases 
of shipwreck was so great that Congress made 
further appropriations from year to year, and 
stations and life-boats gradually multiplied. 



Through the pressure of a shocking event in 
1854 — the loss of three hundred lives off the 
New Jersey coast — a local superintendent was 
employed, a keeper assigned to each station, 
and bonded custodians placed in charge of the 
life-boats, which had been rejjeatedly stolen ; 
but the absence of drilled and disciplined crews, 
of general regulations, and of energetic cen- 
tral administration, rendered the record of the 
institution unsatisfactory, and its benefits check- 
ered by the saddest failures. 

In the year 1871, Sumner I. Kimball suc- 
ceeded to the head of the Revenue Marine 
Bureau of the Treasury Department, under the 
charge of which were the life-saving stations. 
He made it his first business to ascertain their 
condition. Captain John Faunce was detailed 
to make a tour of inspection, and was accompa- 
nied a portion of the way by Mr. Kimball 
himself. The buildings were found neglected 
and dilapidated, the apparatus rusty or broken, 
portable articles had been carried off, the sala- 
ried keepers 'were often living at a distance 
from tlieir posts, some of them too old for ser- 
vice and others iucomjjetent, and the volunteer 
crews wer'e in a quarrelsome temper with each 
other and with the coast pojjulation. Then 
commenced that vigorous prosecution of reform 
which has crowned the humane work witli un- 
precedented success. Making the most of slen- 
der appropriations, and in the face of perpetual 
discouragements, this one man, the chief of a 
bm-eau, pushed on by philanthropic impulses 
and guided by unerring judgment, brought a 
complete and orderly system into effect. It 
was not the work of a day, nor of a year. It 
required patience, sagacity and rare powers of 
organization and government. He knew no 
office hours, working day and night at what 
many were pleased to consider a hopeless task. 
In his brain originated the idea of guarding 
the entire coasts of the nation through the 
planting of a chain of fortresses to be garrisoned 
by disciplined conquerors of the sea. It is a 
matter of public record, and generally known 
to the country, that through his practical devo- 
tion to the cause this has been so nearly accom- 
plished. 

In reorganizing what there was of the ser- 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



789 



vice, he prepared a code of regulations for its 
absolute control. The duties of every man 
employed were minutely defined. The lazy, 
the careless and the unworthy were dismissed, 
and men chosen to fill their places with sole 
reference to integrity and professional fitness. 
Politics was abolished. That is, experts in the 
surf were regarded as of more consequence to 
drowning victims than voters of any particular 
political ticket. The station-houses were re- 
paired and increased in numbers as fast as the 
means afforded by Congress would allow ; the 
appliances for life-saving were restored, and 
improved from year to yeiir through the l)est 
inventions and discoveries in this or any other 
country, and a rigid system of inspection and 
of patrol was inaugurated. 

The steps by which the institution reached 
its present plane of usefulness would furnish an 
interesting chapter. The record of the first 
season on the New York and New Jersey 
coasts, where the new system first went into 
actual operation, showed that every person im- 
periled by shipwreck was saved. Consequently 
a commission, consisting of Mr. Kimball, ( 'aji- 
tain Faunce and Captain J. H. Merryman, of 
the Revenue Marine, surveyed, in 1873, by 
order of Congress, the vast and varied coasts of 
the oceans and lakes, investigating personally 
the characteristics of the dangerous localities, 
and holding consultations with underwriters, 
ship-owners, captains of vessels and veteran ■ 
surfmen. The report of this commission 
placed before Congress a minute account of the { 
disasters to vessels on every mile of coast for 
the previous ten years ; a bill based upon it, 
prepared by Mr. Kimball, became a law June 
20, 1874. It provided for the extension of the 
field of this great national work of humanity ; 
for the bestowal of medals of honor upon jier- 
sons risking their lives to save others ; and em- 
powered the collection and tabulation of statis- 
tics of disaster to shipping, which, by reference 
to the periodicity of marine casualties, aided in 
determining the points most needing protection, 
and in various other ways benefited both gov- 
ernment and maritime iuterests. 

Comparatively few of the well-housed inhab- 
itants of the land are alive to the fact that 



through the long, cold, blustering days and the 
dark, rainy and tempestuous nights of the 
whole wintry season a cordon of sentinels is 
tramping the Atlantic coast from ISIaine to 
Florida on the look-out for endangered vessels. 
The hardships involved in these protracted 
marches, while all the world lies comfortably in 
bed, have no parallel in the employment of any 
other class of men. The beaches are often clad 
with ice, and at the best are pathless deserts in 
the night, and when lashed by storms are fre- 
quently cloven through with new inlets, while 
hills of sand are rent and torn away as the surf 
leaps furiously beyond its usual limits. The 
life-saving stations on the Atlantic sea-board 
are now within an average distance of five miles 
of each other, each crew consisting of a keeper 
and se\-en surfmen. At sunset two men start 
from each station, one going to the right, and 
the other to the left. They are equipped with 
lanterns and Coston signals, and each pui-sues 
his solitary and perilous way through the soft 
sand, in spite of flooding tides, bewildering 
suow-falls, overwhelming winds and bitter cold, 
until he meets the man fi-om the next station, 
with whom he exchanges a check, to prove to 
the keeper on his returu that he has faithfully 
performed his allotted task. The night is divided 
into four watches. The keeper is required to 
register in his log-book the name of each patrol- 
man, his hours on j^atrol, the name of the 
patrolman from the next station whom he meets, 
the exact hour of meeting, and the direction 
and force of the wind at sunrise, noon, sunset 
and midnight, together with the events of each 
day. This record is sent to the chief of the 
service at Washingtou at the end of every week. 
These groups of seven beach guardians are, in a 
majority of instances, completely isolated upon 
the barren outlying strips of sand, separated 
from the mainland by intervening bays. 

It is not a marvel that the American life- 
saving institution has taken a firm hold of the 
public heart. The territory which it guards — 
ten thousand or more miles — is divided into 
twelve districts. The Atlantic coast presents 
one long succession of varied dangers, begin- 
ning with Maine, where the capricious currents 
ai'e foi-ever playing sly games about the narrow 



790 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



capes, reefs, sunken rocks and peaks of iskantis 
half submerged, paving the coast like the teeth 
in a shark's jaw, taking in Cape Cod, that great 
arm of sand forty miles outward and upward, 
with its half-sunken, ever-shifting sand-bars, 
the islands and the rough rocky points on the 
Rhode Island coast — dreadful to mariners — and 
the long, unpeopled six hundred miles of beach 
from Montauk Point, Long Island, to Cajje 
Fear, North Carolina, terminating with the arid 
coral formation of the coast of Florida, five 
hundred miles in extent. The great lakes, a 
group of enormous inland seas, with twenty five 
hundred miles of American coast-line, are sub- 
ject to sudden and violent gales, which pile up 
seas so stupendous that anchored vessels are 
swept fore and aft, often causing their complete 
destruction; while others, running for shelter 
in harbors, miss the narrow entrances, and are 
blown helplessly upon jutting piers, or the still 
more dangerous beach. The stations consist of 
three classes, severally denominated life-saving 
stations, life-boat stations and houses of refuge. 
Each of the twelve districts is provided with a 
local sujierintendeut, who must be a resident (if 
the district and familiarly acquainted with its 
iidiabitants. His compensation is one thousand 
dollars per annum, with the exception of those 
on the coast of Long Island and New Jersey, 
who, having too many stations to look after to 
attend to otiier business, are paid fifteen hundred 
dollars apiece. Tiiese officers are required to 
give from twenty to thirty thousand dollar bonds 
as disbursing agents, being intrusted with the 
payment of the men under them in addition tn 
their general duties. They are responsible for 
the selection of the keepers of the stations — a 
duty requiring much knowledge and excellent 
judgment — who are not, however, confirmed 
without the acquiescence of the inspector, who 
is supposed to have no local interests or preju- 
dices. The crews are chosen by the keepers. 
The keepers and crews are examined by a board 
of inspectors, consisting of an officer of the 
revenue marine, a surgeon of the Marine Hos- 
pital Service, and an expert surfman, whose 
qualifications are well known, to determine by a 
judgment wiiolly impartial, their character, good 
health and general fitness. This board is em- 



powered to dismiss all incompetent men on the 
spot, and require the keeper to employ others 
without delay. The whole work is under con- 
stant inspection. An officer of the revenue 
marine is the chief inspector, and assigns from 
his office in New York an assistant inspector to 
every district. Tne stations are visited fre- 
quently, and the men examined in the exercises 
of the apparatus drill, and obliged to give 
verbal reasons for every step in their opera- 
tions. They are trained with their life- 
boats in the surf, in the use of the life-dress, in 
saving drowning persons by swimming to their 
relief, in the methods of restoring the partially 
drowned and in signalling. Everything in and 
about the stations moves with military precision. 
When a wreck is attended with lo.ss of life, a 
rigid examination follows to see if any of the 
men have been guilty of misconduct or neglect 
of duty. The keepers are empowered to pro- 
tect the interests of the government from smug- 
gling, and they guard all property that comes 
ashore from a wreck until its rightful owner 
appears. They are charged with the care 
and order of the stations and the boats and ajj- 
paratus ; and they must keep accurate accounts 
of all receipts and ex])enditures, journalize all 
transactions, and maintain all necessary corre- 
spondence with superior officers. Thus it 
appears they must possess a certain amount of 
education and high integrity, as well as surf- 
raanshij), intrepidity and commanding qualities. 
They are paid seven hundred dollars each per 
annum. The crews receive fifty dollars per 
month during the active season, which ujion 
the sea-coast is from September 1st to ]May 1st, 
and uj)on the lakes from the opening to the 
close of navigation, or from about iSIay 1st to 
December 15th. 

When the inmates of a station are notified by 
the patrolman that a ship is ashore, the keeper 
must determine instantly whether the condition 
of the sea will admit of the launching of the 
life-boat. Upon the Atlantic coast, much more 
frequently than elsewhere, the sea is too heavy 
in a winter storm for the use of the boat, and 
resort is had to the life-saving ordnance. The 
process of throwing a temporary suspension 
bridge from the land to the wreck, first sug- 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



791 



o-ested bv Lieutenant Bell, of theroval artillery, 
in 1791, ami matured and carried into practical 
eilect by Captain ^lanby, of the royal navy, has 
been greatlv ira])ri)ved during the last few years. 
The first gun in use was of cast-iron, weighing 
two hundred and eighty-eight pounds, and 
throwing a s]>herical ball with line attached, its 
exti'eme range being four hundred and t^\'euty- 
one yards. This gave place to the Parrott gun, 
weighing two hundred and sixty-six pounds — 
a slight gain — with a maximum range of four 



best in existence. It was the result of experi- 
ments in 1878, Lieutenant D. A. Lyle, of the 
Ordnance Department at Springfield Mass., 
having been detailed, by request of the superin- 
tendent of the service, to assist Captain ]\Ierry- 
man in solving the pioblem of the extension of 
the shot-line and a reduction in the weight of 
the gun. The projectile is fired over the wreck 
carrying with it a light line, by means of wiiich 
the people on the vessel haul on board a strong 
hawser forming a bridge, over which they may 




liundred and seveuty-three yai'ds. The first 
ball fired in the United States to save life is 
preserved in the museum of the Life-Saving 
Service with tender care. It was at the wreck 
of the "Ayrshire," on Squan Beach, in 1850, 
and two hundi-ed and one lives were saved by 
its means. The Lyle gun, of bronze, weighing 
one hundred and eighty -five pounds, with a 
range of six hundred and ninety-five yards, or 
nearly half a mile, afterwards su2)erseded all 
others, and was universally conceded to be the 



escape to the shore by means of the " breeches 
buoy," or by the life-car, which will carry several 
persons at once. 

Captain Charles H. Valentine is the 
son of George Valentine and his wife, Katy 
Moi-ris, who resided at Long Branch. He was 
l)orn in 1825, at Long Branch, and spent his 
youth on a farm owned by Major Henry War- 
dell. At the early age of eleven years he went 
aboard a fishing-smack as cook, and at the ex- 



(92 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



piratiuii of the second year was engaged as a 
full hand. On I'eturning to Long Branch, at 
the end of his cruise, he engaged in fishing both 
by hand and net, and this business proving 
both attractive and profitable, he has followed it 
for thirty-five consecutive years, having pro- 
\ided for tlie ])urpose various boats and other 
e(jaipments. He enjoys the distinction of l)eiug 
the first pound fisher on the coast. Cap- 
tain Valentine lias been for twenty years con 



and Ann Woolley. He isa member of the Mason- 
ic fraternity, and identified with Long Branch 
Lodge, No. 78, of that order. He is, in his re- 
ligious prefei'ences, a Methodist, and both a 
member and trustee of tlie North Lontf Branch 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 



Edwin Woolley. — John Woolley, the pro- 
genitor of the family in Monmouth County, 
emigrated from England about the year 1(360, 





nected with the Life-Saving Service, and during 
half of this period had charge of Station No. 4. 
Many eventful incidents occurred while filling 
this responsible office, his courage and judg- 
ment on these occasions proving the efficiency 
and value of the man and his services. This 
was especially remarked during one of the 
severest storms on record, in 1881. He landed 
the first woman ever brought safely to the coast 
by the breeches buoy. The captain was, in 
1855, married to Armenia, daughter of Tucker 




I and married Marc}-, daughter of Thomas Potter. 
To this union were born four children, — Ruth, 
(who married John Tucker, of New Bedford, 
Mass.), John, Thomas and William. William, the 
third son, in his earlier davs eno-aofed in whalinu-, 
at that time very profitable, and being success- 
ful, accumulated a considerable sum of money. 
James Woolley, son of William Woolley, and 
grandson of the first John, the emigrant, 
had five sons, — John W., Amos, Anthony, Wil- 
liam and Jesse. John ^^'., the grandfather of 



I 




^^ ^ Au^^^^^^^v^- 



OCEAN TOWNSHIP AND LONG BRANCH. 



793 



Edwin Wodlley, had hut two sons, — Jolin and 
Tosiah. The fornicr John had also two sous, 
Antliony and Edwin, tlie subject of this bio- 
^rapiiy, of whom Antiiouy died at the early 
lare of sixteen vears. Edwin was born on 
:he 10th of October, 1S30, on the homestead, 
which has since been his home. He improved 
sucli opportunities of education as were offered 
it the public school, and early began tlic routine 
)f farm-labor, to which he has since been aeeus- 
;orned. Durino- this period, however, the 
monotonous round of duty was somewhat varied 
by the vocation of a teacher. In 1853 he in- 
herited the homestead farm, made doubly valu- 
ible to him as the home of the family for six 
generations. Mr. Wool ley was, in 1852, mar- 
ried to Mary Jane, daughter of David Morton, 
of Ocean township. Their only child is Laura 
[Mrs. Charles Worth). He was again married, 
in 1857, to Elizabeth Ann, dauy-hter of Robert 
Havens, of New York, whose children are John 
Warren, William P., Ella, Marietta, Charles A. 
and Pjunice. Mr. Woolley is a Republican 
in polities, and though indifferent to honors of 
a public character, has, from his interest in the 
Rause of education, been induced to accept the 
position of school trustee of the township. He 
is both a member and trustee of the First 
Methodist Epis(^opaI Church of Long Branch, 
as also trustee of the C'entreville Methodist 
Episcopal Church and superintendent for many 
years of its Sunday-school. 

Sajiuei. W. Hknurkkson. — Samuel Hcn- 
drickson, grandfather of Samuel W., flic sub- 
ject of this biographical sketch, was a resident 
of Cream Ridge, in Upper Freehold town- 
ship. To his wife, formerly Miss Alice Wikoff, 
were born children, — Peter; Rebecca, wife of 
Samuel Potter; Tobias; Samuel; Alict;, wife of 
William G. Hendrickson ; and Garret S. The 
last named of this nundier was born May 25, 
LSOG, at Cream Ridge, where he grew to man- 
hood, and from whence he removed, in 1835, to 
Ocean township, having married, at Deal, on 
the 2oth of December, 1830, Hannah Wikoff, 
daughter of Richard and Hannah White Wikoff, 
who were married in 1791. The children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson are Riciiard, born in 
1831 ; Samuel W., i)orn May 4,1834; Clem- 



ence E., in 1837; Harriet, in 1839; William 
H., in 1841 ; Julia, in 1846 : Alice, in 181!) ; 
Peter, in 1851; and Harriet, in 1853. The 
death of Mr. Hendrickson occurred on the 5th 
of May, 1857, and that of his wife on the 25th 
of May, 1882. Theii-son, Samuel W., a native 
of Slirewsl)ury township), in 1835, when yet in 
his infancy, removed to Ocean township, where 
he grew to man's estate. He became a pupil of 
the district school at Deal, and later of the Ocean 
Institute, at Eatontown, after which his time 
was given exclusively to the farm, the manage- 
ment of which he assumed in consequence of his 
father's feeble health. He remained thus em- 
ployed until 1867, when the property, having 
been meanwhile sold, passed into other hands. 
Mr. Hendrickson was, on the 13th of N(_)vem- 
ber, 1867, married to Josephine, daughter of 
Josiah H. and Ann Kingsland, of New York 
City, and has children, — Cora Sherman, born 
June 10, 1869, whose death occurred September 

12, 1878 ; Amia Howland, born July 1, 1871 ; 
Raymond Wikoff, whose birth occurred March 

13, 1882; and Alice Edna, born November 10, 
1884. Mr. Hendrickson, since the sale of the 
paternal estate, has engaged in no active busi- 
ness other than the care of the property on 
which he resides, embracing twenty-three acres 
of land, on which he built a spacious dwelling 
in 1808 and his present imposing residence in 
1883. A Republican in politics, his official 
aspirations have been confined to the postmaster- 
ship of his neighborhood, whicii commission he 
still holds. Mr. Hendrick.son is associated with 
the Reformed Ciinrch of Ijong Brancii, of 
which both he and his wife are members, and 
in which he is a deacon. Mr. Hendrickson is 
justly proud of the fact that he resides upon 
ancestral land which has been for more than a 
century in the family. 



David M. HrLiiRETH. — The most successful pro- 
prietor of any liotel upon the sea-beaclies of the 
United States ia D. M. Hildreth, of the West End 
Hotel, at Long Branch. To his hotel and the elegant 
society it annually attracts is due, in great part, the 
settlement of the southern part of Long Branch and 
the peerless residences there, to whose inhabitants the 
West End Hotel is the Casino. 

A man as well recommended to the citizens of Mon- 



794 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



mouth County as Mr. Hildreth, by long sojourn, en- 
terprise and cordiality, requires a few lines of his an- 
tecedent history. 

His ancestor came to Massachusetts in the earliest 
years of that colony, where, in 1640, Richard Hildreth, 
probably the emigrant, became a founder of the town 
of Chelmsford. From him the manly spreading tree 
of the American Hildreths is generally derived. In 
the fifth generation came Samuel Hildreth, who mar- 
ried .Terush Mendel, and their children were Daniel, 
Alvin, Samuel, Paul and Jane. Samuel, of this 
number, was born in 1795, in Chesterfield, N. H., 
and grew up in the nurture of our Revolutionary 
fathei-s. He married Mary, the daughter of David 
Morgan, who lived in Manchester, Mass., and 
their children were David Morgan, Samuel Mendel, 
James Alonzo, Thirza Jane, Ann Martha and Caro- 
line, all of whom grew up to mature life. Our neigh- 
bor, David Morgan Hildreth, was born at Spring- 
field, Windsor County, Vt., December 28, 1821. He 
was fifty-two years old when he acquired hotel inter- 
ests at Long Branch. 

At three yeare of age he removed with his parents 
to Salem, Mass., and at eleven, to Lynn, Mass., where 
he remained till the age of twenty-four, attending the 
Lynn Academy until sixteen years of age, when he 
began to earn his own living, and in 18-15, soon after 
becoming a man, he was one of the proprietors of the 
Veranda Hotel, New"Orleans, with Mr. E. R. Mudge, 
and this association lasted five years, when Mr. Hil- 
dreth and O. E. Hall opened the mammoth hotel of 
the South, and, indeed, of the whole country, the 
St. Charles, at New Orleans. There was the cen 
tro of the power, fashion and multiform life of the 
Southern States, in all the episodes and dramas of 
steam-shipping, internal navigation, cotton and sugar- 
planting, banking, the imperial period of American 
slavery, filibustering, the gold-fever, carnival festivity, 
the outbreak of the great Rebellion and the capture 
of the city. The St. Charles Hotel, with its massive 
stories and classical portico, rose above the Crescent 
City like a palace. For twelve years Mr. Hildreth 
controlled this house, and was for a part of the time 
proprietor of the rival establishment, the St. Louis 
Hotel, which was afterward the Capitol of Louisiana. 

Mr. Hildreth and his partner bought the St. Louis 
Hotel; their business was one of the best in the 
country until the civil war had aifected New Orleans 
generally. Mr. Hildreth sold out his New Orleans 
interest, and went with his family to Europe. 

After spending two years in Europe, Mr. Hildreth 
returned in 1864, and bought a half-interest in the 
New York Hotel, on Broadway, from Hiram Crans- 
ton; he did not dispose of his New Orleans interests 



until 1865. The New York Hotel afforded a remark- 
able opportunity to see the public events in the North 
at the close of the war, the assemblage of many of the 
exiled or broken leaders of the Confederate States, 
and here Mr. Hildreth became sole proprietor from 
1867 to 1871. 

The circumstances of Mr. Hildreth's settling at 
Long Branch are interesting enough to give in a his- 
tory of Monmouth County. The AVest End Hotel 
was originally called the Stetson House, and was 
built by the Astor Bouse Hotel Company in 1867; it 
was built at a time of high prices and speculative ex- 
citement, was unsuccessful with its original proprie- 
tors, and one of its mortgages was foreclosed by Mr. 
Presbury, of Baltimore and Washington, in 1870. 
This gentleman, so long identified with Long Branch, 
had been the financial partner of Willard's Hotel, at 
Washington, during the whole period of the civil war 
and afterward. He was induced to shoulder the Long 
Branch property by two of his business associates, 
Messrs. Gardner and Sykes; the former of these 
married the daughter of Peter Gilsey, of New York, 
and had no further desire for hotel life. Mr. Sykes' 
health was not good, and Mr. Presbury seriously 
thought of getting rid of the property. In this emer- 
gency he sent Judge Robert Gilmore, of Baltimore, 
to see Mr. Hildreth, and invite him to become his 
partner. Mr. Hildreth had never seriously considered 
summer hotel keeping ; there were, indeed, but few 
important summer houses in the country. 

Immediately following the civil war he went, how- 
ever, to Long Branch for the second time in hislitie, and 
Mr. Presbury was emphatic that he should make a 
proposition of some kind. To Mr. Hildreth's as- 
tonishment he closed at once with an ofler; Mr. Hil- 
dreth assumed one-half the mortgage on the hotel, 
which had been reduced to two hundred and ten 
tliousand dollars. This agreement was made at the 
beginning of spring in 1873. Up to this time the 
West End Hotel had known but a single prosperous 
season. For nine years Presbury and Hildreth carried 
on the property, and in 1882, Mr. Hildreth bought Mr. 
Presbury's interest. The growth of the hotel has 
been as steady as that of the city of New York ; to a 
con.sidcrable extent it has been the .summer capital of 
the United States, as well as the financial centre in 
the summer, with its brokers' oflicas, extensive tele- .j 
graph connections, messenger dispatch, post-office and i 
convenient railway station. Here several of our Pres- 
idents, as Grant, Garfield and Arthur, have whiled 
away their happiest hours. General Garfield, several 
years before his death at Long Branch, could be seen 
playing billiards in the West End Hotel. 

Assisted by his sons, the proprietor has been the 





^^^ 



(I 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



r95 



agreeable magistrate of the house, and the successive 
additioDS to the property continued in some cases 
throuarh tlie dullest years to show its attractiveness. 
There were originally about fifteen acres in the hotel 
tract; the first addition was an extensive laundry, and 
the bachelors' quarters were built in 1875. The next 
spring hot and cold water baths were opened on the 
sea-front ; the working department of the house was 
steadily developed, and it may be said, as an instance 
of the training obtained in tiiis hotel, that one of the 
clerks, who consented in an emergency to take the 
steward's ]ilace, has been employed by the Windsor 
Hotel, New York, during the present year at a salary 
of six thousand dollars. 

The beautiful cottages fronting the house were built 
in 1880, at which time six acres of ground were added 
to the tract, at the price of fifty thousand dollars. 
There are now from twenty to twenty-ono acres in 
the We,st End area and grounds. In 1881 a line of 
stores and a post-office were put up. In 1S84 the 
stabling was greatly enlarged, and in 1885 additional 
cottages have been erected. 

The West End Hotel presented a remarkable scene 
dining the autumn when General Garfield was lying 
near at hand upon the bed of death. The newspaper 
press of all the United States, desirous of being 
accommodated, came to the West End Hotel, and 5Ir. 
Hildreth consented to keep the house open and to 
take care of the correspondents and their families. 
There were more tlian one hundred of these corre- 
spondents at the hotel during that long vigil. There 
are accommodations at the West End for one thou- 
sand persons, and the hotel has lodged as many as 
one thousand and thirty-nine in a single night. In 
the season it keeps four hundred and fifty employes, 
of whom nearly two hundred are waiters. The ex- 
lienditures of the establishment sometimes reach two 
hundred thousand dollars in a season. 

^Ir. Prcsbury, long Jlr. Hildrcth's partner, died in 
18S3. While conducting this hotel, Mr. Hildreth h.as 
held several useful and honorary positions in general 
life, and was long the president of the Urbana Wine 
Company, and is a director of the Farragut Fire In- 
surance Company. During most of his life, Mr. Hil- 
dreth was a Whig. His intelligence on personal and 
public events qualifies him for the various ranges of 
society he entertains. He has a farm at Flushing, 
Long Island, and a winter residence in New York 
City. In 1840 he nuuried Elizabeth P. Washburn, 
and their children were Charles Allen and Sallie 
Hildreth (the latter deceased). In 1853 he married 
Annie L., daughter of Colonel (5. H. Mudge, of New 
Orleans, and their surviving children are Walter E., 
David M., Jr., Alexander M., Philip E. and Minnie. 
Mr. Hildreth frequently makes excursions to Europe. 
He is a little cr\-er six feet high, and now, at the age 
of sixty-four, can laugh as heartily, listen as atten- 
tentively and talk as impressively as any of the lads 
from town or country. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

WALL TOWNSHIP. 

The township of Wall is situated in the 
southeast corner of Monmouth < 'dunty, iiaving 
for its ea.'.^teru boundary the Atlantic Ocean and 
for its southern, the county of Ocean. On the 
west it is bounded by the township of Howell, 
and on the north by the townships of Atlantic, 
Shrewsbury and Neptune. Its principal streams 
are Shark River, which marks its noi'thern 
Ijouudary against Shrewsbury and Xeptune 
townships, and ]Manas<juan River, which is a 
part of its southern lioundary against Ocean 
County. The sea-shore railway line, whicli ex- 
tends soutliwardly from Sandy ITook along the 
coast of ISIonmouth and Ocean Counties, passes 
through Wall township on its entire ocean- 
front, from Shark to ISIauascpian River. An- 
other line is that of the Farmingdale and Scpiau 
Village Railroad (now operated by the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Company as a part of its 
united lines). This road enters Wall from 
Howell township, and intersects the sea-shore 
line at Squan village. The populatiim of this 
township, by the TTnited States census of 1880, 
was three thousand eight hundred and twenty- 
nine, but has increased largely since that enu- 
meration. 

Wall town.ship (.so named in lionor of the 
Hon. Garret D. Wall) was erected from a part of 
the territory of Howell, by an act passed in 
1851. The description is as follows: 

" All th.at part of the township of Howell lying 
within the following boundaries, to wit : Beginning 
at the sea or ocean in the middle of Shark River In- 
let, and from thence running up the middle of the 
main stream thereof, along its general windings, to a 
place called and known by the name of the Horse 
Pond, to a certain pine-tree standing by the edge of 
the brook in said Horse Pond lettered I. P., said to be 
the beginning of a tract of land returned to Joseph 
Potter, deceased ; thence westerly along the line be- 
tween the townships of Howell and Atlantic, sixty- 
one chains ; thence southerly on a straight line to the 
mouth of Squancum Brook, where it empties into 
Manasquan River on the south side thereof; thence 
from the mouth of the aforesaid Squancum Brook, 
south three degrees and thirty minutes east, to the 
north line of Ocean County ; thence northerly along 



796 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



said line to Slanasquan River, near old Squan Bridge; 
thence down the middle of said river to the ocean at 
Manasqiian Inlet ; thence northerly along the ocean 
to the beginning." 

Following is a li.st of chosen freelioklers of 
Wall ixjwnship from its formation to tliu pres- 
ent time : 

lSr.l-59. Thomas H. Lafetra. 
1860. William H. Craig. 
1861-62. Thomas H. Lafetra. 
1863-60. John E. Tilton. 
1870-76. Samuel M. (liliind. 
1877-84. Theodore Field. 

As early as l()8o a lar^e area of lands, now 
of Wall townsliij), honlering the south shore of 
Wreck I'oud, tiie sea-shore from Wreck Pond 
southward to tlie jNIanasijiian and up the nortli 
side of the i\[ana.sijuan nearly to tiie present site 
of the Long Bridge, was purchased fi-om the 
Indians, and afterwards patented from the pro- 
prietors by a comjiany formed for the purpose, 
and composed of men who had previously located 
lands at Shrewsbury and IMiddletown, then called 
the " two towns of Navesink." The official docu- 
ment issued by the Governor of the province of 
East New Jersey, granting permission to these 
land speculators to make the purchases from the 
Indians, is as follows : 

" By the Governour : 

"To all Persons to whom these presents shall 
come and whom the i)remises do or may con- 
cern : Know Ye, That I have Licensed, author- 
ized and empowered, and Ijy these Presents doe 
licen-se, authorize and empower Richard Harts- 
horne, John Hanee, Judah Allen, Eliakim 
AVardell, Tobias Hanson, Ejihraim Allen, John 
Woolley, William Woolley, Remembrance Lip- 
piueott, William Lawrence, John Williams and 
Edmund Lafetra, all of Neversinks, in the 
county of JNIonmouth, to purchase the native (jr 
Indian right to such a quantity of land as they 
shall see meet, and lying and being at a place 
called by the Indians Manasipian, provided tliey 
exceed not the rpiantitv of two thousand five 
hundred acres, and that the said purchase-deed 
be to and in the name of the Lords Proprietors 
of this Province, in order that Patents may be 
made thereof to the said respective persons of 
such parts and parcells thereof as may answer 



an agreement this day made between them and 
the Lords Proprietors. 

"Given under the seal of the said Province 
this ninth day of July, Anno DM. KjS.)." 

Under this authoritv tiie Indian ri<rht and 
title was purehasetl, but i)rior to that purchase 
.some patents to these lands had been granted. 

A tier of lots, that in old records were called 
"Sijiian Lotts," were laid out along the river 
and ocean-front, running inland si.xty chain.s, 
and varying in width on the river and sea. 

In the division of these lands M'illiam Law- 
rence received patents for foiu- tracts of land, 
bearing date Jaimary l!l, l(itl2. The uortiiern- 
most tract of this eoni|)any's land wa.s taken bv 
him in two lots, described as follows: "All that 
tract ipf land situate on the north side of Mana- 
s(|uan River, in the Iwunds of Shrewsbury afore- 
said, coasting south west and north east, in 
breadth twelve chains, and in length, south east 
and north west, on one side, sixty chains, which, 
with allowance, is to remain for sixty acres, 
bounded on the south west with land formerly 
of Remembrauce Lippincott, on the .south east 
with the sea, on the north west with the high- 
way and on the north east with the plain." 

The tract below described lies to the north of 
the one given above, and is irregular in form, 
viz.: "And also all that tract lying and ad- 
joining to the above-mentioned tract, containing 
forty acres, begiinu'ng at y" northeast corner of 
y" land of John Ijawrence by the sea, and run- 
ning northwest six and twenty t'hains, thence 
northeast eleven chains to y" Rack (Wreck) 
Pond; thence east-southeast aud half a point 
tnore easterly, as y° pond lyes, twenty-four chains 
to y* sea, and following y" sea to wliere it be- 
gan ; the which two tracts of land were con- 
veyed to liim, the said John Lawrence, by two 
certain deeds of conveyance from his fiither, 
William Lawrence (deceased), relation to 
them se\'crally being had, as may more fully 
appear." The deeds from W^illiam Lawrence 
to John, his .son, bear date Pecember 22, 
1701. The date of patents, with sea or river- 
front, and also the number of acres, are given as 
they lie adjoining each other south from Wil- 
liam Lawrence's two tracts. 

The patent of Remembrance Lippincott, next 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



south of Lawrence, bears date February 20, 
1()S5. It is twelve chains wide on the front 
and contains sixty acres. 

Tobias Hanson's patent is dated November 
4, 1687. The land lies south of Lippincott's 
lot and is twelve chains in front and contains 
sixty acres. 

Jdhn Hance's tract, next south, was twenty- 
four chains on tiie front and contaiiud oneliuu- 
dred and twenty acres. The patent for this 
tract is dated November 4, Ki.ST. This prop- 
erty was afterwards conveyed to John Morton, 
who conveyed it to Thomas Sherman, and is a 
part of the Sea Girt property. 

The tract next below was twelve chains in 
width and contained sixty acres. TJiis lot he- 
longed to William Lawrence, and was embraced 
in the patent of 1G!I2. 

Richard Hartshorne's land was next south of 
Ijawrence's and was twenty-four chains in front 
and contained one hundred and twenty acres. 
This patent bears date January IS, ]()85. 

Adjoining IFartsIiorne was the land of Judah 
Allen, also twenty-four chains on the front and 
containing one hundred and twenty acres. This 
tract was patented February 1(), KJ.S-"). 

Next south wa-s a tract pateute<l by Joseph 
AVest in right of Eliakim Wardell, patent dated 
July 13, 16S6 ; six chains on the front and con- 
taining thirty acres. 

Joseph Lawrence, son of William liawrencc, 
l)atented, Octol)er 7, I(i5l5, in right of William 
Woolley, a lot six chains on the front, containing 
thirty acres. William Woolley sold his i-ight to 
Joseph Law'rence, September 2.3, IfiSH. 
i Johu Williams, one of the company, sold his 

right, September 26, 1694, to John West, who 
received his patent dated ()ctol)er 7, 1695. 
This land lay south of Joseph Ijawrence. It was 
six chains on the front and contained thirty acres. 

Xext south, a ])atent for sixty acres of land, 
twelve chains on the front, was granted March 
22, 1GS7, to Frances I^afetra, widow of Edmund 
Lafetra. January 25, 16SS, "Frances Lafetra, 
late wife of Edmund Ivafetra, Dec''., of Shrews- 
Itury," conveyed the property " to John West, 
lier sou, of Shrewsbur}-." This tract was on 
the point from the river to the sea, as the boun- 
daries indicate. 



Ephraim Allen's tract lay next south. It 
was patented August 15, 16S6, and contained 
sixty acres ; twelve chains on the front. 

A tract of thirty acres, six chains on the 
front, next soutli, was conveyed to John Hance, 
and embraced in his patent of November 4, 
1687. Next was a tract of thirty acres, .six 
chains on the front, whicli was eml)raced in 
Joseph West's patent of July 1.3, 1680. 

M'iiliam I^awrcnce's ])atent of .lanuary 19, 
1692, embraced the tract of land next west, 
containing one hundred and eighty acres, being 
thirty-six chains ()n the river-front. This tract 
he afterwards conveyed to his two siins, Joseph 
(the east half) and John (the west lialf). The 
latter was conveyed to Thomas Ellison, Richard 
Longstreet and Samuel Osliorne. 

The last and most Mi'sterly tract, lying on 
Manasquau River, and end traced in Richard 
Hartshorne's patent of January 18, 1685, was 
forty-two chains on the river-front and con- 
tained two hundred and ten acres. 

April 6, 1692, Edward Woolley conveyed to 
Johu Leonard, of Shrewsbury, "all that tratt of 
upland and meadow situate, lying and being in 
ye county of Monmouth, lying on ye north 
side of Manasquan River, adjoining lands of 
John Hants [Hance] on the south, Edmund 
I^afetraon the north, by the river on the south- 
east, and northwest by the highway." This 
tract, containing sixty acres, was probably one 
that was patented to Johu Woolley, who was 
one of the company, though his name does not 
apjiear in the list of lots assigned. 

In 1 763 the freeholders of the county changed 
the route of a road theu called the "Old Squau 
road," which ran from Long Rranch to the ^lan- 
a.s(|uan. On the 28th of January, 1768, a petition 
for a road from Tom's River Bridge to the Man- 
a.S(iuan was granted by the freeholders, and the 
road was built. There is nothing to show that 
the " Old Squau Bridge" over the Mauasquau 
was in existence before that date, and it was 
doubtless built soon afterwards, to connect the 
! roads above mentioned. It was in use during 
the Revolution, and a bridge has been main- 
tained there from that time. A school-house 
I was erected near the bridge about 1825. On 
1 June 28, 1857, the citizens met at the school- 



r98 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Jioiise and organized a Free Church and elected 
trustees for the jiurpose of erecting a house of 
worsliip. A lot was purchased of William 
Gitford and a house built, which is still used. 
Services were lielil monthly by the Methodist 
Protestiint.s, and the ciuirch is now under the 
charge of the Kev. J. K. Freed. 

Allenwood is a .station on the railroad near 
t lie Old Squan Bridge. A post-office was e.s- 
taldishcd there several years ago, w"ith David 
Allen as postmaster. He was succeeded in 
1883 by William Lafetra, who now holds the 
office. 

The " Long Bridge " over the Manasquan 
was originally built about iSKi, and the fii-st 
mail-route thmugii tliis section pa.ssed over it. 
It was rel)uilt alnMit 1830. The fir-st post-of- 
ticc in this part of the present township wa« 
established at (his place February 25, 1819. 
Samuel F. Allen was the postmaster. The Os- 
bornes were large owners of land in this .section. 

M.\x.\SQUAN is the most important village of 
Wall township, located in the southeast corner, 
near the Manasquan River and the sea, and at 
the junction of the sea-coast line of railway 
with the road i-uuning thence to Farmingdale, 
Freehold and Jamesburtr. 

In the year 181.") the site of the jire.sent vil- 
lage of ilanasquan was heavily timbered, ex- 
cept a small clearing, where the Osborne Hou.se 
now stands. Here, soon afterwards, a tavern- 
house was built, and in 1818 the mail-mute was 
established from Freehold to Tuckerton, by way 
of what is now ]\I;uiasijuan. Timothy J. Bloom- 
field, who had pre\iously kept a stoi-e farther 
inland, came to this ta%'ern, and was keeping it 
in 1825. By that time a few dwellings and 
other buildings had clustered round the tavern, 
and the landlord, Bloomfield, named the settle- 
ment '' Squan Village." In the same year Dr. 
John ISIorford settled at Squan as a ]>hysician, 
and remained there in practice until his death, 
in 1839. 

The first store in the village was kept by 
Lewis Pearce, and in May, 1837, Osborne Cur- 
tis began the mercantile business on the corner 
where now is the store of Curtis & Conover. 



In 1853 he was one of the firm of Brannin, 
Bailey & Co., at the same place. In 1878 the 
present building was erected. Another early 
merchant was Benjamin D. Pearce, previously a 
school-teacher, who opened a store here, in 1839, 
at the place where now is the store of Errickson 
t^' AVainwright. He also carried ou a lumber 
business in a small way. 

Dr. Robert Laird, in a communication having 
reference to the condition of this place in early 
years, says, — 

"Within the recollection of the writer, Squau, a-s it 
is now called, w.is known is Crab Town, the name 
having its origin from an old man named Hays, who 
came from Freehold to the shore for fish, clams and 
crabs. When, once, his wagon was loaded with these 
commodities, some of the boys helped drink his Jersey 
lightning and upset his wagon, and covered the 
streets or roads with crabs, which circumstance caused 
every one to exclaim — Crab Town ! This name was 
retained until it was changed to Squan village. At 
this time the village consisted of a public-house kept 
by Peter Bailey, a small store kept by Jacob Curtis, 
and three or four dwelling-houses, — the residences of 
Benjamin Pearce, Sr., William 5IcKnight and the 
Curtis family. Elder John S. Newman, assisted by 
Matthias Barkalow and Taber Chadwick, of Red 
Bank, used to hold service in the old school-houses 
and at private residences. There were no post-offices, 
A mail-boy came once a week from Freehold to 
Tom's River, by way of Squan Bridge, and the vener- 
able Samuel F. Allen was postmaster at that place." 

Gordon's "Gazetteer " of 1834 says of Squan, 
evidentlv referring: to a larire extent of countrv 
extending to the coast: "It is much frequented 
for ."^ea-bathiug, and comfortable accommoda- 
tions are fotuid at the farm-houses, of which 
there are several wdiere boardei's are received." 

In 18.30, or about that year, there were but 
thirty-six hou.ses between Wreck Pond and 
what was then called New Squan Bridge (now- 
Middle Bridge), this being about three and a 
half miles along the coast and river, and two 
and a half miles from the sea. About 1835 
the people who owned the land between what is 
now the Middle Bridge and Wreck Pond were 
Abram Osborne, Hendrick Longstreet, 'Squire 
Derrick Longstreet, Derrick Ijongstreet, Jr., 
Samuel Longstreet, David Curtis, James Morris, 
Benjamin Pearce, .John Longstreet (who owned 
w^here Manasquan village now is and Xew- 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



799 



berry's Pouil), William Xewberry, Thomas 
Sherman and William Parmeter. j 

The Osborne House was built ou tha site of 
the old Bloomficld tavera by Formau Osborne, 
and was opened iu July, 1867, by his son, 
Frank Osborne. It is now kept by T. Z. Zim- 
merman. 

The Hunsiuger House was built iu 1881, and 
is now kept by D. L. Hunsiuger. 

About 1840 a .sehool-hoase was built (about 
a hundred yards from the pnsent one), which 
was used until the present two-story brick build- 
ing was compltted. in 1881, at a co.st of six 
thousand dollars. 

The Independent Methodists had been hold- 
ing religious worship in private dwelling's and 
in school-houses in this neighborhood for several 
years prior to 184'2. On tiie 19th of February 
in that vear several of the congregation met at 
the house of Asher I'earce, near the store of 
Lawrence Newberry, and elected the foliuw- 
ing-nanied trustees of Mauasquan Church : 
Abrani Osborne, Lawrence Xewberry and Elien- 
ezer iVllen. The society was incorporated June 
18th following. There was no church edifice iu 
the village at this time, but in the same year 
the citizens united in erecting the Free Church, 
on the high ground in the northwest part of the 
village. In this the Methodists, Presbyterians 
and r>ai)tists held meetings. The ground M'as 
donated hv Nesbit Blount, and was deeded to 
the trustees of the Independent Methodist 
ChiH-cli. Matthias Larrielo, John S. Newman, 
Ralph Thomson, Taber Chadwick, Clark New- 
man and John Reynolds were preachers to this 
congregation from 1835 to 1850, at which time 
this denomination merged into the Methodist 
Protestaut Church, and conveyed the property 
to the trustees of that church, since which time 
the following ministers have .served them, viz.; 
Sanuiel Hill, E. D. Stultz, William B. Van 
Leer, Joshua Bunh, J. ^Y. Laughlin, E. T>. 
Stultz, H. Bradford, A. J. Apgar, E. D. Stultz, 
and L. D. Stultz, who is the present pa.stor. 
The church building was remodeled in 1X74. 

In 1876 a large tract of land adjoining the 
Methodist Protestant Church was purchased 
and laid out as Atlantic Cemetery, which is the 
burial-ground of the village. 



The Manasquan Baptist Chi'rch was 
the first one in the Trenton Association whicii 
was organized in the pi'esent century, and thus 
stands number four in age of the churches 
which have thus far come into that body, it 
having been constituted October 20, 18(14, as 
the First Baptist Ciuu-ch of Howell,' which 
townshij) then embraced the present territory of 
Wall. For a nunil)er of years there was but 
one pei'son in the community who ro]>rosented 
the Baptist faith, and that was Elizabeth 
Havens. She was a member of tlie Baptist 
Church at H(ipewell. For ten years she heard 
but few sermons preached, and the.sc were by 
Elder John Lafferty (or McLafferty) and An- 
drew Harpending. "In the .snnuner of 1801 
it pleased God to awaken Samuel and Anner 
Havens." Upon the solicitation of Mrs. 
Elizabeth Havens, and her step-son, Samuel 
Havens, who made a journey to Hightstowu 
for the purpo.se of visiting Elder Peter Wil- 
son, he was induced to come and li<il<l a service 
in this neighborhood, and on the 'Jth day 
of December, 1801, he preached a sermon at 
the house of John Havens, Jr. Sanuiel Ha- 
vens seems to have been the first perstm bap- 
tized ; this took place in April, 1802. Soon 
after this, as appears from the church-book, 
" John Havens and Anner, his wife, and Sarah, 
wife of Sanuiel Havens, were also baptized." 
From this time Mr. Wilson visited them 
about once a racjuth, and the Lord <a-owned his 
labors with success, until the number and situa- 
tion called for the constitution of tiie church." 
The constituent members (thirty-seven in nnin- 
bcr) were I'lizabetii Havens, John Havens, Sr., 
Richard Freeman, Mary Freeman, John Ha- 



' The following is found in the county records at Free- 
hold referring the election of tlie first trustees : 

" The First Baptist Church in the township of Howell, 
County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey, met on Thurs- 
day, the 17th of December, agreeable to .advertisement, at 
the house of John Havens, Senior, in said township, for 
the purpose of choosing Trustees for said church, at 
which time and place the following persons were unani- 
mously chosen in trust of the temporalities of said church, 
whereunto we have sent our hand and seals the day and 
year above written, John Havens, Senior. David Lewis, 
John Davison, Samuel Havens, John Havens, William 
Brown and William Brand." 



800 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



vens, Jr., Lydia Lougstreet, Samuel Havens, 
Hannah Freeman, Eliza Havcn.s, Polly Long- 
street, Uriah Brown, Nelly Longstreet, Thomas 
Havens, Jane Havens, Joseph Van note, Catha- 
rine Lougstreet, Abraham Stent, A nner Havens, 
Ami Woolley, Lydia Hults, Elizabeth Em- 
mons, Elizalieth Stout, Blessing Bi-and, Joel 
Brand, Ruth ]3raud, Sarah Poland, Silas A. 
Blackman, Jacob Havens, Lydia Haveus, Cath- 
arine Brown, Sarah Havens, Ann Havens, 
Mary Truax, John Davidson, Sarah Davidson, 
Joanna .Johnson, Elizabeth Havens. 

The Rev. I'eter Wilson, of Hightstown, and 
the Rev. William White, of Philadelpliia, 
were present and assisted in the constitution of 
the ehureh. 

The first minister who labored in this field in 
a regular way was the Rev. M'illiaia Bishop. 
He was born in England in 1 74!) or 1750 ; was 
ordained to the gospel ministry in his native 
land, and emigrated to this country in 17i(4. 
He first settled in the Lackawanna Valley, Lu- 
zerne County, Pa. ; afterwards removed to Hope- 
well, N. J., from which jjlacc he came to settle 
with the Manasquan Church in LS07. He 
returned to Pennsylvania in 1X12, and died 
near Abington, in that State, iu the year IS] 6. 

The Rev. John Cooper, then of Upper Free- 
IkjKI, commenced ministerial labor here, De- 
cenil)cr 7, 1812, and .served once a month some 
ten or eleven years. From LS23 to 1829 the 
Rev. John Bloomer was the pastor or .stated 
supply. He came from New York State, and 
returned thither upon leaving Sqnan. Au- 
gust 22, 1830, the Rev. William Clark began 
to supply the churcli half the time, and con- 
tinued one year. The Rev. David P. Piu-don 
entered upon the pastorate May 1, 1834, and 
was ordained l)y the Revs. G. S. Webb and M. 
J. Rheese, on the IJIth of August following. 
Elder Boozer served the church ci<rlit or nine 
months after Mr. Purdon left, in 1841. 

The next minister was tlie Rev. Charles Cox, 
Sr., who commenced his labors with this people 
June 21, 1842. Mr. Cox's serviee-s, as has been 
the c;ise with most of the j)astors of this chiu'ch, 
were divided betweeu Stpian and Kettle Creek. 
A revival attended his ministry in both places, 
and during the winter of 1842-43 fifty-nine 



persons were baptized into the fellowship of 
these churches, — fi)rty-eiglitat S(^uan and eleven 
at Kettle Creek. After a pastorate of nearly 
two years, Mr. Cox went to Kingwond to take 
the oversight of the church there. The Rev. 
Allen J. Hires began to supply them the fol- 
lowing Lord's Day. This he continued to do 
about five months, and was followed by the 
Rev. William F. Brown, in Noyendier of the 
same year (1844). He remained ten months. 
Next, the Rev. J. M. Carpenter spent a few 
months here lUi a transient supply. 

The Rev. F,. R. Hera became pastor in De- 
cember, 1840, and continued with the church 
about two years. Quite a nund)er became 
members of the <-liurch during Mr. Hera's min- 
istry. For a few months in the vear 1S50 the 
church was sup[)licd by John Hazlct, a licenti- 
ate of the Baptist ('hurch at Keyport. In the 
spring of 1.S51 the Rev. William F. Brown re- 
moved iiere, and became pastor a second time. 
He left again in the latter part of the year 
1853, and the church was without a pastor dur- 
ing a period of four years, till the Rev. J. Day- 
ton Merrill was called to tiie jiastorate, in De- 
cember, 1S57. He was a licentiate of the 
Fleniington Baptist Churcli, and Mas ordained 
at S<pian, January 19, 1858. He left the 
Sipian Churcli the 1st of April, iSlil, having 
been their pastor six years and a quarter. His 
successor was the Rev. Eli M. Lockwood, who 
took charge of the church on the 1st of May in 
the same year (18(i4), and was ordained as pas- 
tor of the Sqnan Church and supply for Kettle 
Creek on the 10th of August following. Mr. 
Lockwood had been a preacher in the IMethodist 
Episcopal denomination, and was baptized into 
the fellowship of the Baptist Church by the 
Rev. Alexander Folwell, of Athens, N. Y. He 
died August 13, 1866. 

The church was destitute but three months, 
and then called the Rev. Samuel L. Cox, who 
accejited the call January 26, 1867. For a few 
months he spent a portion of his time with the 
little church at Eatontown, after which his 
labors were di\ided Ijctween Kettle Creek and 
Squan. This pastorate, however, lasted only 
about one year, owing to ill health iu his 
family, which was supposed to be caused by the 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



801 



sea air. He was at once succeeded by his 
father, the Rev. Charles Cox, who, after nearly 
twenty-four years' absence from the pastorate of 
this church, returned to it the second time at 
the close of the year 1867. He was succeeded 
in the pastorate, September 11, 1871, by the 
Rev. Theodore S. Snow, who remained until 
1874, when he was succeeded by the Rev. E. M. 
Baker, whose successor is the j^resent pastor, the 
Rev. D. S. Parmelee, who assumed the over- 
sight of the church in 1877. 

The first house of worship of this church 
was erected in 1808. This building was put 
up in the pines, on the road leading from Squau 
village to Burrsvllle, and on the south side of 
Manasquan River, in what is now Ocean 
County. It was a plain wooden structure, and 
answered the purpose for which it was erected 
till the church moved the location to the north 
side of the river, in 1842. This year marked 
an era in the community, as it was then that 
the first meeting-house was built in or near 
Squan village. This was the " Free Meeting- 
House on the Hill," as it is called. Here the 
Baptist Church continued to worship in regular 
turn with other denominations till the dedica- 
tion of the basement of their new church, in 
the month of January, 1869. The main audi- 
ence-room of the newly-finished house was 
entered January 11), 1870. The building is 
well adapted to the wants of the congregation, 
is pleasantly located, and cost four thousand 
eight hundred and fifty dollars. 

The ^lanasquau Church united with the 
Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1805. It 
remained a memlier of that body ten years, or 
until 1815, when it withdrew and became con- 
nected with what was then known as the New 
Jersey Baptist Association (organized in 1811). 
It continued in this relation until 1828, when 
it went out with several other churches to form 
the Central New Jersey Baptist Association, in 
which connection it remained till 1865, when it 
again withdrew to help form what is now known 
as The Trenton Baptist Association. The 
church has generally received aid from the 
New Jersey Baptist State Convention to 
assist in the supptirt of the ministry among 
them. 
51 



The Presbyteuia.v Church at Mana- 
squan dates back in its organization less than 
forty years, though Presbyterian worship was 
held in this vicinity before the Revolutionary 
War. When the Rev. Ciiarles McKniffht was 
serving at Shrewsbury, one of his preaching- 
places was at the locality known as Squan. It 
was nearly a hundred years later that religious 
services were first regularly held at the place. 
In 1842 a free house of worship was erected. 
In April, 1848, the Presbytery organized a 
church at this place, and on the 29th of June, 
1848, the corner-stone of a Presbyterian Church, 
36 X 56 feet in size, was laid. An address was 
delivered by the Rev. Dr. McLean. The Rev. 
Morse Rowell, who was pastor at Manchester, 
held occasional services at this place, and in 
1850 he was called to the pastorate of the 
church and was installed June 13, 1850. He 
resigned May 5, 1856. The Revs. H. R. 
Avery and S. A. Freeman filled the pulpit as 
stated supplies until November 4, 1868, when 
the Rev. Charles F. Worrell was called and 
settled, but was not installed until January 31, 
1872. He remained until 1881, when ill health 
compelled his resignation. A call was extended 
in March, 1881, t<. the Rev. F. F. Brown, 
D.D., of Ann Arbor, Mich., which he accepted, 
and is still the jMstor of this church. 

During the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. Worrell, 
rejiairs and inq:)rovements were made upon the 
church edifice to the amount of three thousand 
dollars. 

The Methodist Eplscopal Church of 
Manasquan dates back .several years prior to 
1857, during which time the Methodists of the 
locality had held services in the Free Church. 
On the 30th of July in that year they laid the 
corner-stone of a church edifice, which was com- 
pleted and dedicated in the spring following. 
This l)uikling was used until its destruction by 
fire, March 27, 1869. A new church, thirty- 
six by fifty-six feet in size, was then erected at 
a cost of five thousand dollars, and was dedi- 
cated December 31, 1869. 

The pastors of this church have been B. C. 
Sharp, 1857-59; William C. Chattin, 1860-61 ; 
J. Stiles, 1862-63; J. L. Roe, 1864-65; R. B. 



802 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Sutcliffe, 1869-70; C. F. Downs, 1874-75; J. 
Garrisou, 1876-77; J. Wagge, 1878-80; T. C. 
CanmiD, 1881-83. 

The first newspaper published in Mauasquan 
was The Seaside, a tri-weekly, four-column 
paper, twelve by sixteen inches in size. The 
first number was issued June 14, 1877, and it 
was continued until September 8th next follow- 
ing, when its publication was suspended until 
June 1, 1878, when it reappeared as a weekly 
paper, enlarged to five columns, twelve by twenty 
inches in size. Since then it has been enlarged 
several times, the last enlargement being made 
January 1, 1883, at which time the name was 
changed to The 3Ianasquan Seaside. At the 
commencement of this paper Enoch Perrine was 
its editor, and E. S. V. Stultz proprietor and 
publisher, which continued until the death of 
the tri-weekly. Since its change to a weekly 
issue it has been entirely under the management 
of E. S. V. Stultz. 

The Coast Democrat was first issued in 1881 
as the South Amboy Citizen. In August, 1884, 
it was moved to Manasquan under the present 
name, and is issued from the office, corner of 
Main and Broad Streets, in Errickson & Wain- 
wright's building. It is an eight-column paper, 
Democratic in politics, edited by J. W. Laugh- 
liu. 

The post-office of Manasquan was established 
February 15, 1819, with Samuel F. Allen as 
postmaster, the office being first located at Man- 
asquan Bridge, which was on the mail-route es- 
tablished by act of Congress April 20, 1818, 
which route was from Freehold, by Squankum, 
]\Ianasquan, Tom's River, Cedar - Creek and 
Manahawkin, to Tuckertou, where an office 
had been established twenty years before, — 
January 1, 1798. 

From Manascjuan Bridge the office was i-e- 
raoved to the Union Landing, thence again to 
the Bridge, and from there, about 1840, it was 
removed to Squan village, a mail-route having 
then been established from Squan to Red Bank. 
Vv'wY to this time the office had been variously 
held, after S. F. Allen, by Conover Osborne and 
Allen Osborne. Upon its removal to Squan, 



Osborne Curtis was ajjpoiuted postmaster. He 
was succeeded by Eugene Hyde, David Riddle 
and William S. Moore, the present postmaster, 
who has held the office since 1871. 

The first physician of Manasquan was Dr. 
John Morford, a native of the county, who set- 
tled here in the year 1825, and who remained 
in practice until his death, in 1839. A more 
extended notice of him has been given in the 
history of the Monmouth Medical Society. Dr. 
Robert Laird, a native of Freehold, settled near 
Squan in December, 1838, and is still in prac- 
tice. Until 1854 he was the only physician in 
many miles around this place. His .son, Charles 
A. Laird, studied with his father. He com- 
menced practice in 1871 and died in 1876. Dr. 
Peter D. Knieskern settled at ^Manchester in 
1841, and at Squan village in 1846. He re- 
mained in practice until 1854, when he removed 
to Shark River, where he died September 12, 
1871, aged seventy-four years. The Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Lockwood, in a sermon delivered upon 
the occasion of his death, makes mention of Dr. 
Knieskern 's career before coming to this county, 
as follows: 

"In 1836 the great State of New York projected the 
gorgeous enterprise of a great Natural History of the 
State; tlie plan took in geology, mineralogy, agricul- 
ture, botany and zoology, and, so far as finished, it now 
occupies twenty-two massive imperial, volumes. The 
botany was assigned to Professor John Torry, then 
the greatest light on that subject on this continent. 
Dr. Torry at once secured as co-workers in the actual 
field, Dr. Knieskern, now deceased, and another young 
man, ProfessorO. R. Willis, Ph.D., theoriginatorof the 
Freehold Institute. Professor Torry's work in thede- 
partment assigned him was given to the State in two 
massive volumes, entitled the ' Botany of the State of 
Xew York.' In the preface to the first volume Dr. Torry 
makes his acknowledgements of indebtedness, and first 
in this respect is placed the name of Peter D. Knies- 
kern, M.D. Even the name of the present Professor 
Gray, who is now the acknowledged light in America 
on botanical science, is made to follow that of Dr. 
Knieskern in the matter of services rendered in the 
New York survey. In 1842, Dr. Knieskern published 
a catalogue of the plants of Oneida County, N. Y., 
pronounced by Professor Torry to be full and accurate. 
And in the conduct of the geological survey of our 
own State of New Jersey, Dr. Knieskern published a 
catalogue of the indigenous plants of Monmouth 
County, and a part of Ocean. The doctor was a 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



803 



member of several of the learned societies, among 
which might be mentioned the New York Lyceum of 
Natural History, and the Academy of the Natural 
Sciences, Philadelphia. As a botanist he greatly ex- 
celled, his skill making him an authority. His name 
frequently occurs in botanical works. But the Doctor 
was also a general naturalist, and to him is due not a 
little of discovery in tlie palaeontology of Monmouth 
County." 

Dr. A A. Higgins, a native of Princeton, 
located in Freehold in 1853; remained a year, 
and in November, 1854, .settled in Squan Vil- 
lage, where he is still in practice. Since that 
time several physicians have come and gone and 
others are still here in practice. 

The First National Bank of Mana- 
SQUAN was chartered in the spring of 1883, and 
organized June 11th in that year, with a capi- 
tal stock of §50,000. A banking-office of 
brick was erected on Main Street, in which 
business was opened November 19, 1883. 

The following are the officers of the bank : 
President, C. J. Parker ; Cashier, John Ter- 
hune ; Directors, C. J. Parker, E. C. Errick- 
son, E. S. Van Leer, J. W. Borden, Howard 
Osborne, James L. Allgor, Sidney Herbert. 

Excelsior Lodge, No. 88, I. O. of O. F., was 
chartered February 1, 1849, with the following- 
named persons as officers : John J. Irons, N. 
G.; Thomas P. Barkalow, V. G.; William 
I. James, Sec, and James D. Cornelius, 
Treas. Meetings were held in ditferent 
places until after the completion of Masonic 
Hall, in 1878, since which the lodge has occu- 
pied a room in that building. The present 
Noble Grand is Edgar Herbert; Secretary, 
E. P. Tilton. The lodge has now a member- 
ship of about eighty. 

Wall Lodge, No. 73, F. and A. M., was char- 
tered January 18, 1866, with the following- 
named officers: A. A. Higgins, W. M.; David 
L. Hunsinger, Sen. Warden ; Lewis P. Brown, 
Jun. Warden. The lodge has now a member- 
ship of seventy-seven. F. P. Philbrick, W. 
M. ; S. W. Newberry, Sec. 

In 1878 the Curtis and Conover Block was 
erected, tiie third story of which was fitted as a 
Masonic Hall. It was dedicated as such Octo- 



ber 16th in that year, and has since been used 
for meetings of the lodge. 

Goodwin Chapter, No. 36, R. A. M., was 
chartered in 1881. It has now about forty-five 
members. F. P. Philbrick is M. E. H. P., 
and A. A. Higgins, Secretary. Meetings are 
held in Masonic Hall. 

Vredenburgh P(jst, No. .47, G. A. R., was 
instituted July 26, 1880, with twenty members. 
Meetings were first held in Zimmerman's Hall ; 
at present in Errickson & Wainwright's Hall. 
The post has now thirty-eight members. The 
officers are: Commander, William S. Moore; 
S. V. C, John S. Williams; J. V. C, David 
N. Curtis ; Quartermaster, David W. Morton : 
Officer of the Day, Al)el H. Lovett ; Chaplain, 
Joseph Snyder; Officer of the Guard, Charles 
Boker ; Delegate to the Encampment, David N. 
Curtis ; Alternate, Frank Getsinger. 

The Loyal Ladies' League was chartered 
January 24, 1882, with twelve members. Its 
meetings are held in the room of A^redenburgh 
Post. The present membership is twenty. The 
officers are : Phebe Truax, President ; C. L. 
Moore, S. V. ; Lavinia Hardy, J. V. ; Jennie 
Tomlinson, Sec. ; Rebecca Curtis, Treas. ; Julia 
Stevens, Chaplain. 

Ocean View Lodge, I. O. of G. T., was in- 
stituted January 15, 1874, with forty members. 
It is not now in existence. 

Pearl Lodge, No 61, K. of P., was instituted 
October 20, 1883. The officers are: Monroe 
Wyckoff, Chancellor Commander ; T. A. Zim- 
merman, Vice-Chancellor ; Dr. A. P. Yelving- 
ton. Keeper of Records and Seals. 

In May, 1872, N. Wyckoff Morris purchased 
thirty acres of land south of and adjoining Mana- 
squan village, and extending to Manasquan 
River. This tract was laid out into lots and 
named Sea View. It is practically an addi- 
tion to Manasquan village, and is already well 
built up. 

The Union Landing is at a point about 
two miles below Manasquan village. At this 
place William Brown began the building of 
vessels in 1808. He remained there a few 
years, and then removed to Navesink. He was 
succeeded at the Landing by Morris Freeman, 



804 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



who continued until about 1837. About 1850, 
Captain James H. Green erected a boarding- 
house at the phiee, and Captain John M. Brown, 
some years later, built the Union. Captain 
Brown is a son of William Brown, who began 
business at the landing in 1808. He was in 
the employ of the Coast Wrecking Company 
from 1829 to 1873, and later agent for the dis- 
trict from Sandy Hook to Great Egg Harbor. 
The post-office was here for a time before its 
removal to Squan village, in 1840. 

The Bkielle Laxd Association was in- 
corporated July 7, 1881, with a capital stock of 
fifteen thousand dollars. The corporators 
(fourteen in number) were gentlemen from Jer- 
sey City and Xewark. The first purchase was 
about one hundred and fifty acres of land lying 
southeast of INIanasquan village. The place 
(which is called Brielle) is under the charge of 
Moses K. Killara, of Jersey City. It contains 
the Carteret Arms Hotel and three cottages 

Sea Girt is a summer resort situated on the 
shore, directly east of Manasquan village, with 
an ocean frontage two miles in length, extending 
a mile back to a gradual, but slightly undulat- 
ing elevation, covering an area of five hundred 
acres of forest, orchards and fields, with New- 
berry's Pond, or Stockton Lake, forming the 
northern and the Manasquan River its southern 
boundary. 

For many years prior to 1853 the shore at 
what is now called Sea Girt was the place 
where the farmers and other inhabitants of this 
section met to celebrate their annual harvest 
home festivals. In May of the year named 
Commodore Robert F. Stockton purchased of 
Thomas Shearman ' a tract of about two hun- 
dred and fifty acres of land, including this place, 
and he also purchased three other contiguous 
lots of about twelve acres each, one of which 
was described as "all that tract of salt meadow 
and island sedges lying southeast of land for- 
merly of Samuel Osborne, and at the mouth of 
Manasquan River." 

On the land purchased by Commodore Stock- 
ton, as abpve mentioned, he erected a very large 



' A pai-t of this tract had been purchased by Thomas 
Shearman, Sr., of William Wilson in 1806. 



and commodious mansion-house for the use of 
himself and family and the entertainment of his 
numerous friends. This mansion, which, with 
its grounds, he named Sea Girt, forms the cen- 
tral part of the present hotel, wings, each one 
hundi-ed feet in length, hax'ing been added. 
The property was sold by Commodore Stockton, 
July 9, 1866, to Paul and Stephen L. Thurlow, 
of Wilkesbarre, Pa., who also purchased other 
lands adjoining. On the 11th of July, 1871, 
Paul Thurlow sold his interest to Stephen 
Thurlow, who, on the 15th of February, 1875, 
conveyed the property to the Sea Girt Land 
Improvement Company, by whom it was laid 
out in lots, with wide streets and avenues. 
Crescent Park is a plat of twenty acres of 
ground, well wooded, situated south of the 
Beach House, fronting on the ocean beach, and 
its rear line being semicircular. The Sea Girt 
property is under the management of John S. 
Lucas. 

Spring Lake is a popular summer resort, 
situated in the east part of the township, near 
the sea-.shore. The land on which it is located 
was patented originally by Robert Hunter 
Morris about 1760. In 1832 a part of it be- 
longed to .Teremiah Chandler, and was by him 
sold in that year to Samuel Emmons. It was 
at that time heavily wooded ; many thousand 
cords of W'Ood were cut off, after which it was 
sold (in 1838) to Abram Osborne. In 1875 the 
property belonged to Captain Forman Osborne 
and James Pearce, whose lands lay on both sides 
of Fresh Pond, now known as Spring Lake. In 
that year, John Reading, James Hunter and 
Paul Thurlow, of Philadelphia, purchased of 
Forman Osborne and James Pearce three hun- 
dred and fifty acres of land adjoining Wreck 
Pond, and running nortlierly about thrce-cjuartcrs 
of a mile, which they laid out and improved. 
Later, these gentlemen sold the property to John 
C. Lucas, who now owns it. The property is 
bounded by the ocean. Wreck Pond, or Sea 
Girt Inlet, and the highway from Manasquan 
to Long Branch. Spring Lake is a fresh-water 
pond, of which the overflow runs into Wreck 
Pond. 

On the 12th of October, 1875, the Lake 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



805 



House Company was incorporated, with a capital 
stock of seventy-five thousand dollars, for the 
purpose of constructing a sea-side boarding-house 
at Spring Lake. The corporators were George, 
Maurice and Abraham Browning, of Camden ; 
Edward Browning, James Hunter, Paul Thur- 
low, G. A. Nichols and J. G. Reading, of Phila- 
delphia. In 1876 this company erected the 
Monmouth House, which was at that time the 
finest hotel on the coast. It is situated ou a 
plat of seven acres, midway between Spring 
Lake and the ocean, and about two hundred 
yards from each. Other hotels and many fine 
cottages have since been erected there. ^Irs. 
Matthew Baird, of Philadelphia, built several, 
cottages at this place, which are kept as board- 
ing-houses, under two managements, by the 
names Essex and Sussex. 

A Presbyterian Church building was 
erected at Spring Lake, on a lot donated for the 
purpose by Mrs. Matthew Baird, who also sub- 
.scribed liberally towards the building of the 
church. Subscriptions to the amount of sixteen 
thousand dollars were obtained from other sum- 
mer residents. The building was commenced 
in November, 1882, and was completed in the 
fol lowing spring. It is sixty by eighty feet in size, 
with a tower eighty feet in height. The bell, of 
fifteen hundred pounds weight, was the gift of 
George Griffiths, of Philadelphia. Tiie audience- 
room has a capacity of seating five hundred per- 
sons. The church was dedicated July 17, 1883. 
The Rev. Matthew Newkirk, of Philadelphia, 
presided ; the dedicatory sermon was preached 
by Professor John Dewitt, D.D. 

The Spring Lake Episcopal Chitrch 
buildino- was erected in the fiill of 1880. Tiiese 
churches are used during the summer season, 
preaching being supplied by ministers visiting 
the place. 

Ocean Beach is the name given to a very 
popular summer resort and town which lies ou 
the south side of Shark River, extending along 
its shore from the ocean beach to and above the 
Shark River bridge. 

In 1872 twenty-five gentlemen then having 
summer cottages at Ocean Grove, purchased, 
through A. Bitner, Jr., several tracts of land 



embracing about one hundred acres south of 
Shark River, intending to have each four acres. 
The Peter White farm, which lay between this 
tract and the river, could not then be purchased. 
Subsequently, and before any improvements 
w^ere made, ^Ir. White was induced to sell, 
and through ]\Ir. Joseph Bayard, of Trenton, the 
purchase was effected. The first purchase, made 
by A. Bitner, Jr., September 24, 1872, was from 
John Brown, Peter Brown, Anthony Brown, 
Isaac Newman, Stephen Bennett, Samuel Lud- 
low and Benjamin D. Pearce, who had purchased 
the tract, December 12, 1861, of Edward Brinley. 
On the same date (September 2-1, 1872) Mr. 
Bitner purchased of James A. Bradley, of As- 
bury Park, one-eighth interest in the West 
Pond and tracts of twenty-five acres and eleven 
acres, and the same date of Richard Newman, 
fifty-eight acres. The second purchase was of 
the Peter White farm of two hundred and 
thirty acres, November 1, 1872, AYhite reserv- 
ing one acre which he had the right to select ou 
any street or road then open ; also nine acres 
of sedge or salt meadow adjoining, and one- 
fourth interest in West Pond. On the 11th of 
December, 1872, Joseph B. Yard purchased one- 
eighth interest in the West Pond of Joseph D. 
Newman, and October 24, 1872, one-quarter 
interest in the West Pond of Richard White. 
:\Iay 31, 1873, Mr. Yard bought of Charles D. 
S. White a lot of al>out eight acres. The 
White tract in 1790 was in possession of Jacob 
Wardell, who, by will dated June 23d in that 
year, gave it to his son, Joseph Wardell. On 
the 1st of September, 1800, Joseph Wardell 
sold to John Lippet White six hundred acres of 
land lying on the south side of Shark River, 
bounded westerly by " Polypod Bogg" and lands 
of Joseph Fleming and John Newman. This tract 
John L.White, by will dated February 15,1821, 
gave to Richard White and Peter White, viz. : 
" all mv lands and bildins, to be equally divided 
between them." In November, 1837, Richard 
White sold his half of the farm to Peter 
White. On the 10th of August, 1820, West 
Pond, containing about fifteen acres, was taken 
up by Andrew Bell, surveyor-general, for Rich- 
ard and Peter White and Joseph and David 
Newman. 



806 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Ou the 12th of November, 1701, Gawin 
Driimmond patented from the proprietors about 
twenty-seven acres of land on the south side of 
Shark Eiver. Ninety acres, also ou the south 
side of Shark liiver, were patented to William 
West, August 28, 1701. The land was sold by 
West to Robert Drummond, of Shrewsbury, 
July 27, 1702. These lauds are mostly in- 
cluded in the White farm. 

The Ocean Beach Association, composed of 
sixty members (among whom were the twenty- 
five gentlemen for whom the purchases of land 
had been made, in 1872, by Bitner and Yard) 
was formed, with the following-named directors: 
Hon. William S. Yard, A. G. Richey, Trenton; 
William M. Force, Esq., Hon. James L. Hays, 
James G. Barnet, Newark ; A. Bitner, .Tr., 
Ocean Beach ; James S. Yard, Freehold ; Wil- 
liam L. Piper, J. R. Bitner, S. S. Spencer, Lan- 
caster, Pa. ; Thomas Kennedy, D. H. Wilson, 
J. S. James, Philadelphia, Pa.; and J. W. 
Fielder, Brooklyn, N. Y. The act of incor- 
poration of this association was approved March 
12, 1873. On the 20th of May, 1873, Joseph 
B. Yard conveyed to the association the lands 
he had purchased, and A. Bitner, Jr., conveyed 
his purchases .June 27, 1873. Mr. Bitner was 
appointed superintendent, and the labor of 
grading and laying out the grounds commenced 
immediately. 

At this time the White homestead' stood near 
the road that leads from Long Branch to Mana- 
squan. The bridge crossing the river at this 
place was built in 1858. The Ocean Beach 
House was built in the .summer of 1873, at the 
intersection of Fifth Avenue and the Mana- 
squan road, at the south end of the bridge. 

The Ocean Beach tract contains about four 
hundred acres, with a front on the ocean of one 
mile, and on Shark River of one mile and a 
half. The sea-front has an easy slope to the 
beach, and along the river-front is a low bluif, 
covered with verdure, and crowned with a heavy 
growth of trees. The river at this point spreads 
into a lake two miles in diameter, with high 
lands in the west. This river is the planting- 

1 Peter White was born at the old homestead, near the 
present residence of .Joseph Cooper, in 1801, and lived on 
the property until his death, July 17, 1884. 



ground for the famous Shark River oysters, of 
which there is always an abiuidance to be ob- 
tained, and it also affords good fishing, being the 
resort of blue-fish, weak-fish, bass, flounders, 
etc., wliich come into the river to feed among 
the sedgy flats. These flats also furnish most 
of the soft crabs that are sold in the city mar- 
kets. For many years this river has been the 
favorite resort of sportsmen in the pursuit of 
both fish and water-fowl, which have always 
been found here in abundance in their .seasons. 
The tract of the Ocean Beach Association has 
been laid out on a liberal scale, and with a re- 
gard to the health and comfort of those who 
occupy it, especially during the summer months. 
The twelve main avenues have this peculiar 
feature,- — each one begins at the ocean and ends 
at Sliark River. The lots are of uniform size, 
fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, and the 
avenues are eighty feet wide. By regulation, 
cottages are required to be set back twenty feet 
from the front line of the lots, making the .street 
opening one hundred and twenty feet wide. 
The size of the lots affl^rds .space for lawns, 
flowers and stables. There is no restriction in 
regard to the size or style of building. I^ot- 
owners may exercise th^ir own taste and judg- 
ment in this matter. 

The Ocean Beach Methopist Epis(X)pal 
Church edifice was built in 1872-73 by A. 
Bitner, Jr., on a lot donated by him for the 
purpose, situated on the corner of D Street and 
Tenth Avenue. This church, thirty-two by 
sixty feet in size, was dedicated June 8, 1873. 
Preaching was supplied in 1874-75 by Rev. C. 
B. Downs, of the Manasquan Methodist Church, 
and afterwards by ministers of Asbury Park 
Churches until 1882, when the Rev. W. H. 
Farout was appointed to this charge. He was 
succeeded, in March, 1884, by the Rev. W. 
Franklin. 

A Methodist Protestant Church was erected 
at Ocean Beach, on the corner of Sixteenth 
Avenue and F Street. It was completed in 
April, 1884. Prior to its completion services 
were held in Bitner's Hall. The pastor is the 
Rev. J.W. Lauchliu. 

The Church of the Holy Apostles 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



807 



(Episcopal) at Ocean Beacsh, is a frame building 
of Gothic style, twenty-five by forty-five feet 
in size, located on Fifth Avenue. The corner- 
stone of the edifice was laid August 12, 1877, 
by Bishop Scarborough, and the building was 
finished in the fall of the same year. The 
church is used only in the summer season, but 
occasional services are held at other times in the 
school-house. The pulpit is at pi-esent (winter 
of 1884-85) supplied by the Rev. Samuel 
Clements. 

The Fikst Presbyterian Church of 
Ocean Beach was organized by a committee ] 
of the Presbytery of Monmouth on March 20, 
1877, the application having been made on 
March 7th, and signed by eight persons who 
were formerly organized into the church. 
James W. Wight was electe<l, ordained and 
installed as ruling elder. The first preaching 
was by the Synodical missionary. Rev. A. H. 
Brown. Having no house of worship, they held 
services in the Methodist Church, Rev. A. H. 
Dashiell, Jr., of Lake wood, ])reaching for them 
Sabbath evenings once in two weeks ; but these 
services were discontinued in April, 1879. 

After a short interim, the want of a Presby- 
terian Church was so much felt that a meeting 
was called on November 13, 1879, to make ar- 
rangements for regular preaching, and on Sab- 
bath, November 16th, it was again commenced in 
Bitner's Hall, with supplies from Princeton and 
Union Theological Seminaries, and from that 
date there has been iireaching every Sabbath. 
The Sabbath-school was organized January 4, 
1880. 

On March 20, 1880, James W. Wight was 
re-elected elder for three years, and David F. 
Van Nortwick was elected and ordained ruling 
elder and installed for the same time. On July 
19, 1880, the First Presbyterian Church of 
Ocean Beach was incorporated, and in the fall 
of that year a movement was made to secure 
lots for the church building; but not until 
the summer of 1881 did the effoi-t prove suc- 
cessful. On August 8th a])])lication was made 
for two lots corner of E Street and Ninth 
Avenue. On August .30th answer was given 
by the president of the Ocean Beach Associa- 



tion that they would be donated. On Sep- 
tember 5th a committee was appointed to select 
a plan for the church building. On September 
12th the plan was adopted, it being similar to a 
church that was recently dedicated at Elmer, 
N. J. On October 8th the contract for the 
foundation was given. On October 12th, ground 
was broken for the new church. On October 
18th the corner-stone was laid, Rev. J. G. 
Svmmes, D.D., of Cranbury, Rev. R- Aik- 
man, D.D., of Madison, Rev. E. Kempshall, 
D.D., of Elizabeth, and others taking part in 
the services. The church, which is thirty-six 
by fifty-two feet in size and cost five thousand 
dollars, was dedicated June 13, 18S3, at wliich 
time the Rev. James ]\I. Denton was installed 
pastor, and still holds that relation to the church. 
The membership at the present time is fifty. 

There is evidence that the Presbyterians have 
occupied this ground for a long time, as within 
a few miles from here are interred the remains 
of Presbyterian families who worshiped in a 
building known as the Shark River Presby- 
terian Church before the Revolutionary War. 

The Westminster ( Presbyterian ) 
Chapei^ at Ocean Beach was built in 1880. 
In the lavins: out of the town the association 
offered building-lots to all religious denomina- 
tions who would erect thereon houses of wor- 
ship. The trustees of Monmouth Presbytery, 
under orders from that body, received two lots 
on the corner of Sixth Avenue and E Street. 
These lots were not used, but others were selected 
for the Presbyterian Church of Ocean Beach. 
Later, the Rev. Dr. William P. Breed, General 
Louis Wagner, of Philadelphia, the Rev. Frank 
Chandler, of Freehold, and J. C. Atterbury of 
Trenton, were appointed trustees, for the West- 
minster Chapel. The lots on Sixth Avenue and 
E Street were offered them, but they were not 
thought desirable, and they were exchanged for 
lots on the corner of Seventh Avenue and A 
Street, and a large and commodious pavilion 
was erected at a cost of six thousand dollars 
for the accommodation of summer visitors of 
all denominations. It was first opened for ser- 
vices July 4th, and dedicated July 11, 1880. 
The property was transferred to Monmouth 
Presbytery in the spring of 1884. 



808 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Ocean Beach Lodge, No. 86, K. of P., was 
ohai-tered May 22, 1873, and held its meetings 
at various times at Hopcville, Manasquan and 
Ocean Beach, at which last place it has located 
permanently in Freeborn's Hall. 

Ocean Lodge, No. 89, F. and A. M., was 
instituted many years ago at Bricksburg, and 
was removed to Ocean Beach in -June, 188 1. 
It has twenty-six members. 

United Lodge, No. 19!), I. O. of O. F., was 
instituted February 19, 1884. It now has 
thirty -five membei's. 

The Shore Gazette is the only newspaper of 
Ocean Beach. The first number of this paper, 
then called The Crab was issued in June, 
1881. The name was changed to the present 
one April o, 1884. It is Eepublican in poli- 
tics. 

The Ocean Beach |)ost-office was established 
early in 1873, and A. Bitner, Jr., was appointed 
l)ostmaster. He was succeeded November 13, 
1877, by Henry H. Yard, the present postmaster. 
Lake Como is a tract of land containing 
two hundred and forty acres, embracing within 
its limits what is known as Three-Cornered 
Pond (Lake Como), and lying south of and 
adjoining Ocean Beach. It is now owned by 
H. H. Yard, of Ocean Beach, and AVilliani M. 
. Force, of Newark, who are grading and layino- 
it out with the intention of selling lots for 
suirimer residences. 

Sea Plain- lies on the west side of the line 
of the Long Branch Railroad, the station 
being between Spring Lake and Ot>ean Beach 
stations. The ])lace was long known as 
Pearce's. For luany years the school-house 
at the place was used by the people in this 
locality for miles around. A store was also 
started at the place many years ago, and is still 
kept by one of the Pearce family. The land 
was purchased and laid out a few years ago by 
Captain Pitney Curtis and Judge John Remsen. 
A post-office was estal)lished in 1873, and a 
Methodist Protestant Church was built and 
dedicated August 25, 1875. It is under the 
care of the Rev. E. B. Stultz, pastoi- of ]\Iaua- 
squan Methodist Protestant Church. 

Directly in front of Sea Plain, and extendino' 



to tlie beach, is a tract of land adjoining Spring 
Lake Association lands on the north. It is a 
tract laid out and partly occujMed by the Brigh- 
ton Land Association. 

Reid's Villa and Rogees' Park are situ- 
ated on a tract of land, one undivided sixth 
part' of which was sold February 20, 1832, by 
James Grover, of Middletown, to Thomas Til- 
ton. The whole tract was described as con- 
taining one hundred and fifty acres, lying 
between the branches of Rack (Wreck) Pond 
and within boundaries, — " Beginning at the point 
of the Neck running up the southerly branch 
brook of said Rack Pond west and a half point 
more northerly sixty-four chains ; thence north- 
northeast fifty-two chains, more or less, to the 
northerly brook, one of the said branches, and 
then down that brook to where it began." 

On the 29th of Octol>er, 1716, George Rogers 
purchased a tract of land, " on y" south side of 
the head of Rack Pond," of William Brindley, 
adjoining land of Thomas Tilton and Walter 
Herbert. In 1751, Benjamin Rogers owned 
land also on the south side of Wreck Pond 
Branch, formerly land of William Case. The 
tract of one hundred and fifty acres mentioned 
above came to the possession of the Rogers fam- 
ily about 1801. The property lies between tlie 
north branch of Wreck Pond and the highway 
from Manas(|uau to Long Branch. It iias been 
laid out in lots and is being built up. The 
southern \vAYt is called Reid's Villa Pari 
the northern part Rogers' Park 



and 



Blaxsingburo is a locality embracing a con- 
siderable area of territory in the southeastern 
part of the township, north of the village of 
Manasquan. In this vicinity one of the earli- 
est land-holders was Edmund Lafetra, of Shrews- 
bury, one of the associate patentees of JNIonmouth, 
and also one of the members of the Manasquan 
Beach Comjjauy. He died before 1687, leaving 
his property by will to his widow, Frances La- 
fetra. His descendants are still living here. 

Thomas Tilton, also one of the associates of 



'The one-sixth interest sold to Thomas Tilton by .Tames 
Grover, was sold to Grover September .5, 1 708, hy Thomas 
Shepherd. 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



809 



the Monmouth patentees, purchased land where 
Robert L. Morris now lives, and in 1751 he 
had a saw-mill on Saw-mill Brook, which is 
the south branch of Wreclc Pond. It is men- 
tioned in a road record of 1793, and the founda- 
tion is remembered by old residents. He died be- 
fore 1768, and his son Thomas lived in the 
homestead house, which is still standing and oc- 
cupied by Robert L. Morris. Tliomas Tilton, 
Sr., purchased other land adjacent, and he 
joined also in the speculation on Mana- 
squau Beach. Thomas Tilton, Jr., married 
Faith, daughter of Joseph Lawrence. Abby 
Tilton, their daughter, became the wife of 
James L. Morris, whose son, Robert L. 
Morris, now resides in the old homestead 
house, a time-worn building with shingled sides. 
In the locality called Blansinglnirg, a school- 
house was built before 1812, and as early 
as 18.30, Lawrence Newberry kept a store 
tliere. It was at the house of AsherPearcc, near 
Newberry's store, that the Free Church now 
at Manasquan was organized, in 1842. Nearly 
west, and on the road from Bailey's Corners to 
Manasquan, or Long Bridge, stands the Friends' 
Meotiug-iiouse. It is not known at what time 
the Shrewsbury Meeting gave permission to es- 
tablish a Preparative Meetijig at this i)]ace. 
The families of Lafetra, Tilton, Potter and 
others were here about 1700. It was probably 
about 1730 that the meeting-house was 
built, as that was the time when several Friends' 
Meetings were established tiirough the county, 
from the Chesterfield (Crosswieks) and the 
Shrewsbury Quarterly Meetings. Tiie original 
lot was half an acre, to which half an acre was 
added when the chui'ch was repaired sixty years 
ago, and another half-acre January 30, 184.5. 

HoPEViLLE (otherwise called Chapel) took 
its name from the cha)iel of the Independent 
Methodists (now the Methodist Protestants), 
which was built in 1813, at this place. The 
Seventh-Day Baptists had erected a house of 
worship, and laid out a burial-ground many years 
before on a lot of laud near Hurley's Corners. 
A large tract in that locality was taken up by 
David Knott, in January, 1749, and was owned 
by that family until it was sold to diiferent par- 



ties sixty or seventy years ago. This old burial- 
ground still remains with a few stones standing. 
The liuilding was old in 1813, and the Indepen- 
dent ^lethodists, who were then organizing a 
number of churches through the lower part of 
the county, met October 2, 1813, and established 
" at Shark River, in the lower part of Howell, a 
Metiiodist Independent Church or Free Com- 
munion Chapel," and elected the following trus- 
tees : " John Saplin Newman, AV. H., Benjamin 
B. Allgor, Aai-on Gaskin, Cook Howland." 

On the 12th of October, in the same year, the 
trustees purchased one acre of land of Sarah 
Boyd, at what is now Hopeville, and tliey also 
purchased the meeting-house erected at Hurley's 
by the Seventh-Day Baptists (then partially in 
ruins, but good in its frame), and moved it to 
the lot they had purchased, where it was re- 
paired and refitted, and was used until the trans- 
fer, in 1850, to the Methodist Protestants. The 
ministers who preached here were Zenas Conger, 
Matthias Barkalow, John S. Newman, Ralph 
Thomijson and others. After the property 
came into the possession of the JNIetiiodist Protes- 
tants, they, in 18 5.3, remodeled the chapel, and in 
1873 rebuilt it, and it was dedicated June 27, 
1874. The church was then under charge of 
the Rev. E. D. Stultz, pastor of Squan Church, 
under ^^•hose care the society remained until 
187(), since which time L. D. Stultz served un- 
til 1880 and T. B Applegate from that time to 
the present. 

Around this cliapel there is a hamlet of a few 
buildings. Aaron Devoe built a small store 
under the hill and kept it many years. In 1860, 
A. H. Morris built the store which, since 1876, 
has been occupied by C E. Bartow. In 1873 
a post-office was established, with D. H. 
Woolley as postmaster. Tlie office was for a 
time below the hill, and in 1876 was moved to 
Bartow's store, where C. E. Bartow acted as 
deputy until 1880, when he was appointed post- 
master, and still holds the office. 

New Bedford is a hamlet embracing a long 
rambling street, reaching from New Bedford 
Corners northerly to Allen's Corner. In 1844, 
James L. Allgor kept a store where the hotel 
now stands, and in 1852 the school-liouse on the 



810 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



lot where now stands Wall Church was moved 
to the Corners, and oecu])ied as a store by Smith 
& Allgor until it was destroyed by fire. The 
post-office was established about 1849 with Jacob 
I. Smith as postmaster. In 1860, James L. 
Allgor opened a store where he now is, at the 
north end of the street, and February 2, 1868, 
he was appointed postmaster, and the office was 
removed to his store, where it is now kept. 
Robert Finley was the first landlord at the 
Corners. He was succeeded by Isaac Amerman 
and Benjamin Grover, who now owns it. A 
carriage-shop owned by A. H. Newman and a 
wheelwright and blacksmith-shop by Jackson 
Marsh are at the northeast end of the street, 
and have been in existence there many years. 
A store is kept by Jtihn Tilton near the hotel 
corner. 

Wai.i. Chuech, situated southeast from New 
Bedford, was erected about 1S54, soon after the 
school-house on the same lot was removed to 
New Bedford Corners. It is a preaching station 
of Hamilton Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Bailey's Corners, lying to the southwest 
of New Bedford, was so called from the fact that 
Claude Bailey, in 1865, built here a hotel, which 
is still conducted by ilrs. Bailey. Centre School- 
house is located at this place. 

Hurley's Corners is a place located on a 
large tract of land which was taken up by Peter 
Knott as early as 1720, and on which he settled. 
His son, David Knott, remained on the home- 
stead left him by will dated February 17, 1770. 
The property passed, about 1825, to John Shaft o, 
whose widow still owns it. Peter Knott's daugh- 
ters married as follows : Rebecca to Remem- 
brance Lippincott, Rachel to Peter Van Dike, 
Abigail to Gavin Drummond, Mercy to Conrad 
Hendrickson and Catharine to James Wilson. 
On the Knott tract, a Seventh-Day Baptist 
Church was built, which, in 1813, was moved to 
Hopeville. 

Schools OF the Township. — In 1851, upon 
the erection of Wall township, Dr. Robert Laird 
was appointed township superintendent of 
schools, and the township was at once divided 
into ten school districts, and in each of these 
districts where there were no school-houses, 



frame buildings for schools were erected. Dr. 
Laird was superintendent as long as that sys- 
tem remained and until the present one was 
adopted. There are now eleven school dis- 
tricts, which contain thirteen hundred and 
eighty-seven children of school age, and the 
school property is valued at twenty-two thou- 
sand nine hundred dollars. 

Old Bridge District, No. 91, has seventy- 
eiffht school children. A school-house stood 
near the site of the present one before 1825, 
which was used until 1840, when another was 
built on the same site. The present brick 
school-house was erected in 1883. 

Manasquan District, No. 92, has two hun- 
dred and seventy-three pupils. A school-house 
was first built in the village about 1850. It 
stood about a hundred yards from the present 
site. This house was used until the new brick 
two-story school-house was built in 1881, at a 
cost of six thousand dollars. 

Chapel District, No. 93, contains one hun- 
dred and two children of school age. The first 
school-house in this locality was erected in 1837 
on land of Peter Davison, now of James L. 
Allgor. In 1866 the present house was erected 
on land of Robert Allen, Jr. 

Pierce District, No. 94, is in the locality now 
known by the name of Sea Plain or New 
Brig-hton. A school-house was in use in this 
locality as early as 1835, and at it the people of 
the lower part of the township attended. The 
fine brick two-story building now used was 
built in 1882. The district now contains two 
hundred and twenty-one children of school age. 

Ocean Beach District, No. 94J, has two hun- 
dred and thirty-four scholars. In 1873 a house 
was built for school purposes on the same lot 
now occupied. This house was used until the 
completion (September 1, 1884) of the new 
one, which is located on the corner of F Street 
and Twelfth Avenue. The contract was let to 
Thomas Hudson for eight thousand three hun- 
dred and thirty-two dollars. The house is of 
brick, two stories in height, with a school-room 
fifly-six by forty feet, an assembly-room fifty- 
four by thirty-eight feet and an extension 
thirty-four by thirty-seven feet. The cost of 
the hou.se and furniture was ten thousand dollars. 



WALL TOWNSHIP. 



811 



Laird District, No. 95, has one hundred 
scholars. About 1825, Abram Osborne gave a 
piece of ground for school purposes at or near 
Mauas((uan, or Long Bridge. This house was 
used many years, and in it Benjamin D. Pearce 
tauo;ht school for several vears after 1833. It 
has been long since abandoned. The present 
school-house was built in 1858. The district 
is named for Dr. Robert Laird, who resides 
there. 

Hurley District, No. 9G, contains eighty-two 
scholars. Over forty years ago a school-house 
was built here on land donated by Robert K. 
Shafto, and was used until the fall of 1884, 
when the present house was completed. 

Allaire District, No. 97, contains forty-seven 
scholars. In 1832, James P. Allaire, of the 
Howell Iron-Works, erected a school building 
for the use of the children of the workmen in 
his service, and he also employed a teacher. 
The school was continued until public schools 
were established, since which time a school- 
building has been rented of the Allaire es- 
tate. 

New Bedford District, No. 98, includes the 
village of that name, in the northeast part of the 
township. The first school-house in this lo- 
cality was built before 1830, on the site of the 
Wall Methodist Church. It was moved to 
New Bedford Corners in 1852, and used as a 
store until it was burned. In 1853 a school- 
house was erected on the Gaskin property, 
which was occupied until July, 1870, when it 
was destroyed by fire. A lot was then pur- 
chased a short distance east of the hotel and the 
present brick house was ei-ected at a cost of 
fifteen hundred dollars. The district now con- 
tains one hundred and twenty-one children of 
school age. 

Blansingburg District, No. 90, has seventy- 
eight scholars. A school-house was erected in 
this locality as early as 1812, which was re- 
placed in 1856 by the present house. 

Centre District, No. 100, was formed in 1860, 
and the house was built on land donated by 
John B. Clement. The district comprises the 
territory about Bailey's Corners, and it now 
contains fifty-one children of school age. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

OsBORN CiTRTis. — The subject of this sketch 
was the son of David Curtis, of Squan, a 
man who occupied a prominent position in tiie 
country in his day, being among the few exten- 
sive landholders of his time. His mother, 
Catharine Curtis, was a sister of Colonel 
Abraham and James Osborn. 

Osborn C'urtis was born at Squan, in the 
township of Howell (now Wall), ^lonmouth 
County, N. J., January 22, 1818. In youth he 
received a common-.<chool education, and, like 
most young lads of his day along the shore, 
a considerable portion of his time was devoted 
to boating and fishing. On the 25th of Decem- 
ber, 18.'')6, he married Miss Ann Van Shaick, 
daughter of William Van Shaick, also of 
Squan. Having married thus early, young 
Curtis concluded to enter upon new occupations, 
and having a business turn of mind, in jNIay, 
1837, commenced the mercantile business at 
iSquan village, in which he continued until 1853. 
He then entered into a co-partnership under the 
firm-name of Brannin, Bailey & Co., at which 
time the business was very much enlarged, he 
being the active partner of the firm. In 1850 
he was appointed wreckmaster for the district 
between Squan and Shark River, which posi- 
tion he held for two terms of five years each. 
During the year 1854 a considerable interest 
was manifested in having a post-office at Squan 
village, the inhabitants being compelled to go 
two miles, to Squan Bridge, for their mail mat- 
ter. In this movement Mr. Curtis took a very 
active part, and was the unanimous choice of 
the people for postmaster, with a semi-weekly 
mail. On the night of January 3, 1856, the 
firm of which Mr. Curtis was the active part- 
ner met with a very serious loss, their whole 
stock of goods, with all their books and papers 
and their lumber-yard adjoining the store, to- 
gether with the contents of the post-office, 
of which Mr. Ciu-tis was postmaster, being 
destroyed by fire. The insurance upon the 
property was very light ; consequently the loss 
of the firm was a serious one. They, however, 
overcame it, and as speedily as possible re- 
newed business operations. 



812 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



B}' his iirst marriage Mr. Curtis had eight 
children, — four sons and four daugliters, — five 
of M'hom are now living. ]\Irs. Curtis died 
December 20, 1860. Mr. Curtis was twice 
elected a member of the Legislature of New 
Jersey by the votes of the Second Assembly 
District of Monmouth, and represented them 
in the sessions of 1862 and 1863, during which 



of the leading prominent men of Squan. He 
owns much valuable land in the villag-e, and 
being a public-spirited gentleman, does much 
for the growth and prosperity of his village. 
He is kind and hospitable, his many acts of 
benevolence endearing him to his fellow-citi- 
zens. In April, 1881, he retired from active 
business. 




time he was^instrumental in securing the ciiar- 
ter for tjie Long Branch and Sea-Shore Railroad. 
On Septembar 15, 1863, he married his second 
wife, Mrs. Catharine Dearborn, of Squan. In 
1864 he entered into copartnership under the 
firm-name of Curtis & Davison, which firm still 
continues, doing an extensive business. Hav- 
ing lost his second wife soon after his marriage, 
on August 21, 1870, ]\Ir. Curtis was married 
to his last wife, ^Nlrs. Sarali E. Moss, of Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Curtis has long been an active 
business man, and is extensively known as one 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

HOOtDEL TOWXSHIP. 

HoLMDEL is an interior township of Mon- 
mouth, situated in the northern part of the 
county. On the north it is bounded by Raritan 
township, on the east by Middletown, on the 
south and southwest by the Atlantic and 
on the west by the townships of Marl- 
borough and Matawan. The principal stream 
of Holmdel is Hop Brook, which marks a part 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



813 



of its western boundary against ]\Iai'lborough, 
and all of its southwestern boundary against 
Atlantic township. Several small streams flow I 
south from the central part of the township and I 
enter Hop Brook. From the extreme north- 
ea:5t corner of Holmdel, Wakake Creek flows 
northwardly through Raritan township into 
Raritan Bay. The only railroad of the town- 
ship is the Xew York and Long Branch line, 
which crosses its northeastern part. The popu- 
lation of Holmdel, by the United States census 
of 1880, was fifteen hundred and seventy-five. 
The territory of Holmdel was taken from 
Raritan, and erected a township by the pro- 
visions of an act passed in 1857, as follows: 

"All that part of the town.ship of Raritan con- 
tained within the following boun(larie.s and lines, that 
is to say: Beginning in the centre of the public road 
leading from Arrowsmith's Mills to Tanner's Landing, 
and in the line between the townships of Raritan and 
Middletown, at the northeast corner of lands of John 
P. Smith ; and from thence running in a southwest- 
erly direction in a straight line to the bridge near 
Murphy's Tan-Yard, in the public road leading from 
Middletown to Middletown Point; thence westerly 
along the middle of the said road to the intersection 
of said road wnth the road leading from Holmdel to 
Brown's Point; thence southerly along the middle of 
the last-named road to the intersection of said road 
with the road leading from Beers' Corner to Mount 
Pleasant, near the residence of Ann Van Brackle; 
and thence running in a straight line on a southerly 
course to the northeast corner of the township of 
Marlboro', near the dwelling-house of Samuel Beers; 
thence along the division line between the township 
of Raritan and the townships of Marlborough and 
Atlantic to the Middletown line; thence northerly 
along the division line between the townships of Rari- 
tan and Middletown to the place of beginning. The 
same is set off from the township of Raritan and 
made a separate township, to be called Holmdel." 

Following is a list of chosen freeholders of 
Holmdel township from its organization to the 
present time, viz. : 

1857. Jonathan I. Holmes. 
1858-68. John W. Hoff. 
1869-73. John H. Heyer. 
1874. William D. Hendrickson. 
1875-85. John H. Heyer. 

Holmdel township was so named for the 
Holmes family, several of whom were, now 
are and have been, for generations, large land- 



owners and influential men in this region. 
From the first settlement of the county down 
to the present time many offices of honor and 
trust in iVIonmouth have been held by members 
of this family, ^^'ith but few exceptions, they 
have led honorable lives, been good citizens and 
prospered in business. IMuch of the progress 
of the county in agriculture has been due to the 
industry and strong common sense which has 
characterized them. " For two centuries," says 
Judge Beekman, " they have intermarried with 
the old families of Monmouth, and at this time 
perhaps one-fourth of the inhabitants, who are 
descendants of the English Baptist and Quaker 
settlers and the Dutch, French Huguenot and 
Scotch settlers of this county, are connected by 
ties of blood with the Holmes' ancestor of this 
family, who was the Rev. Obadiah Holmes, 
second pastor of the old Baptist Church at 
Newport, R. I. He was a trusted and 
faithful leader of the Baptists of that colony ; a 
stanch, conscientious man of profound and 
steadfast religious convictions, and, like many 
others of that period, he, on account of his 
faith, sufiered persecution at the hands of the 
intolerant New England Puritans. When, as 
a penalty for preaching Ba2)tist doctrines, he 
was sentenced by them to pay a fine or be pub- 
licly whipped, he refused to pay (though he was 
abundantly able to do so), for he regarded a 
payment of the fine to be an acknowledgement 
of error and a ' denial of liis Lord,' and he 
chose to suffer by stripes ratlier than do this." 
The Rev. Obadiah Holmes was one of the 
Monmouth patentees, to whom Governor Rich- 
ard Nicolls granted the territory of nearly the 
entire present county of Monmouth. Like 
some of the others of those patentees, he never 
actually settled here, but he made occasional 
visits to this region, and helped to organize the 
old Baptist Church at Middletown, which was 
the first of that denomination in New Jersey, 
and either the third or fourth in America. Two 
of the sons of Rev. Obadiah Holmes, however 
(Obadiah and Jonathan), came to settle on the 
i ^lonmouth patent. Obadiali remained only a 
few vears and then returned to Rhode Island. 
His brother Jonathan remained here perma- 
nently, and was one of the first officers elected 



814 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



at a meeting of the inhabitants of " Middle- 
town, on Newasunii Neck," and " Shrewsbury, 
on Navarumsunk Neck," held on the 19tli of 
December, 1667. From these ancestors have 
descended the very numerous Holmes family of 
Monmouth County. 

Another of the Monmouth patentees. Captain 
John Bowne, was one of the first, if not the first, 
of the settlei's in what is now Holnidel township, 
as his was also one of the first five families who 
settled in Monmouth County in 1664. It is 
not certain that his first house in Monmouth 
was in what is now Holmdel ; he may liave 
settled first nearer the baj', and afterwards re- 
moved here, but it is known for many years 
preceding, and until the time of his death, he 
lived on a farm near what is now known as 
Crawford's Cornere, in Holmdel, it being the 
property which was owned by the late AVilliam 
H. Crawford, it having come to the Crawford 
family by marriage. Captain John Bowne was 
the original patentee of that tract of land. His 
widow, the " Widdow Bound," was often men- 
tioned in the ancient road records, from 1684 to 
1693, and she was the same person to whom 
some of the Indian chiefs deeded certain lands 
on the 10th of August, 1690, as found in Deed 
Book A, B, C, of Monmouth records. 

Captain John Bowne held the office of Speaker 
of the Provincial House of Deputies for several 
years, as also other positions of honor and trust; 
and through all the years of his life in Mon- 
mouth County he was not only one of its most 
prominent citizens, but his universally recognized 
character was that of an upright, conscientious, 
Christian man. This is made apparent by the 
tenor of an ancient paper, written by his hand 
(or dictated by him), which was found among 
other old documents in possession of the late 
James G. Crawford, and of which the following 
is a copy : 

' Some Words of Advice and Council spoken by 
Capt. John Bowne to his Children, as he lay on his 
death-bed, January y" 3d, 1683-84.' 

" There is no way in the world /or a man to obtain 
felicity in this world or in the world to come, but to 
take heed to the ways of the Lord and to put his trust 
in Him who deals faithfully and truly with all men, 
for he knocks at the doors of your hearts, and calls 
you to come and buy, without money and without price. 



" My desire is that in all actions of Meum and 
Tuum, you deal not deceitfully, but plain-hearted with 
all men, and remember that your dying Father left it 
with you for your instruction that when trust is with 
your honor.to preserve it. And in all contracts and 
bargains that you make, violate not your promise, and 
you will have praise. Let your mother be your coun- 
selor in all matters of difference, and go not to law- 
yers, but ask her counsel first. If at any time you 
have an advantage of a poor man at law, O, pursue it 
not, but rather forgive him if he hath done you wrong ; 
and if you do so, you will have help of the law of God 
and of his people. Give not away to youthful jolli- 
ties and sports, but improve your leisure time in the 
service of God. Let no good man be dealt churlishly 
by you, but entertain when they come to your house. 
But if a vicious, wicked man come, give him meat and 
drink to refresh him, and let him pass by your doors. 
It has been many times in my thoughts that for a man 
to marry a wife and have children, and never take 
care to in.struct them, but leave them worse than the 
beasts of the field, so that if a man ask concerning the 
things of God, they know not what it means, O, this 
is a very sad thing. But if we can season our hearts 
so as to desire the Lord to assist us, he will help us, 
and not fly from us." 

Captain Bowne must have died shortly after 
giving the.se words of advice, as on May 27th 
of the same year (1684) there were executed an 
article of agreement signed by Lydia Bowne, 
his widow and executri.x, by which the estate 
was divided between the widow, his sons,— John 
and Obadiah Bowne, — Gershom Mott and'' 
daughters, — Deborah, Sarah and Catharine. 

The only village of the township is Holmdel, 
located in the southwestern corner. This place 
was previously known as Baptisttown. In 
Gordon's " Gazetteer " of 1834 it is mentioned 
as " Holmdel, or Baptisttown," with the follow- 
ing description : " It contains an academy, a 
Baptist Church, two stores and eight dwellings." 
There are few persons now living who are 
aware of the fact that the little hamlet M'hich 
afterwards became Baptisttown, and is now 
Holmdel, was the original village of Freehold, 
and bore that name many years (probably three- 
fourths of a century) before the village now 
known as Freehold was so called. This fact is 
shown beyond the possibility of dispute by an 
old map drawn from surveys made in 1769 by 
an officer of the British army.^ This map shows 

'The map is entitled, "The Province of New Jersey, 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



815 



Freehold village, with a considerable cluster of 
houses, staudiug exactly where Hulmdel now is, 
at the intersection of the road running (as then 
delineated) from Shrewsbury to Cranbury, with 
the road running from ^Middletown to Mon- 
mouth Court-House, which latter village is rep- 
resented by a much smaller cluster of houses 
than is given to Freehold (now Holmdel). 

A store was kept in theacademy buildingatthis 
village before 1820 by Daniel Holmes. Soon 
after that time he became associated in business 
with Aaron Longstreet, which partnership con- 
tinued until 1837 when it was dissolved. The 
academy in which Holmes had previously kept 
his store was again used (soon after 1820) for 
school purposes, and the firm of Holmes and 
Longstreet had their place of business where 
John Hance now keeps store. Thomas Sword 
and William H. Smock were merchants at 
Holmdel for many years. 

Tlie post-office at Holmdel was established 
about 1836 with Dr. E. W. Cooke' postmaster. 
He «as succeeded by Thomas Thorn, Gilbert 
H. Van Mater, George S. Jones and Henry W. 
Magee, the present incumbent, who has held the 
position since 1868. 

About half a mile east of Holmdel village is 
the Van Mater mill site, which is said to have 
been occupied for mill purposes since 1788, — 
the first mill there having been erected and put 
in operation by one of the Holmes family. On 
the 29th of March, 1860, the large merchant 
and grist-mill at this place (owned by Gilbert 
H. Van ilater) was destroyed by fire, and it 
has not been rebuilt. 



Divided into East and West, commonly called the Jerseys. 
Engraved and rublished by William Faden, Charing Cross, 
December 1st, 1777. 

" This map has been drawn from the survey mi\de in 
1769 by order of the Commissioners appointed to settle 
the Partition Line between the Provinces of New York 
and New Jersey, by Bernard Ratzer, Lieutenant in the 60th 
Regiment, and from another large Survey of the Northern 
Parts, in possession of the Earl of Dunmore, by Gerard 
Banker, the whole regulated and ascertained by .\strononii- 
cal observations." 

At the time when Lieutenant Ratzer made this survey 
(1769) his regiment, or a detachment of it, was stationed 
at Perth Amboy. 

' A more extended mention of Dr. Cooke will be found in 
the chapter on the Monmouth Medical Society. 



Ely's Mills are situated on Hop Brook, in 
the southwest corner of the township, at the in- 
tersection of tlie township lines of Holmdel, 
Atlantic and Marlborough. About two hundred 
yards below the present mill, Jacob Van Doren 
built a grist-mill about 1710, on a tract of 
seven liundred and seventy-six acres which he 
had purchased in this section some years pre- 
viously. This mill remained in the Van Doren 
family until 1829, when it was purchased by 
Sheriff Ely, who built a new mill on the present 
site, which is now owned and operated by his 
sons, Thomas and John Ely. 

The Holmdel Baptist Church- has a 
history dating back more than two centuries, 
but no clue to its ancient origin is found either 
in its name or the date of its recognition. 

The Middletown Church had, in its begin- 
ning, two centres in the township of Middle- 
town, at each of which the Baptist settlers pre- 
dominated, where they erected meeting-house.s, 
worshipingand transacting the church business in 
them alternately. One of these was the village of 
Middletown, the other Baptisttown, or the 
Academy. Baptisttown fitly designated its re- 
ligious type. It was a Baptist settlement. 

Each place and assembly is designated in 
the church records, — that at Baptisttown as 
"The Upper Meeting-house," and the congre- 
gation as " The Ui)per Congregation ;" and that 
of Middletown village as " The Lower Meet- 
ing-house," and the congregation as "The 
I.iOwer Congregation." These congregations were 
absolutely one, sharing equally in the responsi- 
bilities and privileges of the church. At Ba])tist- 
towu there was a very certain proportion of social 
and financial strength, as well as of spiritual 
power. Eeference to some of these men, the 
founders of our religious freedom, is necessary 
to the completeness of this sketch. 

April 8, 1665, Richard Stout and others ob- 
tained a patent from Governor Richard Nicolls, 
conveying Middletown and Shrewsljury to them. 
These men were most of them Baptists, and they 
had this guarantee in their patent: "Unto anv 
and all persons who shall plant and inhabit in 
any of the land aforesaid, tbev shall have free 



• By the Rev. T. S. Griffiths. 



816 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



liberty of conscience, withont an^^ molestation 
whatsoever in their way of worship." Among these 
patentees was the Obadiah Holmes who sutfered 
public whipping in Boston for his Baptist faitii. 
He did not reside there, but his son, Jonathan 
Holmes, became a resident, and in 1(3(38 was a 
member of .Assembly. Suljsequently he re- 
turned to the homestead in ]SIitldletown, R. I., 
having settled his two sons, Jonathan and Oba- 
diah, upon his lands in Middletown, ]Sf. J., 
which, in 1713, he bequeathed to them. 

These, Jonathan and Obadiah, grandsons of 
the Rev. Obadiah Holme.s were constituents 
of the Middletown Church. Their descendants 
are still identified with "The Upper Congrega- 
tion." Baptisttown sprang up on this tract, 
known now as Holmdel, taking with the town- 
ship set off from ^liddletown a memorial name 
of a family identified with the earliest history of 
the county. The Stout tract and homestead 
joined that of Holmes. Our most authentic tradi- 
tion ' says that Penelope Stout was buried on it 
about two miles from Holmdel. 

John Bray was a resident and property-owner 
in 1668, the reputed year of the organization 
of the church. He may have been a constitu- 
ent of it, though his name is not in the imper- 
fect list now in existence. ]\Ir. Bray came from 
England. One of his descendants, Richard 
Bray, has a deed of 1688 of land to him, a 
part of tlie Lawi'ence tract. He bought a 
part of the Holmes tract, lived and died upon it, 
having g-iven the laud on which the church and 
parsonage are. The church minutes speak of 
him as a "man of gifts." He was a preacher, 
but it is not known that he was ordained ; evi- 
dently an earnest man, he took a deep and active 
interest in the welfare of Zion. To him the 
church is indebted for the property in Holm- 
del, — parsonage, meeting-house and burial- 
grounds. Others, also, — Bownes, Crawfords," 

'Stout tract is identified as part of tlie Hendrickson 
and Longstreet farms, near Holmdel. Penelope Stout is 
believed to have been buried in an old graveyard nearly 
one liundred yards south of the residence of the late 
John S. Hendrickson. 

' The farm on which the venerable James Crawford lived 
was the homestead of Obadiah Bowne, passing by mar- 
riage into the Crawford Family. 



Motts,^ Ashtons,* lived near " The Upper 
House." 

The biLsiness of the church seems to have 
been transacted, as now in country chiu-ches, " at 
the meeting before Communion," indiscrimi- 
nately at either house. We read in June, 171o, 
"at our yearly meeting in Middletown." In 
August, 1732, "appointed a quarterly meeting 
in Middletown." August, 1735, the entry is 
"iliddletown, at tlie Upper Meeting-house;" 
and in the next month, "at the above said 
Meeting-house." In 1736, probably to avoid 
confusion, it was decided to hold "a yearly 
meeting for business in the old meeting-house, 
near John Bray's." No reference is found to a 
change of this order. Yet fifty years later, in 
1788, it appears that a change had been made, 
the communion seasons before that date having 
been held for six months consecutively in each 
place. Then, however, it was oixlered "that 
the meetings shall be in rotation in their sea- 
sons at each meeting-house." This arrangement 
continued until the division of the church, in 
1836. 

The grounds held by the Holmdel Church, 
including the parsonage and house of worship 
and burial-ground, contained four and one- 
third acres, and was the gift of John Bray, 
already spoken of.^ 

It is noteworthy that both the lot in the vil- 
lage of Middletown and that of Baptisttown, 
on which the houses of worship stand, were the 
gifts of ministers. 

Obadiah Bowne and Grarret Wall in a deed 
of acknowledgment of trust, dated December 
18, 1705, address themselves "to all Christian 
people," and declare "that John Bray and 

3 Ancestor of Deacon G. Mott, First Church, Trenton: 
father of General llott, of Bordentown. 

*A minister and ancestor of Ashton, the first Baptist 
in Upper Freehold. 

^Morgan Edwards, in his " Materials for the History of 
the Baptist Churches in New Jersey," states that "the 
ground was partly given by John Bray and partly by 
Obadiah and Jonathan Holmes." This is a mistake. Oba- 
diah and Jonathan did not come into possession of their 
father's lands till after his decease, in 171.3, eight years 
subsequent to the date of the deed given by John Bray. 
Their father may have added to the church lot and prob- 
ably did. 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



817 



Susanna, his wife, on December 14, 1705, on 
mere special trust and confidence, for the only- 
use, benefits and behoofs of the society, commu- 
nity or congregation called Baptists," gave, etc., 
describing the property ; and further bind 
themselves to convey the property to the church, 
when it shall have a legal existence. Not in- 
corporated until December, 179.3, the title was 
thus held for eighty-eight years. The original 
deed of trust is now in the keeping of the trus- 
tees, and is the oldest deed held by any Baptist 
Church in the State. The title also, if not the 
oldest, is but little later than that on which the 
Lower House stood, of which, however, there is 
no record in the clerk's office. This laud since 
bought from the Indians has been owned by 
Baptists. 

A house of worship and parsonage were built 
coutemporaneoasly alongside of each other on 
the southwest corner of this propeity, immedi- 
ately adjoining the burial-grounds of the Bray 
family and of the church.' By whom and 
when erected, the church record is silent. The 
buildings may have been put up prior to 1705. 
The Baptist families in the vicinity probably 
contributed to their erection. From the little 
known of John Bray, he is supposed to have 
had considerable force of character, as well as 
to have been large-hearted. We incline to the 
opinion that he bore the brunt of the cost of 
these buildings, from the fact that the meeting- 
house was for many years knowu as the " Bray 
Meeting-house." In 1735 it is referred to in 
the church-book as " The Old ^leeting-hou.se 
near John Bray's." Some who worshiped in 
that Iniilt in Middletown village after 1700, 
and in that at Baptisttown, have left word that 
"they were as much alike as two peas." " The 
Old Bray Meeting-house " was probably the 
model of the other. 

Substantial financial aid came also from the 
Holmeses. Jonathan Holmes, Jr., sonof Jona- 



' The great-gran JsoQ, a member of Holmdel Baptist 
Church, says that John Brry built both. This was cer- 
tainly the first Baptist parsonage in New Jersey, and 
doubtless the first meeting-house built by Baptists for their 
own use. Tradition says the first house at Middletown was 
built for town purposes, and the church used it. This was 
the case at Piscataway. 
52 



than Holmes, of Middletown (now Holmdel), a 
great-grandson of Obadiah Holmes, was a min- 
ister whether ordained or not, is not written. 
Having settled his affiiirs and made his will, he 
visited the home of his fathers, in England, in 

1737. On the return voyage he died at sea, 

1738. He bequeathed four hundred pounds to 
the church, — a great sura in those days. Sam- 
uel Holmes, James Tapscott and James Mott 
were his executors. The carefulness and integ- 
rity of these men, and of their successors, usually 
acting trustees of the church up to its incor- 
poration, as is shown by its records, is the high- 
est memorial of their Christian character. 

It has been a question how, through the 
fluctuations and poverty of a new country, the 
wreck of all financial interests in the Revolu- 
tion, Middletown, a small country church, 
could command for its pulpit and retain in long 
pastorates the best gifts of the denomination. 
The gift of church properties and parsonage, 
and the use of the legacy of Jonathan Holmes, 
Jr., solve the problem. It was loaned to Abel 
Mory;an, and he enabled to live in his own 
house. Repaid in the settlement of his estate, 
Samuel Morgan had the use of it. Returned 
when he resio-ned. It was husbanded and used 
to insure the labors of Mr. Benuet for twenty- 
three years. In ISIS it was diverted from the 
support of the pastor, and part of it appro- 
priated to complete the parsonage at The '' Upper 
Meeting-House." The balance was probably 
invested in the houses of worship now in use 
in Holmdel and in the village of Middletown. 

At a church-meeting, September 18, 1794, 
Mr. Bennet, pastor, "A subscription was 
ordered for a new meeting-house on Bray's lot." 
Xo further mention is made of how much, or 
by whom, or l)y what means the funds were se- 
cured for this object. Fifteen years elapsed, — 
years of trial and of constancy, — wheu, October 
29, 1809, having worshiped in the old house 
more than a century, the minutes read : "The 
first Communiou Season was held in the new 
meeting-house on Bray's lot." This was also a 
dedicatory service. Beside the pastor, Mr. 
Bennet, Pastoi"s Wilson, of Hightstown, and 
Boggs, of Hopewell, and Bishop, of Lower 
Freehold (Upper ?), were present. Mr. Wilson, 



818 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



who, twenty-four years before, liaci preached 
the funeral sermon of Abel Morgan, and two 
days after, the ordination sermon of Samuel 
Morgan, and wiio was also one of the two 
ministers at the ordination of Mr. Bennet, 
preached on Lord's Day morning, from Psalm 
cxxxii. 15 ; Mr. Boggs, in the afternoon, from 
Exodus XX. 24. On Monday, Mr. Wilson 
and Mr. Boggs each ])reached again. The 
house was thirty-six feet by forty-five. It lias 
since undergone enlargements and improve- 
ments. Many interesting associations belong 
to the old sanctuary. Here, July, 1792, the 
trustees were instructed to obtain an act of in- 
corporation, and, at the same meeting, Mr. 
Bennet was called to ordination, " as a transient 
minister," not pastor, as is graven upon his 
tombstone. Six months later he was invested 
with the jjastor's oifice. Mr. Bennet never was 
a member of Middletown Cliurch. A minute 
of July, 1816, reads: "Appointed John Beers 
to superintend the building of a house on the 
meeting-house lot of the upper house, com- 
monly called the Bray Meeting-house of the 
size twenty-five feet scjuare, two stories high ; 
no ceiling overhead ; and the same John Beers 
to proceed in the business so far as the money 
raised will go." The same house is still the 
parsonage of the Holmdel Church. Like the 
house of worship by which it stands, it has 
been improved and enlarged at various times ; 
but we know not at wliat expense or how pro- 
vided for, except that in 181!) the trustees 
ordered money at interest to be called in to pay 
the balance due on the building. A room was 
prepared in the liouse for the library of Abel 
Morgan, to which, by vote of tlie church, iu 
June, 1818, it was ordered to be removed. 

Elliot, King, Koberts, Hires, Nice, Mulford 
and AVilson have successively occupied, as a 
study, this " prophet's room over against the 
wall." Prior to the separation of the church 
into two bands, in 18:50, she owned no other 
parsonage. Mr. Bennet alone, of all the 
pastors since 1805, is known not to have lived 
in either the first or second parsonage. A 
wood-lot of twenty-two acres was bought by 
" The Upper Congregation," for the uses of the 
church, in 1825. Thenceforth, besides his salary 



in money, the pastor received the pai-sonage and 
"his fuel carted to his door." Up to the .settle- 
ment, this has continued to be " the portion" of 
the Holmdel pastors. When " The U])per Con- 
gregation" was organized into " Tlie Second 
Middletown Church," this property, really 
theirs by gift and purchase of themselves, and 
which, for so many generations, they had freely 
given for the use of the wlioie church, they 
bought tor five hundred and fiftv dollars. 

" Tiie Upper Congregation," thus providing 
the parsonage witii a iiouse of worship, wood- 
lot and incomes, which, for a hundred years, 
made it possible to olrtain and support with ease j 
an able ministry, none would suppose to be the 
same place and people whicli the sketch of First 
Middletown, in 1867, refers to, in tlie statement 
that a hou.se built on Bray's lot, in 1808, was a . 
"preaching-station." With more propriety was ^i 
the village of Middletown "a preaching- sta- 
tion," visited by the pastors for one hundred 
years, on alternate Sabbaths. The cliurch was 
e(iually identified with l)oth places in every par- 
ticular of worship, ordinances and business 
meetings. Tlie JSIiddletowii Church was not 
that body whicli met in the village of Middle- 
town, but th?it whicli held its assemblies in the 
foirnship from which it was named. 

Of the pastors who have died witiiin the 
bounds of the church, Abel Morgan and Thomas 
Roberts and D. B. Stout were buried at Middle- 
town, and Samuel Morgan and Benjamin Ben- 
net were buried at and near Holmdel. Samuel 
Morgan, after his resignation, lived and died 
(17f)4) about a mile from the Upper Meeting- 
house. Mr. Bennet died October 8, 1840. 

So far as can be learned, the locality of those 
who were added to tiie church under Samuel 
Morgan's ministry, excepting the additions' 
fi-om Long Branch, a large proportion were in 
the vicinities of his residence. Of the nineteen 
received by Mr. Elliot, fifteen were baptized at 
" The Upper House." Thirty were added 
during Mr. King's oversight, of wliora twenty- 
two were baptized at " the Upper House." The 
srrowth of the church within the limits of " The 
Upper Congregation " was very marked down 
to 1826, when Pastor Roberts removed to his 
own home, in " The Lower Congregation." 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



8i;» 



Before 1834, increase of population and of the 
congregations, and the demand for more min- 
isterial labor in the bounds of the ehurcli, had 
led to the en([uiry, How to meet the increasing 
claims of the field? A separation into two 
Iiands was an unwelcome subject. The break- 
ing of ties that had been entwining for one hun- 
dred and fifty years \\as to some unendurable. 
The fearful saw ruin in separation. It was 
doubtful to the pastor if the time had eome 
when two churches could be sustained and oc- 
cupy the field as well as the undivided body. 
Discussion ripened into action in the fall of 
1.S34, when an invitation was sent to Rev. D. 
B. Stout, settled at Lambertville, to visit the 
church, with the view of becoming joint pastor 
with Mr. Roberts. He came. The way was 
not yet fully prepared, and he returned home. 
Early in 1836 the church sent a request to 
Rev. William D. Hires, residing at South Tren- 
ton, to visit them. Having done so in due 
time, he accepted their call to a joint j)astorate 
with Mr. Roberts. 

After six months it was agreed to divide into 
two bauds, — " The Lower Congregation " wor- 
shiping in " The Lower House," in the vil- 
lage of Middletown, retaining the name and or- 
ganization of the original body ; " The Upper 
Congregation," taking the title of " Second 
Middletown," was recognized as an independent 
church, September 1, 183(), by a council con- 
sisting of Pastors Roberts and Hires, of 
Middletown, C. J. Hopkins, of Freehold, and 
J. M. Challis, of Upper Freehold. 

Mr. Roberts remained with " Tlie Lower 
Congregation," in the midst of wliieh he lived. 
]\Ir. Hires retained the oversight of " The 
Upper," amid which he resided, receiving the 
same salai-y as had been paid \)y the whole 
body to Mr. Rol)erts. 

The constituency of the Second Middletown 
was fifty-three, as follows: John "G. Taylor, 
Lydia Taylor, Sarah Jane Armstrong, Elizabeth 
S. Taylor, Sophia Taylor, John Chacy, Hannah 
Smith, Henry Giftbrd, Susan Conover, Rhoda 
Pierce, Eleanor Waters, William Sutton, Jane 
Van Brackle, Mary Jane Thompson, James 
Carhart, Susan Carhart, Mary Parsons, Mary 
Posten, William H. Johnson, Ann B. Taylor, 



Eleanor Van Brackle, Stephen Van Brackle, 
]\Iar(y Worrcl, Rachel Andrews, Catharine Coo- 
vert, Jane Stillwagon, Martha Chacy, Mary 
Johnson, Achsa Ely, Margaret Sutton, Sarah 
Holmes, Elizabeth Cottrell, Mary I>ongstreet, 
Catharine Carhart, Rhoda Schanck, Eliza Cook, 
Elizabeth Taylor, Edmund H. Tice, Jane Tice, 
Mary Tilton, Rebecca Worrcl, Eleanor Holmes, 
Catharine Stoughtenboroiigh, Richard Carhart, 
Hannah Holmes, Dianah Longstreet, Altha 
Tilton, Mary George, Elizabeth Beers, Aaron 
Conover, Jerusha Tice, Hagar Longstreet, Farnar 
Ely. Mr. Hires continued jiastor ten years, 
preacliing at Keyport, Matawan and Marlbo- 
rough, laying foundations for the churches since 
formed in these places, also occupying other points 
in the vicinity. He resigned in August, 1840i. 

In 1840 the liouse of worship was modern- 
ized ; the lofty jjulpit and sounding-board and 
gallery, up under the eaves, came down. The 
square pews gave jilace to slips. 

After the resignation of Mr. Hires the vener- 
able John Rogers supplied the church until 
June, 1847, at which time Rev. William J. Nice 
entered uijon the pastorate. Mr. Nice resigned 
in April, 1851. During his pastorate the house 
of worship was improved by the addition of a 
new front and of a steeple, and the steeple having 
been blo\vn off, was replaced by another. Not 
less than tw> thousand dollars was expended 
for these improvements. 

The name of the church was changed, in 
1849, to Holmdel, — that taken by the township 
set off from Middletown. 

Clarence W. Mulford sujiplied the cimrch for 
three months, finally yielding to her call to be 
jMstor, in August, 1851. It was evident, ere 
lojDg, that the hope of his restoration to health 
must be relinquished. His resignation was ac- 
cepted October, 1852. In October, 1853, C. 
E. Wilson became jiastor, and filled the office 
sixteen years. One hundred and seventy-four 
were baptized by liim. Several seasons of re- 
vival marked his miuistry. 

James C. Taylor and Henry D. Ely were 
called to the deaconship in 1860, and John H. 
Wykoffin 1868. 

Deacon John G. Taylor died in 1864, and 
Deacon James C. Tavlor in 1868. 



820 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



The house of worship was enhirged and very 
materially improved in 1866, costing not less 
than three thousand dollars. 

Mr. "NYilsou died at his post, November 13, 
1869. The church expressed her appreciation 
of the man by substantial tokens to his bereaved 
family, and by the erection at his grave of a 
granite monument, costing four hundred dollars. 

In April, 1S70, the Rev. T. S. Griffiths be- 
came pastor. The parsonage was enlarged, the 
grounds about the buildings improved, a bap- 
tistery put into the house of worship, and six 
thousand dollars paid in improvements and 
canceling the indebtedness of the church. 

The Rev. T. 8. Griffiths closed his labors 
here on the 1st of August, 1881, having ac- 
cepted a call to Cherryville, Hunterdon County, 
N. J. The Rev. W. W. Case, of Hamilton 
Square, N. J., was called as pastor in October, 
1881, and settled December 1, 1881. In 1882 
the old parsonage, which had stood between sixty 
and seventy years, was torn down, and a new 
and commodious pasonage, costing between three 
and four thousand dollars, was erected in its 
place. Mr. Case is still pastor of the church. 
The present deacons are J. J. Taylor, J. H. 
WyckofF, Morford Taylor, T. C. Elyand W. W. 
Brown. The present trustees are J. J. Taylor, 
Morford Taylor, T. O. Ely, S. C. Bray, John 
W. Ely, William C. Ely and C. S. Holmes. 
The present membership is two hundred and 
four. 

The Reformed Church of Holmdel was 
originally a part of the Old Dutch Reformed 
Church of the Navesink (now the " Brick 
Church" of Marlborough) the history of which 
is referred to as embracing that of this church 
until the year 1825, when the Classis of 
Monmouth gave it a separate and distinct or- 
ganization. The old church had also been 
known as the Reformed Church of Freehold 
and Middletown, the present townships of 
Holmdel and Marlborough (in which the con- 
gregation principally lived) being then included 
respectively in the old townships of Middletown 
and Freehold. In the year 1719 a house of 
worship, thirty-three by thirty-six feet in size, 
was erected on a knoll about a mile north from 



the village of Holmdel, on the road to Middle- 
town. The body of the house contained twelve 
pews, each containing eight seats, which were 
numbered, so that each person had his or her 
number. A gallery was built on three sides. 
The main entrance was a door on the north side. 
No deed was obtained for the church lot until 
April 12, 182.3, when Andreas Johnson con- 
veyed it to Daniel Hendrickson and Johannes 
Polhemus. It was given for the use of the 
congregation as long as the church should con- 
tinue. This building was used until 1764, 
when it was sold and removed, antl part of the 
frame is now in a barn in the neighborhood. 

The second church edifice was built while the 
consretrations M-ere under the care of the Rev. 
Benjamin Dubois. It was erected on the site 
of the old church, and was forty feet square, 
with gables facing north and south. It was 
shingled on the sides with shingles three feet in 
length. The interior was lined and ceiled with 
cedar boards, all unpainted. A large double door, 
opening outwards, was on the south side, and di- 
rectly opposite on the north side was the pulpit. 
An aisle ran through the centre, with two others 
parallel, one on each side. There were fifty 
pews in all. The building was raised August 
21, 1764; the pews were sold November 5, 
1773, and brought the sum of three hundred 
and thirty-one pounds, or eight hundred and 
eighty-three dollars. The gallery was built in 
later years 

This church edifice was in use until the pres- 
ent church was ei'ected, in 1838. It was then 
abandoned, and in 1 842 was taken down and 
the frame used in the construction of a barn of 
Mr. John Longstreet. The present church was 
dedicated June 20, 1838, the Revs. James Otter- 
.son and John C. Van Liew officiating. The 
pastors who have served the present church, or- 
ganized in 1825, have been the Rev. Jacob 
B. T. Beekman (1827 to 1836), and the Rev, 
William Reiley, who served the church as a 
supply from the retirement of Mr. Beekman, 
in 1836, to 1839, when he became the pa.stor and 
is still in service. The church now has one 
hundred and ninety-four communicants. 

St. Cathaeixb's Rom-ot Catholic Con- 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



8iil 



GREGATiox was formed at Morrisville in 1878. 
In 1879 a church building, twenty-five by sev- 
enty feet in size, was erected on the road from 
Hohudel to INIorrisville. It was dedicated by 
Archbishop Corrigan, November 25, 1879. At 
the time of organization the churcli was under 
the care of Father M. L. Gleunan, who re- 
mained until June 1, 1883, when he was suc- 
ceeded by Father J. J. O'Connor. 

Schools of Holmdel. — The township con- 
tains six school districts and five hundred and 
ninety-three children of school age. The value 
of the school property is five thousand seven 
hundred dollars. 

Holmdel School District, No. 53, embraces a 
section of the township in which there were 
schools taught before the recollection of any 
now living. In 1820, Daniel Holmes kept a 
store in the old Academy building. It was 
afterwards used again for a school, and was fi- 
nally destroyed by fire in 1837. It stood op- 
posite the residence of James Hiers. The prin- 
cipal in its later days was John Jenkins. 

A spring from which water was used for the 
school is under an old beech-tree now standing 
in the yard of Mrs. Eliza Crane. Under the 
tree and around the spring was a favorite gath- 
ering-place of the children in play hours. 

On the 12th of October, 1841, tlie school 
trustees of Holmdel District purchased of Holmes 
^'au Mater the present school lot, and erected 
thereon the school-house which is still in use. 
The district at present contains one hundred 
and thirty-three children. 

A classical school, opened at Holmdel by 
David Thomson, held its first session Septem- 
ber 12, 1854. It w-as continued but a few 
years. 

Holland School District, No. 54, embraces 
parts of Holmdel and Middletown townships. 
In 1841 the Hon. William H. Hendriekson 
built a school-house on his land, on the dividing 
line between the two townships. The same 
house is still in use for the school. The dis- 
trict contains sixty-one children of school age. 

Crawford School District, No. 55, was formed 
at the abandonment of the Red Hill and Fox- 
town .school-houses. The present .school-house 



was built about 1855. It has since been re- 
paired and refurnished, and is still in use. The 
district now has eighty-five children of school 
a<j;e. The Foxtown school-house was on land 
of Garret Hendriekson; was built about 1837 
and abandoned in 1855. An old .school-house 
which stood near the JIarlborough line, on land 
now owned by George Schenck, was abandoned 
about 1840. 

Centreville School District, No. 56, contains 
one hundred and thirty-two children of school 
age. Before 1825 a school-house was erected 
on the property now owned by John Huff. 

Peter Vanderhoof and Kelly were among 

the first teachers. About 1840 a lot was pur- 
chased of Gershom D. Walling, and the present 
house was erected on it. Among the fir.st 
teachers in this house were Miss Bacon and 
Mi.ss Martha Huff (now Mrs. Ryder). This 
house was used until 1883, when it was rebuilt. 

Morrisville School District, No. 57, is men- 
tioned in the superintendent's report as of Holm- 
del township, although the school-hou.se is sit- 
uated in Middletown at Scott's Corners, or Mor- 
risville, as it is now called. As early as 1824 a 
small meeting-house stood on a half-acre of 
laud now owned by Miss Ann Ryan. This 
house was used by a Methodist Church society, 
and owned by them. On the 28th of March, 1845, 
John B. Crawford, Samuel H. Smith and David 
H. Bennett, trustees of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, sold the house and lot to Samuel Car- 
hart, William Mur])hy, R. D. Walling and Wil- 
liam Hoff, school trustees. School was taught 
there a year or two after the purchase. Then the 
house was moved to the Corners, on the pres- 
ent lot, and used until 1876, when the present 
school-house was built. The district now con- 
tains one hundred and six children of school 
age. 

Oak Grove School District, No. 58, contains 
seventy-six children of school age. A school 
has been maintained in the .section many years. 
The house now used has recently been repaired 
and refurnished. 



biographicaIj sketches. 
Daniel Holmes. — John S. Holmes, the 
father of the subject of this biographical sketch, 



822 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



was a resident of Holmdel, now Middletown 
township, where his death occurred on the loth 
of August, 1821. He early began his career asa 
merchant, but later removed to the farm now- 
owned by his grandson, Joseph H. Holmes, 
where he followed successfully for many years 
the vocation of an agriculturalist. He married 
Sarah Hendrickson, whose death occurred 
August 28, 1824. Their children are Marv 
(wife of Albert Van Brunt), John H., Catherine 
(wife of Daniel H. Ellis), Emma (married to 



death of his father, in 1821, he returned to the 
farm owned by the latter in Holmdel (now Mid- 
dletown) township, and became interested in the 
labors attending its cultivation. Mr. Holmes 
was, on the loth of November, 1813, married 
to Rhoda, daughter of Chrineyonce Van Mater, 
of Middletown township. To this union were 
born children,— Huldah (February 23, 1815), 
married to Joseph Holmes I^ongstreet, whose 
children are Rhoda H. and Lydia Anna; Catli- 
erine (June 9, 1817), wife of John "W. Ely, 




^ y^O' <»-^i-»^ 



*4» 



George Taylor), Eleanor (wife of Charles Has- 
brook) and Daniel. The last-named son was born 
on the 27th of December, 1792, at Baptisttown 
(now Holmdel), and spent his early years at the 
home of his parents. His father was at this 
time engaged in the business of a country mer- 
chant, in which he proved an invaluable assist- 
ant. He received his education at tlie neigh- 
boring school, and on the removal of the family 
to Matawan, in the same county, he embarked 
for three years in mercantile pursuits. On the 



whose children are Daniel H., Eugene and Joiin 
M.; John 8. (Septenaber 2, 1X19), who died 
March 2, 1820; Sarah (April l(j, 1821), who 
died September 15, 1822 ; Joseph H., elsewhere 
mentioned in this volume ; Maria Louisa (iMay 
2, 1836), wife of Ely Conover; Sarah (January 
13, 1829), wife of Ruloff P. Smock, whose 
children are Daniel H., Peter V. D. and 
Catherine H. Mr. Holmes, in connection with 
his farming enterprises, was also engaged in 
business pursuits at Holmdel for many years. 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



823 



His political sympathies were with the Demo- 
cratic party, whose principles he advocated with 
uutiriug zeal during a long and active life. 
This party, in recognition of his services, sev- 
eral times elected him to the State Legislature, 
as also to the office of sheriff of Monmouth 
County for one term. He was a member of 
the convention to revise the constitution of 
the State, and prominently mentioned as the 
nominee for Congressional honors. He was 
largely identified with township and county 



ter of John and Ellen Bennet Schenck, whose 
children were Obadiah I., born December 5, 
1807 ; John Schenck, born December 13, 1809 ; 
Sarah Ann (wife of Daniel D. Briggs), born 
February 1, 1812; Mary (wife of Benjamin 
Briggs), born January 2, 1814; and Daniel, 
born August 5, 1816. The birth of Obadiah 
I. Stillwell occurred on the homestead, at Beth- 
any. Here he received, at the public school of 
the precinct, a rudimentary education, — all that 
was conveniently attainable at that date — and 




matters, and exercised a marked influence on the 
business and public interests of the portion of 
the State where he resided. His death occurred 
October 27, 1851, in his fifty-ninth year, and 
that of his wife on the 20th of January, 1838, 
in her forty-sixth year. 



Obadiah I. Stillwell. — John O. Stillwell, 
the father of the subject of this biographical 
sketch resided in Bethany, Raritan township, 
Monmouth County. He married Mary, daugh- 



soon after decided upon a self-supporting trade, 
by which he might render himself independent 
of such vicissitudes as a changing fortune might 
bring. He chose that of a carpenter, became 
master of tlie craft, and returning again to the 
farm, engaged in its varied pursuits. The 2>rop- 
erty was eventually purchased by him and con- 
tinued to be his residence until 1859, when the 
attractive site now the residence of his daughter 
was purchased and became his home. He was, 
on the 20th of April, 185."), married to Miss 



824 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Mary Jane, daughter of John Longstreet, of 
Holmdel, their children being a daughter, 
Mary Elizabeth, and a son, John L., whose death 
occurred March 29, 1881. Mr. Still well was a 
raan of modest demeanor, devoted to his chosen 
business occupations, and indifferent to the ex- 
citements attending public life. As a conse- 
quence, though in politics a firm Democrat, he 
avoided active participation in the political 
events of the time, and invaluably declined 
office. He was an attendant upon the services 
of the Reformed (Dutch) Church of Holmdel. 
The death of Mr. Stillwel'l occurred on the 2d 
of October, 1873. 



John S. Longstreet. — The progenitor in 
America of the Longstreet family was Dirck 
Stoffelse Langestraat, who was twice married. 
He had four sons, — StofBe, Adrian, Richard and 
Samuel — and one daughter, C'lassje. Adrian, of 
this number, was baptized in 1677, and died in 
1728. He married, in 1707, Christina Janse, 
and had children, — John, Derick, Stoffle, Kat- 
renske, Xeeltje, Wiunifred , JNIaria and Aarianche. 
From one of these sons is descended the grand- 
father of John S. Longstreet, who married 
Williampe Hendrickson, and had a son, John, 
who was united in marriage to Elizabeth Stou- 
tenburgh. Their children were Hendrick, John 
S., Catherine, Anna (Mrs. John S. Crucheron), 
Williampe (^Irs. Henry Stoutenburgh), ^lary 
J. (Mi-s. O. I. Stillwell), William, Caroline L., 
Aaron, Elizabeth (i\Irs. Thomas Ely) and one 
who died in youth. John S. Longstreet was born 
December 5, 1815, on the homestead at Holmdel, 
where his early opportunities for instruction 
were obtained, after which additional advan- 
tages were enjoyed in Massachusetts. Determin- 
ing to make farmiugthebusinessof hislife, he at 
once entered upon the various responsil)ilities 
incident to the cultivation of the home farm. He 
was, on the 19th of October, 1843, married to 
Eleanor, daughter of Garret D. and Jane Hen- 
drickson, of Marlborough. j\Irs. Longstreet's 
death occurred February 28, 1844, and he was 
again married, June 26, 1849, to Sarah S. Hen- 
drickson, sister of his first wife, whose children 
are Eleanor H., Jane A. (Mrs. William T. 
Hendrickson), Elizabeth (iMrs. .John S. Hen- 



drickson), Hattie H. and Garret. Mr. Long- 
street, on his marriage, became by purchase the 
owner of a portion of the homestead, on which 
his family still resides. Here he was, during his 
lifetime, interested in the varied pursuits of an 
agriculturist, through precluded by feeble 
health from an active career. His political sen- 
timents were strongly in favor of Democratic 
government, though not in any sense a politician 
nor an office-seeker. In matters of business his 
opinion was deferred to and his services often 
sought as guardian, executor and counselor. He 
was identified with the Holmdel and Keyport 
Turnpike Company as its president. Mr. Long- 
street was a man of kindly nature, affectionate 
and tender in his home relations, charitable to 
the needy, and liberal in his support of the church 
and all projects tending to advance the cause of 
morality. His death occurred December 1, 
1884, and his burial on his sixty-ninth birthday. 
His sou Garret now cultivates the farm. 



Joseph H. Holmes, the grandson of .John 
S. Holmes and Sarah Hendrickson, and the son 
of Daniel Holmes (an extended sketch of whom 
appears elsewhere) and his wife, Rhoda Van 
^Slater, was born on the 28th of July, 1824, on 
the homestead which is his present residence. 
Here the earlier years of his life were spent, 
his studies, which were begun at the public 
school of the neighborhood, having been con- 
tinued at Lawrenceville, X. J., under Rev. 
Samuel Hammill, D.D., and concludetl at Len- 
ox, Mass. On his return, at the age of seven- 
teen, he assumed charge of the farm, and was 
thus engaged for a period of eight years. He 
was married, on the 19th of September, 1848, to 
Ann, daughter of James G. Crawford, of Raritan 
township. Their children are Carrie C, wife 
of Asher S. Ely ; John S., married to Annie, 
daughter of James Lake ; Daniel, of Colorado, 
and Lizzie, deceased. Mr. Holmes, on his 
marriage, made Barrentown, Atlantic township, 
his residence, but on the expiration of the 
second year returned to the homestead farm. 
This valuable property, which has been for 
four generations in the family, became his own 
by inheritance and purchase. By his judicious 
management its fertile fields have been rendered 





■'aZ-^^I (/ J^^7^^/</ 



y. 



'/£^^^ 




'■"-fflyjAKMCcUe- 




^:'7-Z-GjeJ (Z/ , 




HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



825 



still more productive, until it ranks in its an- 
nual yield second to none in the county. Mr. 
Holmes has devoted much attention to the 
breeding of fine horses, his experience and su- 
perior facilities having rendered his farm a 
favorite rendezvous for turfmen who desire 
stabling and thecareful haudlingof their blooded 
stock. He is also largely engaged in the fur- 
nishing of supplies to turfmen and horsemen. 
A Democrat in politics, Mr. Holmes is not an 
active partisan nor a worker in the party ranks. 
He is identified with the business interests of 
the county as director of the Middletown Point 
Bank of Matawan, as also director and former 
treasurer of the Holmdel Fire Insurance Com- 
pany and a former director of the Monmouth 
County Agricultural Society, of which he is 
still a member and a zealous promoter of its 
aims and interests. 



Cheineyonce S. Holmes. — The progenitor 
of the Holmes ftimily in Monmouth County was 
Rev. Obadiah Holmes, born in KiUC, and mar- 
ried in 1636, wlio, on his emigration, in 1638, 
settled in Boston, and later in Rhode Island, 
where he was one of the pioneers in the Baptist 
faith. His death occurred in 1682. Though 
not for any length of time a resident of Mon- 
mouth County, he made frecpient visits, aided 
in the organization of the first Baptist Church 
in the county and was a considerable jjurchaser 
of land within its l)oundaries. His two sons — 
Obadiah and Jonathan— came to America with 
their father, the latter of whom remained, settled 
in Monmouth County and was elected to official 
position in 1<)67. In tiie direct line of descent 
was Samuel, born about 1720, the great-grand- 
father of the subject of this biogra]ihical sketch 
and a resident of Holmdel township, who mar- 
ried, in 1745, Mary, grand daughter of Penelope 
Stout. Among his sons was Joseph, wlio resided 
on the farm now owned by Chrineyonce S. Holmes, 
where he, in 1805, erected thedwelling at present 
occupied by the latter. Joseph Holmes married 
Nellie, daughter of John Schenck, of Holmdel 
(then Middletown) township, whose children 
were Jonathan, Elisha, John, Nellie and 
Mary (IVIrs. Hendrick I^ongstreet). Jona- 



than, of this number, was born in 1792, on 
the homestead, and spent his early youth 
at Brown's Point, returning, however, to the 
homestead, where the remainder of his life was 
spent. He filled the office of chosen freeholder 
and was identified with business, as also with 
public interests in the township. He married 
Eleanor, daughter of Chrineyonce Schenck, of 
Holmdel, whose children were Joseph, who died 
in infancy; Mai'garet (deceased), wife of Thomas 
W. Thorne ; Mary; Ann Eliza (deceased), wife 
of Daniel S. Conover ; Rhoda ; Chrineyonce S.; 
Ellen, (deceased) ; Kate, wife of William L. 
Jones; and Huldah. The death of Mr. Holmes 
occurred in 1866, in his seventy-fourth year. 
Chrineyonce S. Holmes was born on the 22d of 
^lay, 1832, on the ancestral home, where he has 
remained until the present time, his earliest in- 
struction having been received at the neighbor- 
ing public school, after which he became a pupil 
of the Freehold Institute. The pursuits of the 
farmer Mr. Holmes found congenial to his tastes, 
and on completing his studies he became inter- 
1 ested in the cultivation of the homestead lands, 
which, on the death of his fiither, in 1866. were 
inherited, and are now a portion of his property 
in Holmdel township. He was, on the 12th of 
January, 1870, married to Lydia A., daughter 
of Hendrick and Enieline Smock, of Holmdel. 
Mrs. Holmes died in April, 1872, leaving two 
children, — .lonatliau I. and Henry L., — after 
which event he was, on the 22d of November, 
1876, married to Mary Schenck, widow of John 
W. Conover. Their children are Nellie S. and 
Chrineyonce. Mr. Holmes enjoys a reputation 
as one of the most discriminating and successful 
farmers of the township. He is identified by 
membership with the Monmouth County Agri- 
cultural Society, and is a director of the First 
National Bank of Keyport and of the Keyport 
and Holmdel Turnpike Company. He is also a 
director of the Holmdel ^Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company. A Democrat in his political prefer- 
ences, Mr. Holmes never permits his enthusiasm 
to lure him to the acceptance of office, though a 
cordial supporter of tlie party and its candidates. 
His reliffious sentiments are in accord witli the 
belief of his earliest ancestor, who founded the 
Baptist Church in the county. 



826 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEIJSEY. 



Daniel P. Schenck. — The Schencks of 
Monmouth County are all descended from 
Roelof Scheuck Van Xydeck, who emigrated 
from Holland in 1G50. A more lengthy sketch 
of the early members of the family appears else- 
where in this volume, rendering repetition here 
unnecessary. In the direct line was John, the 
great-grandfather of Daniel P., whose son 
Chrinevonce resided in Matawan, where he was 
a merchant. In 1S09 he purchased the farm 
iu Holmdel now owned by his grandson, and 
resided upon it until his death. He married 
Marg-aret Polhemus, whose children were John 
C, Daniel P., Eleanor (wife of Jonathan I. 
Holmes) and several who died in early youth. 

John C. Schenck was born June 6, 1803, at 
Matawan, and died August 13, 18.'),S. He 
accompanied his parents, when a lad, on their 
removal to the farm, and having inherited a 
portion of the property, made it his liome. He 
married Margaret, daughter of Daniel Polhe- 
mus, and had children, — Daniel P., born 
October 19, 1827; Margaret, born in 1829, 
deceased; Sarah, in 1832, also deceased; 
Mary, in 1834 (Mrs. Chrinevonce S. Holmes); 
Lavinia, in 183G (Mi-s. George S. Jones) ; Cathe- 
rine, in 1839, deceased; Eleanor, in 1841 (Mrs. 
Daniel R. Conover) ; Chrinevonce, in 1844, de- 
ceased ; Sarah, iu 1849 (Mrs. Wm. ^\'. Taylor). 
The birth of Daniel P. Schenck occurred iu 
Atlantic township, from which, at the age of 
seven, he removed to Manalapan township, and 
on his thirteenth year Ijecame a resident of 
the homestead farm at Holmdel. He improved 
such educational advantages as were possible 
with a few months of instruction in winter, and 
during the long spring and summer interval 
assisted in the cultivation of his father's land. 
On the (3th of January, 1851, he married 
Lavinia, daughter of Dauiel D. Conover, of 
Atlantic tow uship, and has children, — Sarah E., 
born November 3, 1851, and married to William 
C. Ely; Margaret S., born September 1, 1854, 
wife of John M. Ely; and Chai;les, born Sep- 
tember 1, 1856, who died on the 30th of 
December of the same year. In 1852, Mr. 
Schenck purchased and remained for ten years 
the occupant of a farm in Holmdel township, 
and in 1862 returned to the home.stead farm, 



a portion of which he had meanwhile inherited, 
and purchased the remainder. Here he has 
since been devoted to agricultural pursuits, and 
is numbered among the prosperous farmers of 
his township. Mr. Schenck is director and 
treasurer of the Holmdel and Keyport Tnrn- 
pike Company and the present superintendent 
of the road. He is also director of the Holmdel 
Fire Insurance Company, and director and 
treasurer of the Holmdel Cemetery Company. 
A Democrat in his political opinions, hfe is not 
active in the field of polities nor an aspirant 
for office. He is a liberal suporter of the Re- 
formed (Dutch) Church at Holmdel, represent- 
ins: in this regard the traditional faith of the 
familv. 



Joseph I. Van Mater. — The Van Mater 
family is one of the oldest in Monmouth 
County. Joseph Van Mater, the great-grand- 
father of Joseph I., was born February 5, 1710, 
and died October 15, 1792. He married Sarah 
Schenck, whose birth occurred December 3, 
1734, and her death September 1, 1748. Their 
children were Nelly, born in 1735 ; Rudolph, 
in 1738; Cyrenus, in 1740; Katherine, iu 
1743; Chrineyonce, on the 23d of February, 
1747. The last named married Huldah 
Holmes, of Holmdel, whose children were Jo- 
seph H., Holmes, Schenck, Rhoda (Mrs. Daniel 
Holmes), Catherine (INIrs. Joseph Van Mater), 
Mary (Mi-s. William Lloyd). Joseph H. Van 
Mater was born in 1775 on tlie homestead in 
Holmdel, and received a thorough classical ed- 
ucation at Princeton College, after which he 
adopted the law as a profession. The sudden 
death of his father, however, rendered his 
presence necessaiy in the settlement of a large 
estate, and abandoning the profession he had 
chosen, he engaged in the more healthful pur- 
suits of an agriculturist. He married Miss 
Ann, daughter of Aaron and Mary Van Mater, 
whose birth occurred July 9, 1785. The chil- 
dren of this marriage are Huldah H., Aaron 
S., Mary P., Eliza Ann and Joseph I. Mr. 
Van Mater, while manifesting a laudable inter- 
est in public matters, and well informed on 
topics of contemporaneous interest, declined all 
proffers of office, content to win approval in liis 




v^; 





^^^^^^^^^^^^^o 



HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP. 



827 



ohosen and congeuial field, 



-that of the success- 
ful farnuT. His death occurred October 10, 
ISGO. His son, Joseph I., was boru ou the 
25tli of July, 1825, on the ancestral laud in 
Holiudel township, and educated at Lawrence- 
ville, N. J., Lenox, ^Nlass., and at Priuceton, 
N. J. Choosing the country as a home, he sue- j 
ceeded to the paternal acres, and has from that ; 
date to *he present been engaged in the labors | 
of the husbandman. He was, on the 18th of 
November, I860, married to Eliza Morgan, 



of tlie county. A Democrat in his political 
sentiments, his enthusiasm is confined to the 
easting of his ballot and an intelligent under- 
standing of the gi-eat questions under discussion. 
Plis activity and zeal are more decidedly mani- 
fested in all Christian causes, the Holmdel Re- 
f )niied (Dutch) Church having long included 
him on its membership mil and as one of its 
elders. 



Wii-LIAM S. CrawF(jrd. — ^Ir. Crawford, 




y/t^liuQ/y^ d . tp^OA^r/^d 



daughter of Daniel Ayres, of Brooklyn Heights. 
Their children are Daniel Ayres, born August 
11, 1865 ; Joseph Holmes, born February 20, I 
1867 ; Anne Morgan, born April 2, 1.S71 ; Jes- 
sie Ayres, born February 8, 1878 ; and Frederick 
Ayres, whose birth occurred February 8, 1878. 
Mr. Van IMater's interest in agriculture has led 
him to become a member of the Agricultural 1 
Society of the county ; but aside from this he 
has declined all appointments, and interested | 
himself but little in the various organizations | 



who resides upon land which has been for many 
generations in the family, is descended from 
John Crawford, who emigrated from Scotland 
to America in 1672. His grandfather, John, 
married Caroline Field, of Middletown, whose 
children were William, John, James C., Andrew 
and Elnathan. James G., of this number, was 
born on the 2!)th of December, 17!)4, on the 
hoiuestea<l, the lands of which he cultivated 
during his lifetime. He married Elizabeth, 
daughter of William Smith, of the same town- 



828 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



ship, whose children are Caroline (Mrs. Holmes 
Conover), born in 1819 ; Ann (Mrs. Joseph H. 
Holmes), born in 1821; Mary, in 1824; Wil- 
liam S. ; John J., in 1829, married to Mary 
Frost ; James G., in 1833 ; and Elizabeth, in 
1837. William S. Crawford, the subject of this 
biographical sketch, was born November 15, 
1826, on the homestead, and received his earli- 
est instruction at the public school of the neigh- 
borhood, after which additional advantages 
were enjoyed at Alatawan. His grandfather's 
death, in 1834, made him heir to a portion 
of the farm, the remainder being inherited 
on the death of his father, in 1883. He had, 
on the completion of his studies, become inter- 
ested in its management, and subsequently as- 
sumed entire charge of the property. Mr. 
Crawford was, in 1867, married to Emeline L., 
daughter of John 8. Stillwell, of Holmdel. His 
routine of duties has left little opportunity for 
active participation in affairs connected with the 
county and township, and, as a consequence, he 
has simply cast his ballot, — that of the Demo- 
cracy, — and left the appointments to office to 
more ambitious citizens. In his religious jiref- 
erences Mr. Crawford is a Baptist, and wor- 
ships with the Baptist Church of Keyport. 



Captain Henrv E. Ackerson. — Captain 
Ackerson is of Dutch extraction, his ffreat- 
grandfather having emigrated from Holland. A 
son of the latter. Garret by name, born in 
Rockland County, X. Y., married Dorcas 
Springsteen, and later removed to Warwick, 
Orange County, N. Y., having during this 
period been prominent as a captain in the Revo- 
lutionary struggle for independence. His chil- 
dren were John, Garret, James, Cornelius, Jane, 
Betsey and Mary. Cornelius, born in Warwick, 
in 1832 removed with his family to the farm in 
Holmdel township, ^Monmouth County, which 
is now the residence of his son, the subject of 
this biographical sketch. He married Sarah, 
daughter of Elijah Townsend, of Dutchess 
County, N. Y., and had children, — .John T., 
William W., ]\raria A. (Mrs. Joseph Hoff), 
Henry E. and Aim Eliza (Mrs. Joseph H. 
Gibson). Henry E. Akerson was born on the 
24th of July, 1821, in Orange County, N. Y., 



and removed at an early age with his parents 
to ]\Ionmouth County. He received but limited 
educational advantages at the common schools, 
and was early instructed in the use of the 
plough, the harrow and other implements of 
the farm. At the age of twenty-one he culti- 
vated the land on shares, continuing so to do 
while his father lived. On the death of the 
latter, and a consequent division of the estate, 
he received his patrimony and purchased the 
remaining shares. Since that date the chief 
business interest of his life has centred in the 
farm. Captain Ackerson, in 1865, became in- 
terested in a stock company owning the pro- 
peller " Holmdel," Avhich for two years he 
commanded on her trips lietween Keyport and 
New York, but eventually gave his attention 
exclusively to the farm he still cultivates. He 
was, in 1840, married to Mary, daughter of Wil- 
liam Hyer, of Matawan, their children being 
Sarah, wife of Daniel I. Stillwell ; Cornelius, 
married to Anna B. Stillwell and Margaret 
(Mrs. George H. Melville). He M'as a second 
time married, to Ida V. M., daughter of Henry 
D. Hendrickson, of Holmdel, whose only child 
is a daughter, Elizabeth S. Captain Acker- 
son is a Democrat in his political belief, but not 
active in the field of politics, his attention 
being wholly given to his farming enterprises. 
The family adhere to the faith of the Reformed 
(Dutch) Church, which was the belief of their 
ancestors. 



W'lLLiAM Brown is the S(Hi of John Brown, 
of Toronto, Canada, where he was born on the 
2d of February, 1825. Removing to the United 
States, he began his career as a professional 
trainer of thoroughbred horses, and acquired 
considerable reputation in developing the racing 
qualities of many notcxl horses. He was early 
employed by Mr. Richard Ten Broeck, and had 
charge of and crossed the ocean with that gen- 
tleman's stock which were sent to England in 
1856, viz.,-"Lecompte," "Prior," "Prioress," 
"Starke" and "Optimist." He subsequently 
took over " Umpire," " Satellite," " Maggiore " 
and " ^^'oodburn," the majority of whom dis- 
tinguished themselves more or less on the Eng- 
lish turf. On his I'eturn to America, ^Ir. Brown 







Z^ (l^i.-^ (^t-^ 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



829 



trained for Mr. Franeis Morris, and brought 
out "Throgsneck," "Ruthless," "Remorseless," 
"Relentless," " Battle- Axe," "Boaster," "Mon- 
day" and others of good repute. Upon the 
formal opening of the Rancoeas stable he was 
engaged by Mr. P. Lorillard, under whose 
auspioeg.j? he attained the zenith of his reputa- 
tion as a trainer, having successfully brought 
out "Parole," "Shirley," "Zoo-Zoo," "Pera," 
"Spartan," "Perfection," "Bombast," "Bazil," 
"Faithless" and others. In 1879, Mr. Brown 



farm in IMonmouth County, N. J., which he 
had purchased in 1878, and where his death 
occurred on the 5th of July, 1881. On the 
occasion of his visit to England, Mr. Brown 
naet and subsequently married, on the 9th of 
December, 1864, Miss Harriet Skilton, whose 
birth occurred September 8, 1838, the ceremony 
being performed in Reddington Church. Their 
children are William Richard, born January 13, 
18()6, and Minor, whose birth occurred March 
17, 1874. 




5''>7* ' 



'iP^icT-t^r^' 



was sent to England, and assumed the charge of 
Mr. Lorillard's Newmarket stable, winning with 
"Parole" the Newmarket Handicap, beating, 
among others, the great "Isouomy," and secur- 
ing the City and Suburban Handicap, in which 
he cat down a field of eighteen, the Great Metro- 
politan Stakes, the Great Cheshire Handicap 
and the Epsom Gold Cup. After his second 
return to America, in 1880, Mr. Brown, finding 
his health somewhat impaired, retired to his 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 

Matawan is the extreme northwestern town- 
ship of Monmouth, its western and northwestern 
boundary being the county line of Monmouth 
and Middlesex. On the northeast it is bounded 
by Raritan Bay, on the east by the townships of 
Raritan and Holmdel and on the south and 



830 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



southwest by the township of Marlborough. The 
onl}' stream of any importance is Matawau Creek, 
which flows through the township from its south- . 
west to its northeast extremity, where it enters 
Raritan Bay. On a line nearly parallel with the 
general course of Matawan Creek, tlie Freehold \ 
and Keyport Railroad (now known as the Free- 
hold and New Y'ork Railway) traverses the town- 
ship, connecting at I\Iatawau village with the New 
York and Long Branch Railroad, which crosses | 
Matawan in a southeasterly direction from the 
Middlesex line to that of Raritan township. By I 
the United States census of 1880 the population of j 
]\Iatawan township was two thousand six hundred 
and ninety-nine. 

Matawan township was erected by an act passed 
in 1857, which also erected the township of Holm- 
del, both these being formed of territory taken 
from the township of Raritan. The part of the 
act having reference to Matawan is as follows : 

"Also, all that part of the township of Raritan 
contained within the following boundaries and lines : 
that is to say, beginning in the division line between 
the townships of Marlborough and Raritan, at the 
northeast corner of said township of Marlborough, 
near the house of Samuel Beers; from thence running 
in a northerly direction in a straight line to the inter- 
section of the road leading from Beers' corner to 
Mount Pleasant with the road leading from Brown's 
Point to Holmdel ; thence northerly along the centre 
of the last-named road to the intersection of said road 
with the road leading from Meclianiesville to the 
Middletowu Point and Keyport Plank-Road ; thence 
in a northwesterly direction in a straight line to the 
mouth of Mohingson Creek, where it empties into 
Matawan Creek ; thence down the middle of said 
Matawan Creek to the mouth of said Matawan Creek, 
where it empties into the Raritan Bay ; thence along 
the shore of said Raritan Bay to the division line be- 
tween the counties of Monmouth and Middlesex (be- 
ing the division line between the township of Raritan 
and the said county of Middlesex) to the line of the 
township of Marlboro' ; thence easterly along the 
division line between the townships of Marlboro' and 
Raritan to the place of beginning is set off from the 
township of Raritan and made a separate townsliip, 
to be called Matawan." 

Following is a list of the cho.sen freeholders of 
Matawan township from its erection to the jireseut 
time, viz. : 

1857-58. Aaron Longstreet. 
1859-70. William S. Horner. 



1871-72. Joseph Rose. 
1873. Edward Black. 
1874-81. John H. Farry. 
1882. John H. Harvey. 
1883-84. William A. Dunlap. 

The early settlers at ]\Iiddletown Point (now 
Matawau) were Scotch, and the name of " New 
Aberdeen " was given to the place before 1690. 
The names, " Middletown Point " and " Middletown 
Point Landing " had obtained before 1768, as in 
March of that year mention is made of a road be- 
ing laid by way of Mount Pleasant to Middletown 
Point Landing, " near the school-house on said 
point." The settlement seems first to have been at 
Mount Pleasant, where a church, a school-house 
and burial-place were located, not far from 1740. 
A headstone bearing that date was found a few 
years since. It is evident that the jioint was a 
landing for vessels at the time the road was laid 
out in 1768. 

The following aecoimt, published in the Mon- 
mouth Democrat in 1.S74, shows that during the 
Revolution John Burrowes was carrying on an ex- 
tensive business, and owned mills and store-houses 
at the Point. The narrative (which has reference 
to an incursion by Tory Refugees from Staten 
Island) is as follows: 

"The object of tins raid on that early June morn- 
ing (it was just after midnight) in 1778, upon the 
house of Jolin Burrowes (now the residence of Dr. 
Pitman, Matawan), was the capture of his only son, 
John, Jr., an officer in the patriot army, whose ex- 
pected presence at home that night was discovered 
by spies, and information given. But friends, too, 
were on the alert, and a sufficient warning was given 
to allow Major Burrowes to escape through the back 
door in his night-clothes, swim the creek and ehide 
his pursuers. The Refugees, secure of their victim, 
were desperate at finding he had escaped. The shout 
went up ' Seize the old corn merchant,' and in the 
language of the ancient papers referred to, they made 
him prisoner, burnt his mills and both his store- 
houses,— all valuable buildings,— besides a great deal 
of furniture. The existence of the house proves that 
something escaped the conflagration ; but how, tradi- 
tion does not inform us. By early dawn a messenger 
reached Freehold to inform Dr. Henderson (a son-in- 
law of Mr. Burrowes) of the capture. The message 
was no sooner received than the doctor, a man prompt 
to act and firm in resolve, determined to take a few 
tried men of his command (he was lieutenant-colonel), 
proceed to Middletown, secure the person of William 
Taylor, a prominent citizen who was suspected of fa- 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



8;u 



voring the Loyalists, and lodge bim in the county jail. 
The expedition, favored and aided by Colonel WikoS", 
of Manalajian, was successful, and a dispatch informed 
Sir Henry Clinton that William Taylor was held as a 
hostage for John Burrowes. An exchange was ef- 
fected, and the howl of indignation at so high-handed 
a measure was unheeded by those who saw no other 
means of rescue from the sorrows of death in a prison- 
ship." 

With reference to the conditiou, during the time 
of the Kevohition, of the jjlace which is now 
Matawan, Hon. William Spader, in an address 
delivered July 4, ]<S7(), says, — 

"As far as I have been able to learn, there were 
very few houses in our village one hundred years ago. 
The house now occupied by Dr. Pitman, and built 
before the Revolution by a Mr. Burrowes, has a 
history of itself. The old building known as the hos- 
pital and the house occupied by Dr. Xess are the 
only relics we have of Revolutionary architecture. I 
The latter (Mr. Ness') was built by Peter Schenek, \ 
who fled for his life when a party of British maraud- 
ers were plundering and committing other acts of 
violence, besides burning the mill which stood near 
what is now called the red store-house of Fountain 
Horner & Company. The west side of the Main 
Street belonged to one Richard Francis, and I have a 
map of the same, in which it is proposed by Richard 
Thockmorton to sell in lots or sections all the laud 
between the Gully Bridge on the south, to Forman 
Street, or street leading to a wharf below J. N. Dis- 
brow's. There is no date to the map. It contains 
fifty-seven acres of land. The Francis homestead 
stood on this tract, near the present bank. I also And 
the names of Carhart, Vandorboof, Couover, Forman, 
Burrowes, Walker, Quay, Ellis, etc., among the busi- 
ness men. How many of the jiresent inhabitants are 
descendants of the above I am unable to say, but 
some of the Vanderhoof descendants are living 
among us. 

Previous to 1800 there was a potash- factory near 
the present pottery, and a brickyard was in operation 
here before 1825 upon the property of the late G. P. 
Conover. There was a grist-mill at the lower end of 
the town, upon or near the site of the store-house of 
Fountain Horner & Company, which was burned 
during the war. Another building was erected in 
1809 and used as a mill, afterwards converted into a 
store-house. The store, which was occupied by Mr. 
Ness, and which was burned in 1852, was built in 
1800 by Colonel James Conover, who occupied it a 
short time, then by .John Quay. Quay, in addition to 
store business, built a packing-house and bought and 
packed j>ork ; also a smoke-house for smoking the 
same. Quay, besides keeping store, sailed a packet to 
Xew York called the " Republican." This property 
and business afterwards was conducted by Lewis 



Conover and his brothers, Joseph and John ; again, in 
1812, it became the business of Messrs. Little. 

"The early mercantile history of the place prior to 
1812 I could learn but little about. A store was kept 
previous to that time by a Mr. Quay on the corner of 
Forman Street, or the street leading to the wharf. 
And since that time Messrs. Robert and William 
Little, Van Mater and Hartshorne, and, later, Jlessrs. 
Fountain and others, who successfully added to the 
interests and prosperity of the town, and also, by 
strict attention to business, added to their pecuniary 
affairs. 

"From 1812 the sloopiug or freighting interests 
were carried on very successfully, and continued to 
be until steamboating superseded sloops. The sloops 
were the only mode of conveying people to New 
York City, and many amusing stories are told of the 
trials, fatigues and detentions the people underwent 
during the three or four days' journey to New York. 
This sloopiug business deserves more than a passing 
notice. In the early ])art of the century a regular 
weekly line of sloops or packets carried all the produce 
raised in Monmouth County that found a market in 
New York, and, in fact, during that time it was the only 
shipping-point on our shore, — the point of export and 
entry of Monmouth County. Corn, which was at 
that time the principal county staple, together with 
flour, during the War of 1812 were carried across the 
State from Bonlentown, and found a point of shipment 
at Middletown Point." 

" I have been told," says Mr. Spader, " there 
was a school-house standing on the spot where Mrs. 
Holt now lives " It is possible the school-house 
mentioned in the road record of March, 1768, was 
the one remembered by some of the old residents. 
In 1S07, at the time when war was expected to 
result from the " Chesapeake " outrage, Captain 
Philip Holmes and Captain Mathias Van Vrackle, 
of Middletown Point, each offered the services of 
their company to the government. W^illiam Little, 
in 1815, was carrying on business alone. In that 
year Garret P. Couover went into the store as 
clerk, and in 1822 became a partner with him. 
Two years later Mr. Conover built a new store 
and carried it on many years. Mr. Little con- 
tinued business for a short time at the store which 
.stood on the corner opposite the Methodist Church. 
William Ness succeeded him, and in 1837, James 
Little opened a store at the old stand. !Mr. Wil- 
liam Little retired from the mercantile business 
and became cashier of the bank in 1821, besides 
being interested in the Navigation Company. 
Asher Fountain began business in 1822 with 



832 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



James Frost. They opened a dry-goods and 
grocery-store where the building now occupied by 
the ofBce of Rens. W. Dayton stands. Mr. Frost 
retired, and Benjamin Briggs, Jr., became a part- 
ner, and later William S. Horner also became a 
partner. 

Of Middletown Point (now Matawan,) in 1834, 
Gordon's " Gazetteer," published in that year, says : 
" It lies on a bank elevated about fifty feet above 
the stream, fronting a mai-sh on the opposite side ; 
contains a Presbyterian Church, from seventy-five 
to one hundred dwellings, many of which are very 
good buildings, eight or ten stores, four taverns 
and a grist-mill. This is the market of an exten- 
sive country, and large (juantities of pork, rye, 
corn, cord-wood and garden truck are thence sent 
to New Y'ork." 

In 1834 a meeting was held. May 20th, at the 
hotel of Tunis J. Ten Eyck, for the purpose of pro- 
curing a steamboat for the trade with New York. 
The firm of Fountain, Horner & Co. were 
running sloops to the city, but the increased busi- 
ness required greater facilities for transportation. 
The packet sloop " jSIonmouth " ran regularly be- 
tween Middletown Point and Washington Market, 
New York, William S. Horner, master. In ]83!», 
J. W. Fountain was master. The steamboat com- 
pany was formed in 1834 ; ' but did not succeed in 
getting a steamboat until 1837, when the following 
advertisement of the line was issued : 

" Capt. G. Hiers states that ' the new low-pressure 
steamboat ' Slonmouth' will run during the months 
of April and May from the foot of Robinson street, 
New York, to llicklletown Point, touching at Se- 
guine's Dock, Staten Island and Key Port. Fare 
to and from Middletown Point, .50 cents. On the 
arrival of the boat at Middletown Point a stage will 
leave for Monmouth Court-House.' Stages also ran 
from Long Branch, Red Bank and Shrewsbury in 
connection with this boat." 

The officers of the company were Samuel Mairs 
president ; William Little, Thomas I. Bedle and 
G. S. Crawford, directors ; and Francis P. Simpson, 
secretary. 

On the 12th of November, 1840, the steamboat 
" Hope," Captain Green, commenced to run from 



'The first steamboat running to Middletown Point was 
put on in 1831, by Captain Bent. She ran only about six 
months. 



Middletown Point to New York, and June 9, 1842, 
the steamboat " Rockland " also was in the line. 
Fountain, Horner & Co. continued their business 
running steamers and sloops. The sloop " Banner " 
was the first one this firm put on. Later they added 
the sloop " Oregon," Captain William S. Horner, 
and the " William S. Horner," Captain Aaron H. 
Hopkins. On the 1st of April, 1841, Mr. Griggs 
retired from the firm and Daniel S. Stillwell be- 
came a partner. About 1842 the firm built the 
brick store now occupied by Smith Brothers. ]Mr. 
Fountain remained in active business until 187(5, 
when he retired. 

In 1834, Francis P. Simpson & Co. opened 
a lumber-yard. In 1853, Mr. Simpson built a new 
brick store, two stories in height, with a large room 
in the second story, thirty by sixty feet, and sev- 
enteen feet in height, for public uses. This was 
called Washington Hall, and is still in use. 

Thomas I. Bedle came to Middletown Point in 
1827, and opened a shoe-store. In 183.5 he went 
into the mercantile business, which he continued 
until 1871, when he retired. Governor Joseph D. 
Bedle was born in this village, iu the old Woodhull 
house. 

The first hotel at Middletown Point, in the 
memory of those now living, was the one afterwards 
known as the Union, and was kept by Derrick 
Whitlock. It stood about fifty yards west of the 
Matawan Hotel. It was owned by William Little 
and was ke])t by Tunis J. Ten Eyck, John Campbell, 
Benjamin Crook and others. It was abandoned 
as a hotel about 1874. The Matawan Hotel -vas 
built for a dwelling-house and rebuilt as a hotel by 
Tunis J. Ten Eyck. 

The post-ofl[ice was established in 181-5, when 
Cornelius P. Vanderhoof was appointed postmas- 
ter. He was succeeded by William Ijittle, who 
held the office from 1820 to 1853. His successors 
have been George W. Bell, 1853-60; Jacob R. 
Schenck, 1860-62; Rens. W. Dayton, 1862 to the 
present time. 

The Middletown Point Navigation Company 
was organized in 1837, for the purpose of improv- 
ing the navigation of the river. William Little, 
Garret P. Conover and Simeon Arrowsmith 
were appointed commissioners to receive subscrip- 
tions. The books were opened for that purpose 
May 6, 1837, "at the house of Benjamin Crook, 



MATAWAN TOWiMSHIP. 



833 



lun-keeper, at the Village of Middletowu Point." 
The channel was cleared under the operations of 
this company, but the business of the place, which 
had for many years been an important shipping 
point, was destined to go down. The younger 
rival, Keyport, gradually, but surely, absorbed it 
all, and now Middletowu Point as a landing-place 
has little left but the name, which is fost passing 
into disuse. 

The earliest physician of this vicinity, of whom 
any information has been obtained, was Dr. Peter 
Le Conte, who was located at Middletown Point as 
early as 1734, and was one of the officers of the 
old Presbyterian Church at that jjlace. He was a 
native of this country, but of Norman parentage. 
In 1735 he married Mary Pintard, who died in 
the same 3'ear, and he soon after married Valeria, 
daughter of John Eaton. He died in 1768, aged 
sixty-six years, and was buried in the old ground 
at Mount Pleasant. 

Dr. Charles McKnight was a physician of this 
locality in 1777, in which year he was taken pris- 
oner at the time the old Presbyterian Church was 
burned by the British and Refugees. 

Dr. William G. Reynolds came to this place 
about 1815, and remained in practice about ten 
years ; then removed to New York. 

Dr. David English came to Matawan in 1824, 
went into partnership with Dr. Reynolds and suc- 
ceeded to the full practice when the latter removed 
to New York, in 1825. He continued a^few years 
till his health failed, when he retired from pi-ac- 
tice. 

Dr. Alfred B. Dayton came to this place in 
1835, and remained in practice here until his 
death, in 1870. 

Dr. Judsou G. Shaekleford was in practice here 
many years. He died in 1883. 

The present physicians of Matawan are Drs. 
A. T. Jackson and Dr. Knecht. 

The Presbyterian Church at Matawan is 
very ancient. The Rev. Elihu Spencer, who was 
pastor of the Shrewsbury Presbyterian Church 
from 1761 to 1764, mentioned preaching at Mid- 
dletown Point (now Matawan), where there was a 
congregation at that time, and which, in 1766, 

united with Shrewsbury in calling the Rev. 
53 



Charles McKnight Its condition was nearly the 
same as the Shrewsbury Church for many years, 
each being without even a supply, yet keeping 
their organization. 

Of this church, Mr. Spader, in his address 
delivered July 4, 1876, says : " There was at 
Mount Pleasant a building used as a church, upon 
a ground donated by a Mr. Wyckoff. It was 
situated upon a beautiful green, covered by large 
trees, and was a sort of a rallying-point at the 
commencement of the Revolution, in case of alarm, 
and to discuss matters pertaining to their situation. 
In the year 1778 the building was burned and 
was not rebuilt until 1798, when a church was 
again built, partly by lottery and partly by gifts 
of timber, etc., from farmers. It was intended by 
the donors as a place of worship for all denomina- 
tions ; but in time it became the property of the 
Presbyterians, who sold the same, and in 1841 
built the present church. Rev. Eli F. Cooly 
became the pastor in 1820, and it is evident from 
manuscripts left by him that there was a Presby- 
terian organization in this place before the war, as 
the church was under the care of the Rev. Charles 
]\IcKnight, who was in prison during the war, and 
died soon after his release." Mr. Cooley served 
three yeare and retired in April, 1823. The 
church was supplied until 1828, when the Rev. 
Clifford S. Ames conmienced to labor with them, 
and continued until 1832. On March 5th, the 
next year, the Rev. George S. WoodhuU was 
installed, and continued till his death, December 25, 
1834. He was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph L. 
Shafer as a stated supi)ly until November 6, 1838, 
when the Rev. Charles Webster was installed as 
regular pastor, and continued until April 24, 184!). 
The Rev. John M. Rogers was soon after called, 
and was installed February 20, 1850. His labors 
continued until July 7, 1867, when he resigned. 
He was succeeded, January 27, 1869, by the Rev. 
James O. Deunistou, who resigned, after two years' 
service, on the 3d of January, 1871. He was fol- 
lowed, October 13th in the same year, by the Rev. 
J. Henry Kaufman, who continued till his death, 
October 27, 1873. His successor, the Rev. J. M. 
Andei-son, was installed June 30, 1874. He re- 
mained until December 13, 1881, and resigned. 
The Rev. W. H. Ford accepted a call in April, 
1882, and began his labors June 1st in that year. 



834 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



He resigned in April, 1883, and was succeeded by 
the present pastor, tlie Rev. Robert Kent, who 
was installed December 11, 1883. 

The church building, erected in 1841, as already 
mentioned, has since been enlarged and materially 
improved. Lecture and Sunday-school rooms were 
added in 1877. The membership of the church is 
now two hundred. 

The First Baptist Chukch of Matawan,' 
as an organization, is less than thirty-five years 
old ; but the history of the Baptist cause in Mata- 
wan antedates the origin of the church by some 
twenty or more years. As early as 1830, and per- 
haps a year or two previous to that. Father Rob- 
erts, then pastor of the church at Middletown, 
occasionally visited this village, and preached at 
the residence of Mrs. Rachel Bent. Meetings also 
were held sometimes at the residence of Mr. John 
Disbrow, grandfather of Marshal John N. Dis- 
brow. 

At a later period the Rev. James Goble, jjastor 
of the old church at Jacksonville, occasionally 
preached at the tavern of Mr. James Lockerman, 
at the lower end of the village. After this the 
Rev. J. M. Carpenter, while pastor of the church 
at Jacksonville, resided for two years in the village 
of Middletown Point, and, as opportunity afforded, 
met the people at different places to counsel and 
instruct, as well as preach the gospel to them. 
About these days Father Elliot, an aged and 
somewhat infirm Baptist minister, was in the 
habit of making occasional visits to this community, 
and was always willing and ready to preach to 
the people as long as they were willing to hear 
him. 

These occasional and irregular meetings of the 
Baptists of Middletown Point and vicinity were 
continued till after the organization of the church 
at Keyport, and the settlement of the Rev. William 
V. Wilson as its pastor. Immediately upon his 
entering upon his labors there, Matawan was 
made one of his out-stations. He preached regu- 
larly once a month at the Mount school-house, 
and perhaps as often at the Morgan school- 
house, which was three miles above, on the Free- 
hold road. On the occasions of his preaching at 



^The history of this church is furnished by ihe pastor, 
the Rev. F. A. Slater. 



these out-stations, he had to perform a Sabbath 
day's journey of nearly thirty miles, in addition to 
the preaching of three sermons. After awhile, there 
being at and around these out-stations a considerable 
number of members, principally connected with 
the churches at Keyport and Jacksonville, a desire 
was feit that they might enjoy the ordinance of the 
Lord's Supper in connection with their regular 
meetings for worship. This desire was complied 
with, and the Rev. William V. Wilson adminis- 
tered the ordinance regularly in the Mount 
school-house for some years before the chui-ch 
was formed. Thus the way was thoroughly pre- 
pared for an independent church organization. 

In 1849 the Baptist interest and element in 
this community had so increased that the Rev. 
William V. Wilson encouraged the erection of a 
meeting-house in the village. In December of that 
year a lot was purchased of Thomas I. Bedle, Es(i., 
above the stone bridge, for which the sum of two hun- 
dred dollars was paid, and immediately steps were 
taken to build. During the following year, 1850, a 
very neat and commodious house of worship was 
completed and dedicated to the worship of God. The 
Rev. Dr. Somers, of the South Baptist Church, New 
York, preached the dedication sermon. Among 
those not immediately connected with the Baptist 
denomination, w ho manifested gi-eat interest in the 
erection of this house, and rendered constant and 
untiring sei-vices, and who, after the organization 
of the church, served for many years as most valu- 
able and efficient members of the board of trus- 
tees, were Thomas I. Bedle, Esq., and Edward 
Black. 

On the 22d day of October, 1850, thirty-two 
persons, having met in the new meeting house for 
that purpose, organized themselves into the First 
BajJtist Church of Middletown Point. Twenty of 
these had letters from the church at Keyport ; 
four from the church at Holmdel ; one from the 
church at Middletown ; two from the Amity Street 
Church, New Y'ork ; three from the church at Old 
Bridge ; and two from the South Church, New 
Y'ork. These thirty-two adopted what is known 
as the New Hampshire Declaration of Faith and 
Covenant, and at once — i. e., before their fii-st meet- 
ing as a church was dismissed — elected the Rev. 
Job Gaskill to be their pastor, and John Van 
Braele and Rynear Suydam deacons. Mr. Gas- 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



835 



kill had been laboring in and around Middletown 
Point for six or eight weeks previous, as mission- 
ary of the State Convention. 

On the 23d of October a council, which had 
been called for that purpose, met in the new meet- 
ing-house to consider the propriety of giving the 
newly-organized church denomination recognition. 
The council was composed of the Rev. D. B. 
Stout, of Middletown ; Rev. William Nice, of 
Holmdel ; Rev. Joseph Beldon, of Freehold ; Rev. 
L. F. Stelle, of Old Bridge; Rev. William V. 
Wilson and Deacon James Sproul, of Keyport ; 
Hev. J. M. Carpenter, of Perth Amboy ; Rev. R. 
T. Middlediteh and Deacons Joseph and William 
Smith, of Red Bank ; and Rev. J. R. Stone and 
Deacons Martin and Ulzat, of the Bereau Church 
of New York. The Rev. D. B. Stout was moder- 
ator of the council, and Rev. William V. Wilson 
was clerk. The services of recognition were in 
the following order : Reading of the Scripture, 
Rev. Joseph Beldon ; Sermon, Rev. J. R. Stone ; 
Charge to the Church, Rev. William V. Wilson ; 
Hand of Fellowship, Rev. D. B. Stout, and 
Prayer by Rev. J. M. Carpenter. 

The untiring labors of the pastor, the Rev. Job 
Gaskill, so impaired his health that he was com- 
pelled, after but four and a half months of labor, to 
resign his office and leave the field. On the 1st of 
March, 1851, the Rev. D. F. Twiss, at that time 
connected with the churches at Little Washington 
and Herbertsville, was called to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the removal of Mr. Gaskill. In 
oommencing his labors, Mr. Twiss gave particular 
attention to the financial interests of the church 
and the claims of the benevolent societies and de- 
nominational enterprises, but he did not neglect in 
any manner or degree the spiritual interests of the 
church and congregation. His labors were very 
acceptable, and he won a large place in the confi- 
dence and aflfections of the church and people of 
the town. Mr. Twiss was greatly atHieted in his 
family and person, yet he toiled in every possible 
way to promote the interests of the church. Death 
invaded his home and took from them their four 
remaining children ; disease preyed upon his wife, 
and finally, after two years and seven months' 
labor, bleeding of the lungs and entire jirostration 
of physical strength compelled him to resign his 
pastorate, October 23, 1853. Mr. Twiss continued 



his residence at Middletown Point and his mem- 
bership with the cluu'ch for three or four years 
after resigning the pastorate, and, by his wise 
counsels and ever-ready co-operation, did excellent 
service for the church. 

On the 1st of June, 1854, the church having 
been without a pastor for seven months, the Rev. 
J. W. Crumb, of Clifton Park, N. Y., was called 
to serve the church, and at once entered upon the 
duties of a pastor. He continued with the church 
four years, during which time a great deal of ardu- 
ous and successful work was done. Mr. Crumb 
interested himself in every department of church- 
work, and regarded nothing too hard or too much 
for him to undertake. 

On Sunday, the 14th of February, 1858, the 
meeting-house was totally destroyed by fire. 
This occurred just as the congregation began to 
assemble tor worship. The calamity was greatly 
enhanced by an oversight or negligence, which had 
allowed the policy of insurance to expire sometime 
before and failed to have it renewed. So every- 
thing was swept away, except the ground on 
which the house stood. The pastor had signified 
his intention to close his labors with the coming 
May ; the church had no house in which to meet 
for worship, and other circumstances conspired to 
render their condition peculiarly discouraging. 

The Rev. Mr. Crumb closed his labors with the 
mouth of May. In the meantime Washington 
Hall had Ijeen secured for holding the meetings 
of the church. The pulpit committee engaged 
the services of the Rev. A. H. Bliss as a supply 
for two or three months. After him the pastor of 
the church at Keyport, Rev. F. A. Slater, supplied 
them with an afternoon service until the settlement 
of the Rev. J. E. Barnes as pastor. The date of 
his settlement was November 1, 1859. Mr. 
Barnes continued with the church only two years, 
but during that time a vast amount of work was 
performed, the chief of which, aside from regular 
pastoral labor, was the building of the present 
comfortable and inviting hou.se of worshiji. Mr. 
Barnes excelled as a preacher, and conducted the 
enterprise of building the new house to a successful 
issue, at an expense of about three thousand three 
hundred dollars. In this he was sustained by the 
membership of the church, and esjiecially by Deacon 
Rynear Suydam, who for a season gave up his own 



83G 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



business and devoted himself wholly to raising 
funds and otherwise advancing the important 
work. Mr. Barnes closed his pastorate January 
30, 1862. 

On the 6th of July following, Mr. R. G. Farley, 
a recent graduate of Rochester University, was 
called to the pastoral office, and soon after or- 
dained by a council called by the church for that 
purpose. His pastorate continued three years and 
a half, during w'hich time the church paid off a 
debt of about fourteen hundred dollars. Mr. Far- 
ley devoted himself with untiring energy and 
purpose until the debt was entirely removed. 

On the 1st of October, 1866, the present pastor, 
the Rev. F. A. Slater, undertook the oversight of 
the church. At that time it was greatly reduced, 
both in membership and financial strength. At 
one time in its previous history its membership 
numbered nearly a hundred, but less than fifty 
could be found when he entered upon his [tastorate. 
And its pecuniary strength was so reduced that 
they hardly dare attempt to raise three hundred 
dollars towards helping support the pastor. Dur- 
ing Mr. Slater's pastorate of more than eighteen 
years nearly as much has been expended in repairs 
and improvements upon the meeting-house as it 
cost in the beginning ; and the present member- 
ship of the church is one hundred and seventy-six. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Mat- 
AWAN has now had an existence of fifty-eight 
years, — dating its real beginning from the first for- 
mation of a class here in 18'26. Methodist preach- 
ing, however, had been held here fully forty years 
before that time, the firet of which there is any 
account being by regular appointments, at the 
house of a Mrs. Frances, who was then the only 
Methodist in the place, and whose house stood on 
or very near the site of the present bank building. 
Thomas Morrell, Aaron Hutchinson and Joseph 
Cromwell, ministers well-known in Methodist his- 
tory, preached in that house while this part of 
New Jersey was yet included in the Philadelphia 
Conference, and about five years before the Free- 
hold Circuit was formed. The circuit is supposed 
to have covered all the territory from New Bruns- 
wick round to Tuckerton, and is not mentioned in 
the Conference Minutes until 1793, at which time 
the presiding elder was Rev. William Merrick. 



The Rev. John Fountain was a native of Mary- 
land, of French descent. His parents were Epis- 
copalian, and when he joined the Methodists, he, 
in consequence, was obliged to leave his father's 
house and seek another home. Nothing further is 
known of his early days or subsequent history, 
save that he became a minister, and was a member 
of the Philadelphia Conference, and as such trav- 
eled and preached through a large section of this 
State and throughout this region. An injury re- 
ceived through his horse taking fright and throw- 
ing him from the wagon necessitated him to locate, 
which he did about 1797, and settled in the neigh- 
borhood of what is now Jacksonville, then and long 
after known as Cheesequakes. He was well known 
throughout a large section of country surrounding, 
and so frequently and generally was he called upon 
to officiate in his ministerial capacity at funerals 
and weddings that it appears the people for miles 
surrounding depended on him for the services 
necessary on such occasions. A record of mar- 
riages, in his own handwriting, extending from 
1797 to 1835, shows that no less than four hundred 
and six marriage services were performed by him. 

The number of membei-s on the entire circuit 
was four hundred and fifty-three. During the in- 
terval betweeu 1793 and 1807 there is no account 
of any preaching in this vicinity. But from 1807 
to 1822 there was a regular appointment at the 
house of the father of Rev. Francis ^Murphy, in the 
Bethany neighborhood. 

In 1822 the church at Bethany was built, and 
became the centre of Methodism in this section for 
some years. But from the date first mentioned, 
1788, up to the year 1826, no other account of any 
other preaching at or near Middletown Point 
could be obtained than that the Rev. John Foun- 
tain preached occasionally in the old church that 
formerly stood by or in the graveyard, near which 
the Mount school-house now stands. That church 
was built (it is said by lottery) on the site of one 
that was burned during the Revolution. It was 
built by the public for the use of all denomina- 
tions, and was used by the Presbyterians, Method- 
ists and Baptists alternately, but eventually came 
to be occupied by the Presbyterians only, and was 
sold to pay arrearages of salary due Rev. Mr. 
Shafer, when it became a barn on the farm where 
Mr. Peter V. Hier now lives, and finally was 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



837 



burned. Some time iu the )'eav 1826, Joel Aumack 
and wife, who lived in a house that stood near 
where Mr. Peter Cortelyou now resides, and 
El isha Walling and wife, who lived at Middletown 
Point, while attending meetings held in the 
Bethany Church, were all converted. Soon after 
prayer-meetings were held at the house of Elisha 
Walling, and occasionally class-meetings. The 
first regular class was formed about, this time, 
which was the nucleus of this church, and con- 
sisted of six persons. The leader of the class was 
Joseph Carhart, who lived at Bethany. The six 
members were Joel Aumack and wife, Elisha 
Walling and wile, John Summerhays and Ann 
Van Pelt. The class-meetings were held every 
two weeks at the house of Joel Aumack, Mount 
Pleasant. 

In 1827, and until 1831, there was regular 
preaching at the residence of Elisha Walling, 
which stood on the present site of E. H. Dayton's 
residence. The first sermon preached, according 
to the recollection of Joel Carhart, was by a Mr. 
Sweeny, from the text, " Who will show us any 
good ? " 

The presiding elder at that time was Rev. 
Charles Pitman, and the preachers were Revs. L. 
Prettyman, R. W. Petherbridge, John Woolston, 
J. L. Gilder, Isaac Felch and Thomas Neal. The 
only place open for Methodist preaching was the 
hou.se of Elisha Walling, and because of his re- 
moval, it was changed to the home of Joel 
Aumack, a mile from the village, where it was 
continued from 1831 to the foil of 1835. Prayer- 
meetings were held also at the house of James 
Stoney, still standing, and midway between Mount 
Pleasant and Morganville. During these years 
Revs David Bartine, T. G. Stewart and Mulford 
Day preached there. 

In the fall of 1835 the appointment was again 
changed to the village. Joel Carhart, converted 
at Bethany, having married the Ann Van Pelt 
referred to as one of the first six, moved to the 
village, and regular services were established at 
his house. 

In 1836 there was preaching in an old shop 
which stood nearly opposite the present church. 
During this year a lot was purchased, and Rev. 
Mulford Day, with Joel Carhart, made an effort to 
secure the means for building a church. They 



met with much opposition, and were told that this 
was preoccupied ground, and a Methodist Church 
was not needed here. But amid many discourage- 
ments they erected it, at a cost of about eighteen 
hundred dollars. This church was dedicated 
about the 1 4th of December, 1836. The location 
was on Jackson Street. There had been much 
difficulty in securing a lot, the pioneers being 
obliged to take what they could get ; and it was 
said by some in their bitterness that the location 
among the barns was good enough. About eigh- 
teen years afterwards this building was sold to Mr. 
Hubbard, who removed it to Main Street. The 
entire membership at this time was about twenty- 
five ; five of these were colored people. The place 
was yet included iu Freehold Circuit. The next 
spring (1837) it was connected with High Point 
Circuit. 

A Sabbath-school was organized in April, 1837, 
with Joel Carhart superintendent. The teachers 
were William J. Wooley, Augustus Fountain, 
Henry Van Horn, Stephen Aumack, Daniel Van 
Cleaf, Mary A. Carhart, Mary W. Stillwell, l':iiza 
Fountain, Emeline Walling, Elizabeth Roberts, 
Elizabeth Vanderhoof and Ann E Carhart. 
Fifty-four scholars composed the school. The 
names were James T. Fountain, James H. Hor- 
nor, George B. Day, William Van Cleaf, William 
Van Horn, Jacob Smock, David Carhart, Alfred 
Crook, Andrew Van Horn, William Smock, 
Charles W. Fountain, Charles Crook, C. G. 
Harris, Charles H. Roberts, John Van Cleaf, 
Daniel Roberts, G. Simmons, Albert Fountain, 
John Fountain, John W. Simmons, Charles 
Farrington, Reuben Harris, Henry W. Harris, 
John Giles, Harriet B. Day, Amanda Aumack, 
Elizabeth Carhart, Catharine Van Cleaf, Maria 
Harris, Hannah Van Horn, Mary Ann Carl^art, 
Catharine J. Smock, Sarah Van Horn, Sarah A. 
Hornor, Caroline Price, Henrietta Bedle, Sarah 
Price, Eleanor Van Pelt, Susan Roe, Margaret 
Gravatt, Rachel Cottrell, Hannah Tice, Elinira 
West, Margaret Carhart, Maria Van Cleaf, 
Susanna Giles. Colored : Simon Van Cleaf, Betty 
Shemo, Jane Willet, Oliver Holmes, Clarissa Van 
Cleaf, Catharine Perrine. 

Joel Carhart served four years as superintend- 
ent, and was succeeded by George W. Bell and 
Augustus Fountain, each of whom served one 



838 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



year. In 1843, A. H. Harris was appointed, 
and he remained imtil February, 1877 (a period 
of nearly thirty-four years), when David A. Bell 
was elected his successor. 

For ten years after its opening, the Sabbath- 
school had no sessions in the winter-time, but 
■when the experiment was tried, it was found that 
the children would attend in winter as well as in 
the summer, and since 1847 it has been held the 
year round. In 1855, when the school entered the 
present church building, it numbered seventy-two 
scholars, under the following-named teachers : 
Asbury Fountain, E. D. Gravatt, Charles W. 
Fountain, P. G. Suedeker, Constantine Bell, Wil- 
liam A. Fountain, Euphemia Bedle, Eliza Crook, 
Lydia A. Walling, Angeline W. Carhart, Mar- 
garet Allen, Eliza Fountain, Mary Smith, Mar- 
garet Smith. 

After the church was built (1837) the weekly 
prayer-meetings were held in the building opposite 
W^ashington Hall. Originally it was a one-story 
building, used for a wheelwright-shop by Joel 
Carhart, who added another story, making a 
school-room of the upper part, and in that room the 
week-night services were held until 1841, when 
Asbury Fountain built a lecture-room adjoining 
the church, on Jackson Street. 

The church continued its connection with High 
Point Circuit until 1840, under the care of Revs. 
Mulford Day, J. Loudenslager, G. S. Wharton, 
Samuel Jaquet, N. Chew, T. T. Campfield, James 
Long and L.R. Dunn. ]\Ir. Dunn had preached 
but a part of two years under the presiding elder; 
hence was not a member of the Annual Conference. 
While on this circuit he was instrumental in start- 
ing the church at Keyport. It was by the Quar- 
terly Conference of this church that he was recom- 
mended to the Annual Conference, as was also 
Rev. William Franklin. 

Nothing like a revival occurred until 1840, 
when meetings were continued nine weeks, and 
about twenty-five persons were added, more than 
doubling its members. 

In 1841 the church was set off as a station, with 
Rev. Zerubbabel Gaskill as pastor, who remained 
in charge until 1 842. From then until 1854 the 
following elders and pastors were in charge ; Elders, 
D. Parish, J. Winner, J. K. Shaw and W. A. Wil- 
mer ; Pastors, J. < ). Rogers, Wesley Robertson, 



L. R. Dunn, A. M. Palmer, W. H. Jeffreys and 
E. M. Griffith. These pastors and their successors 
occupied a number of different residences until 
1868, when the present parsonage was built, and 
has since been occupied by the successive pastors. 

The debt of four hundred dollars on the old 
Jackson Street Church building increased, and at 
the end of six years from the dedication had 
reached seven hundred dollars. A strong effort 
was made to reduce it, Joel Carhart spending some 
time in soliciting aid from other churches, so that 
it was reduced again to four hundred dollars. The 
location of the old church was an unfavorable one, 
and this, with the growth of the congregation, 
made the necessity for improved accommodations 
apparent, and in 1851 the matter was taken into 
serious consideration, but was for the time aban- 
doned. Three years later, during the ministry of 
Rev. E. M. Griffith, the trustees again took the 
matter of building into consideration ; a lot was 
secured with some difficulty ; the sum of five thou- 
sand dollars was raised, and on the 13th of June, 
1854, the corner-stone of the present church build- 
ing was laid. On the 15th of November following, 
the basement being finished, was dedicated by 
the Rev. Dr. Bond. The debt was then four thou- 
sand dollars, and it was determined not to finish 
the audience-room until it could be paid for. In 
the next year, however, through the urgent efforts 
of the pastor. Rev. A. H. Mead, the church was 
completed at a total cost of eleven thousand dol- 
lars, and was dedicated by Bishop Janes, Novem- 
ber 1, 1855. About eight hundred dollars was 
raised on the day of the dedication, leaving a debt 
of five thousand dollars. The debt remained for 
several years, but in 1866 had been reduced to 
three thousand dollars, which it was determined to 
raise at once, and on Sunday, July 15th, in that 
year, the matter was brought before the congrega- 
tion, when, to the surprise of all, subscriptions to 
the entire amount were obtained ; but it was after- 
wards found that a large item of the debt had been 
overlooked and was unprovided for, while the 
failure of some to meet their promised payments 
added still more to the burden, and left the church 
still quite heavily in debt. 

The Rev. A. H. Mead, during whose pastorate 
the present church edifice was completed, remained 
in charge one year, and was succeeded by the Rev. 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



839 



J. W. Kramer, who remained two years ; Rev. 
George H. Neal, two years (Rev. A. E. Ballard, 
presiding elder). In 1860-61, Rev. B. F. Wools- 
ton was pastor (Rev. George Brown, presiding 
elder). Then came Rev. C. R. Hartranft, two 
yeare ; Rev. George Hughes, one year (Rev. W. 
E. Perry, presiding elder). At thi.s time the two- 
year rule for ministers was changed to three years. 
Rev. H. Belting was pastor 1865 to 1867 inclusive. 
Rev. M. Relyea followed, and was pastor in 1868-69^ 
and during his second year a remarkable revival 
o^-eurred. The services were continued about thir- 
teen weeks, and one hundred and forty-five persons 
wore received on probation. The whole number 
received by Mr. Relyea in his two years was one 
hundred and sixty-eight. During this pastorate 
the present parsonage was erected, and was first 
occupied by Mr. Relyea. The church at ]Morgan- 
ville was also built during his stay. lu 1870-71, 
Rev. A. Matthews was pastor; in 1872-74, 
Rev. W. S. Zane, with Rev. A. E. Ballard, presid- 
ing elder. 

In 1872 great improvements were made in the 
church, at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars, by 
modernizing the high and massive pulpit, purchas- 
ing an organ, painting and frescoing the walls and 
introducing gas and heaters In 1875-77, the 
church was in charge of Rev. W. W. Jloffett, pas- 
tor (Rev. J. B. Graw, presiding elder), who was 
succeeded by Rev. G. C. Maddock, 1878-80; 
Rev. J. G. Crate, 1881 ; and the Rev. L. O. Man- 
chester, 1882 to the present time. 

Trinity Episcopal Church of Matawan 
was founded in 1850, and through the liberality of 
Colonel John Travers, who resided at the mouth 
of Cheesec[uakes Creek, the present neat and sub- 
stantial stone edifice was erected. The title was 
not received by Bishop Scarborough until the 
spring of 1884. The church was supplied largely 
by young men from the New York Seminary. 
Among those who have served here are Revs. Put- 
nam, Kinney, Chetwood and J. D. Moore. Part 
of the time the rector of St. Mary's, of Keypoi't, 
has supplied this pulpit. On the 1st of November, 
1884, the Rev. Mr. Norwood assumed charge of 
St. Mary's, of Keyport, and Trinity Church, of 
Matawan. 

The first newspaper published in this locality 



was edited by Philip Freueau, an account of which 
will be given in the sketch of Mount Pleasant. 

No further attempt of the kind was made here 
until 1844, when Edgar Hoyt established the Mid- 
dletoimi Point Union, which was continued about 
two years, after which the press and material were 
moved to Stamford, Conn. About 1848 George 
C. Waite started The Democratic Banner and 
Monmouth Advertisei: He sold to George W. 
Bell and Charles W. Fountain in the spring of 
1851. It was a six-column paper, twenty-four by 
thirty-eight inches. On March 25, 1852, they sold 
to Henry Morford, w'ho soon after changed the 
name to New Jersey Standard. After remaining 
about a year he removed to Keyport. The Atlan- 
tic was started here by O'Brien in 1853, and 

continued some time, then moved to Keyport, and 
ceased to exist. Jacob R. Schenek purchased the 
press and material and opened an office in Mata- 
wan, and in 1857 published the Ne^v Jersey 
Weekly Times, and soon after added the name 
Keyport Weekly Advertiser, which was continued 
until 1862, when it ceased to be published. Tlie 
Matawan Journal was established in July, 1869, 
the first issue being July 25th. It was originally 
four columns, and in 1871 was changed to six, and 
in 1879 to seven columns. At first it was inde- 
pendent in politics, but in 1878 became Demo- 
cratic. David A. Bell, the founder of the paper, 
is still editor and proprietor. 

The Farmers' and Meechants' Bank of 
MiDDLETOWN Point was chartered in 1830, with 
an authorized capital of fifty thousand dollars. 
The bank was opened in a building near where 
Henry S. Little's office now is. De Lafiiyette 
Schenek was chosen jjresident and William Little 
cashier. Mr. Schenek was succeeded, in 1835, by 
William Little, who was the president until 1843, 
when he was succeeded by Asbury Fountain, who, 
in 1876, was succeeded by the present president, 
William Henry Hendrickson. William Little's 
successor as cashier was Elihu Baker, who re- 
signed in March, 1854. He was followed, succes- 
sively, by Archibald Parkhurst, H. W. Johnson 
and Charles Wardell, the present cashier. About 
five years after its organization the bank built the 
banking-house which it now occupies. The capital 
at present is two hundred thousand dollars. 



840 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Hon. William H. Hendeickson, farmer and 
ex-State Senator of Holmdel township, was born 
June .3, 1813, in Middletown, and is the son of the 
late William H. and Eleanor (Du Bois) Hendrick- 
son. His paternal ancestors were among the pio- 
neer settlers of Monmouth County, having located 
here as early as 1698, and he still owns and re- 
sides upon the old homestead, which has been in 
possession of the family since their first settlement 
in the county. 

His education was obtained at the grammar 
school of Rutgers College, which he left on the 
death of his father, being then a member of the 
sophomore class. He has since given his attention 
largely to agricultural pursuits, and with marked 
success. As an appreciation of his sterling charac- 
teristics, the people of Monmouth County have 
chosen him at three different times to represent 
them in the State Senate, — 1858-61, for a second 
term 1872-75, and by re-election for a third term 
following the second. During his legislative 
career he was a member of the finance, printing 
and education committees, and during his first 
term chairman of the last-named committee. His 
election in 1872 was without opposition, and his 
service in the Senate was a credit to himself and 
an honor to his constituency. The office sought 
the man, and not the man the ofllce. For several 
years he was a member of the Board of Freeholdei-s 
of Monmouth County, president of the Middletown 
and Keyport Steamboat Company, and is president 
of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Matawan. 
He married, February 28, 1839, Elizabeth E. 
Woodward, of Cream Ridge, Monmouth County- 
■who died December 13, 1865. His second wife is 
Rebecca C. F. Patterson, whom he married June 
24, 1868. 



Trinity Lodge, No. 20, F. and A M.— The first 
Masonic Lodge in this place was warranted by the 
Grand Lodge as follows : " At the session held on 
November 10, 1807, a warrant was granted to 
John Mott, ISIaster; Robert Shannon, S. W.; Jesse 
Hedges, J. W., for a Lodge at Middletown Point, 
in the county of INIonmouth, by the name of Trin- 
ity Lodge, No. 20." 

This lodge remained in existence until the Anti- 
Masonic excitement, when, with many others, it 



suspended work. The Grand Secretary, in his re- 
port to the Grand Lodge, November 9, 1811, re- 
ported of fifty-seven lodges warranted in the State, 
only eight were in working order; seven had been 
stricken off) among them Trinity, No. 20; thirty- 
three had ceased work, but retained their warrants. 

Aberdeen Lodge, No. 90, F. and A. M., was 
formed by six members of Cresarea Lodge, No. 64, 
of Keyport, who asked a recommendation from 
that lodge October 9, 1867. A charter was 
granted and the lodge instituted early in 1868. 
Meetings were held for a time in Odd -Fellows' 
Hall, and later in rooms fitted up in a building 
now occupied by J. G. Conover. The charter w as 
forfeited in 1878, and restored and finally surren- 
dered in 1879, the lodge having at the time twenty- 
six members. The Past JListers were Judson G. 
Shackleton, William J. Maggs, Reus. W. Dayton, 
William A. Fountain and David P. Van Deventer. 

Knickerbocker Lodge, No. 52, I. O. of O. F., 
was chartered February 5, 1847. The charter 
members were R R. McChesney, G. D. White, 
P. F. Ten Eyck, W. W. Hughes and Tunis Hubbard. 
It was instituted March 30th in that year. It now 
has a membership of sixty. The present officers 
are J. G. Conover, N. G. ; E. A. Smith, V. G.; 
William Rogers, Sec; Richard Bedle, Treas. ; 
Peter Ten Eyck, Per. Sec. 

J. W. Shackleton Post, No. 83, G. A. R., was 
instituted November 1, 1883, with twenty-seven 
members. Meetings were first held in the Wash- 
ington Engine-house, and in December of the 
same year rooms were fitted up in the White build- 
ing, and are now occupied by the post. George A. 
Fountain is Commander, and E. S. Griflith, Adju- 
tant. The post now has fifty-eight members. 

Washington Fire Company, No 1, of Matawan, 
was incorporated 3Iarch 17, 1870, with David H. 
Wyckofl", William S. Hornor, William Spader, 
Charles W. Fountain and Jesse S. Sickles as trus- 
tees. The present engine-house was then erected 
and engine purchased. The present ofiicers are: 
Foreman, Jesse S. Sickles; Assistant Foreman, 
William Maggs ; Secretary, William Rogers ; Treas- 
urer, William A. Fountain. The company has at 
present thirty-four members. 

Matawan Hook-and-Ladder Company, No. 1, 
was incorporated in October, 1878. The present 
building was erected for their use bv Judge Wil- 




■^^«i2y /a**«E J^uiadf 



% A^ //f^^ c^^'^^-^ 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



841 



liam Spader. The company uumbers tliirty-eight 
members. 

In 1815 a tannery was jaut in operation at Mid- 
dletowu Point by De Lafayette Schenck, a nephew 
of Rulofl' V. Scheuck. It was known many years 
afterwards as the Matawan Tannery, and was sold 
to George W. Bloodgood in 1864. It is no longer 
in operation as a tannery. 

In 1835 a new grist-mill, situated a mile from 
Middletown Point, was offered for sale by the owner, 
Isaac P. Van Doren. It was sold to Cartan & Co., 
who now own it on the old site. 

In 1838, Richard Low made earthenware in i 
the rear of William Little's store. He continued 
the business till 1850. 

In 1852, Josiah Van Schoick and Ezra Dunn 
built the ^Matawan Pottery, with two kilns. In 
1859, William A. Dunlap became a partner; the 
firm-name became Dunn, Dunlap A Co. 

The J. L. Rue Pottery Company was started in 
1860 at South Amboy, by J. L. Rue and others, 
under the name of J. L. Rue & Co In 1880 a 
company was formed by J. L. Rue, .1. T. Rue and 
H. Arrowsmith, as the J. L. Rue Pottery Company. 
The present grounds were purchased and the com- 
paTW erected two brick two-story buildings, each 
one hundred by thirty-six feet, a kiln-shed forty- 
five by seventy feet, and two kilns, each fifteen 
feet six inches in diameter. H. Arrowsmith re- 
tired from the firm in the spring of 1884. 

In the spring of 1879, C. S. Bucklin & Co. | 
erected brick buildings, seventy-five by ninety, and 
thirty by one hundred feet, and commenced the 
business of canning fruits and vegetables. They 
now employ about one hundred and twenty-five 
persons in the fruit sea.'^on. 

In IMatawan township, on the road between 
Kevport and ilatawan, are the gas-works that 
supply both those villages. The Gas Company 
was organized in 1870. The lot was purchased 
and the works were commenced in Ncjvember, 1871. 
In the following year they were completed, and 
gas was introduced from them into the two villages. 

Mount Pleasant lies south of and immedi 
ately adjoining ilatawan — being, in fact, nearly a 
continuation of the last-named village. The 
name of this place appears in a road record in 
1768, and was doubtless in use much earlier. A 



year or two later the Presbyterian Church was 
built there, as mentioned in the account of that 
church organization in Matawan. An old tomb- 
stone standing a few years since, indicated that the 
burial-place had been used as early as 1740. A 
school-house at this place was also mentioned in 
the road record of 1768. One was built on the 
northeast corner of the church lot long before 
1800, and wa.s used till the j^resent house was 
built. The family of John Burrowes were buried 
here, and also Dr. Peter Le Conte, of whom 
nothing is known save the fact that he was 
buried here and that he died January 29, 1768, in his 
sixty-sixth year. Dr. Thomas Barber, a surgeon 
in the Revolutionary army, was also a resident 
here. His wife, Mary, died Jlarch 3, 1788, in her 
thirty-sixth year. He died several years later and 
was buried by her side, but no stone marks the place. 
^lembers of the Forman family were buried 
here before 1800. Major Thomas Hunn died 
September 15, 1797, aged sixty years. The 
Rev. George S. Woodhull, pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church, was buried here ; he 
died December 25, 1834, in the sixty-second 
year of his age and the thirtj'-seventh of his min- 
istry. Also Mathias Hulsart, who died April 11, 
1846, aged eighty-nine years. It is said that he 
was a soldier in the Revolution. 

Mount Pleasant was (and still is, to some 
extent) noted as the j>lace of residence of Philip 
Freneau, "the popular poet of the days of the 
Revolution, who cheered the hearts of the citizens 
by his ready rhymes in behalf of the good cause 
and opposition to its foes while patriots were strug- 
gling for independence." He was born in Frank- 
fort Street, in New York City, January 2, 1752. 
The family was of French Huguenot descent. 
Pierre Freneau, the father of Philip and of Peter 
Freneau, distinguished in the history of South 
Carolina, bought an estate of a thousand acres in 
the vicinity of Mount Pleasant, a family inherit- 
ance to which his son removed in 1794, occupied, 
and where he wrote many of his poems. Both 
the father and grandfather of Philip Freneau are 
buried in a vault in Trinity Churchyard, New 
York, by the side of their family relations. 

Of the boyhood of Philip Freneau little is 
known, but it may be inferred from the position 
of his family and his subsequent attainments that 



842 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



he was well instructed at the schools of the city, 
fi)r in 17t)7 he was a student at Princeton College, 
New Jersey, where he graduated with credit, after 
the usual four yeais' course, in 1771. He began 
early the practice of versification ; for in his 
sophomore year, at the age of seventeen, he com- 
posed a poem of decided promise, entitled " The 
Poetical History of the Prophet Jonah," which 
appears at the head of his first general collection 
of poems Other compositions in various metres, 
on classical and historical themes, preserved in the 
same volume, were written during his collegiate 
course. 

It was a creditable year for the institution when 
he graduated, for in his class were Jame.s Madison, 
afterwards President, and other men of note, 
among whom was Hugh Henry Brackeuridge, 
a graduate with Freneau, afterwards a celebrated 
judge and author, who, like Freneau, had already 
developed a taste for poetry, and they united, for 
their commencement exercise, in the composition 
of a dialogue : " A Poem on the Rising Glory of 
America," which the}' pronounced together, sound- 
ing in animated blank verse the achievements of 
colonization in the past ami the visionary grandeur 
of empire hereafter. This joint poem was pub 
lished in Philadelphia in 1772 The portion 
written by Freneau opens the collection of his 
poems published in 1865 by W. J. Middleton, 
New Y'ork. 

The next information of Freneau is gathered 
from the dates of the poems which he contributed 
to the journals published by Hugh Gaine and 
Anderson, in New York, in 1775. They exhibit 
bis interest in the important military affairs of the 
year in Boston, and are found in the work above 
named. In a poem of this year, " ]Mac Suiggeu," 
a satire on some hostile poetaster, he expresses a 
desire to cross the Atlantic, — 

"Long have I sat on this disastrous .'<hore. 
And sighing, sought to gain a passage o'er 
To Europe's towns, where, as our travelers say, 
Poets may flourish, or perhaps they may." 

His inclination for foreign travel was gratified 
in 1776 by a voyage to the West Indies, where 
he appears to have remained some time in a mer- 
cantile capacity, visiting Jamaica and the Danish 
island of Santa Cruz. Several of his most strik- 



ing poems, as the " House of Night " and the 
" Beauties of Santa Cruz," were written on these 
visits. 

In 1779, Freneau wa.s engaged as a leading 
i contributor to The United States Magazine; 
A Repository of History, Politics and Literature, 
edited by his college friend and fellow-patriot, 
Hugh Henry Brackeuridge, and jjublished by 
Francis Bailey, Philadelphia. It was issued 
monthly from January to December, when its dis- 
continuance was announced " until an established 
peace and a fixed value of the mone_y shall render 
it convenient or possible to take it up again." 

In the year following the publication '_ of the 
magazine, Freneau, having embarked as a pa.ssen- 
ger in a merchant vessel from Philadelphia, on 
another voyage to the West Indies, was captured 
by a British cruiser off the Capes of the Delaware 
and carried with the prize to New York. There 
he was confined, on his arrival, in the 
" Scorpion," one of the hulks lying in the 
harbor used as prison-ships. The cruel treat- 
ment which he experienced on board, with 
the aggravated horrors of foul air and other 
jjrivations, threw him into a fever, when he was 
transferred to the liospitalship " Hunter," which 
proved simply au exchange of one species of suf- 
fering for another more aggravated. How long 
Freneau was confined in this hideous prison is not 
known, nor by what influences he gained his dis- 
charge. He carried with him, however, on his 
liberation, a burning memory of the severities and 
indignities he had endured, which he gave expres- 
sion to in one of the most characteristic of his 
poetical productions, " The British Prison-Ship," 
which was published by Francis Bailey, Philadel- 
phia, 1781. He became a frequent contributor of 
patriotic odes and occasional poems, celebrating 
the incidents of the war, to Tlie Freeman's Jour- 
nal, of Philadelphia, and also published in that 
city a translation of the travels of ]\I. Abbe 
Robin, the chaplain of Count Rochambeau, giving 
an account of the progress of the French army 
from Newport to Yorktown. In 1784 he was at 
the island of Jamaica, writing a poetical descrip- 
tion of Port Royal. 

The first collection of his poetical writings 
which he made, entitled "The Poems of Philij) 
Freneau, written chiefly during the late War," 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



84S 



was published by Francis Bailey, " at Yorrick's 
Head, in Market street," Philadelphia, in 1786. 
It is prefaced by a brief " Advertisement " signed 
by the pul)lisher, in -which he states the pieces 
now collected had been left in his hands by the 
author more than a year previously, with permis- 
sion to publish them whenever he thought 
proper. 

The success of this volume led to the publica- 
tion, by Mr. Bailey, of another collection of 
Freneau's writings in 1788. It is entitled "The 
Miscellaneous Works of Mr. Philip Freneau, con- 
taining his Essays and Additional Poems." This 
volume, as was not uncommon even with works 
of very limited extent in that early period of the 
nation, was published by subscription. Among 
the subseribei-s were De Witt Clinton, Edward 
Livingston and other distinguished citizens of New 
York ; Matthew Carey, David Rittenhouse, John 
Parke, A. M., and others of Philadelphia ; thirty 
copies were taken in ^laryland ; but the largest 
number was contributed by .South Carolina, that 
State supplying two hundred and fifty, or more 
than half the entire list. Captain Freneau was 
well known and highly appreciated at Charleston, 
which he frequently visited in the course of his 
mercantile adventures to the West Indies, and 
where his younger brother, Peter, who subse- 
quently edited a political journal in that city, and 
was in intimate correspondence with President Jef- 
ferson, was already established as an influential 
citizen. 

After several years spent in voyaging, Freneau 
was again engaged in active literary employment 
in 1791, as editor of the Daily Advertiser, a jour- 
nal printed in New York, the superintendence of 
which he .soon exchanged for that of the National 
Gazette, at Philadelphia, the first number of which 
appeared under his direction in October the same 
year. He was employed at the same time by Jef" 
ferson, the Secretary of State, — the seat of gov- 
ernment being then at Philadelphia, — as translat- 
ing clerk in the State Department, with a salary 
of two hundred and fifty dollars a year. It was a 
time of great political excitement, when the newly- 
framed Constitution, not yet fully established in 
its working, was exposed to the fierce criticism of 
its adversaries, while popular opinion was greatly 
excited by the rising tumult of ideas generated in 



the French Revolution. In this strife of parties 
Freneau was an active partisan of the new Frei^ch 
ideas, was a supporter of Genet, the minister who 
sought to entangle the country in the great 
European struggle, and, as might be expected, was 
an unsparing assailant of the policy of Washing- 
ton, whose character he had heretofore eulogized. 
Washington was annoyed, and Hamilton attacked 
JefTei'son for his official support of the troublesome 
editor. Jeflerson replied that he had befriended 
Freneau as a man of genius ; but that he had 
never written for his paper. Is is unquestionably 
true, however, that Freneau's political writings at 
this time had Jefierson's warmest sympathy. 

In 1793 the Gazette cea.sed to exist, and in the 
fall of that year, or in the following spring, 
Freneau came to ]Mount Pleasant, where he took 
up his residence, and where he soon afterwards 
issued proposals for the publication of " a Mon- 
i mouth Newspaper." One, at least, of those " pro- 
posals " is still in existence. It is printed in small 
pica type on a sheet of common paper, eight by 
thirteen inches in size, and dated " Mount Pleas- 
ant, July 4, 1794." It opens with a statement 
that — 

"A number of the inhabitants of Freehold, Middle- 
town and the neighboring townships in the county of 
Monmouth liaving intimated their opinion that a 
weekly newspaper, printed in said county, might find 
a considerable circulation and favorable reception from 
the public, the subscriber has been induced to draw up 
and publish the following proposals, in order to de- 
termine whether a number of names will offer suiB- 
cient, by the commencement of the publication, to 
defray the expenses incident to the same." The paper 
was to be called " T/ie Monmouth Gazette and East Jer- 
sey Intelligencer," to be published every Tuesday morn- 
ing, atthe rate of $1.50 per annum, one-half in advance 
and the remainder at the end of the year. After-pay- 
ments at the end of every six months, " in cash or 
country produce." The publication was to be com- 
menced as soon as five hundred subscribers were 
obtained, and the papers were to be forwarded in 
packages, "by a stated Post-Rider, to Middlctown 
Point, Holmes' Mill, Middletown, Shrewsbury, Colt's 
Neck, Monmouth Court-House, Walton's Mills, Eug- 
lishtown and Major Conover's Mills." The paper was 
to contain " the freshest foreign and domestic intelli- 
gence, with the proceedings of Congress during the 
session, a summary of the proceedings of the Legisla- 
ture of the State of New Jersey, and the laws enacted 
from time to time by the Federal Government." The 
first number was to be issued on the first Tuesday in 
October next following 



844 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Nothiug is found to show that the Monmouth 
Gazette was ever published as proposed, but in the 
following spring Freneau commenced the publica- 
tion of the first newspaper ever issued in Mon- 
mouth County, viz : Tlie New Jersey Chronicle, 
published at Mount Pleasant, near jNIiddletowu 
Point. The first number was issued Ma)- 2, 1795, 
and continued weekly for a year, when it suspended 
for lack of support. " This Chronicle was quite a 
curious affair. It was printed by the author, 
Philip Freneau himself, who had mustered a med- 
ley of types for the purpose. The first number 
was of the humble dimensions of eight small quarto 
pages of seven inches by eight. This spirited little 
paper was soon enlarged, but, typographically, at 
least, it always appeared of a somewhat sickly con- 
stitution." 

In the same year, from his press at Mount Pleas- 
ant, he issued a volume entitled " Poems written 
between the years 1768 and 1794, by Philip Fre- 
neau, of New Jersey." There are other editions 
of his poems, but this one is so rare that it is 
highly prized by antiquarians. In a catalogue of 
a London bookseller it was advertised for sale ; 
price, £3 lO.s. The last copy heard of for sale in 
this country was one in a Washington antiquarian 
book-store, for which the dealer asked some fortv 
odd dollars, and finally got down to thirty-five 
dollars for a small octavo volume of four hundred 
and fifty-six pages. 

In 1797 Freneau edited and aided in jiriiiting 
and publishing, in New Y'ork, a miscellaneous 
periodical entitled The Time-Piere and Liferarii 
Companion It was printed in (]uarto form and 
appeared three times a week. In 1799 he pub- 
lished in Philadelphia a thin octavo volume of 
■" Letters on Various Subjects, etc.," under the 
nam deplume of " Robert Slender, A.M." For 
some years after this there is found no particular 
account of his occupation, but it appears that he 
still resided in New Jersey, penning occasional 
verses on topics suggested by the day. In 1809 he 
published the fourth collection of his writings, en- 
titled "Poems published during the American 
Revolution." 

In the poem which Freneau wrote during his 
visit to the West Indies, and entitled " Beauties of 
■Santa Cruz" (before mentioned), he records his 
•detestation of negro slavery, and the same is found. 



pictured still more vividly, in his poem addressed 
" To Sir Toby, a sugar-planter in the interior parts 1 
of Jamaica." 

In another poem " On Emigration to America, 
and Peopling the Western Country," published in 
his volume of 1795, Freneau comes nearer home, 
in the declaration of his opinions on this subject, 
when he writes, — 

" O come the time and haste the day 

When man shall man no longer crush, 
When reason shall enforce her sway, 

Nor these fair regions raise our blush. 
Where still the African complains, 
And mourns his yet unbroken chains." 

In after-life, when the poet himself, under the 
mild system of Northern servitude, became the 
owner of slaves in New Jersey, he uniformly treated 
them with kindness, manumitted them in advance 
of the Emancipation Act in the State, and supported 
on the farm those of them who were not able to 
take care of themselves. One of these was an an- 
cient " mammy," who lived some years after the 
death of her former master, and who was ever 
ready with the boast that she had once opened the 
door for General Washington, who had spoken a 
kind word or two to her on that occasion, though 
there is little probability that there was any truth 
in the tale, as there is notiiing to show that Wash- 
ington was ever any nearer to Mount Pleasant than 
the Monmouth battle-field. 

Philip Freneau lived to commemorate the inci- 
dents of the second war with ( Jreat Britain, in 1812. 
He wrote various poems celebrating the naval ac- 
tions of Hull, Porter, Macdonough and others. 
His traditionary hatred of England survives in 
these and other compositions which he published in 
New York, in 1815, in two small volumes, entitled 
"A Collection of Poems on American Afiairs and 
a variety of other subjects, etc." A distinguished 
writer says, in reviewing this volume : " He depicts 
land battles and naval fights with much animation 
and gay coloring ; and being himself an old son of 
Nejrtune, he is never at a loss for appropriate cir- 
cumstance and expressive diction when the scene 
lies at sea." After witnessing and chronicling in 
his verse the conflicts of two wars, Freneau had yet 
many years of life before him. They were mostly 
passed in retirement at Mount Pleasant, an<l later 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



84& 



at his residence, near Freehold. He occasionally 
visited New York, keeping up acquaintance with 
the leaders of the Democratic party. His appear- 
ance and conversation at this time has been graphi- 
cally described by the late Dr. John W. Francis, 
in whom the genius and history of Freneau excited 
the warmest interest, and which was published in 
the "Cyclopedia of American Literature." 

" I had, (says Dr. Francis), when very young, read 
the poetry of Freneau, and as we instinctively become 
attached to the writers who first captivate our imagi- 
nations, it was with much zest that I formed a per- 
sonal acquaintance with the Kevolutiouary bard. He 
was at that time about seventy-six years old, when he 
first iutroduced himself to me in my library. I gave 
him an earnest welcome. He was somewhat below 
the ordinary height; in person thin, yet muscular; 
with a firm step, though a little inclined to stoop ; his 
countenance wore traces of care, yet lightened with 
Lntelligence as he spoke ; he was mild in enunciation, 
neither rapid nor slow, but clear, distinct and em- 
phatic. His forehead was rather beyond the medium 
elevation ; his eyes a dark gray, occupying a socket 
deeper than common ; his hair must have once been 
beautiful ; it was now thinned and of an iron gray. 
He was free of all ambitious displays ; his habitual 
expression was pensive. His dress might have passed 
for that of a farmer. New York, the city of his birth, 
was his most interesting theme ; his collegiate career 
with Madison, next. His story of many of his occa- 
sional poems was quite romantic. As he had at com- 
mand types and a printing-press, when an incident of 
moment in the Revolution occurred, he would retire 
for composition, or find shelter under the shade of 
some tree, indite his lyrics, repair to the press, set up 
his types and issue his productions. There was no 
difficulty in versification with him. I told him what 
I had heard Jeffrey, the Scotch reviewer, say of his 
writings, that the time would arrive when his poetry, 
like that of Hudibras, would command a commentator 
like Grey. It is remarkable how tenaciously Freneau 
preserved the acquisitions of his early classical studies, 
notwithstanding he had for many years, in the after- 
portion of his life, been occupied in pursuits so en- 
tirely alien to books. There is no portrait of the pa- 
triot Freneau ; he always firmly declined the painter's 
art and would brook no ' counterfeit presentment.' " 

The aversion of Freneau to sitting for his por- 
trait, noticed by Dr. Francis, was one of his 
peculiarities, for which it is not easy to suggest a 
sufficient explanation. But whatever the motive, 
he resolutely declined to have his portrait painted. 
He was once waited upon by the artist Rembrandt 
Peale, with a request for this purpose, by a body 
of gentlemen in Philadelphia ; but he was inexor- 



able on the subject. On another occasion, the- 
elder Jarvis, with a view of securing his likeness^ 
was smuggled into a corner of the room at a din- 
ner-party at Dr. Hosack's, to which the poet had 
been invited ; but the latter detected the design 
and arrested its accomplishment. In later years 
however, after the poet's death, a portrait of him 
was painted from recollection, which was pro- 
nounced satisfactory by several surviving members 
of his family, who remembered his personal appear- 
ance. 

In the collection of Freneau's poems published 
in 1809 is found the list of subscribers which he 
procured for it, headed by the names of James 
Madison, then President, and Thomas Jefferson ;. 
and in Monmouth County there were the following 
subscribers, viz.: Middletowu: Jehu Patterson, Esq., 
Captain Hendrick Heudrickson, James Mott, Esq., 
Colonel Jarrett Stillwell, Captain Isaac Van Dorn,. 
Captain Denise Hendrickson, Brigadier-General 
Richard Poole. Middletown Point : Cornelius P.. 
Vanderhoof, Esq., Dr. William Reynolds, Captain 
John Hall. Near Middletown Point : John Van 
Pelt, merchant, Peter Johnson, William Walton. 
Allentown : Richard Stout, merchant. Freehold ; 
John Quay, Esq., Mr. David Cook. Moumoutli : 
Hon. James Cox. The most recent volume of his 
poems was published in 1865 by W. J. Middleton, 
New York, with an introductory memoir by Evert 
A. Duyckinck, from which are taken many of the 
facts in the foregoing outline of his life. 

In the last years of his life Mr. Freneau was 
not a resident of Mount Pleasant, but lived about 
two miles below the village of Freehold, where he 
owned and occupied a house now the property of 
A. J. Buck. There he lived until he had nearly 
completed his eightieth year. He lost his life,. 
December 18, 1833, " by exposure and cold while 
going on foot, in the night during a snow-storm, to 
his residence, near Freehold." The circumstances 
of his death were related in the Monmouth Inquirer 
of December 1 oth, as follows : 

" Mr. Freneau was in the village; and started, toward 
evening, to go home, about two miles. In attempting 
to go across, he appears to have got lost and mired in a 
bog meadow, where his corpse was discovered yester- 
day morning. Captain Freneau was a stanch Whig 
in the time of the Revolution, a good soldier and a 
warm patriot. The productions of his pen animated 
his countrymen in the darkest days of '76, and the 



846 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



effusions of his muse cheered the desponding soldier 
as he fought the battles of freedom." 

Philip Freneau left a family of four daughters, 
all of whom were living in 1865. The mother of 
Horatio Seymour, of New York, (Mary, daughter 
of General Jonathan Forman), was a niece of Mrs. 
Philip Freneau, the wife of the poet. The Fre- 
neaus, through the second marriage of the poet's 
mother, were connected with the Kearney family 
of New Jersey. Philip Freneau married, at about 
the age of thirty, Miss Eleanor Forman, daughter 
of Samuel Forman. General Jonathan Forman 
and Denise Forman, who were much engaged in 
military affairs in the State during the Revolution, 
were her brothers. David Forman was her 
cousin. This lady, who shared her husband's tal- 
ent for poetry, corresponding with him for several 
years before their marriage in verse, was of 
marked character and intelligence. She was de- 
votedly attached to the Episcopal Church, which 
the family attended, having left the French 
Church in the lifetime of the poet's father. Mrs. 
Freneau survived her husband seventeen years, 
♦retaining in her latter days many of the most in- 
teresting memories of the Revolution. She died 
September 1, 1850, and her remains lie with those 
of her husband, in the family burial-ground at 
Mount Pleasant. A monument to the poet's mem 
cry has since been erected on the spot. 

The house in which Philip Freneau lived at 
Mount Pleasant is still standing (having been re- 
modeled in later years), and is now owned by the 
estate of Thomas Ryer. The poet's grave is about 
fifty yards in the rear of the house. 



village plat, erected a large hotel, built a dock and 
chartered a steamboat to make trips to and from 
the place ; but all efforts failed to create a village 
or establish trade at that point, as was expected. 

The Cliffwood Methodist Eplscopal 
Church building was erected in 1854. The ser- 
vices held in it have from the first been under 
charge of the Methodist Church at Matawau. 



Thomas I. Bedle, who came to Mount Pleasant 
m 1827, says there were at that time about thirty 
houses, including Mount Pleasant and Middletown 
Point. Peter Johnson had kept the tavei'n many 
years, and was succeeded by his son William, who 
was the landlord at that time. It is not kept as a 
tavern at present. The old sign-board bears the 
name of William H. Conover, who was the last 
landlord. 

Cliffwood is situated in the northern part of 
Matawan township, at Matavan Point, where, 
about twenty-five years ago, Henry L. Clark pur- 
chased a tract of high land on which he laid out a 



Schools.— The first mention or knowledge of a 
school-house within the limits of this township is 
found in a record of a road dated March '24, 1761. 
The road passed "through Mount Pleasant to 
Middletown Point Landing, near the school-house 
on said Point." Exactly where this school-house 
stood it is impossible to determine. Before this 
time a Presbyterian Church organization was 
formed, a house erected and a burial-ground laid 
out on the site of what is yet known as the old 
cemetery. Asbury Fountain attended school in 
an old house that stood, in 1815, on the northeast 
corner of the burial-lot. This site may have been 
the location of the old house of 1761. The school- 
house Mr. Fountain attended was in use (with 
repairs) until about 1850, when it was rebuilt and 
used until the present school-house was erected, a 
short distance away, on the side of the old burying- 
grouud. This district is No. 46, and is known ^ 
Mount Pleasant District. It now contains one 
hundred and sixty-six children of school age. 
Joseph W. Dunlap was a teacher in the old house 
about 1840, and was followed by Van Braekle. 

About 1833 an effort was made to establish a 
school near the centre of the village of Matawan. 
It was in operation in the spring of 1834, and 
called Middletown Point Academy. The success 
of this little school caused greater interest to be 
taken, and on the 16th of August, 1834, a meeting 
was held in the bank-office and a subscription was 
started to erect a suitable building. It was re- 
solved that the property of the academy be di- 
vided into twenty-two shares, at fifty dollars each, 
which were taken by eleven persons, viz.: — Wil- 
liam Little, Francis P. Simpson, George S. Wood- 
hull, Holmes Van Mater, D. L. F. Schenck, John 
C. Whitlock, Joseph P. Conover, William Cooley, 
Asbury Fountain, Joseph Ellis and Elihu Baker" ' 
On the 6th of September, 1834, it was decided 
to build a school-house 44 x 26 feet, two stories in 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



847 



height. The present district school-house, No. 47, 
stands on the lot then purchased, and it is the 
building then erected. Contract was made, Octo- 
ber 11th, in that year, witli T. D. Simpson to com- 
plete the building for one thousand and twenty 
dollars. A meeting of the stockholders was held 
February 5, 1835, to organize and elect trustees. 
William S. Cooley was selected as principal, and 
tlie first term began April 27, 1835. He taught 
until July 21, 1836, when he was dismissed, and 
August 1st following, Philetus Phillijss was engaged 
to take charge of the academy, a position he held 
until January 1, 1844. He had as assistants 
Mrs. Phillips, Miss Louisa Cox, teacher of Fi'ench' 
and Miss Hannah J. Cox, as teacher of music. 
He was succeeded by William Parker. From the 
first the principals paid to the stockholders one 
dollar per pupil as rent for the building. The 
furniture of the school-room was the p)roperty of 
the principal. About 1845 the school began to 
receive public money. It was, however, continued 
under the care of the stockholders until 1851, 
-when it was leased to the district, then under the 
care of George W. Bell 

Up to this time the scholars of the village who 
were not attending the Academy were attending 
the schoof at the old graveyard. The Academy 
was still continued under J. W^. Schermerhorn as 
principal. In 1857 the stockholders purchased a 
lot on the opposite side of the street, subscribed 
two thousand dollars and erected a part of the 
present Institute building, and the Academy was 
opened with much better facilities and advantages. 
In 1859, Henry Sabiu became principal. During 
his stay a paper called the Monthly Offering 
was published each montli by the pupils. It was 
then called the Collegiate Institute of Middletown 
Point. Mr. Sabiu remained principal imtil after 

1862, when Howard became his successor, 

and in 1872, J. H. Hamilton became principal and 
remained two years. On September 10, 1874, 
■Charles Jacobus, the present principal, took charge 
of the Glenwood Institute (a name given by Pro- 
fessor Howard). Under Mr. Jacobus the build- 
ing has been enlarged to its present dimensions 
and capacity. The names of the faculty and 
board of trustees are here given, viz. : 

Faculty for 1884-85: Charles Jacobus, A.M., 
-(principal), Latin, Greek, physics; Carrie A. Bee- 



gle, music, French ; Albert H. Wilson, English, 
mathematics and book-keeping ; Julia A. Kuech, 
history, German ; Helen V. Nathans, primary 
department. Board of Trustees : Daniel B. Sti-ong, 
W^illiam L. Terhune, Henry W. Johnson, Edward 
Black, William Spader, Kens. W. Dayton. Offi- 
cers : Daniel B. Strong, president ; Henry W. 
Johnson, secretary and treasurer. 

The district used the old Academy building 
under the lea.se until 1873. On July 2d in that 
year the district was authorized to raise two 
thousand dollars to purchase the lot and building, 
which was done ; since which time school has been 
taught there. The district now contains one hun- 
dred and eighty-three children of school age. 

In March, 1839, a boarding-school was opened 
at Middletown Point by the Misses Walton, which 
was continued a few years. 

On tlie 7th of August, 1850, a lot was purchased 
in the lower part of the town, on which was erected 
the Lower Point School-house, now known as 
District No. 48. This district contains two hun- 
dred and twenty-nine pupils. 

The Cliffwood School District, No. 45, situated 
in the north part of the township, contains one 
hundred and eighteen children of school age. The 
school-house was erected before 1825, and stood on 
the opposite side of the brook from the jsresent 
Cliffwood station. In 1854 it was moved to its 
present location, and about 1874 an upper story 
was added. 

That j^ortiou of the township lying next to 
Holmdel is a part of Oak Grove District, No. 58. 
The school-house is in Holmdel. The district 
contains seventy-six jjupils. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Thomas W. Thorne is the son of John 
Thorne, born April 10, 1790, who resided on the 
Thorne homestead, below Keyport. He married 
Elizabeth Walling, whose birth occurred Septem- 
ber 11, 1790. Their children were W^illiam 
Henry, born in 1813 ; Thomas W., November 1, 
1814; John L., in 1816; Ann, in 1818; Elijah, 
in 1821; Mary, in 1823; Joseph W., in 1825; 
Garret, in 1827 ; Elizabeth, in 1830 ; Ann and 
Elijah, who died in youth. 



848 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Thomas W., the second son in order of birth, 
spent his childhood upon the homestead farm, near 
Keyport, receiving only such education as was 
obtainable in the neighborhood, and when a youth, 
entered the store of Mr. Leonard Walling as 
clerk. He subsequently transferred his services 
to Keyport, and firom thence to Holmdel, where 
he was for many years engaged in the mercantile 
business. He had various partners, one of whom 
was his brother Joseph, though much of the time 
he conducted the business alone. Mr. Thorne 



I was elected without solicitation to various offices 
of trust, and filled them with fidelity and accept- 
ance. For many years he was superintendent of 
the Keyport and Alatawan Gas-Light Company, 
having removed to the latter place in April, 1872, 
and secretary of the Holmdel Cemetery Company 
from its first inception. He was also a member of 
the jMonmouth County Agricultural Society. He 
was often solicited to fill such oflices of trust as 
executor, administrator and trustee, and his opin- 
ion wa.s received with respect in questions requir- 





married, on the 1st of October, 1844, j\Iiss ^larga- 
ret S., daughter of Jonathan I. Holmes, of Holm- 
del. Their children were two sons— Jonathan H. 
and John Edgar, deceased — and two daughters, 
Eleanor S. and Ann Eliza. The death of Mrs. 
Thorne occurred December 20, 1855. Mr. 
Thorne was a man of modest demeanor, but uni- 
versally esteemed as an honored and upright citi- 
zen. He was a strong Democrat in his political 
sympathies, and greatly interested in the success 
of the principles which his party maintained. He 



iug arbitration. In his religious convictions Mr. 

Thorne was a Baptist, and a member and trustee of 
i the Baptist Church at Matawan, whose interests he 

was foremost in promoting. His death occurred 
I June 7, 1882, in his sixty -eighth year. 



Aaron Longstreet. — The genealogy of the 
Longstreet family is given in the biographical 
sketch of Jonathan Longstreet, Esq., who resides- 
upon the homestead. Aaron Longstreet was born 
on the 17th of August, 1805, at the family home- 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



849 



in Holmdel, where he remained until his nine- I 
teenth year, meanwhile combining study at school 
in the latter village with the varied duties of 
a farmer's son. He then removed to Middle- 
town Point (now Matawan), and engaged for I 
two years as clerk, subsequently returning again 
to the homestead. In connection with Daniel 
Holmes, he embarked in store-keeping at Holmdel, 
and continued this business connection for eight 
years. He was, on the 29th of January, 1839, i 



in his native township. In 1842 Matawan be- 
came his residence, where he became interested 
in the lumber business in connection with Sidney 
Bray, and was also for some time engaged in 
mercantile pursuits. He continued this active 
life until 1880, the date of his practical retirement 
from business ventures. Mr. Longstreet has, since 
his removal to JIatawan, been identified with its 
leading public enterprises. He is a director of the 
Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Matawan. In 




'^l/t 



^'Ty ^^^x?^^^^S/N 



married to Catharine V. ]\I., daughter of Wil- 
liam L. Lloyd, of Holmdel, and Mary Van 
Mater, his wife. Their children are 3Iary H. 
(wife of John H. Ellis), Charles Lloyd (deceased), 
Huldah H. (deceased, wife of Dr. Jame.s S. Con- 
over) and Henry H. (a merchant who studied 
law with Rensellaer Daji;on, Esq., of Matawan, 
and was admiited to the bar). Mr. Longstreet, 
in 1839, removed to and remained two years 
at Tinton Falls, Monmouth County, after which, 
in 1841, he resumed farming for a brief period 
54 



politics he adheres to the principles of the De- 
mocraev, though never an aspirant for office nor 
an active partisan. HLs religious belief is in sym- 
pathy with the creed of the Presbyterian Church, 
of which both he and his wife are members. 



Sidney Bray. — The great-great-grandfather of 
Mr. Bray was a Baptist clergyman from England, 
who, in 1688, organized the Baptist Church at 
Holmdel, and erected the meeting-house at his own 
expense, besides donating the land on which now 



850 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



stands the church and parsonage, together with the 
burial-grounds, containing four and one-third acres. 
For many years the church was known as the" Old 
Bray Meeting- House," and Mr. Bray himself was 
conceded to be a " man of gifts." Sidney Bray 
was the grandson of Samuel and Mary Bray, and 
the son of Samuel and Hope Bray. He was born 
at Holmdel on the 25th of May, 1822, and, making 
Matawan his residence, in the spring of 1843, when 



W. Mr. Bray was in polities an unswerving and 

pure-minded Democrat, though not especially active 

in the political field. In social life he was genial and 

full of pleasant humor. In business he was prompt, 

I careful, reliable and thoroughly informed as to the 

I financial status of those in the community, which 

; enabled his firm, in all their extensive business 

connections, to conduct their affairs with compara- 

! tively little loss. In 1859, Mr. Bray united with 




twenty-one years of age, entered into partnership 
with Aaron Longstreet, in the lumber, mercantile 
and freighting trade. He continued active busi- 
ness relations until failing health compelled him 
to relinquish his employments, and Messrs. Walker 
& Conover became their successoi-s. Mr. Bray 
was, in March, 1851, married to Margaret V., 
daughter of the late Captain Haddock Whitlock, 
whose children are two daughters, — Gertrude S. 
wife of John J. Beers, Esq., of Holmdel, and Harriet 



the Presbyterian Church at jSIatawan, and for 
twenty years was its treasurer and a member of its 
board of trustees. His death occurred on the 16th 
of August, 1881, in his sixtieth year. 



William Spader. — Peter Spader was born in 
Somerset County, N. J., about half a mile from 
Middlebush Church, on Thursday, the 29th of 
September, 1785, the only son and child of John 
Spader and his second wife, Jane Vanderbilt. 



MATAWAN TOWNSHIP. 



851 



His ancestors came from Holland. The first 
records we find of them are deeds and leases (now 
in possession of Peter Vanderbilt spader) in the 
purchase by Johannes Spader of one hundred and 
ninety-six acres of land on the Millstone River of 
Samuel Koyse, on September 20, 1718, and two 
leases, one of two hundred and ten acres in 1722, 
and the other of nine huudred and eighty acres in 
1730, from Clem. Plunistead, the heir of one of the 



with credit during the seven years of the War of 
the Revolution. He married Annie, daughter of 
Jeremiah Vanderbilt, whose children were two 
sons — John and Jeremiah— and two daughters, — 
Jane and Annie. The birth of John, the eldest 
of these sons, occurred on the 21st of December, 
1790, on Long Island, where he engaged in the 
employment of a farmer. He married Phebe 
Lott, of Queens County, L. I., whose children 




original East Jersey proprietors. This Johannes 
Spader was the great-grandfather of Peter Spader. 

The next record we have is when Lord Howe's 
armv was retreating from Millstone to New Bruns- 
wick, in 1777, the barn and out-buildings and part 
of the house of John Spader, father of Peter 
Spader, were destroyed by fire by the British army. 

William Spader, half brother of Peter 
Spader, above mentioned, and grandfather of 
the subject of this biographical sketch, served 



were John,William, Annie (Mrs. John L. Denton), 
Jeremiah V. and Stephen L., of whom William 
and Annie survive. The former, was born March 
2, 1817, in BrookljTi, where he received a fair 
English education and gave his attention to 
the demands of the fiirni until his twenty-second 
year. Monmouth County, in 1839, became his 
home, the farm he jiurchascd and cultivated hav- 
ing been located in Marlboro' township. Desiring 
some variation from the routine of the farmer, he, 



852 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



in 1861, removed to Matawan.in the same county, 
and embarked in the lumber business. Continuing 
thus employed for some years, in 1879 he relin- 
quished active mercantile life, and finding a suiS 
cient demand upon his time in the attention given 
to his private interests, also, as a diversion, culti 
vated a small tract of land adjacent to his resi- 
dence. Judge Spader, either as a Whig of the 
old school or a Republican, has been active in 
public matters and in the administration of affairs 
connected with the township. He was ap- 
pointed associate judge of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas of Monmouth County, and served for 
five years upon the bench. He has since his re- 
moval to Matawan been more especially identified 
with its business interests. He is a director of 
the Monmouth County Fire Insurance Company, 
of Freehold, and has been officially connected 
with other corporations. He is especially earnest 
in his efforts for the advancement of the agricul- 
tural interests of the county, and fills the ofiice of 
president of the Monmouth County Agricultural 
Society. He is also director of the Key port and 
Matawan Gas Company. He still, though not u 
resident, maintains his connection with the Re- 
formed (Dutch) Church of Marlboro', of which he 
has been since 1845 a member, and for twenty- 
five years its treasurer and one of its elders. 
Judge Spader was, in 1838, married to Eliza, 
daughter of Jeremiah Vanderbilt, of Flatbush, 
L. I. Their children are Jeremiah V., John, 
Phebe (Mrs. Dr. J. P. Geran, of Brooklyn), Eliza 
V. (Mrs. Jacob Prince, of Flatbush, deceased). 
Mrs. Spader's death occurred in 1845, and he was 
again married, in 1855, to Mary L., daughter of 
William H. Whitlock, of Brooklyn. Their 
children are Anna D. (wife of John R. Dubois' 
of Holmdel, N. J.) and Mary V. (wife of Wil- 
liam V. Clark, of Matawan, X. J. }. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

XEPTUXE TOWNSHIP. 

Neptune is a sea-coast town.ship, bounded 
east by the Atlantic Ocean, south by Shark 
River, which divides it from 'Wall township, 



west by Shrewsbury, and north by the town- 
ship of Ocean. Its only stream of any import- 
ance is Shark River. The sea-shore line of rail- 
way extends along the entire ocean-front of the 
township. The population of Neptune, by the 
United States census of 1880, was four thou- 
sand one hundred and eighty-seven. 

This township was erected by an act of the 
Legislature, approved February 26, 1879, 
which provides and declares, — 

'"That all that part of the township of Ocean con- 
tained within the following bounds, that is to say : 
Beginning at the Atlantic Ocean, where Great Pond 
empties into the same, and running thence westerly 
up the middle of said Great Pond and the south 
branch thereof until it intersects a continuation of the 
centre line of Asbury Avenue, in the borough of As- 
bury Park, in said County; thence continuing the 
course of said centre line (as the magnetic needle now 
points), north sixty-seven degrees and fifty minutes 
west, until it intersects the division line between the 
township of Ocean and the township of Shrewsbury, 
in said county, in the middle of the public road lead- 
ing from Eatontown to Squan, near Benjamin King's 
storehouse ; thence in a southerly direction along 
said line to Shark River brook ; thence in an east- 
erly direction along the centre of Shark River to the 
Atlantic Ocean ; thence northerly along the same to 
the place of beginning, shall be, and hereby is set oft' 
from the said township of Ocean, and made a sepa- 
rate township, to be called and known as the town- 
ship of Neptune." 

The following is a list of the chosen free- 
holders of Neptune township from its organiza- 
tion to the present time, viz. : 1879, George C. 
Ormerod; 1880-83, John C. Hathaway ; 1884, 
Cook Howland. 

Along the sea-shore of Neptune towushijj, 
northward from the southern limit at Shark 
River to the northern bouudary at Great Pond, 
or "Deal Lake," are located the following- 
named places and villages : Key East, Bradley 
Beach, Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, the last 
named being at the northeast corner of the town- 
ship, on Deal Lake. 

Key East is situated in the southeast corner 
of the township, on Shark River. Its site wa.s 
compreheuded in a tract of two hundred and 
sixty-five acres of land patented to Gavin 
Drummond, November 12, 1701. The tract 
was bounded on the ea.st by the sea, south by 
Shark River, north by Duck Creek, and west 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



853 



by William "West's land. This tract passed 
through several ownerships, but remainecl intiict 
until 1851, when John Fields (then the owner) 
diet!, and commissioners sold the property in 
parcels to fifteen or twenty ditFerent 2)arties. 
These passed through many clianges, and be- 
tween Septeml)er 14, 187<S, and March 17, 
1880, Edward Batchelor, of Philadelphia, came 
into possession of the entire original tract by 
purchases made at different times in that 
period. 

The place is a bluff at the mouth of Shark 
River, opposite Ocean Beach, in Wall township, 
and one mile from the southern limits of Ocean 
Grove. In January, 1883, improvements were 
commenced here by the laying out of lots and 
the grading of streets and avenues. The ave- 
nues are eighty feet in width ; the lots are fifty 
by one hundred and fifty feet. Berwick Lodge 
was built and opened for the season of 1883. 
Avon Inn was built in 1883-84 and opened for 
the season of 1884 and is intended to keep open 
for the winter. A life-saving station is near the 
bathing-place. 

The Summer School of the American Insti- 
tute of Christian Philosophy held a meeting at 
this ]>lace in June, 1884, and decided to estab- 
lisli here permanently. 

Neptuxe village lies west of and adjoining 
Key East, being separated from the latter place 
only by the Manasquan and Long Branch road, 
where the bridge crosses the river. The bridge 
was built in 1858, and in that year a hotel was 
ojiened at this place by Allen R. Cook. He was 
succeeded by Lewis C. Green and Theodore 
Fields. About 1867, William Laird opened a 
store at the place, now kept by Jlrs. Casnir. In 
1875, William Devereaux opened a store and 
was appointed postmaster of the office then es- 
tablished. He still holds the i^osition. 

On the north bank of Musquash Cove, David 
Slocum built a hotel in 1862 and kept it for two 
or three years, and in 1864 traded property MJth 
Jacob Bennett. It was at this hotel, a year or 
two later, that Hartshorne Fleming was shot by 
a man who, after committing the homicide, im- 
mediately went out into the woods and killed 
himself. 



OcEAX Grove is located on the sea-shore 
north of Key East and Bradley Beach, on 
Long Pond (now called Wesley Lake), which 
forms its northern boundary and divides it 
from Asbury Park. The place was laid out 
and brought to its present stage of improvement 
by the Ocean Grove Camp-Meeting Association 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was 
organized on the 22d of December, 1869. The 
history of Ocean Grove was given in a histor- 
ical address delivered by the Rev. E. H. Stokes, 
the president of the association, July 31, 1875, 
and is here reproduced as delivered, with only 
the exception of the omission of a few passages 
not pertinent to the history of the place. 

Ocean Grove is not an accident. Far back 
in the history of the past — indeed, from the 
beginniny; — rest from the wear and tear of 
human life has been a necessity. Human na- 
ture, in its mental and physical conditions, can- 
not endure uninterrupted toil. In the earlier 
ages life was simpler, and the habits of men 
such as to afford somewhat of the needed rest 
in the rural pursuits furnished from day to day. 
But as time rolled on, and a higher type of 
civilization prevailed, brain and nerve were 
taxed to the last extreme by these refinements, 
until the physical was often prostrated, and the 
mind imperiled. . . . Then summer re- 
sorts sprung up to meet a felt want. The 
mountains, sea-shore, valleys, glens, cataracts, 
sulphur springs and river-sides were sought out, 
and soon became centres of attra(!tion. Cape 
May and the Catskills are among our first re- 
membrances. These all had their adhei'ents, 
and served their purpose, and do so still. But 
there was another element of society increasing, 
and becoming more and more powerful every 
day, yet unprovided for. It was the religious 
element. There was a class of religious men, 
too, worn down with the toils of professional 
and business life, whose nerves and brain needetl 
rest like other men, and they said, one to 
another, " We want to enjoy the sea, and the 
air, and the bathing and the fishing, — the sea 
and the air are God's works, and for us — and 
we need them. Can we not have them, free 
from the dissipations and follies of fashionable 
watering-places, and at a cost within our 



854 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



means?" These were important questions, 
and were asked by thousands. To these men 
tlie fashionable watering-places had no attrac- 
tions, — neither the society nor employments were 
congenial. The cost, too, was more than their 
income would allow. We wanted to rest, and 
to recreate, — to fish, to sail, to bathe, to walk 
along the surf, to admire the sublime and beau- 
tiful on the calm or stormy sea, to inhale the 
ocean air. The first crude thouo;ht was to find 
somewhere along the coast a little plat of ground 
where a few of us might get the privilege of 
pitching our tents for a while in summer, where 
we could enjoy ourselves, having such religious 
services intermingled as convenience or inclina- 
tion might suggest. But it M'as a long wliile be- 
fore the crude thought gathered sufficient 
strength to assume a definite shape. Mean- 
while the Vineland Camp-Meeting for the pro- 
motion of holiness was held. It was a success; 
but the shade was not good, and Rev. J. R. 
Andrews, then pastor of the Vineland Church) 
and Rev. W. B. Osborn, .selected and deter- 
mined on the purchase of a better grove in the 
immediate vicinity, for the establishment of a 
permanent camp-meeting ground. But, through 
some misapprehension, the purchase was de- 
feated. Tiie brethren above referred to then 
said, " Let us select a camp-ground by the sea- 
side, and then the desired rest and the great 
salvation needed can be secured at the same 
time." They agreed ; the coast was explored, 
and the Seven-Mile Beach, Cape May County, 
N. J., was fixed upon as the spot, and was to be 
purchased by Andrews and Osljorn for fifty 
thousand dollars, a pretty round sum for two 
poor Methodist preachers, — but they had faith 
and zeal, though little money. They went to 
Philadelphia to complete the purchase, when 
Andrews said to Osborn, "There is one thing 
we have forgotten." "What is that?" said 
Osborn. " The. mosquitoes," replied Andrews. 
"We don't want to buy the mosquitoes." 
" That's so," said Osborn, and the purchase was 
abandoned. That was well, too, for Seven- 
Mile Beach was not the place. Osborn was 
appointed agent for the Vineland Seminary. 
In that capacity he traveled largely through 
the State, and talked up the matter of a sea-side 



summer resort for ministers, and the long-cher- 
ished idea of a camp-meeting by the .sea. In 
the selection of a suitable place, the whole New 
Jersey coast, from Cape May to Sandy Hook, 
was carefully explored. 

The grounds now occupied were first visited 
by Rev. W. B. Osborn and Rev. George Neal, 
then pastor of First Church, Long Branch, in 
February, 1868, a deep snow being on the 
ground. They first inclined to a point of land 
on what is now the Asbury Park side, nearest 
the lake and the sea. The second visit was a 
few weeks later ; Osborn, Neal and Rev. R. M. 
Stratton, then pastor of the Centenary Church, 
Long Branch, being the company. They ex- 
l)lored the grounds pretty thoroughly, but 
readied no definite conclusion. After that, Os- 
born brought Dr. George F. Brown and Rev. 
W. E. Perry, P. E., to view the locality, but 
no advance was made, and the matter was 
allowed to rest until the coming summer. Os- 
born then came alone, and examined all the 
grounds in the neighborhood. The time was 
more propitious to select a camp-ground than in 
bleak winter. All things considered, our pres- 
ent locality, being high and dry, with lakes on 
eitlier side, a pleasant and shady grove, with 
splendid ocean-front for bathing, was finallv 
fixed upon as best adapted to our wants, and 
" Ocean Grove " at once adopted as a name. 

At the time of the selection of this land as a 
place of operation scarcely anything could have 
been rougher. It was wilderness, desert, deso- 
lation. Silence reigned. After passing Great 
Pond, the northern boundary of Asbury Park, 
all was an unbroken solitude. A serpentine and 
heavy sand road, wide enough for onlv a single 
wagon-track, was all that penetrated the forest. 
Crossing what was then Long Pond (now Wes- 
ley Lake, and turning into the thicket ju.st 
where our gates are, at tiie head of Main Ave- 
nue, our driver (the first time we entered the 
grounds, IVIay, 1869) stood in front of his car- 
riage and lifted tlie limbs so as to crowd our 
conveyance through the brush and drooping 
boughs of the trees. We came down by a blind 
road, the brush tearing and .scratching our cur- 
tains at every step and stopped just in the rear 
of this stand, hy the cedar-tree which vet re- 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



855 



mains as a memorial of the fact. It was a dark, 
dreary, drizzly day. The sands hedged us in 
like petrified billows of the sea, while outside of 
these banks were knolls and depressions, covered 
with long beach grass, the picture of desolation; 
while the sea moaned in the distance as if in 
unutterable sorrow that it had been doomed for 
long ages to wash the shore of a land so utterly 
destitute of every attraction. The grove was a 
tangled wild-wood, i ^vhere briers scratched and 
bushes tore. The heavens were black, the grass 
wet, and the sands half-knee deep. We alighted 
from our carriage, and went forth to explore, 
Osborn leading, and dilating, with all the 
energy of which he is capable, upon the wonder- 
ful beauties of the place. And, strange to say, 
black as were the heavens, wet as was the grass, 
deep as was the saud, moaning as did the sea, 
we had not traveled far before the conviction 
seized every mind that, dismal and destitute as 
it was, it possessed capabilities of being made to 
bloom and blossom as the rose — and while we 
stood on the sand-drifts south of what is now 
Main Avenue, and looked out over the great 
wide sea, it seemed to us that a more magnificent 
site for cottages could hardly be found. 

At that time, between Great Pond and Shark 
River, east of the main road, a distance of ucai'ly 
four miles, there were thirty-four inhabitants. 
On the grounds now owned by the Ocean Grove 
Camp-JNIeeting Association (about three hundred 
acres) there were but four persons, namely, — 
Charles Rogers, wife and two children. On the 
grounds now known as Asbur}' Park there was 
not a single inhabitant. And yet, dark and dis- 
mal as was that day, destitute as was the earth 
of cultivation, and wild as was the scene on 
every hand, it did not seem lonely then, and 
never has. 

This was the condition of things when a few 
families, about twenty persons in all, met on 
these grounds on the last week of July, 1869. 
Our tents, poor, dingy and old (ten in number), 
were located about as follows : Rev. W. B. 
Osborn ^^as near the northeast edge of what 
is now Thomjjson Park, under quite a large 
hickory-tree, which, unfortunately and greatly 
to our regret, is'now nearly or quite dead. Near 
him was the tent of Rev. J. H. Stockton and 



Rev. G. Hughes. A little south of these was 
Orville Howard, of Troy, brother of Charles 
E. Howard, of the Pitman House ; then, a few 
yards north, on the immediate lake-front, on 
the rise of ground in Thompson Park, just 
where Pilgrim Pathway curves into Lake Ave- 
nue, was the tent of J. H. Thornley, Esq., of 
Philadelphia. In this tent the first meeting- 
was held. A little north to the ravine — which 
ran down to the lake about where Pilgrim's 
Pathway lies — was a tent, occupied for a night 
or two by Alfred Cookman. Next to that, 
about where the Cookman Cottage stands, was 
the tent of E. H.Stokes; near him, still a little 
north, was R. J. Andrews, then Gardner 
Howland and Joseph Hillman, both of Troy. 
Next to them, adjoining Rev. B. M. Adams' 
cottage, were two tents and a boarding-table, 
kept by John Martin. George Franklin, with a 
few men engaged in clearing away the under- 
brush, had located, some time before, in a tent 
aliout where the Mathews cottage has since 
been built. 

This was the company, and here, amid these 
I'ude arrangements, they enjoyed themselves for 
several days. They had religious services in 
their own tents, as they had in their families 
at home ; but there was no united religious 
worship until Tuesday night, July 31st. At 
that prayer-meeting Joseph Hillman sung some 
of his wonderful songs, and the first meeting at 
Ocean Grove was one never to be forgotten in 
the annals of time or eternity. The names of 
the persons in the tent-meeting were as follows: 
Joseph H. Thornley and wife, Philadelphia ; 
R. J. Andrews and wife, New Jersey ; Gardi- 
ner Howland and wife, Troy, N. Y. ; William 
Manahan, Long Branch; Joseph Hillman, 
wife and daughter, Troy, N. Y. ; William B. 
Osborn, wife and son, Farmingdale, N. J. ; 
George Hughes, New Jersey ; Orville How- 
land and wife, Troy, N. Y.; J. H. Stockton, 
New Jersey ; John IVIartin, wife and daughter, 
Greenville, N. J. ; E. H. Stokes and wife. Red 
Bank, N. J., — twenty-two in all. 

Wesley Lake (then Lake Pond), now dotted 
with over four hundred nicely trimmed and 
painted boats, and Fletcher Lake (then Goose 
Pond), having twenty-three, had then but a 



856 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



single craft, — a clumsy, superaunuated fishing- 
boat, which Mr. Osboni had bought for a small 
sura of the fishermen along shore, and had 
christened her the " Barbara Heck." This 
craft could carry, without inconvenience, nearly, 
if not quite the whole population of Ocean Grove 
at that time at a single trip. Bishop Simpson 
and his lady honored this old craft with their 
presence, and in it sailed along Wesley Lake 
u[) through the wilds towards the bridge, and 
thought the ride was very fine. But, alas ! one 
stormy night A\'esley Lake, wearied with its 
long imprisonment, slipped out to sea, and 
with it carried the old " Barbara Heck," since 
which time all efforts for its recovery have 
been without avail. 

Some days after the prayer-meeting referred 
to, Mr. Osborn thought we must hold a kind of 
carap-meeting. The place fixed on was about 
where D. H. Brown's cottage stands. Two 
loads of boards were hauled from I^ong Branch, 
pine logs were cut, and on these the boards were 
placed for seats. A stand, rude as could be, 
holding three or four persons, a little straw 
scattered around, and invitations to the few 
people in the neighborhood l^eing sent out, we 
were ready for work. 

Edgar Orville Howland, of Troy, N. Y., an 
exhorter, held the first religious service at this 
little camp-meeting, the theme of discourse be- 
ing " partakers of Christ," suggested liy Heb. 
xi. 1-1, the congregation numbering thirty or 
forty persons. It was a very small, but very 
good meeting. It soon came to an end, how- 
ever, and we all went home greatly pleased and 
profited with our visit to the sea. 

Up to the time of this meeting there had 
been no purchase of lands, save the one-third of 
a third of one hundred acres, fishing tract, di- 
rectly along the surf, of Britton White, for fifty 
dollars. The deed for this had just been obtained, 
and Osborn, in company with Charles Rogers, 
went down to see his new possession. It was eleven 
acres of sand, nothing more, nothing less, — -just 
as good and pure sand as the world produces ! 
As they walked and talked, Rogers saw some- 
thing at his feet that resembled a coin. He did 
not pick it up, but called Osborn's attention to 
it. He stooped and took it in his hand. They 



both said it was a rusty old English penny, but 
upon further inspection it proved to be a Span- 
ish silver dollar. This was regarded as an 
augury for good. 

Soon after this it was decided to purchase a 
few acres, lying in the grove, immediately along 
the northern lake, and enough beach land to 
give us a passage to the sea ; and here in this 
small compass a few of us proposed, in the sim- 
plest and most unostentatious way, to assemble 
from year to year, and enjoy our summer rest 
in bathing, fishing, worshiping or sauntering 
socially along the shore, free from the heavy 
cares which we felt resting upon us, welcoming 
from the immediate neighborhood such as might 
choose to join us in our simple service by the 
sea. It was no speculation, no scheme for 
raising money, no device of any kind; but 
simplv and singly social, recreative and reli- 
gious, — mainly, excepting the few neighbors who 
might desire to worsiiip with us, for ourselves 
alone. The great world we did not seek, but 
shunned. We wanted simply to rest and re- 
cuperate. 

As our plans became known, however, others 
wished to unite with us, and we were earnestly 
desired so to extend our enterprise as to include 
all who sought similar relief from the heavy 
cares of professional or business life. Yielding to 
this request, a meeting was held on the22d day of 
December, 1 S69, in the Trinity Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, Trenton, N.J. , of which the lamented 
Lawrence was then pastor, and an association, 
consisting of thirteen ministers and thirteen 
laymen, was formed, and a charter soon after ob- 
tained from the New Jersey Legislature, under 
the following title: "The Ocean Grove Camp- 
Meeting Association of tiie Methodist Episcopal 
Church." The following paragraphs precede 
the charter : 

" Recognizing the beauty of the Scripture 
declaration ' The earth is the Lord's, aud the 
fullness thereof,' and being especially impressed 
with the propriety of having a portion of the 
land skirting the sea consecrated to sacred uses, 
we whose names are hereunto annexed, with a 
sinii-le eve to the divine glory, and in humble 
dependence upon our Heavenly Father's aid, do 
hereby solemnly covenant together to use cer- 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



857 



tain land which has been providentially' com- 
mitted to our trust, for these high and holy 
purposes. And we further declare it to be our 
design to keep these lands a perpetual oblation 
upon Christ's altar, enjoining the same duty 
upon those who may succeed us. To this end 
we mutually pledge our Christian honor." 

The by-laws declare the objects of the asso- 
ciation to be as follows : " To provide for the 
holding of camp-meetings of an elevate<l 
character, especially for the promotion of Chris- 
tian holiness ; and to afford to those who would 
spend a few days or weeks at the sea-shore an 
opportunity to do so at moderate cost, free from 
the temptations to dissipation usually found at 
fashionable watering-places." 

Any surplus funds remaining to the corpora- 
tion after defraying the necessary expenses for 
improvements or otherwise are to be devoted to 
such benevolent objects as may be determined 
by the association at its regular meetings. 

The names of the twenty-six original mem- 
bers of the association, each of whom paid 
twenty-five dollars to constitute a fund with 
■which to commence our work, are found in the 
charter in the following order: EUwood H. 
Stokes, Ruliff V. Lawrence, George Hughes, 
William B. Osborn, David H. Brown, John S. 
Inskip, William H. Boole, Benjamin M. 
Adams, Alfred Cookman, Adam Wallace, John 
H. Stockton, Aaron E. Ballard, William Frank- 
lin, Robert J. Andrews, Joseph H. Thoruley, 
George W. Evans, Christopher Sickler, George 
Franklin, Samuel T. AVilliams, William Mana- 
han, John Martin, George W. Cheeseman, 
James Black, Oliver L. Gardiner, Gardiner 
Rowland and William F. Jordan. From the 
original twenty-six, a board of officers was 
elected, with the Rev. E. H. Stokes as president. 
He immediately felt, in assuming the duties of 
the office, that a great work had been under- 
taken, and said that inasmuch as all the mem- 
bers of the association had their callings, which 
absorbed their time, it was a necessity, in view 
of the magnitude of the enterprise, that the 
superintendence of the work upon the grounds 
should be the undivided basiness of some one 
person. So all felt. It was then proposed to 
secure from the New Jersev Conference the ser- 



vices of Rev. W. B. Osborn as superintendent, 
which being done, the work commenced. 

The incipient movements were to clear a part 
of the Grove from underbrush, stake out the 
lots, and secure, as soon as possible, a hundred 
subscribers for lots at fifty dollars each. This 
was soon done, and on the 1st day of June, 
1870, the subscribers came to claim their prop- 
erty. It was mutually decided that the choice 
should be sold at auction. The first choice 
brought eighty-six dollars, and was paid by 
James A. Bradley, Esq., now of Asbury Park, 
for the lake lot (still vacant) lying between W. 
I'. Breck's and the cottage of Rev. B. M. 
Adams. The premiums for lots on the ocean- 
front ran down as low as one dollar, and lots 
bought there for fifty-one dollars have since, in 
some instances, been sold as high as fifteen 
hundred dollars. The aggregate of premiums 
on that day amounted to fifteen hundred dollars, 
which was thought to be a great success. 

The price of lots then advanced to seventy- 
five dollars, then to one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars, and finally to two hundred and 
fifty dollars. After this other purchases were 
made by the association ; but the whole land 
question in connection with Ocean Grove has a 
history, which, if ever written in full, will be 
found to possess an interest amounting to more 
than romance, because thrilled with facts that 
pushed ns out often to the crumbling verge of 
despair, and unless relief had come from God, 
must sooner or later have involved some of us, 
though innocent and pure in these transactions 
as the first-born son of light, in irretrievable 
disaster, if not utter ruin. But to the trusting 
heart there never yet was a Red Sea of diffi- 
culty that some Moses was not found ready and 
able to smite and divide the waters. So here. 
After eighteen months of weary watchinjr, 
working, waiting and praying, till hope began 
to grow sick with the long delay, it was found 
that our title to a part of our lands, for which 
we had paid five hundred dollars, and on the 
strength of which we had surveyed our prop- 
erty, sold lots, and on which cottages had been 
built, was worthless ! but could (as a special 
favor to us !) be made perfect by the payment 
of seventeen thousand dollars more. The 



858 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



whole Ocean Grove property, consisting of 
about two hundred and sixty-six acres, was 
acquired by the purchase of ten different tracts, 
for wliich ten deeds had to be given. To vali- 
date these deeds required ninety-two signatures, 
but in the transfer (several different parties 
being interested in the same tract) some of the 
names had to be obtained as many as four times, 
and each time with increased difficulty. The 
actual number of different owners was forty- 
four. The following are the names of the 
parties from whom the grounds were bought : 



Britton White. 
Caroline White. 
Theodore Fields. 
Sarah Fields. 
James Fields. 
Charlotte Hubbard. 
Susan Borden. 



James A. Bradley. 
Helen M. Bradley. 
James White. 
Sarah White. 
William C. White. 
Drummond AVhite. 
Hannah A. White. 



Andrewetta S. Brinley. Goyan Drummond. 

Joseph White. Divine .\lgor. 

Sarah E. White. John E. White. 

William Thome. Youman.s B. White. 

Martha A. Thome. Henry White. 

William Swanton. Elizabeth White. 

Ann Swanton. Russell White. 

Charles Rogers. William W. Jeffrey. 

Mary E. Rogers. Jane Jeffrey. 

William Fields. Borden W. Sandford. 

John Sickles. Deborah Sandford. 

Henry Fields. Benjamin White. 

Ruth Ann Fields. Jennie White. 

Jacob Fields. Frances Corlis. 

Helen R. Russell. Martha C. Corlis. 

And when it is rememberefl that these were scat- 
tered through different States, some minors, 
others in peculiar mental conditions, and all to 
be consulted, and such arrangements made with 
them as the almost endless variety of circum- 
stances and views of the case demanded, the ad- 
justment of the questions at all seems to us 
nothing short of divine interposition. The 
chief human agent in unraveling these entangle- 
ments was D. H. Brown, Esq., treasurer of 
Ocean Grove Camp-Meeting Association, whose 
patience in the matter has only been equaled by 
the intense desire he has felt to see all these 
questions brought to a satisfactory end. 

The w-ater question was in the beginning, one 
of great anxiety. There was plenty of water 
in the sea, in the lakes — all around — but 
what should we do for water to drink ? 



There were no springs, no living fresh-water 
streams. The prospects were discouraging. 
Sunset Lake seemed to be the most feasible 
source; but that was too far off. Finally, at- 
tention was called to the tube-pump, and it 
was thought it might work here. It was tried, 
and up to this time, with the hundreds of 
pumps now upon this ground, has proved a tri- 
umphant success Better water, with a supply 
less likely to fail, hardly exists perhaps upon 
the continent. 

After the 1st of June, 1870, lots were fairly 
in the market, and there were sold that year 
three hundred and seventy-three. During that 
year the first cottage was built — comer of As- 
bury Avenue and Kingsley Place — by H. Y. 
Lazear, then of Warwick, N. Y., now of Chi- 
cago. In the winter, Messrs. Fuller and Hav- 
wood built, and in the spring of next year, 
Thornley, Stetson, Stokes, Mrs. Duffield and 
Mrs. Ilulse. At the close of the year there 
were sixty in all. 

The first camp-meeting held on these 
grounds commenced on Tuesday, July 26th, and 
closed on Friday night, August 5, 1870. It 
was well attended, the weather was delightful, 
the order perfect, and the influence, from its in- 
ception to the close, heavenly and divine. To 
accommodate this meeting, and that of 1871, 
tents of the Round Lake Camp-Meeting A.sso- 
ciation, numbering nearly one hundred and 
fifty, were hired, at an expense of five hundred 
dollars, with the additional co.st of transporta- 
tion from Round Lake and back, together with 
the wages, traveling expenses and the board of 
an overseer sent with them. After these meet- 
ings tents were purcha.sed, and the association 
now owns a great number of them. 

" It is important now," said President Stokes, 
•' to call even more special attention to the ob- 
ject of this organization — and it is a pleasure to 
me to say that it is pre-eminently religious. All 
the members of our association must be mem- 
bers of the Christian Church. An act that 
would expel them from the church expels them 
from our association. All our business meetino-s 

o 

commence and end with religious services. . . . 
Oiu" rules, which have been the subject of much 
comment, especially by those who never read 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



859 



them, we have published, and ask all to study. 
Thev are simply a mutual protection — not more 
for us than for you. If we sold our lots in fee- 
simple rather than by lease, you might have 
something offensive next to your cottage, which 
you have built for a pleasant summer retreat. 
If we allowed the transfer of a lot without our 
approval, you might soon be annoyed with most 
oflPensive neighbors. If we allowed the indis- 
criminate occupancy of cottages during the win- 
ter months by any who may chance to get the 
privilege, the danger from fire would be greatly 
increased, and the little summer adornments of 
your property might soon be destroyed by chil- 
dren and others who have little or no interest 
in the place. As it is, we allow no one to stay 
during the winter unless they are known to be 
proper and responsible pereons, and there are 
good reasons why they should remain. When 
this is clearly shown, there have never been 
refusals for any to remain. 

" The next rule that has called forth remark 
is that requiring our gates closed on the Sab- 
bath. On this we simply say we are a religious 
place and a religious people. To open our gates 
on the Sabbath would disturb the outside world, 
make a great deal of unnecessary travel, break 
up congregations in the country for miles around i church edifice in the place. 



inscribed upon the marble panels found upon 
the several sides. 

The panel facing Main Avenue has inscribed 
upon it : 

OCEAN GROVE 

CAMP-MEETING ASSOCIATION 

OF THE 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

ORGANIZED DECEMBER 22, 1869. 

" HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD." 

ERECTED JULY 31, 1875. 

On the panel facing west is inscribed : 

IN MEMORIAM : 

ALFRED COOKMAN, 

RULIFF V. LAWRENCE, 

GEORGE FRANKLIN. 

Since 1875, when, at the anniversary meet- 
ing. President Stokes delivered the address em- 
bracing the history of the place down to that 
time, as above given, Ocean Grove has had a 
very great increase of population and import- 
ance, as will be seen by the account which fol- 
lows: 

The religious services and ceremonies at 
Ocean Grove are held chiefly in the open air, 
in the great Auditorium, and in the Janes 
Memorial Tabernacle, there being but one regu- 
larly organized church, and one (prospective) 



us, and so unsettle us inside that one of the 
primary objects of our association — viz.: quiet- 
ness and rest — would be defeated. I have just 



The Ocean Grove Auditorium, as it now 
stands, has a capacity (including platform and 
camp-chairs) for seating about five thousand 



to say that with thoughtful people our Sabbath j people. Its present location was fixed in 1870 
reo-ulatious are one of our chief attractions, and j by Rev. W. B. Osborn and the Eev. E. H. 
there is no human probability that these rules ' Stokes. Then a covered platform was erected. 



will ever be revoked. All our other rules 
are so obviously simple and reasonable that 
they do not even need a passing remark from 
me."" 

On the 31st of July, 1875, at the sixth anni- 
versary of the first religious meeting held upon 



with a cupola, which contained a small bell. 
Pine plank were used for seats. These served 
for four years. In 1874 one hundred and fifty 
park settees were purchased of the New Jersey 
Conference Camp-Meeting Association at Pit- 
man Grove, N. J. In 1875 a substantial frame. 



these grounds, there was erected, as commemo- seventy-five by one hundred feet, was erected, 



rative of that event, in connection with the an- 
niversary exercises in Memorial Park, a " Me- 
morial Vase," at a cost of a little over one hun- 
dred dollars. The vase is of iron, and stands 
about eight feet high. It is designed, not sim- 
ply as commemorative of the first religious meet- 
ing held upon these grounds, but as the mem- 
bers of the association die, their names will be 



and covered during the season with pine-boughs. 
It served for two camp-meetings, and in 1876 
was roofed over and so used until 1880, when it 
was enlarged to one hundred and thirty-six by 
one hundred and forty-six feet, with outer posts 
eighteen feet high and centre posts twenty-four 
feet high. The building thus enlarged covers 
nearlv half an acre of ground. 



860 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JEESEY. 



Association Hall was erected in 1871. It is 
of brick, sixty-five feet square, three stories in 
height, with a basement. The corner-stone was 
laid March 24th. The association occupied its 
business office early in July following, and on 
the 1st of August the building was dedicated. 
It is occupied by the business office of the as- 
sociation, the post-office, the executive commit- 
tee rooms, the Library Association and commit- 
tee rooms. A large hall is on the second floor, 
which is used for religious services. The tower 
of the building contains a four-faced clock and 
a bell weighing twelve hundred pounds. 

The model of Jerusalem was donated to the 
association in 1880 by the Rev. W. W. Wythe, 
M.D. It is erected on the plat of ground 
north of Ocean Pathway, between Central and 
Pilgrim Pathways. It was inclosed every win- 
ter to protect it from storms, uutil 1884, when 
it was permanently inclosed. 

The Bishop Janes ]\Iemorial Tabernacle is a 
frame building, sixty by eighty feet in size, 
having a capacity of seating one thousand per- 
sons. It was dedicated June 14, 1S77. 

St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, 
at Ocean Grove, was organized in 1874, with 
the Rev. H. B. Beegle as pastor. His succes- 
sors have been L. La Rue, 1875 ; W. Abbott, 
187(3-77; W. Barnhart, 1878-79 ; E.H. Stokes, 
1880-82; Dr. W. W. Wythe, 1883; J. D. 
Westcott, 1884. 

The Ocean Grove Association, in October, 
1874, donated the land on which the church 
was erected and one thousand dollars to the 
building fund. The corner-stone was laid Au- 
gust 1, 1875, by Bishop Scott. The church 
was completed and ready for use May 28, 1876, 
and was dedicated by the venerable Bishop Ed- 
mund S. Janes, August 1, 1876. The building 
cost about eight thousand dollars. It was used 
until sold to the school district of Asbury Park, 
in the spring of 1882. From that time ser- 
vices have been held in Association Hall. The 
society has purchased a large plat of ground 
on Embury and New York Avenues, facing on 
Embury Avenue. The corner-stone was laid 
December 2, 1884. Owing to the cold weather, 
the exercises were held in Association Hall. The 



Rev. W. W. Moffat, presiding elder of this dis- 
trict; the Rev. Dr. E. H. Stokes, president of the 
Ocean Grove Camp-Meeting Association; the 
Rev. Dr. Benjamin C. Lippincott, of Long 
Branch ; the Rev. Messrs. George W. Bancroft, 
Samuel Dillingham and Samuel Jaquet, of 
Ocean Grove; and the Rev. William Franklin, 
of Ocean Beach, took part in the services. The 
congregation marched to the new lot, where 
Presiding Elder Moft'at laid the corner-stone. 
The church will be a frame edifice, and cost 
about twenty thousand dollars. 

In West Grove a chapel, thirty by fifty feet, J 
was erected in 1883 at a cost of seven hundred 
dollars, where religious services are held and a 
large Sunday-school is taught. It is under the 
care of St. Paul's Church. 

The following is a summary of the services 
held at Ocean Grove in the season of 1884, and 
is a fair showing of every year's services : 
There have been during the season : addresses, 
574 ; memorial services, 7 ; original poems, 3 ; 
young people's meetings, 62 ; holiness meetings, 
75; sermons, 59; Sabbath-school sessions, in- 
cluding three divisions — primary, intermediate 
and Bible class, 10; surf meetings, 10; chil- 
dren's meetings, 9 ; Bible readings, 7 ; special 
experience meetings, 19; Women's Temperance 
Union, 1 3 ; love feasts, 3 ; service of song, 3 ; 
twilight meetings, 11 ; stereopticon exhibi- 
tions, 2; lectures, 11 ; National Temper- 
ance Convention meetings, 14; New York 
Conference Temperance meetings, 4 ; chaplain 
reunions, 9 ; family devotions, 27 ; Young 
Men's Christian Association meetings, 3 ; Eliz- 
abeth, N. J., young people's day, 1 ; National 
Couvention Methodist Seminaries, 1 ; Method- 
ist Episcopal historical day, 3 ; fourth of July 
celebration, 1 ; Ocean Grove anniversary, 1 ; 
anniversary prayer-meeting, 1 ; Lord's Supper, 
2; consecration meetings, 11; helping hand, 
14; Mrs. Smith's, 8; mothers' meetings, 7; re- 
vival meetings, immediately following the camp- 
meetings, 5. Total number of meetings, 419 ; 
add to these all the addresses, sermons, etc., 
and there is a grand total of nine hundred 
and ninety-four as the result of the summer 
services. 

The Ocean Grove Association entered into a 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



861 



contract with J. P. L. Tilton and Stiles to run 
a Hue of stages between Long Branch and Ocean 
Grove. This line was continued until August 
28, 1875, when the first railroad-train arrived 
at Asbury Park, and the stage-line was thus 
rendered unnecessary. 

The water supply for the association grounds, 
prior to 1883, was obtained largely from the 
well in the cellar of the association building. 
In December, 1882, it was decided to make 
the experiment of obtaining water by means of 
an artesian well. As this was the first artesian 
weW sunk on the shore, its progress is here de- 
scribed, as given from the reportof the president 
in 1883. In reference to the need of water for 
lire and sewerage purposes, he says : 

•'To meet these requirements, an Asbury Park aud 
Ocean Grove Water Company was organized two or 
three years ago, consisting of the best business men of 
both places. Numerous meetings were held, plans 
discussed, explorations made, money expended, and 
the re.sult was that, after various efforts and delays, the 
company dissolved. 

" Some of us at Ocean Grove held tenaciously to 
the thought that the water supply was beneath our 
feet. In this faith, the matter was brought before our 
last annual meeting (1882), and the project of sinking 
a test-well was favorably received, and referred to the 
executive committee with power. At the next execu- 
tive committee meeting, held December .5, 1882, D. H. 
Brown reported that Mr. H. C. Saflbrd, of Brooklyn, 
N. Y., would sink a well six inches in diameter, sixty 
feet deep, just south of the ice-house, for S6.50 per 
foot. It was then decided to do the work at an ex- 
pense not exceeding three hundred dollars. Decem- 
ber 21st, it was decided to bore one hundred feet, if 
necessary. The weather continuing unfavorable, the 
work was not commenced until February, 1883. At 
the executive committee meeting, March 7th, there 
being no signs of procuring water at the depth of 
one hundred feet, it was resolved to bore fifty feet 
deeper. At the meeting, April llth,still boring through 
impervious blue clay, a letter was received from Pro- 
fessor Cook, State geologist, accompanied with geologi- 
cal charts, urging us to proceed, with assurances that 
we would find water at the depth of two hundred and 
fiftyfeet. Theorderwasgiventobore two hundred feet. 
At the session of the semi-annual meeting, May 8, 
188-3, the depth of two hundred feet had been reached, 
and the same seemingly unending, stiff, almost rock- 
like, impenetrable blue clay continuing, the board of 
administration awaited further orders. Already fifteen 
hundred dollars had been expended. To stop now, 
■with the probability of being in the immediate vicin- 
ity of water, would be not only an actual loss of that 



amount, but a discouragement to all future efforts. It 
■was therefore resolved to go fifty feet further, and still 
on, at the discretion of the executive committee. 
When the committee met, on the IGth of June, the 
depth of two hundred and seventy-five feet had been 
reached, and still stiff, blue clay. The prospects were 
not encouraging, but there was a deep and abiding 
conviction that we were on the line of water. The 
board was therefore authorized to go twenty-five feet 
deeper, — fifty feet, if found necessary,— indeed, to go 
on until water should be found. At two hundred and 
eighty-five feet a thin stratum of sand and shells was 
reached and a slight flow^ of water. It was like an 
oasis in the desert to the swollen feet and blistered 
lips of weary travelers. All hearts were jubilant, 
and faith increased a hundred-fold. The boring re- 
commenced, and after passing about seven feet through 
the sand, without increase of water, the same kind of 
stiff, blue clay was again reached, which continued 
with but slight variations, involving toil, extending 
to weeks, and even months, expensive and testing 
faith and patience, to the last extreme. Many said, 
'You will never find ■n'ater.' And so we sometimes 
almost felt ourselves ; but never quite losing courage, 
kept on, until at last we adopted, as a kind of watch- 
word, ' Water or China.' Finally, through the oak 
land soils, through the pine land soils, through the 
upper marl bed, through the red sand bed, through 
the lower marl bed, at a depth of four hundred feet, 
laminated sands, according to the geological survey of 
Professor Cook, w^ere reached, and we were in the 
water region. We thanked God and took courage ; 
but our troubles were not at an end. The flow of wa- 
ter was small, and the difficulties in the way of de- 
veloping the well were many. A four-inch iron pipe, 
four hundred feet long, was sunk to the bottom of the 
bore, and held there with cement. An inch and a 
half iron pipe, four hundred feet long, was placed in- 
side the four-inch pipe for the purpose of forcing water 
down by means of a steam-engine, to wash out the 
sand and form a cavity at the bottom. The experi- 
ment was not at first successful. The small pipe met 
an obstruction, and would not go to the bottom, the 
machinery broke, the men became discouraged, almost 
demoralized. D. H. Brown, the treasurer, was inces- 
sant in his efforts to devise, encourage and help in the 
manipulations in all possible ways. Mr. Safford 
brought all his large experience to bear to insure 
success. N(5thing was left undone. A week passed 
without much progress. Messrs. Brown and Safford 
were in constant consultation. All were intensely 
interested. To fail now would be not only failure to 
us, but a blight to all the efforts to secure water along 
the New Jersey coast. We were laboring for others 
as well as ourselves. Friday, August 10th, arrived. A 
last eftbrt was to be made to sink the small pipe to the 
bottom. Mr. Brown and Mr. Safford tried all the 
morning, with but partial success ; in the afternoon 
the efforts to pass the obstruction were continued. 



862 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



At three o'clock something gave way four hundred 
feet below, and in three minutes the small iron pipe 
sunk twenty feet through the sand, below the bottom 
of the bore. ' What does that mean ? ' was asked. 
' It means we have reached the sand bed,' said Mr. 
SafFord. Immediately, the steamer threw down a 
stream of water from Fletcher Lake, with great force, 
and a wash of sand and water came up, a cart-load or 
two, in fifteen or twenty minutes. In half an hour the 
engine stopped, but the sand and water continued to 
flow of their own pressure. ' What does that mean ? ' 
was excitedly asked. 'It means,' said Mr. Safford, 
' that we have struck water.' The interest grew and 
intensified. We watched and wondered — wondered 
and watched — and as the water and sand continued 
to roll out, rising four hundred and twenty feet to the 
surface, of their own force, grew almost delirious with 
joy. Hope had so long been deferred, and the heart 
had so often been almost sick, that the realization of 
our long- cherished desire seemed more like a dream 
than real. Our first promptings were to sing the Dox- 
ology. Then we took a bucket and measured the flow. 
Again and again we measured, so as to be sure there 
was no mistake. Then we found a barrel of forty- 
three gallons, which was filled in just one minute. It 
was now six o'clock P.m., and the water had been 
flowing three full hours without abatement. We left 
it for the night. The news spread with great rapidity. 
Next morning the water was still flowing, and there 
were crowds to witness the scene and ofliier their con- 
gratulations. Another measurement was had, and 
the flow was increased to a barrel in fifty seconds. 
Multitudes in coaches and on foot flocked to the scene 
all through the day, for days together, and the joy was 
general. By actual test, it was found that the water 
would rise in pipes twentj'-eight feet above the surface 
of the ground. At eighteen feet nine inches above 
ground, the flow was one barrel of forty-three gallons 
in two minutes and thirty-five seconds, and at sixteen 
feet three inches, in one minute and forty seconds. 
After a week or so, upon consultation, it was decided 
to lead the water of the well through iron pipes, one 
thousand feet across the turnpike, just north of the 
head of Fletcher Lake, inside of Ocean Grove proper, 
and form a fountain, so that all passers along the high- 
way could see it, until such time as we shall deter- 
mine how best to utilize the flow. This was done, and 
on Sunday morning, August 25th, the first waters of 
the fountain flashed in the sun." 

A quantity of the water of the well, in the 
best condition, was sent to New Brunswick, 
N. J., to be analyzed by Professor Cook, who, 
in his report, after giving the result of the 
analysis, said : " It is clear, bright and spark- 
ling, and cannot but be wholesome. The source 
from whence the water comes, the taste of it, and 
its appearance are sufficient vouchers for its 



good qualities. The mineral matter is so small 
in quantity that the water will be classed as 
' soft,' so that it can be used for washing and 
for all other purposes where such water is de- 
sirable." The total cost of the well was 
$3636.46. 

This well is located a few feet south of the ice- 
house, near the railroad, a little south of the 
head of Fletcher Lake. From it the water is 
led, in four-inch iron pipe, across the turnpike 
to the head of Stockton Avenue; thence up 
Lawrence Avenue to Main, three thousand one 
hundred feet; down Main to Pilgrim Pathway, 
one thousand five hundred feet, in six-inch pipe, 
where it supplies a fountain ; thence down Main 
Avenue one thousand two hundred feet, to plank- 
walk, two-inch pipe supplying a fountain there; 
up Pilgrim Pathway to the Auditorium grounds 
one thousand feet, in two-inch pipe, flushing 
water-closets, and thence eight hundred and thirty 
feet, one and a half inch pipe, supplying three 
other ornamental fountains in the Auditorium 
grounds. Public and private houses are also 
supplied, leaving a large overflow for flushing 
sewers. 

The sewerage system of Ocean Grove was 
begun in 1880, and there are at present thirty- 
eight thousand one hundred and seventy feet, or 
seven miles twelve hundred and ten feet of pipes, 
fourteen thousand and twenty feet of which is 
six-inch pipe, sixteen thousand seven hundred 
and thirty feet of twelve-inch pipe, and seven 
thousand four hundred and twenty feet of ten- 
inch pipe. 

The Washington Steam Fire-Engine Com- 
pany, No. 1 , of Ocean Grove, was organized in 
1880 with forty members. Captain Lewis Rain- 
ear chief. The Ocean Grove Association own 
all the fire apparatus. In 1872 they purchased 
two fire extinguishers, valued at one hundred 
dollars. In 1875 the association purchased a 
suction engine and hose-carriage and erected an 
engine-house. In 1877, in addition to this 
apparatus, they procured a four-wheel truck, 
four ladders, fire-hooks, axes, buckets, four 
small fire extinguishers and a large-size four- 
wheel chemical-engine. After the organization 
of the fire company the apparatus was turned 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



863 



over to the company. A first-class steam fire- 
engine, two hose-cai-riages and fifteen hundred 
feet of hose were purchased and an engine- 
house, twenty-four by forty feet in size, two 
stories in height, was erected on the south side 
of Olin Street, between Pilgrim Pathway and 
Central Avenue. 

The place is abundantly supplied with water 
for fire purposes. The lakes on either side form 
a reservoir always available for the portions of 
the town near them. A fire-plug supplied by 
four wells driven on the edge of Centennial 
Park, furnishes water for a radius of fifteen hun- 
dred feet. The water from the main artesian 
well will soon be connected for fire purposes 
also. 

Ocean Grove post-ofBce was established in 
June, 1871, at which time there were not 
twenty-five people resident within a mile of the 
place. A little building occupied by Charles 
Eogers, near the Main Avenue gate, was made 
the post-office, and H. B. Beegle was the first 
postmaster. He opened the office for business 
June 30, 1871. The office remained in this 
building (now Elim Cottage) about six weeks, 
and was removed to a store building on the 
present site of the Janes ^Memorial Tabernacle, 
where it remained several yeare, until the build- 
ing was removed to the site of Association Hall, 
where it remained in the building until the 
completion of Association Hall. The office 
was moved July SO, 1882, and opened the next 
morning, August 1st. Mr. Beegle ha.s been the 
postmaster from the establishment of the office 

The room occupied for postal and telegraphic 
purposes is on the first floor of the main build- 
ing, and is thirty-five by sixty-two feet, with 
iron columns supporting a ceiling thirteen feet 
high. The fixtures are of the most modern and 
approved styles, with seven hundred and seventy 
call and one hundred and twenty lock-boxes of 
the latest pattern. There are also three general 
deliveries, four call deliveries, one newspaper de- 
livery, one stamp and postal money-order win- 
dow, five boxes for depositing letters for mailing, 
and one telegraph window. Inside of the 
post-office inclosure is the mailing-room, for 
making up and distributing mails, postmaster's 
private waiting-room and telegraph-office, with 



all other appliances needed in a firet-class office 
room, the whole of which is lighted with gas. The 
work which inclosas the post-office is of the 
Elizabethan style of architecture, built of white 
ash, (California red wood, white pine, chestnut 
and other woods, with large square windows at 
the top for ventilation, working with pulleys. 
It is the design and workmanship of Ander- 
son Hagerman, of Asbury Park, and cost the 
very low sum of eight hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, not including the one hundred and twenty 
lock-boxes, which cost three hundred and 
eighteen dollars and thirty cents. The whole 
expense of post-office arrangements, including 
lock-boxes, gas-fixtures and all complete, is 
over twelve hundred dollars, which is, in addi- 
tion to the room in which the office is located, 
furnished wholly at the expense of the asso- 
ciation, without remuneration from the general 
government in any way or form. 

The Ocean Crrove Record newspaper is pub- 
lished at Asbury Park by the Rev. Adam ^\'al- 
lace, who was the first editor and publisher. 
The first number was issued June 5, 1875, — a 
four-column quarto sheet. It is now a six- 
column paper, fifteen by twenty-two inches, 
devoted to Ocean Grove and its religious in- 
terests. 

The bathing privileges of Ocean Grove were 
granted prior to 1876 to W. T. Street, whose 
time expired in that year. It was decided by 
the executive committee to locate permanently 
two bathing-places, — one near the foot of Wesley 
Lake, the other near the foot of Fletcher Lake, 
both to be under the same regulations, but con- 
ducted by different persons. The ground at the 
foot of Fletcher Lake was leased for five years 
to Mr. T. W. Lillagore, with the bathing privi- 
lege. Mr. Lillagore built two hundred and five 
bathing-houses and two pavilions. The bathing- 
houses and life-lines on the bathing-ground at 
the head of Wesley Lake, belonging to Mr. 
Street, were purchased by the association and 
leased for one year to George Evans. In 1877 
they were leased for a term of years to Jose])h 
Ross, who increased the number of bathing- 
houses to three hundred and sixty, and added 
twenty-four, in which ai'e excellent arrangements 
for hot and cold salt-water baths. He also built 



864 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



a buildino; for a restaurant and two pavilions. 
In 1884 he had seven hundred bathing-houses 
and Lillagore eight hundred. The houses of 
both bathing-grounds are amply supplied with 
hot bath-rooms and bathing-suits, bathing-mas- 
ters and life-boats. Large pavilions are also on 
each property, with restaurants and places of 
refreshment. 

AsBURY Park is in the northeast corner of 
Neptune township, between Great Pond (now 
Deal Lake) on the north, and Long Pond (Wesley 
Lake) on the south, between this place and 
Ocean Grove. 

The land on which both Asbury Park and 
Ocean Grove are now located was granted to 
Gavin Drummond, November 2, lfi92, and con- 
firmed to him November 12, 1701. It was 
descriljed in parcels as "Ye meadow on Little 
Pond (now Sunset Lake), Long Pond (Wesley 
Lake), Goose Pond (now Fletcher Lake) and 
on Duck Creek, by Shark River." These seem 
to be the meadow-lands along the ponds or lakes. 
Drummond afterwards took up and purchased 
other tracts in the vicinity. From that time to 
1869 this tract was in possession of different 
parties, and was a wilderness, uncultivated and 
uninhabited, except by an occasional fisherman. 
The causes that brought about the purchase of 
the land for a summer resort have been often 
narrated, but they will be mentioned somewhat 
in detail here as pertinent to a historical account 
of Asbury Park. The story is here given as 
told by James A. Bradley, a brush manufacturer 
of New York City, the original proprietor of 
the Park, — 

" One afternoon in May, 1870, 1 was walking down 
Broadway, New York, and suddenly ran against my 
friend, David H. Brown, Esq., treasurer of the Ocean 
Grove Association. ' How is Ocean Grove getting 
along?' I asked. 'Very fairly,' said he, 'why don't 
you buy a lot? Those who have their names put 
down now have first choice.' ' Well, put rae down 
for two,' said I. A few days after, in company 
with Rev. W. H. Boole and George W. Cheeseman, 
of Birmingham, Conn., Rev. Mr. Saxe and others, 
we started for Ocean Grove. We took the boat 
for Port Monmouth, thence by railroad to Eaton- 
town. The sea-.shore route was opeued a few days 
afterwards. Afterdining at Mr. Brown's country-house 
at Eatontown, we drove to Ocean Grove in carriages. 



The turnpike company had just commenced oper- 
ations, and from Great Pond to Ocean Grove was one 
of the worst roads that could well be imagined. I was 
completely taken with Ocean Grove and its surround- 
ings — so much so that I purchased the first lot ever 
sold there, the premium being eighty-five dollars. 

"Having for some time previous been in bad 
health, I concluded to try what I had been recom- 
mended — sea-air. So, a few days after purchasing 
the lots, taking two horses, carriage and tent, and 
John Baker, ray colored man, I left the hum of the 
busy city behind, to become an inhabitant of the wild 
woods, where ray w^earied body and brain might rest, 
lulled to sleep by the murmuring sea at night, and 
awakened in the morning by the songs of birds in the 
pine-trees surrounding iny couch. 

"John and I arrived at Ocean Grove just at night- 
fall, and having got our horses under shelter, we has- 
tened to erect our tent. It was too dark to get poles, 
so we hung the tent on the beams of what was after- 
wards the association office, the first building ever 
erected in Ocean Grove. The building at that time was 
without roof We were without light, and soon after 
lunching on some crackers we lay down to sleep, our 
heads resting on the carriage cushions, and our cov- 
ering being the carriage blankets. So we spent our 
first night in Ocean Grove. 

" In the morning Baker sighed and said, ' Mr. B., 
this is a wilderness place.' He was homesick; for, 
let the reader, who, perhaps, has been on the sarae 
spot during the busy summer season, and heard the 
continuous click of the telegraph instrument and 
seen the vast throng of men and maidens call for their 
letters when the mail arrives, remember it was far 
different on the morning of which we are writing ; 
although it was the 10th of June, not a soul was within 
hearing distance of us. I cheered him by saying: 
' Oh ! don't be cast down,' and soon we were eating 
our morning lunch. That finished, we proceeded to 
my lots on the lake, and pitched our small tent on the 
ground now built upon and owned by Rev. Alfred 
Cookman's widow. My large tent was erected on the 
lot now owned by William P. Breck, Esq., and so we 
began our Crusoe life. During the day we occasion- 
ally saw Mr. Franklin's men, who worked about the 
grounds, and at night we were left to our solitude. Mr. 
Franklin's men tented on the lots now covered by the 
Hayward cottage, but on Sundays went to their homes, 
in the interior of the township. 

"One evening Baker and I took a stroll along the 
ocean and I proposed a bath. Baker smiled and said 
' No, no.' ' But remember, John, cleanliness is next 
to godliness.' I took an ocean bath ; but, oh, how 
different from the way bathers usually enjoy the surf, 
the waves dashing over their he.ids. I laid down on 
the soft sand and allowed the water to just touch my 
body, and I can tell you, reader, it is somewhat lonely 
to trust yourself in the great ocean in the twilight and 
alone. After I had been lying on the beach for a 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



865 



little while, I looked around to see what had become 
of Baker. He had plucked up courage by my exam- 
ple and had really divested himself of his clothes, and, 
coward like myself, barely allowed the water to touch 
him. His dusky skin was somewhat in contrast with 
the white sand, and never before did I realize the re- 
lation that must have existed between Robinson Cru- 
soe and his man Friday. 

" During the camp-meeting that took place in Au- 
gust, we often heard the inquiry, Who owns the land 
on the other side of the lake ? One day Rev. William 
B. Osborn and myself went over, and, at the risk of 
having our clothes torn from our bodies, worked our 
way through the briars until we reached Sunset Lake. 
And, like the red man of whom we read in history, we 
could say ' Alabama — here we rest ;' for we stood on the 
banks of as beautiful a sheet of water as can be found 
anywhere. We returned to the Grove by way of the 
beach, and soon set to work to make up a company to 
purchase the land. We soon learned the owner 
would not sell the land in parcels, but the purchaser 
must take the whole or none. Here was a difficulty ; 
five hundred acres ! ' Never mind,' said some one, 
'there's a pile of money to be made, and the more 
land we have the more money we will make.' Our 
company was to consist of eight persons, some of 
whom were very enthusiastic ; but, alas ! when the 
cool nights of autumn came along, it chilled their en- 
thusiasm, and their example had its chilling effect on 
me. But I often thought of the matter, and as soon 
as I heard that Bishop Simpson, of the M. E. Church, 
urged the Ocean Grove Association to purchase it, to 
prevent its falling into the hands of some one who 
was not in sympathy with the enterprise they had in 
their hands, I called on David H. Brown, and pro- 
posed he should join me in the purchase by taking 
one-eighth, the price asked being about ninety thou- 
sand dollars. ' No,' said he, ' I am determined to 
have nothing to do with any enterprise in that 
neighborhood that would seem to place me in an in- 
consistent position, as I am now treasurer of the 
Ocean Grove Association. This I will do; I will 
write to every member of the association, and if they 
say buy, I am inclined to think I shall not oppose it, 
although I tnink we have enough land now. But if 
they do not buy it, you can. And as you wish me to 
negotiate the purchase, I will do so, on condition that 
you advance the requisite amount to secure the prop- 
erty, and if the sssociation decide to take it, your 
money to be refunded. We are to have a week's op- 
tion to consider the matter.' A majority of the as- 
sociation decided not to purchase the land, although 
some urged it very strongly ; so the property became 
mine ; I, at the same time assuring them that the prop- 
erty would be resold only to such parties as would 
appreciate the situation of the place. After the pur- 
chase, the briars liefore alluded to, with the tangled 
underbrush, were removed at a cost of several thou- 
sand dollars. And very few would now suppose that 
65 



the choice spots upon which are now erected beauti- 
ful cottages was so recently a jungle." 

Mr. Bradley, foreseeing the demand for land 
for settlement along the shore, commenced the 
purchase of land at different places. The 
tract on which Asbury Park is situated con- 
tained three hundred and eighty-seven acres, 
then in the township of Ocean (now Neptune). 
This and two other tracts were purchased of 
Luther Elting, January 24, 1S71, the three 
tracts containing six hundred and fifty-eight 
acres. A portion of the first tract mentioned 
was platted and laid out into lots fifty by one 
hundred and fifty feet, fronting on avenues 
from seventy-five to one himdred feet in width. 
The parks were also located and the place was 
named Asbury Park, in honor of Bishop Francis 
Asbury. 

After grading had been properly commenced, 
and the grounds laid out under a well-devised 
and considered plan, the lots were offered for 
sale to such, and such only, as would build upon 
them. Park Hall, a two-story frame building, 
was at once erected. It stood where H. Stein- 
bach & Co.'s brick store now is. This building 
was the head(juarters of all business connected 
with the place, and, almost without exception, 
all the churches, societies and other enterprises 
have been organized in this hall. It remained 
upon its original site until the fall of 1882, 
when it was moved to its present location, 
where it is now used as the offices of Board of 
Commissioners, Sewer Works, Board of Health, 
Artesian Well AVater Comf)any, and court- 
room. The police station is also connected 
with the building. 

On the 4th of IMarch, 1874, an act was passed 
to incorporate Asbury Park. This act provides 
and declares : 

"That James A. Bradley, Lybran Sill, Isaac Mc- 
Farland, A. J. Brown, Abram H. Morris, W. L. At- 
kinson, George C. Ormerod, W. Windsor, William F. 
Wilson, William Miller, A. E. Hemsted, Theodore S. 
Woolley, Poiset Cross, Richard B. Campbell, Wash- 
ington White, Jeremiah Bennett, Henry Campbell, 
James Hagerman, John A. Githens, John H. Beegle, 
William T. Street, Lewis C. Greene, Justice W. Beaids- 
ley, Theodore Oves, Alpha J. Kynett, William H. 
Parker, David H. Wyckoff, Isaac L. Martin, John 
Langford, Peter J. Cox, James H. Orr, George W. 
Weikel, William I. Gill, William H. Pearne, Allan 



866 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



R. Cook, George Atkins, J. C. Morgan, Harrison Dixon, 
William W. Wimer, Thomas Perrins, William H. 
Deitz, Uriali White and Reseau Brown, and all other 
persons who may be legal voters in said Borough of 
Asbury Park, be, and they are hereby constituted a 
body corporate and politic, in fact and in law, under 
the name and title of the Borough of Asbury Park, in 
the township of Ocean, county of Monmouth, to have, 
hold and exercise, all and singular, the privileges and 
powers hereinafter described. 

" That the boundaries of the said Borough shall be 
as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point in the middle 
of Great Pond where it empties into the Atlantic 
Ocean; running thence westerly through and up the 
centre of said Pond to the west line of the New Egypt 
and Farmingdale Railroad, as now graded ; thence 
southerly along the west line of the same until it 
reaches Wesley Lake ; thence down the centre of 
Wesley Lake to the Atlantic Ocean ; thence norther- 
ly along the shore of said Ocean to the place of begin- 
ning. 

"That it shall not be lawful to sell, vend or barter 
spirituous liquors, ale, beer or any intoxicating liq- 
ours of any kind whatsoever, within a distance of one 
mile from Wesley Lake Bridge, at Ocean Grove, and 
Asbury Park, in Monmouth County, State of New 
Jersey, except for medicinal purposes, at regular drug 
stores, and under the prescriptions of regularly prac- 
ticing physicians; any person or persons offending 
against the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and fined fifty dollars and costs for 
each oftence, said fine to be paid to the overseers of 
the poor, for the support of the poor of the county." 

James A. Bradley has been president of tlie 
Board of Commissioners from the first to the 
present time, with the exception of 1883, when 
N. E. Buchanon held the offiee. Isaac C. 
Kennedy was clerk until 1878, and was suc- 
ceeded by Caleb T. Bailey, the present business 
manager of Mr. Bradley. The following- 
named are the present officers of the borough 
of Asbury Park : Commissioners, James A. 
Bradley, (president), Bruce S. Keator, M.D., 
Theodore Oves, Myron S. Gould, Edward :M. 
Fielder, James H. Romain, John Eockafeller. 
Chief of Police, C. T. Bailey ; Clerk, C. T. 
Bailey. 

The borough fire Department was commenced 
by the purchase of tiie La France steam fire-en- 
sine that is now in charge of the Wesley Steam 
Fire-Engine Company, No. 1. This company 
was organized in 1871, and has at present fifty 
members. The valuation of engine and real 
estate, including fifteen hundred feet of hose, is 



six thousand dollars. The engine-house is lo- 
cated on the corner of Bond Street and Matiison 
Avenue. 

The Independence Hook-aud-Ladder Com- 
pany, No. 1, whose building is adjoining the 
Wesley Fire Company, was organized in 1879 
and incorporated Novembers, 1881. It now has 
twenty-five members. Its house, lot and appa- 
ratus is valued at one thousand dollars. 

The Neptune Steam Fire-Engine Company, 
No. 2, whose engine-house is on Main Street, 
between Asbury and Sewall Avenues, was 
organized in December, 1882, and incorporated 
January .J, 1883. It has now a membership of 
sixty. The steamer was originally a Silsby, but 
was afterwards altered to a La France. The 
valuation of the real estate, engine and fifteen 
hundred feet of hose is seven thousand dollars. 

The Allen R. Cook Chemical Engine Com- 
pany was incorporated April 30, 1884. It is 
composed of eighteen young men. The engine 
and hose are valued at five hundred dollars. 
The house is adjoining that of the Neptune. 

In addition to the engines mentioned, Mr. 
James A. Bradley has five hand fire-engines valued 
at five hundred dollars, located at the following 
places : One in rear of Glendale Cottage, 
Seventh Avenue, north side, near Packard 
Street; one at southeast corner Fifth Avenue 
Pavilion ; one at Asbury Avenue Pavilion ; one 
at Asbury Park stable-yard. Main Street, 
between Fourth and Fifth Avenues ; and one 
at Park Hall. The Fire Department is under 
the charge of S. W. Kirkbride, chief; Jacob 
Borden, assistant chief. In 1877, Educational 
Hall, on the Centennial Grounds at Philadelphia, 
was purchased by Mr. Bradley, taken down and 
erected on Grand Avenue, between Second and 
Third Streets. It is used for local entertain- 
ments and religious services. It has a seating 
capacity of two thousand. 

Entirely as a private enterprise, Mr. Bradley, 
in 1881, began laying sewer-pipes. Since that 
time sixteen miles of pipes have been laid 
through all the streets, so that every lot can be 
sewered. Of the eight hundred and ten cottages 
in the Park, over six hundred are in connection 
with the sewer system of the place. 

At Asbury Park is the railway station. 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



867 



which also accommodates Ocean Grove, there 
beino: no station at the latter iilace. In 1883 a 
station was located at North Asbury Park. 
Following are given the railway statistics of 
Asbury Park and Ocean Grove for the year 
1883, viz. : 

Number of passengers arrived and de- 
parted during June, July, August 

and September 600,000 

Highest number in one day . . . 2,500 
Highest number excursionists in one 

day ^jOOO 

Highest total arrival and departure one 

day 8,000 

Total number excursions .... 112 

Total number trains one day . . . 103 

Pieces baggage handled one day . . 2,150 

Pieces baggage handled during the 

season, including express baggage 71,000 

The post-office was established at the Park in 
October, 1874, with James A. Bradley post- 
master. He served until January 1, 1884, when 
P. G. Snedeker was appointed, and he stillholds 
the office. 

At a meeting of the citizens of Asbury Park, 
held December 2, 1884, a resolution was adopted 
that " the borough be bonded to erect ar- 
tesian water-works, at a cost of not over sixty 
thousand dollars, and that the commissioners be 
requested to appoint a committee to endeavor to 
secure the proper legislation at the coming ses- 
sion of the State Legislature." 

The town is supplied with gas, and six miles 
of pipe were laid in the spring of 1884. 

A Board of Hesilth was organized in 1882 
under the charter. The board has done good 
and efficient services by reason of which Asbury 
Park is now one of the most healthful places on 
the coast. The following are the present officers 
of the Health Board : H. Mitchell, M.D., presi- 
dent ; J. A. Bradley, W. F. Paddock, John H. 
Hagerman, N. E. Buchanou ; E. Wright, in- 
spector ; George H. Cole, assistant inspector ; 
Randolph Ross, clerk. 

The following is a summary of the Park as 
given in the Asbury Park Journal, September 
10, 1880 : 

"Asbury Park was the first seaiside resort on the 



American continent to adopt a perfect system of 
drainage. We have fifteen miles of street mains. Our 
sewage is discharged into the ocean and is carried 
away by the current. We have miles of walks; an 
Ocean Phi/.a one mile long, and from sixteen to thir- 
ty-two feet wide. 

" Asbury Park has seven church edifices,— Episcopa- 
lian, Reformed, Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Meth- 
odist and African. Hotels, boarding-houses, stores 
of every variety necessary to a large population are 
established; weekly papers with circulation of over 
3000 copies ; a post-office, salary, 12300 ; two public 
halls— one, Educational Hall, being the same name 
it bore when it stood on the Centennial grounds, at 
Philadelphia— seating over 1500. We also have an 
opera house seating about 1200. There are 800 cot- 
tages, beside hotels. The finest Masonic lodge-room 
in Monmouth County was erected by the late Allen K. 
Cook, who was for a long time the esteemed superin- 
tendent of Asbury Park. We have also one of the 
best planned school-houses in the State, the building 
alone costing nearly $10,000 ; the school lot was do- 
nated, and fronts on three streets, and is 200x200. 
Asbury Park was assessed in 1869 for $15,000 ; the as- 
sessed valuation in 1883 was over $1,500,000. 

" Streets running at right angles to the sea are from 
one to two hundred feet wide, an advantage possessed 
by no other seaside resort on the New Jersey coast. 
The depot grounds are the finest on the line of the 
Long Branch Division of the Central Railroad of New 
Jersey, and, with adjoining streets, cover four acres, 
including magnificent woods." 

The first store erected at Asbury Park was 
by Washington AA^iite. It was afterwards en- 
larged, and became, in 1873, the Lake View 
Hotel, the first one opened in Asbury Park. 

The first brick building was erected in 1879 
by Allen R. Cook. It is the Cook building, 
including theMa.sonic Hall. 

Tiie Opera-House, on Sewall Avenue, near 
Grand, was erected in 1 882, at a cost of fifteen 
thousand dollars, by Frank Patterson. It has 
a seating capacity of twelve hundred. 

The following leading hotels were erected in 
the vears mentioned, viz. : Lake View, opened 
in 1873; Grand Avenue, 1873; Hotel Bruns- 
wick, 1873. This building was fir.st called the 
Philadelphia House, and at the time of its erec- 
tion was the farthest out of any. It was 
enlarged, remodeled and its name changed to 
the present one in 1880. The Sea View and 
Ocean View Hotels were built in 1877 ; the 
Surf House, Hotel Bristol and Coleman House, 
in 1878. The latter occupies a block between 



868 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Asbury and Ocean Avenues. It is the leading 
hotel, and was built and is still owned and con- 
ducted by Mrs. S. L. Coleman. The Gilsey 
was opened in 1<S81. Besides these, there are 
over one hundred smaller hotels and cottages 
for summer boarders. 

The Asbury Park Journal was established in 
1876, by James A. Bradley, the first issue being 
January 29th in that year. Until Juue, 1878, it 
was printed at the office of the Brooklyn Eagle. 
In that month John K. Wallace, of Philadel- 
piiia, established the Asbury Park Printing- 
Office, and the paper was then printed in that 
office, the first issue being June 1, 1878. John 
L. Coffin, who from the first had been assistant 
editor, became the editor and proprietor Janu- 
ary 1, 1882. It was then enlarged to eight 
columns. In the April following, the office was 
moved to the present building. On June 1, 
188.3, a summer daily journal was begun, and 
continued through the months of Juue, July 
and August. It is to be continued as a sum- 
mer daily. 

On September 1, 1884, the Monmouth Re- 
publican, which bad been printed by J. K. 
Wallace since June, 1883, was merged into the 
Journal, and business conducted under the firm- 
name of J. L. Coffin and J. K. Wallace. The 
Ocean Grove Record, edited by J. K. Wallace, 
is published at this office. 

The Shore Press was established by A. L. 
Thomas and Dr. H. S. Kinmonth. The first 
issue was on July 10, 1879. In 1880 it was 
sold to Jonathan Ingliug, and soon after pur- 
chased by the Shore Press Publishing Company, 
and edited by Eobert P. Miller. In 1882, 
Frank Patterson leased it. ]\Iiller was con- 
tinued as editor for a time, and J. T. Crane 
succeeded him. In the latter part of 1883, R. 
J. Wardell became the editor and continued 
until October", 1884, when the paper was pur- 
chased by C. T. Hendrickson, who employed 
W. K. Devereux as editor. 

The Daily Spray was a paper issued in June, 
July and August of 1884 by W. K. Devereux 
&Co. 

The Artesian is published in the cause of tem- 
perance. It was commenced in the early summer 
of 1884, and is published at irregular intervals. 



Tbinity Church (Episcopal) was the first 
church establishedatAsbur\- Park, being organ- 
ized in 1872. A few Episcopalians visiting at 
Ocean Grove desired to hold a service on the 
grounds, to which strong opposition was made. 
They then decided to hold meetings in Asbury 
Park, then in its infancy. The Rev. George 
' H. Watson, of St. Peter's Church of Freehold, 
commenced a missionary work in an open lot 
opposite the present church edifice. In August, 
1875, James A. Bradley donated a lot on the 
corner of Asbury and Grand Avenues, and a 
chin-ch building was soon after begun, and com- 
pleted in 1877. It was not, however, conse- 
crated until September, 1880, when the services 
were conducted by Bishop Scarborough. It has 
since been enlarged. The Rev. Eliot D. Tomkins 
succeedetl Mr. Watson in the latter part of 1875. 

In October, 1879, the Rev. William Capers 
was called to minister to the society in connec- 
tion with Tom's River. It was at this time a 
missionary station, and in February, 1880, it 
was made Trinity Church parish. Mr. Capers 
resigned as minister, and was called at once by 
the vestry and wardens of Trinity parish as the 
first rector. He served until January, 1883, 
when he resigned on account of ill health. He 
was succeeded soon after by the Rev. William 
B. Guion, who remained one year, and was 
succeeded by the present rector, the Rev. George 
F. Breed. 

The Presbyterian Church at Asbury 
Park was organized in 1878. A lot was donated 
by Mr. Bradley, on the corner of Grand and 
Second Avenues, on which the present church 
was erected, and was de<licated December 2, 
1880. Meetings were held in the school-hall 
prior to this time. The Rev. J. E. Peters was the 
first pastor. The present pastor is the Rev. E. 
E. Moran. 

The Reformed Church of Asbury Park 
was organized February 9, 1875, with twelve 
members. ]\Ir. Bradley donated them a lot on 
Grand and Sewall Avenues, on which, in .Jime 
and July of that year, a chapel was erected. 
This being too small, the corner-stone of a 
new chapel was laid out on the same lot April 
11, 1883. The edifice was completed and ready 
for use Aua-ust 5th in that vear. The Rev. 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



869 



F. F. Wilson and Edgar A. Enos served as 
pastors, and on January l?>, 1880, the present 
pastor, the Rev. William H. Ballagh, was in- 
stalled. 

The First Methodist Episcopal Church 
OF AsBURY Park was organized in ^lareh, 
1880, with one hundred and fifty members. 
Service was held in Educational Hall until 
the church edifice was completed on Grand and 
First Avenues, at a cost of twenty-three thou- 
sand dollars. The corner-stone was laid August 
16, 1883. Pastoi-s have been W. H. Boole, 
B. C. Lippincott and J. S. Gaskell, the j^resent 
pastor. 

The Baptist Church was organized at 
Asbury Park, in Park Hall, on May 1, 1877. 
The Rev. Thomas R. Taylor became their pas- 
tor and remained until May, 1884. A lot on 
Bangs Avenue was donated by Mr. Bradley, 
and the present church was erected in 1880, 
and used till August, 1883, when it was dedi- 
cated. In 1882 a parsonage was built. The 
property is valued at thirteen thousand dollars. 
A call was extended to and accepted by the 

Rev. Colby, who entered upon his duties 

November 30, 1884. The church has a mem- 
bership of one hundred and sixty-five. 

The Church of the Holy Spirit was 
organized in 1880, and in February, 1881, 
Father Michael S. Glennon was appointed to 
the charge, and still continues. A church was 
erected on Second Avenue and Bond Street, and 
consecrated July 8, 1880. 

The Bethel African Methodist Epis- 
copal Church is situated on Second Avenue 
and Main Street. The Rev. W. H. Dickerson 
is pastor. 

The Salvation Army, in the fall of 1884, 
erected a large building on i\Iain Street, be- 
tween Summerfield and Munroe Avenues. 

The Young Men's Christian Association, 
after several preliminary meetings, was organ- 
ized at Asbury Park February 9, 1884, with 
fifteen members. A room was offered them by 
INIr. Bradley in a I)uilding next the post-office, 
which they accepted and still occup}'. The 
rooms are open to members and visitors every 
evening except the Sabbath. The membership 



has increased to seventy-five. The following are 
the present officers : Professor R. A. Tusting, 
jiresident ; Frank Cobb, first vice-president ; 
Aden Lippincott, second vice-president; R. 
Ross, recording secretary ; F. ^liller, corre- 
sponding secretary ; M. R. Hults, financial sec- 
retary ; M. D. Le Roy, treasurer. Executive 
Committee : Professor R. A. Tusting, A. Lip- 
pincott, M. S. Gould, P. G. Snedeker, Dr. A. 
Pauley and H. A. Outcalt. 

The Asbury Park and Ocean Grove 
TjIbrary Association was incorporated in 
1882. Two lots, at First and Grand Avenues, 
were donated by Mr. Bradley. A building is 
now in process of erection upon these lots. 
The association has five hundred members. 
Meetings are held every Monday evening, from 
October to June, in the rooms occupied by the 
Young Men's Christian Association. The prop- 
erty is vested in a board of ti'ustees, of which 
Mrs. J. A. Bradley is presidept and J. A. 
Bradley treasurer. 

The first school at Asbury Park was taught 
by Miss M. Crowell (a niece of James A. 
Bradley) in 1872, in the lower room of Park 
Hall. As members increased, the upper hall 
was taken, and the demand still increasing, both 
were used. Sixty scholars attended before this 
was made a district. Application was made for 
a district in March, 1874, which was granted, 
and the district formed, embracing Asbury Park 
and Ocean Grove. 

A block of six lots was donated by Mr. 
Bradley, on Bond Street, between Munroe and 
Summerfield Avenues, on which a temporary 
school-house was erected and used for a time. 
In the fall of 1876 the present frame two-story 
school-house was erected at a cost of ten thou- 
sand dollars, and was opened for use September 
12, 1877. The number of scholars still in- 
creasing, the trustees, in the spring of 1882, 
purchased of the trustees of St. Paul's Church 
their edifice, situated a short distance from the 
Main Avenue gates to the grove, paying there- 
for eight thousand dollars. It was remodeled, 
fitted and furnished at a cost of four thousand 
dollars, and opened in September of that year. 

A school building was erected in West 



870 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Asbury Park in 1883, and opened in September 
of that year. It is a colored school. 

These schools have an average attendance of 
six hundred and twenty children. The census 
<lives fourteen hundred children of school a.se 
in the district. 

Miss Crowell, the first teacher, had as an 
assistant, while in Park Hall, Miss M. L. 
Coffin, and upon the retirement of Miss Crowell, 
in 1875, Miss Coffin became principal, and 
served until the completion of the new school- 
house, in 1877, when George Allord was chosen 
principal. He served until September, 1882, 
wlien Professor W. D. Ireland, formerly of Long 
Branch, was appo 



minted, aud is still in charge. 



Asbury Lodge, No. 142, F. and A. ^I., was 
chartered in the fall of 1875 with eight charter 
members. Meetings were held in White's Hall 
until Masonic Hall was completed, in 1880. It 
is iu the third story of the Cook building, and 
was dedicated July 28th in that year. The lodge 
contains about seventy members. The Past 
Masters have lieen T. S. ^yooley, Jeremiah 
Bennett, John A. Githens, J. D. Beegle, L. 
Rainear and John L. Coffin. The present 
W. M. is D. W. Sexton ; D. H. Loudenslager 
is the Secretaiy. 

Corson Commandery, No. 15, K. T., was 
chartered in the fall of 1880, and has at pres- 
ent sixty-five members. The officers are 
Thomas H. Redway, P. E. C. ; J. D. Beegle, 
E. C. ; D. H. Loudenslager, Recorder. Meet- 
ings are held in Masonic Hall. 

Coast City Council, No 813, Royal Arcanum, 
was organized November 28, 1883, in ^Manning's 
Hall, -whe re they still meet. They now luunber 
forty members. M. F. Bird is Regent, George 
M. Lane Secretary. 

Neptuue Lodge, No. 84, I. O. of O. F., was 
organized in 1883; meetings are held in Wliite's 
Hall. The lodge has fifty members. The 
officers are Albert Willis, N. G. ; Charles T. 
Harrison, Secretary. 

C. K. Hall Post, No. 41, G. A. R., was in- 
stituted April 7, 1880. Meetings were held in 
White's Hall until rooms in Manning's Hall 
were completed, in 1882, when they moved to 
and still occupy them. The officere are A. R. 



Toland, Commander; George H. White, Senior 
Vice-Commander; William B. Brown, Junior 
Vice-Commander; D. Wright, Adjutant ; George 
Warren, quartermaster. Membership, fifty. 

Monmouth Lodge, No. 107, K. of P., was 
instituted May 5, 1875. Meetings are held in 
Manning's Hall. 

Good-Will Division, No. 187, Sons of Tem- 
perance, was instituted iu December, 1881, iu 
Manning's Hall, where they continued until the 
next year, when they moved to their present 
quarters, in Prohibition Hall. Frank Harrison, 
W. P., and W. H. Longstreet, Recording Secre- 
tary. 

Mount Prospect Cemetery is the burial- 
ground of Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, and 
lies directly west of the latter. In 1882, Wil- 
lisford Dey, of Ocean Grove, and Edward M. 
Fielder, of Asbury Park, purchased thirty-five 
acres on rising ground, one hundred and nine 
feet above the sea, one and a quarter miles from 
Ocean Grove and one mile from Asbury Park, 
in the township of Neptune. This was laid out 
with walks aud avenues and nearly two thou- 
sand lots, aud set out with evergi-ecns and 
shrubbery. The grounds were named Mount 
Prospect Cemetery, commanding a view seaward 
as far as the eye can reach, — northward to Long 
Branch, and south to Manasquan. It was 
dediaited June 25, 1X83. 

The resident physicians of Asbury Park are 
Dr. J. A. W. Hetrick, Bruce S. Keaton, H. S. 
Des Anges, Samuel Jolmson, H. W. Garrison, 
G. F. Wilbur, S. D. Evaus, H. S. Kinmontli, 
Henry Mitchell and R. Tusting. 

The Almshouse Faen[ is a tract of land con- 
taining seven hundred and twenty-eight acres, 
that is bounded southerly and easterly by Shark 
River and Muscjuash Brook, uoitherly by the 
highway, and westerly by North or Jumping 
Brook, and is now in the possession of the town- 
ships of Atlantic, Ocean, Neptune, Eatontown, 
Howell and Wall, in ^lonmoutli County, and 
Dover and Brick, in Ocean County. 

On the 14th of May, 1800, the Freeholdei-s of 
Monmouth County ajjpointed William Laird, 
John Stillwell and Jacob Holmes " for to make 
Enquiry When aud on A\'hat -Conditions they 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



871 



could Procure Lands, Or house, Or Either, 
Or Bouth, and to make Report to this Board 
at their next meeting." Tiii.s action was the 
first effort to establish a county poor farm. The 
committee reported August 14th following that 
they had fixed on a place near Colt's Neck, " but 
as yet were not certain of obtaining it." They 
viewed other tracts, and reported upon each. 
The committee was continued, and on the 28th 
of January, 1801, they reported the purchase of 
land of William Parker, for four thousand dol- 
lars, the deed bearing date January 27, 1801. 
The land is described as seven hundred acres, 
more or less, Iving on the north side of Shark 
River, and known by the name of " Hog Pound 
Neck." At this meeting Theoi^hilus Little, 
Jacob Holmes, William Laird and John Still- 
well were appointed a committee to draw plans 
for and build a poor-house on the land, and to 
rent the place for one year from April 1, 1801. 
(^u the .'Jd of March in that year Jacob Holmes 
presented a plan, which was accepted, and gave 
an opinion that two thousand dollars would 
place upon the ground all the material necessary 
for the buildings. The committee also reported 
that, in their opinion, the building, which was to 
be fifty feet front and thirty -four feet in depth, 
would cost four thousand dollars — perhaps four 
thousand five hund red dollars. It was built as soon 
after this time as possible, and was occupied by 
the county. Each township appointed a trus- 
tee to compose a board of managers. The farm 
was enlarged later to nearly a thousand acres. 
Two hundred and seventy acres were afterwards 
sold, leaving at present seven hundred and 
twenty-eight acres. The farm and buildings 
were used by the county until 184-3. Prior to 
that time some of tiie townships were dissatisfied 
with the arrangement and desired a township 
farm. This dissatisfaction resulted in the pas- 
sage of an act of Assembly, February 16, 184.3, 
to allow Dover, Middletown and Howell to sell 
real estate. A supplement was passed February 
14,18.52, to allow Raritan to sell; later, other 
townships sold their rights, and at present the 
townships of Atlantic, Eatontown, Ocean, Nep- 
tune, Howell and ^Yall, of Monmouth County, 
and Dover and Brick, of Ocean County, own the 
entire tract, as before mentioned. 



Shark River Village, otherwise known 
as Greenville, Hamilton and Coburg, is situated 
in the southwest corner of the township of Nep- 
tune, near the line of Shrewsbury, on the road 
that runs north of and nearly parallel to Shark 
River, above where the stream widens. 

At this place before 1734 a Presbyterian 
meeting-house was erected on the lot where the 
old cemetery now is at Shark River village. It 
is mentioned in a road record of November (3, 
1789, and again April 23, 1790. It was used 
as late as 1 803, but was soon after abandoned. 
The old church was one of the preaching- 
places of the Rev. Samuel Blair, Rev. Elihu 
Spencer and the Rev. Charles ]McKnight dur- 
ing the Revolution. 

The land in this vicinity was owned, in 1 800, 
by James Fleming, who inherited it from 
Cook, whose daughter, Rebecca, he mar- 



ried. The " Trap Tavern," so called from trap 
rock, that crops out at this place, was opened 
before 1812. In 1815, Elkanah Stout became 
.the landlord, and kept it for several years. It 
stood in front of the present residence of Cap- 
tain A. J. Rogers. It was discontinued many 
years ago. 

In 1812, Elihu ^\'illiams built a store on the 
site of James Simpson's j)resent residence. 
About 1825, Michael Howell built a hotel, and 
kept it several years. It was kept afterwards 
by many, and went down over twenty years 
aeo. In 1834, Richard Stout built the brick 
blacksmith-sho]i, and worked in it for thirty 
years. George Shafto built a large store at the 
village many years ago, which was destroyed by 
fire. William Barnes erected a building on the 
site, and kept store and post-office eight or ten 
years, then sold out to Captain A. J. Rogers, 
who was appointed postma.ster and still holds 
the office. 

East of Shark River village, on one of the 
branches of Shark River, John Fields, about 
1825, built a grist-mill on the site (it is said) of 
an old forge. The mill is now owned by Bow- 
man Kisner. On Shark River, below the village, 
William Remsen, in 1859, built a grist-mill, 
which is now unused and belongs to his lieirs. 

The Methodist Episcoi'al Church at 



872 



HISTOKY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Shark River is a little more than half a 
century old in its organization, though mention 
is found in the journal of the Rev. Francis As- 
bury, of Methodist preaching at Shark River 
as early as 1792. Preaching was held in pri- 
vate houses for many years, and it was not until 
1833 that a Methodist Church was organized- 
The Rev. David Bartine officiated at the ser- 
vices. On August 23, 1847, the society was 
incorporated, and the following were chosen as 
trustees : Henry Youmans, Robert B. Morris, 
Daniel Dangler, David J. Morton, Drummoud 
White and John Hunter. A lot of laud was 
donated for church and burial purposes by 
Asher Howland, and the church was soon after 
built and dedicated by Father Bartine. Among 
the ministers who have served are William 
Abbott, 1864-66 ; George L. Dobbins, 1867- 
68 ; W. F. Randolph, 1869-70 ; William Os- 

born, 1871; S. M. Stone, 1872-73; 

Mason, 1874; J. S. Thomas, 1875; A. J. 
Gregory, 1876-77 ; J. S. AVilson, 1878-79 ; W. 
E. Perry, 1880-82; J. AV. Grant, 1883; H. 
S. Norris, 1884. 

Neptune township contains five school dis- 
tricts, — Hamilton, New Branch, Whiteville, 
Green Grove and Asburv Park. An account 
of the last-named district is given in the history 
of Asbury Park. 

Hamilton District, No. 80, now contains one 
hundred and seventeen children of school age. 
The first school- house was built on the present 
school-lot, which was donated by John Ely about 
the beginning of this centuiy. It is now on 
the farm of John Tilton, the house having been 
repaired and rebuilt, and is still in use for the 
school. 

New Branch District, No. 80|, contains at 
present one hundred and twenty-three children 
of school age. This is a new district, formed 
by the settlements at Key East and Neptune, 
near where the house stands. It was built in 
1877. 

Whitesville District, No. 88, is in the central 
part of the township. The first school-house 
was built of logs, ab(jut 1828, about half a mile 
south of Whitesville, in the pines. It was aban- 
doned about 1840 and a school-house erected on 
the present site in 1845, which was used until 



1872, when it was moved to the rear of the lot 
and the present house erected. It is two miles 
from Ocean Grove. The district contains two 
hundred and eighteen children of school age. 

Gi-een Grove District, No. 90, was formed in 
1860. It embraces parts of Shrewsbury and 
Neptune townships. The school-house was built 
in 1861. The district now contains fifty-three 
regristered scholars. 



BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Allen R. Cook was born August 25, 1818, 
near Mechanicsville, then Shrewsbury town- 
ship, now Ocean. His father, Edward Cook, 
died about 1866, aged seventy years. His 
mother, Elizabeth Cook, died in 1858, aged 
about sixty years. He had only one brother, 
Joseph, who went West many years ago. In 
early life he learned the tanning business at 
Lippincott's tannery, and subsequently engaged 
as a miller in the Ocean Mills, and was after- 
wards with his uncle at what was known as 
Hyer's IMills. Subsequently he purchased the 
Henry Bennett farm, on Shark River, on which 
the Hotel Newport is now situated, and still 
later he owned the Hyer mill property, which 
he soon sold and jturchased a farm at New 
Branch of his father-in-law. In 1842 he mar- 
ried Mrs. Deborah, widow of the late Mahlon 
Woolley (1810-39) who resided at Eatontown 
until 1836, and removed to Shark River, where 
he died three j'ears after. Mrs. Deborah Wool- 
ley (1809-81), was a daughter of John and 
Margaret (Britton) Fields, and by her first mar- 
riage had two children, — George P. Woolley (a 
farmer in Wall township) and Margaret (wife 
of Louis C. Green, who succeeded his father, 
Captain James Green, for many years proprie- 
tor of the Bath Hotel, at Long Branch). 

In 1872, Mr. Cook came to Asburv Park, 
and from that date until his death, April 31, 
1883, was foremost and prominent in its im- 
provements, and from January, 1S72, until his 
decease efficiently acted as superintendent of 
Asburv Park. He held many minor offices in 
the township, — in 1858 was made wreck-master 
of the Merritt Wrecking Company for this dis- 
trict, and two years afterwards he was appointed 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



873 



agent of the Board of Underwriters, to which 
he always gave prompt attention. 

Mr. Cook was a man of noble, generous im- 
pulses, and took pleasure in assisting those in 
need. His acts of kindness were not made pub- 
lic, nor were his benevolent deeds ostentatious. 
His death produced a universal feeling of sor- 
row, both with permanentand transient residents. 
He was an ardent Mason, and to his generosity 
Asbury Lodge owes its handsome rooms on the 



of Asbury Park met at Park Hall and passed 
appropriate resolutions expressing sorrow at the 
removal of their much-esteemed citizen by the 
hand of death, sympathy for his bereaved fam- 
ily, and recpicsting the business places of Asbury 
Park to be chjsed during the solemn funeral 
services of their fellow-citizen. Another writer 
said of him soon after his death : "Since the 
founding of Asbury Park there has been no 
more familiar form — save one — to be seen on 




upper floor of his brick building, corner of 
Cookman Avenue and Main Street. He was 
buried with Masonic honors, and his remains 
were interred in the Branchburg Cemetery, near 
the spot where he was born. Allen R. Cook 
was reared under Quaker influences, and until 
he removed from the scenes of his younger 
davs was an attendant at the Friends' Meeting 
in Shrewsbury township. Upon the occasion 
of his death the commissioners of the borough 



our streets than that of Allen R. Cook, the 
superintendent." Early in the history of the 
place, almost from the beginning, had he been 
identified with its interests and that of its peo- 
ple. By his marriage he had two children, who 
died young. 



Nelsox E. Buchanon. — John Buchanon, 
the grandfather of Xelson E., resided in Perth 
Amboy, Middlesex County N, J. His children 



874 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY", NEW JERSEY. 



were George, Johu, James, Authouy, Joseph, 
Betsey, Eliza aud Margaret. James, of this 
number, was born about the year 1821 at Perth 
Amboy, from Mlience he removed, in 1859, to 
Red Bank, and subsequently to Hunterdon 
County, his present residence. He married 
Sarah Ann, daughter of Philip Elgordon, of the 
latter county, and to them were born chil- 
dren, — Nelson E., Jacob, John, Philip, James 
and Sarah M. (wife of Silas Case, of Hunterdon 
County). The eldest of this number, and the 
subject of this biographical sketch, was born on 
the 30th of August, 1841, at Perth Amboy, 
and at the age of fourteen removed to Xew York 
City, where he remained two years in the capa- 
city of clerk. Not satisfied with liis meagre 
advantages of education, he returned to his 
birth-place aud devoted three years to more 
thorough study, removing, at the expiration of 
this period, for a brief interval to New York. 
Mr. Buchanon, in 1860, made Lambertville, 
Hunterdon County, his residence, aud became en- 
gaged as salesman for a firm extensively interested 
in the lumber trade. He later removed to Flera- 
ington, in the same county, aud acted in like \ 
capacity, changing his location, in LSlSfi, to 
Eatontowu, in the employ of B. C. White, also 
a lumber dealer. In 1873 he located at Asbury 
Park, and, in connection with (jfarret V. Smock, 
purchased the interest of Mr. White, making 
Asbury Park the base of operation. They 
added to their stock general building supplies, 
and very speedily established a large and suc- 
cessful trade. In 1881 the firm underwent 
some changes, and the present style, N. E. 
Buchanon & Co., was adopted. The excep 
tional success of the business may be indicated 
by their annual sales, which the first year 
amounted to forty thousand dollars, and in 
1883 reached the sum of two hundred and 
sixty-five thousand dollars. 

Mr. Buchanon has manifested his |)ul)lic 
spirit by participating in nearly everv move- 
ment ha\'ing for its purpose the growth aud de- 
velopment of Asbury Park. In 1874 he was 
elected to the office of townshii) committee of 
Ocean township, when Asbury Park \\as a part 
thereof, aud by re-election served two years. 
ITpon the erection of Neptune township from 



Ocean, leaving Asbury Park in the former, he 
was elected as one of the commissioners of the 
borough, and by re-election twice, held the office 
for five years, part of which time he was its 
chairman, and for four years its treasurer. 

He was for seven years trustee of the School 
Board, during which time the first school build- 
ings were erected, at a cost often thousand dol- 
lars, and he has sought to advance the educa- 
tional interests of the place. He is also at pres- 
ent a member of the Board of Health of Asbury 
Park, representing in these various offices the 
suffrages of the Democratic party. He is an 
active Mason, and memlier of Asbury Lodge, 
No. 120, of that fraternity, as also of Hiram 
Chapter, No. 1, Corson Commandery, No. 15, 1 
of Knights Templar, and United States Lodge, 
I. O. O. r., of New York. He is in religion 
a supporter of all evangelical denominations, 
though especially in sympathy with the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. Mr. Buchanon was, in 
1870, married to Althea S. Collins, a native of 
Chenango County, N. Y., and a daughter of 
William Collins, of Monmouth County. Their 
children are Louisa, William J., Arthur and 
Bessie. 



John S. Kipley. — Mr. Ripley is of English 
extraction, his great-great-grandfathei-, who was 
a physician, having been one of the earliest set- 
tlers in Norwich, Conn. The grandfather of 
John S. Ripley, a sea-captain, was lost while on 
a voyage to the West Indies. Among his chil- 
dren was John, born at Groton, New London 
County, Conn., where many years of his life 
were spent as a farmer. He married Sally, 
daughter of George Crary, of North Stoiiington, 
Conn., and had children, — John S., Nathan C, 
George S., Leander H. and Sarah (Mrs. Allen E. 
Davis). The birth of John S., of this number, 
occurred August 18, 1S.34, at Groton, Conn., 
the period of his youth having been spent at 
Groton, Preston and Norwich, Conn., respec- 
tively. After preliminary study at the public 
school he became a pupil of the Plainfield Acad- 
emy, and at the age of nineteen entered upon his 
profession as a teacher, his first experience being 
in his native State, after which he removed to 
Monmouth County, N. J. In August, 1862, 




£. 



NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP. 



876 



during the late war, Mr. Ripley joiued the First 
Rhode Islaud Voliiuteer Cavalry, and partici- 
pated with the Army of the Potomac in the en- 
p-aaements at Froderieksburg and Ciiancellors- 
villa and in varit)ii.s skirmishes. Returning again 
to civil life, he was, on the 26th of Detiember, 
1867, married to Johanna, daughter of Elhauan 
H. Stout, of ^Monmouth County, a descendant 
of Penelope Stout, and granddaughter of El- 
lianan Stoat, son of Judge Stout, of Hopewell, 



relinquished by Mr. Ripley in favor of his part- 
ner, he having, meanwhile, purcliased and re- 
modeled the present West End Hotel, of which 
he is now the popular pro[)rietor. This struc- 
ture, now the largest at that point, has under- 
gone various improvements, is well ecpiipped, 
spacious and now ranks as the leading hotel at 
that attractive seaside resort. Mr. Ripley is one 
of tlic most energetic and enterprising citizens 
; of Asburv Park, and has in no small degree en- 




N. J. Their only son is named Eugene S. Mr. 
Ripley, on his marriage, embarked in mercantile 
pursuits in Norwich, Conn., and, in 1S72, re- 
moved to Asbury Park. Here he purchased 
lots, and, foreseeing Oie prosjierity tiiat awaited 
the development of the place, erected the first 
hotel, known as the Grand Avenue, of which 
he became joint proprietor with his brother-in- 
law, Lybrand Sill. This enterprise, conducted 
in the most business-like manner, was finally 



couraged the healthy growth of the place. An 
influential representative of the Republican 
party, he has invariably declined all offices 
other than those which are closely allied to the 
educational interests of the community. He is 
connected, as a Free and Accepted Mason, with 
Asburv Tx)dge, No. 142. His religious association 
is witli the Reformed (Dutch) Church of Asbury 
Park, iu which he has been an elder since its organ- 
ization, and is one of its most liberal supporters. 



876 



HISTORY OP MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 

The township of Eatontown was formed from 
parts of Oceau and Shrewsbury townshi]3S by an 
act passed iu 1873, erecting it within the following- 
named boundaries, viz. : 

" Beginning at Cranbury Brook, where it crosses the 
line of said townsliips of Ocean and Shrewsbury, and 
running easterly down said brook or stream, the sev- 
eral courses thereof, to the Long Branch corporation 
line, the saw mill now standing upon or over said 
stream to be considered in the aforesaid township of 
Ocean, and the Ocean Mills, standing upon or over 
said stream, to be considered in the township of Eaton- 
town ; thence running along the westerly line of said 
corjioration to the railroad leading fi'om Eatontown to 
Long Branch ; thence northeasterly to the southeast 
corner of John E. Pye's land ; thence north to the 
South Shrewsbury River, being the boundary line 
between said townships of Ocean and Shrewsbury; 
thence westerly to the point of land known as Horse 
Neck, at the end of a new road ; thence westerly 
along said new road or liighway to the turnpike lead- 
ing from Red Bank to Eatontown ; thence southerly 
along said turnpike to the junction of the road lead- 
ing from Eatontown to Tinton Falls; thence westerly 
along said road towards Tinton Falls to the corner of 
the road leading from the northwest corner of John G. 
Vanderveer's farm to the Half-way House ; thence 
southerly along said road or highway to the place of 
beginning." 

The boundaries of Eatontown town.ship are : On 
the north and northwest, Shrewsbury River and 
township ; on the east, Pleasure Bay, Ocean town- 
ship and Long Branch corporation ; on the south, 
Oceau township ; and on the west, the township of 
Shrewsbury. The north part of the township is 
crossed by the New York and Long Branch Rail- 
road, and also by the Eatontown Branch, which 
connects with the main line of the New Jersey 
Southern Road at Eatontown Junction, in the 
northwest corner of the township. The population 
of Eatontown township, by the census of 1880, was 
two thousand six hundred and forty-two. The 
following is a list of chosen freeholders of Eatontown 
township from its erection to the present time, viz. : 

1873-74. Lawrence Price. 
1875-7G. Gordon Drummond. 
1877-78. William T. Hopper. 
1879-80. John S. Lufburrow. 
1881. Frederick Beale. 
1882-84. George N. Maps. 



E.4T0MT0VVN is the principal vilhage of the town- 
ship, situated in its northwestern corner, four miles 
west of Long Branch, and on the line of the New 
Jersey Southern Railroad. The village takes its 
name from Thomas Eaton, who settled about 1670 
on the creek that passes through the town, where 
he soon after built a grist-mill. He came to this 
country, in 1660, from Goodhurst, Kent County, 
England ; landed in Rhode Island, settled there tem- 
porarily and married a widow named Wing, who had 
two children — Joseph and Ann. The latter mar- 
ried into the family of West, in Monmouth County. 
Thomas Eaton built a house on the site of E. C. 
Fielder's residence, and lived there till his death, 
October 26, 1688. In his will he left the mill 
property to his wife, Jerusha, in trust for her child, 
who was born after his death (March 26, 1689). 
He was named John Eaton, and by the provisions of 
his father's will came into possession of the estate 
at the age of twenty years. He married Joanna, 
daughter of Eliakim "Wardell, who lived on the 
site of what is now called Monmouth Beach. John 
Eaton was in the Legislature of the State from 
172.3 until his death, October 25, 1750. When 
first entering into public life he was one of three 
chosen to represent the interest of Eatontown and 
vicinity iu the location of the county-seat. In 1714 
an election was held, and the decision of the jus- 
tices gave the election to the minority, composed of ' 
John Eaton, Edmund Lafetra and Henry Allen. 
This action aroused the people and protest was 
made to the court, resulting in an injunction re- 
straining the Eaton party from acting in the mat- 
ter and giving authority to Henry Leonard, James 
and Peter Wilson, who were the majority com- 
mittee. It was the desire of one party to locate 
the county-seat at Middletown, another at Eaton- 
town and a third at Freehold, where it was finally 
established in the year 1715. 

Joseph, son of John Eaton, went to Massachu- 
setts, studied medicine and returned to Eatontown 
with a diploma and a wife, who was the daughter 
of Zaccheus Mayhew, and the widow of William 
Little. It was from William Little, a son of Mrs. 
Joseph Eaton, that one branch of the Littles in 
this county sprang, carrying with it the name 
Mayhew, that often occuis as a Christian name in 
the family. 

On the return of Joseph Eaton to the home 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



877 



stead, about 1735, he commenced the practice ot 
' medicine, iu which he continued until his death, 
April 5, 1761. It is said he built the old house 
(still standing), which for many years was occu- 
pied by Dr. John Lewis. 

Joseph Eaton early developed anti-slavery pro- 
clivities, which are shown fully iu the case of the 
State against Lyon in 1789, where testimony was 
taken in the case of a slave who claimed to be free 
because her mother had been emancipated by Dr. 
Joseph Eaton, who, iu his lifetime, had repeatedly 
declared himself ojjposed to slavery. 

Valeria, a daughter of John Eaton and sister of 
Joseph, became the wife of Dr. Peter Le Conte, 
who settled in this county before 1734, and located 
iu Middletown Point, where he died in 176<S. 

Thomas Eaton, also a sou of John, settled at 
Elizabeth. A daughter, Joanna, in 1750, became 
the wife of the Rev. EHhu Spencer, who at that 
time w^as supplying the pulpit of the Presbyterian 
Church of Shrewsbury and Middletown. From 
them are descended the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller 
and the Sargents, well known in the judiciary of 
Pennsylvania. Dr. Joseph Eaton had a son who 
settled here for a time, but the family once so 
prominent is to-day extinct in this county. 

There was a tavern in Eatoutown, which was an 
old building before the Revolution, but the name 
of the proprietor is not known. From 1796 to 
1809, Benjamin Parker kept a store-house, later 
occupied by George White, and long since torn 
down. It was a little east of the old Dr Lewis 
store, recently demolished. About the same time 
Joseph Parker and Daniel McAfee were keeping a 
store where Ezra Woolley is now located. 

About the year 1808, Joseph Parker built on a 
lot back of the printing-office a schooner, which 
was named " Eatoutown." When it was finished 
it was drawn by oxen and horses down the road to 
the property now of Thomas White, and from 
thence across the fields to the head of the creek 
on the farm now owned by the heirs of Peter 
Casler, where it was launched. The craft was 
about thirty tons burden. The distance from 
where it was built to the launching-place was 
about one mile. It took three days to draw it to 
the launching-place, and crowds of people gathered 
to see the vessel move on land. 

Joseph Allen, the father of James Allen, of 



Shrewsbury, kept a store after 1800 on the lot 
now owned by Littleton White. Gabriel and 
James West moved up to the village from the 
iarm about 1820, and opened a store on the lot 
where now stands the parsonage of St. James' 
Episcopal Church. They continued iu business 
until the death of James, after which Gabriel con- 
tinued until 1870, when he sold to W. R. Stevens, 
who removed to his present store. The house and 
store lot was left by Gabriel West to the church 
for a parsonage. James and Gabriel were 
brothers of Edmund West, who is still living at 
the age of ninety-four years. 

Before 1820, Joseph Lafetra built a tannery on 
the southeast of the Liberty Pole. Afterwards 
this was rented by Benjamin C. White, who con- 
tinued there until 1862 or 1863, when he pur- 
chased the present tannery lot and erected the 
buildings. In 1872 the tannery was bought by 
Benjamin Hathaway, and in 1876, after his death, 
the property passed to Borden B. Sherman, of 
New York, who now owus it. 

In 1833, Joseph Barclay first went into the 
mercantile business iu Eatoutown, iu the old Dr. 
Lewis store, which was built in the previous year. 
He remained until 1835, and sold to Henry 
White. In 1838 he bought out Joseph Parker, 
and carried on business with his son until 1839, 
when the store was burned. Joseph Barcla)', 
above mentioned, was afterwards a judge 
of the county courts. He was born in 
1793, and is now living iu the village in his 
ninety-second year. Many of the facts given in 
this history relative to Eatoutown and vicinity 
from about the year 1800 have been obtained from 
Judge Barclay. 

Gordon's " Gazetteer " of 1834 says of Eatontowu : 
" It contains about thirty dwellings, five or six 
stores, two taverns, a grist-mill and an academy, 
and is also a post-town." 

The Eatontowu post-office was established about 
1830, with Dr. John P. Lewis as postmaster. He 
served until his death, in February, 1861, when 
Benjamin C. White (who had acted as deputy for 
many years) was appointed postmaster. He con- 
tinued until .lune 14, 1877, and was succeeded by 
Daniel H. INIorris, the present incumbent. 

The Wheeler House (hotel) stands on the site 



8Y8 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 






of an old tavern that stood during the Revolution. 
At the close of the war it was occupied and kept 
by Mrs. Deborah Williams, -widow of John Wil- 
liams. Afterward.s it was kept by Thomas Little' 
Jacob Denui.s, Asher .Smith (the latter sold the 
property in 1823, and purchased the Charles 
Parker tavern-stand, at Smithville, on the Mount 
Holly road), Charles R. Brinley, George Camp- 
bell, George Wilson and others. About 1861' 
John J. Wheeler purchased the property and car- 
ried on the old tavern until its destruction Ijy fire, 
on the night of December 10, 1873. During the 
following summer he erected upon the site the 
present three-stoiy brick hotel, known as the 
Wheeler House, and kept it until 1878, when he 
was succeeded by Peter Hall, the present pro- 
prietor. 

About a mile from Eatontown, at what was 
known as Barclay's Corners, now owned by the 
Monmouth Park Association, in about the year 
1805, Samuel Woolley erected a dwelling and 
store-house, which, about 1818, was bought by 
Samuel Harvey, who fitted it up as a hotel, which 
he kept till about 1830. After that time it was 
kept by Anthony Van Pelt and Amos Wolcott 
until 1857, when it was purchased by Joseph Bar 
clay and changed into a store and residence. 

The Columbian House (hotel) was built in 1831, 
on property of Dr. John P. Lewis, by members of 
Washington Lodge, No. 9, F. and A. ~Sl. Dr. 
Lewis afterwards bought their interest in the 
house. It was kept first by Joseph Doty, later by 
Kruser Snediker, John Rogers and others, and on 
March 30, 1873, it came into possession of Captain 
John S. Lufburrow, the present proprietor. 

On the stream that passes through Eatontown, 
and which is one of the head-waters of South 
Shrewsbury River, Thomas Eaton erected a grist- 
mill soon after his settlement at this place (about 
1670). It is mentioned in a road record of 1693. 
He died in 1688, and left the mill property to his 
wife Jerusha, in trust for their unborn child. The 
child was John Eaton. The mill came to him at 
twenty years of age. Under his management a 
fulling-mill was built (about 1715) near what is 
now the centre of the j^ond, the old mill being a 
little farther up the stream. The mill property 
passed from John Eaton, on April 26, 1716, to 



I Gabriel Stelle, who ran it till October 30, 1730, 
when John Redford became the owner. It passed 
from his executors to Humphrey Wady, who, in 

[ 1761, .sold it to Josejih Potter. In August, 1769, 
Potter conveyed it to Hans Jacob Rettiker, but in 
a few years it came back to Potter again. After 
his death it came to Lydia, his daughter, who 
married Peter Wolcott, the father of the late 
Henry W. Wolcott. At this time there was no 
grist-mill and only the remains of the fulling-mill, 
which stood northeast of the present site. Peter 
Wolcott erected the present mill. He was a car- 
penter, and also kept a store in the house which 
stands near the mill. The mill property after- 
wards came into the possession of Lewis Smith and 
Gabriel West, by whom the undershot wheel was 
changed to an overshot. It later passed to White 
& Richmond, and is now operated by J. H. & C. 
A. Richmond. 

The first physician who practiced at Eatontown 
or in its vicinity was Dr. Joseph Eaton. He 
studied medicine in ^Massachusetts, and practiced 
here from 1734 to his death, in 1761. 

Dr. John P. Lewis, of whom a more extended 
notice will be found in the historj' of the Medical 
Society, was a son of David Lewis, of Shrewsbury. 
He settled here before 1812, and lived in the Dr. 
Joseph Eaton house. He died February 26, 1861, 
aged seventy-three years. A son. Dr. Edmond 
Lewis, also practiced here for a time. 

Dr. W. S. Kimball, a native of New York and 
graduate of the New Y'ork Homceopathic Medical 
College, settled at Eatontown in 1854. He was 
the first of that school to practice in the county 
of Monmouth. His summers are passed at JMon- 
mouth Beach, where his ride extends along the 
coast. He is also physician to the Branch Home, 
near Eatontown. 

Dr. Charles Van Derveer came to Eatontown in 
1858, and remained until he entered the armv, in 
1862. 

Dr. O. Goodrich, a native of Berkshire County, 
Massachusetts, and a graduate of New Y'ork Med- 
ical College, settled in Eatontown in 1859, when 
well advanced in years. He practiced four or five 
years and then abandoned active practice. He 
retains this as his home, but is much of the time in 
New Y'ork. 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



879 



Dr. S. H. Hunt came to this county from New 
York as a teacher, studied medicine, practiced 
here, served in the army as surgeon, and in 18(38 
settled in Eatontown, and was in practice until 
December, 1871, when he removed to Long 
Bi-anch, where he now resides. 

Dr. W. B. Beach settled in Elatontowu in 1882, 
and is still iu practice. 

The ^Iethodist Episcopal Church of 
Eatontown dates back in its history more than 
thirty years. For several years prior to 1852 
Methodist services had been held in the school- 
house on Railroad Avenue, now used as a dwell- 
ing. In 18-51 it was decided to erect a church 
edifice, and a lot was purchased of the Smith 
estate and a house erected, which was dedicated 
March 24, 1852. At that time it was under the 
charge of the Rev. B. Weed, who continued 
through the next year. Among the pastore who 
have served' since that time are the following- 
named : T. S. Moore, 1S54-55; John L. Souder, 
1859-60; G. K.Morris, 1861-62; T. A. Morrell, 
1865-66 ; J. F. Morrell, 1870-71 ; J. Lavalle, 
1874-75 ; A. M. North, 1876-77 ; N. J. Wright, 
1878-79 ; A. J. Gregory, 1880-81 ; W. H. Allen, 
1882-83 ; S. T. Grimes, 1884. 

The Eatontown Baptist Church ' dates 
back in its organization nearly thirty-five years. 
The first sermon was preached in Eatontown 
November, 1843, and was a Baptist sermon. There 
was then no church in the place, and, excepting 
the Society of Friends, but two professing Chris- 
tians to be found. The gospel was, however, re- 
ceived with popular favor. 

The missionary, Rev. T. S. Griffiths, removed 
to the West in 1850, and was succeeded by the 



as a Baptist church by a council composed of dele- 
gates from the following churches: Red Bank, 
Middletown, Holmdel and Hoboken. On applica- 
tion, the church was admitted into the East New 
Jersey Baptist Association. 

Rev. Charles A. Votey accepted a call to become 
their first pastor. He was a plain and earnest 
preacher and a good pastor. Under his labors 
they were much encouraged ; upwards of twenty 
converts were added to the church during his first 
vear's settlement. Aid from the State Convention 
was sought, and one hundred and fifty dollars 
was appropiiated to thera. The church re- 
ceived a handsome communion service and 
a pulpit Bible from 'Sh: E. Wade of New 
York City. Also a suitable hymn-book was do- 
nated by Sarah Fleming. During the second year 
of his pastorate Mr. Votey closed his labors with 
the church and removed West. A period of de- 
clension followed. Two years the church was 
without a pastor. Regular preaching services were 
discontinued and many dropped away from the 
membership, In June, 1856, Mr. Teed accepted a 
call to become their pastor. The next February 
they ordained him. For two years his pastorate 
continued, and then for two years afterwards the 
church was without either pastor or clerk, and 
without any preaching whatever. Only a weekly 
prayer-meeting was kept up. In 1860, Rev. 
Augustus Pawley was settled. The church was 
under a cloud. Debt on cliurcli property, besides 
financial reverses, paralyzed the little body. For 
some months the church was again without a pas- 
tor. In 1862 the church was supplied for a time 
by a ]Mr. Reybold. At this time there was a great 
falling away from the membership. The debt had 
not yet been removed from the church, and the 
question of disbanding and selling the property 
was often discussed. The membership was reduced 



Rev. Robert T. Middleditch in the pastorate of , to seven, but for whose fidelity and perseverance 
Red Bank church, of which Eatontown was an ! tJie property would have been sold by the sheriff. 



out-station. The Red Bank church had so grown 
as to recjuire all the time of its pastor upon its im- 
mediate field. This led to the organization of an 
independent church at Eatontown. The first step 
in this direction was taken in 1851, by the erection 
of a small house of worship. Constituted with 
seventeen members in 1852, they were recognized 

'By Rev. A. N. Whitmarsh. 



They kept the interest paid up on the mortgage 
and managed to stay ofi" the threatened foreclosure. 
W^ithout a pastor or clerk till 1870, they managed 
to hold the property. This they accomplished 
also in part by renting the house to diflTerent de- 
nominations — the Presbyterian and Episcopalian — 
■who were then without houses of their own. In 
1871 the church received several accessions from 
Shrewsbury and Red Bank. This gave a new 



880 



HISTORY OF MOxNMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



impetus and permanently strengthened them. In 
1872 a new and prosperous era dawned upon the 
church. Encouraged by valuable assurances, 
which have been more than fulfilled by these new 
elements, a Sunday-school was organized, and at 
Long Branch (a long-neglected, though important 
field) a mission interest was started, — a hall secured, 
in which the gospel was regularly preached by the 
newly-settled pastor, W. D. Seigfried ; and aid 
was solicited by Deacon Smith, of Red Bank, and 
Horace Watere, of New York, for the support of 
the gospel. The sister churches responded gener- 
ously. Red Bank contributed over eighty dollare 
towards a pastor's salary, and thus, by efforts at 
home and abroad, nine hundred dollars was pledged 
to support a pastor. 

In June, 1872, the church withdrew from Ihe 
East New Jersey Association, and, on application, 
was received into the fellowship of the Trenton 
Association. In October, 1873, Rev. S. V. Marsh 
accepted the call of the church and became their 
pastor. During his ministry one hundred were 
added to the church. The members living at 
Long Branch were organized into a branch church, 
under care of the church at Eatontown. The Rev. 
Mr. Mai-sh resigned in 1876, and in October of the 
same year the Rev. Jabez Marshall became pastor 
and continued till September, 1880. He was suc- 
ceeded, in the November following, by the Rev. A. 
N. Whitmarsh, who was installed January 11, 1881. 
He continued to serve the church until 1883, 
wnen he was succeeded by the Rev. William S. 
Russell, the present pastor. 

St. James' Memorial Episcopal Church at 
Eatontown is of recent date as to the organization 
of the parish, yet it properly dates back more than 
half a century, to the time when the Rev. Harry 
Finch, soon after he became pastor of Christ 
Church in Shrewsbury, in 1830, began to hold 
Episcopal services in this place, at first in private 
houses and later in the Masonic Hall. These were 
held at irregular intervals for many years. In 
May, 1863, the Rev. Thomas Taylor began stated 
services in the Baptist Church, which were con- 
tinued for nearly three years, until, in 1866, a 
parish was organized, concerning which the fol- 
lowing, from the minutes of the church, is here 
given : 



"The project of organizing a parish in the village 
was considered for some time, and the advantages to 
the cause of true religion generally discussed, till at 
length, on the evening of Wednesday, March 7, 
1866, a meeting of all those favorable to such an or- 
ganization was held in the Baptist Meeting-House." 

At this meeting it was resolved that the parish 
be styled " St. James' Memorial Church in Eaton- 
town." Gabriel West was chosen senior warden 
and Dr. O. Goodrich junior warden. At this 
meeting the Rev. Thomas J. Taylor was called to 
become their rector. It was proposed to build a 
memorial church to James West and others. A 
lot was purchased on the 16th of April, 1866, of 
Peter Lippincott, and the corner-stone of a church 
building was laid, August 8th the same year, by 
the Rev. T. M. Riley, of Navesink, and the Rev. 
George G. Hepburn, of Bricksburg. The church 
was built of stone, twenty-four by fifty-two feet, at 
a cost of six thousand dollars, nearly all of which 
was contributed by Gabriel West. A chancel 
window was placed in the church by Mr. West, in 
memory of his three children. The bell was the 
gift of Benjamin D. Sherman, of New York. The 
church was opened for services July 17, 1867. 
Bishop William H. Odenheimer made his first 
visit here November 23, 1867. The church edifice 
was consecrated June 19, 1868, by Bishop Oden- 
heimer, assisted by sixteen visiting clergymen. 

In 1877, Mr. Gabriel West died, and in his will 
provided that his residence should be used as a 
parsonage. He also left about nine thousand dol- 
lars as a legacy to the church. 

The Rev. Thomas Taylor resigned the rectorship 
March 1, 1867. He has been succeeded by Rev. 
William R. Earle April 14, 1867, resigned No- 
vember 29, 1868; Rev. Alfred Goldsborough, 
Easter Sunday, 1869, resigned December 29, 
1870; supplies until :\Iay 14, 1870, when Rev. 
D. C. Loop took charge. He resigned December 
1, 1873 ; Rev. Dr. Anthony Ten Broeck, Septem- 
ber 6, 1874, died September 22, 1880 ; Rev. D. C. 
Loop July 24, 1881, resigned August 23, 1883. 
The Rev. W. H. Capers began October 21, 1883, 
and is still rector. 

The Presbyterian Chl-rch at Eatontown 
is a part of the Presbyterian Clujrch of Shrews- 
bury, and not a separate organization, but under 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



881 



the care of that church. Its services had been 
held in the old school-house for many years, In 
1877 it was decided to erect a house of worship for 
the niemliers of the Shrewsbury Church living in 
this locality. The present church lot was pur- 
chased on Main Street and a church erected at a 
cost of about five thousand dollars. It was opened 
for service in 1878. The Eev. Thaddeus Wilson 
is the present pastor. 

The Eatontown African Methodist Epis- 
copal ZiON Church was organized in 1840, 
under the Rev. Noah Brooks. In 1845, a 
lot south of Eatontown, on the road to 
Deal, was purchased of Morris Ryall, and the 
present church building was erected. The Rev. 
Dempsey Kennedy was then in charge. Among 
the parties who have preached there are John A. 
King, Joseph P. Thompson, James Livingston, 

James Davis, William Pitts, John W^hite, 

Palmer, and the present pastor, Elijah Harnett. 
The church has now forty members. 

The Second Advent Church was commenced 
about 1840. Services were held in this locality 
for about thirty years. In 1869 a church was 
erected on South Street. The pulpit was filled by 
supplies until 1872, when the Rev. S. ^Y. Bishop 
was settled ; he served two years. From that time 
Esek Wolcott. a layman, has filled the pulpit. 
The church has fifty members. 

The first newspaper published in the village of 
Eatontown was called the Eatontown EepuhUcan, 
having what is known as a jiatent outside, and the 
local a reprint of the Tom's River Courier. It was 
published by George M. Joy, then editor of the 
Courier. The first issue was September 21, 1871, 
and it ceased to exist aft;er about a year. 

The Eatontown Advertiser was established by 
James Steen in January, 1877, and was publi>hed 
as a monthly until June in that year, when George 
M. Joy became the editor, and it was from that 
time published as a weekly. In the fall of 1878 
the name of The Monmouth County Jerseyman was 
added. In February, 1879, Mr. Joy sold his in- 
terest in the paper, and the Eatontown Advertiser 
remained with James Steen, its founder, who hai:. 
since that time been also the editor. From Mr. 
56 



Steen a large part of the facts have been obtained 
with reference to the early settlers and churches of 
Eatontown, Shrewsbury and Middlctowu, for which 
the writer desires to express his thanks. 

W^ashington Lodge, No. 9, F. and A. M., of 
Eatontown, is one of the oldest lodges in Mon- 
mouth County. 

There has come down to us but a very meagre 
history of any Masonic organization in Monmouth 
County prior to the year 1815. In the year 1769 
a warrant was granted by the Provincial Grand 
Lodge of Pennsylvania to William Bostwiek and 
others for a new lodge at Middletown. This is all 
that is known of its history. 

In 1787 a dispensation was granted to open a 
lodge at Freehold, to be known as Trinity Lodge, 
No. 3, but the warrant was surrendered in 1793. 
At the session of the Grand Lodge, in 1807, a 
warrant was granted, and Trinity, No. 20, was 
organized at Middletown Point, but went into ob- 
livion before 1813. 

There was no lodge in existence, or, at least, at 
work, in Monmouth County in the year 1815, 
when John P. Lewis and some others made appli- 
cation to the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, and 
obtained a warrant for the organization of Shrews- 
bury-Washington Lodge, No. 34, to be located in 
the township of Shrewsbury, in the county of 
Monmouth. 

Some months previous to thai event Grand 
Master Woodruff' had granted a dispensation to 
these same applicants to open a lodge preparatory 
to their application to the Grand Lodge, but no 
i ort^anization seems to have been effected until the 
9th day of December of that year, when the 
first meeting was held at the private residence of 
Stoffel Longstreet, at the house now occupied by 
Edward Fiedler, near the village of Eatontown. 
The township of Shrewsbury at that time cov- 
ered a great extent of territory, and embraced 
what is now included in the townships of Shrews- 
bury, Eatontown, Ocean and part of Atlantic. 
As the village of Eatontown was the most import- 
ant town lying within that scope of territory, and 
the seat of government, as it were, for that district, 
the lodge natura ly located here for convenience, 
although the charter makes its location no more 
definite than in the " township of Shrewsbury." 
This must account for the appendage of the term 



882 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



" Shrewsbury " to the name of the lodge, which, 
now that the reason has ceased, makes it inappro- 
priate that the appendage should any longer con- 
tinue to be recognized. 

The first persons initiated by the lodge were 
Joseph Brindley and Elisha Laird. 

The place of meeting was continued at the resi- 
dence of Stoffel Longstreet until September, 1817, 
when the lodge moved to the house of Samuel 
Harvey. This is the place now owned by F. S. 
Chanfrau, formerly owned and occupied by Judge 
Barclay, at the junction of the Eatontown and 
Sea- Shore turnpike and the Oceanport road. 
This information was obtained from a respectable 
old lady, who stated that she remembered the cir- 
cumstance very well when the men took their 
suppers there, and Dr. Lewis was the preacher. 

After the removal of the lodge-rooms to Samuel 
Harvey's, the first festival of St. John was cele- 
brated at the residence of Thomas Little, situated 
on Tiutou Falls road, now the property of Amzi 
C. McLean, Esq., and in the house recently occu- 
pied by Daniel Shutts, Esq. 

There exists abundant proof that the formation 
of the lodge and its material prosperity was due in 
a great measure to Dr. John P. Lewis. He was 
the leading spirit of it all. His punctual attend- 
ance at every meeting, and that, too, while en" 
gaged in the practice of his profession, which was 
extensive and laborious ; the great amount of 
Masonic labor that he performed and Masonic in- 
formation that he gave ; his frequent appearance 
at the regular and emergent communications of 
the Grand Lodge, are confirmations strong of in- 
dustry, zeal and ability. As early as 1816 the 
lodge, appreciating his services, caused to be en- 
tered on the minutes " their warm acknowledg- 
ments for his assiduous attentions to the duties of 
the chair, the propriety of his deportment, and his 
exertions generally." His labors never ceased, 
his zeal never abated, and his influence in Masonry 
was conspicuous up to the hour of his death. 
About this time his eflbrts were faithfully aided 
by such men as Jonathan Morris, Alexander Mc- 
Gregor, Samuel Harvey, Thomas Little, Tucker 
Cook, Stoffel Longstreet, Joseph McKnight, Joseph 
Brinley and others. 

In 1821 the membership had increased to such 
an extent that measures were taken looking to- 



wards the erection of a Masonic Hall in the village 
of Eatontown. The movement assumed shape in 
July, 1821, when John P. Lewis submitted plans 
for the building, and himself, Jacob Knott and 
Jonathan Holmes were appointed a committee to 
superintend the building of the hall, agreeably to 
the plan proposed. 

The building was erected by voluntary contribu- 
tions of labor by members of the lodge, and the 
materials were furnished in the same way. Each 
member furnished what he could, most conve- 
niently. A few, who could render no service nor 
supply any building material, contributed money. 
Those who were in arrears for lodge dues had 
credited to their account whatever of labor or ma- 
terial they had furnished. Thus the work went 
on and the building was completed in 1822. 

On the 28th day of September of that year, at 
the hour of five in the afternoon, twenty-five mem- 
b rs and visitors, having first assembled at the 
house of Samuel Harvey, marched in procession 
to their new hall to perform the ceremonies of a 
formal dedication of the edifice to Masonic use 
and purposes. 

The land upon -which the hall stands was do- 
nated by John P. Lewis. Subsequently he gave 
the lodge a free and absolute title to the premises; 
the only restriction rests upon the disposition of 
the money, provided it is ever sold. It is provided 
that the money arising from the sale shall be di- 
vided among the members in good standing at the 
time, but shall not be used to build any other 
lodge-room outside of the village of Eatontown. 

The building remained in its original form and 
structure until 1866, when, in order to keep pace 
with the steady march of improvement in the 
community, and to better accommodate the neces- 
sities of the order, it was renovated and remodeled 
under the supervision of Past Master George W. 
Brown. It is now a neat, substantial, two-story 
frame building, containing a large and commodious 
assembly-room, connected with a suitable reception- 
room and all other appropriate apartments, and 
comfortably furnished. It is a valuable property, 
an ornament to the town, and a credit to the frater- 
nity. There is not a cloud upon the title, and not 
one dollar of debt resting upon it. The lower 
floor is used as a private school, and yields a reve- 
nue to the lodge. Formerlv, as there were no 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



883 



churches in the village, it was used by various de- 
nominations for th- purposes of religious worship. 
Mizpah Lodge, I. O. of O. F., are permitted to 
hold their meetings in the assembly-rooms, but by 
a resolution no other organization, secular or re- 
ligious, can meet within its doors. 

About the year 1826 began the anti-Masonic 
movement in this country, which raged with excite- 
ment for a number of years. The excitement 
spread from State to State. Eflbrts were made to 
incorporate it into the Presidential question. 
Active members of a lodge were marked men in 
a community. It was unpopular, and in some 
localities unsafe, to be a Mason. In this commu- 
nity the excitement ran high, and the controversy 
became bitter. At this period the lodge began to 
experience those difficulties that came so near 
destroying its existence. The number of candi- 
dates for admission diminished. The resources of 
the lodge were so crippled by the non-payment of 
dues that the greatest difficulty was experienced 
in raising funds to pay the necessary expenses. 
The arrears of dues to the Grand Lodge increased 
every year. Representations to the Grand Lodge 
became less frequent, and ceased altogether in 
1831. The last representatives to the Grand 
Lodge were John P Lewis, Joseph Barclay and 
James Lloyd, at which time only seven lodges in 
the State sent representatives. In the year 1834 
only four lodges were represented at the Grand 
Lodge. 

Soon "Washington Lodge found debts accumu- 
lating, with no present means of liquidating them 
Finance committees were appointed to devise ways 
and means, but they found eveiything on the 
wrong side of the ledger. A few members met 
occasionally, but did no work for want of a requi- 
site Masonic number, and at last, in 1833, they 
ceased to go through the formality of a meeting. 
From this time no other communication was held 
bv the lodge until December, 1836, when, the term 
of the officers having expired, a new election was 
held, resulting in the election of John P. Lewis, 
W. M.; William \Y. Croxon, S. W.; Joseph Bar- 
clay, J. W. 

The lodge convened only three times in 1837. 
After June in that year the sound of the gavel 
was not heard in the lodge again until February 
11, 1843, when it was attempted to resume work . 



In 1842 the eight lodges that had kept up their 
organizations, and two others, including Washing- 
ton Lodge, No. 34, were renumbered by the Grand 
Lodge, and in the distribution this lodge was 
numbered 9, which number it has ever since 
retained. Why Washington Lodge, which had 
been stricken off, should have been included 
among the working lodges and renumbered can 
not now be accounted for, there being no record 
of any application for such proceeding. 

This lodge, however, did not attempt to com- 
plete its organization and begin work until 1843. 
In February of that year Grand Master Bowen, 
of the Grand Lodge, granted a dispensation to 
John P. Lewis and fourteen others to reopen and 
resuscitate the lodge. At the regular Grand 
Lodge communication, in November, 1843, a war- 
rant was granted them. 

At this time John P. Lewis, William Croxson 
and John V. Conover made numerous attempts to 
open and revive the lodge, but so few attended 
them, and so little interest seemed to manifest 
itself among the members, that they began to 
despair. They were rewarded with some success, 
however, in 1846. On June 1st of that year, for 
the first time since 1835, the Washington Lodge 
opened in due form. At that meeting Dunbar 
Sansbury made application for membership, was 
elected, and in due time admitted. From this 
time on, and without intermission, the lodge held 
regular communications, and grew in numbers 
and influence, and maintained its respectability. 
At this time the date of the regular communica- 
tions were fixed on the Monday on or before the 
full moon, and has remained so up to this time. 
Previous to that time the meetings were held on 
Saturdays, often as early as three o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

The old lodge, No. 34, having ceased to exist, 
and a new charter having been granted to certain 
members of that same lodge for the formation of 
another lodge, to be known as No. 9, the members 
generally of No 34 were not recognized as mem- 
bers of the new, but were readmitted without 
charge after being balloted for and found to be 
still worthy. This was the subject of official 
action in 1844, when a resolution was passed 
enabling the old members to affiliate with No. 9, 
under certain conditions, but without expense. 



88-1 



HISTOKY OF MOxNMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Consequently, a number of the old lodge never 
affiliated with the new lodge, No. 9, nor with any 
other ; yet they are received and welcomed as 
visiting brethren, and are almost regarded as 
menjbers. 

Since the reorganization of this lodge a num- 
ber of other lodges in Monmouth and Ocean 
Counties have been established, in all cases with 
the consent and under the patronage of No. 9. 
Olive Branch Lodge, No. 16, of Freehold, was the 
fii-st that left the parental roof, and established a 
home and posterity of its own. It was organized 
in 1848, and now few lodges in the State can 
boast of as much intelligence, respectability and 
solid Masonic material. Harmony Lodge, of Tom's 
River, Ocean County, was organized the same 
year by members of Washington, No. 9. Next in 
order comes Navesink, of Red Bank, afterwards 
changed to Mystic Brotherhood, on account of 
some confusion arising from another secret organi- 
zation in the same place bearing the same name. 
This is an offspring from No. 9. 

In 1865 some of the members living in and 
about Squan village obtained permi.?sion to apply 
for a charter, which they did, and Wall Lodge 
was established, and grew to a position second to 
none in influence and jiroficiency. Long Branch 
Lodge made its debut in 1870, the consent of Wash- 
ington, No. 9, having been first had and obtained. 
Asbury Park Lodge was instituted in 1875, and 
although not one of the original children of No. 9, 
she certainly bears the relation of grandchild, be- 
ing an offspring of Long Branch Lodge. 

John P. Lewis was elected Grand Master in the 
State in 1848, and continued to occupy that posi- 
tion during the succeeding year. From 1843 to 
the date of his voluntary retirement from the East, 
in 1849, he occupied a responsible position in the 
Grand Lodge. He was Grand Senior Warden 
during 1843 and 1844. During the years 1845 
and 1846 he was Deputy Grand Master. Henry 
Finch received the appointment of Grand Chap- 
lain in 1847, and continued to officiate up to and 
including the year 1852. 

William W. Croxson filled the office of Grand 
Junior Deacon in 1847. Jacob W. Morris was 
elected Senior Grand Warden in 1852, and held 
the position three years. George A. Tator was 
appointed Grand Steward in 1857, and held it one 



year. Daniel A. Holmes received the appoint- 
ment of Grand Steward in 1862. In 1877, William 
H. Bennett was called to the position of Junior 
Grand Steward. 

James H. Patterson was elected to fill the posi- 
tion of Junior Grand Warden in 1870. 

Following is a list of Worshipfiil Masters of the 
lodge from its formation to the present time : John 
P. Lewis, 1815; Alexander McGregor, 1820 ; John 
P. Lewis, 1821 ; Joseph Barclay, 1826; John P. 
Lewis, 1827, 1833, 1836, 1843 ; William W. Cro.x- 
son, 1846; William Hanaford, 1847; Harry 
Finch, 1848; Robert Laird, 1849; Jacob W. 
Morris, 1850; John P. Lewis, 1852; George A. 
Tator, 1853; Francis Corlies, 1856; Daniel A. 
Holmes, 1857; A. Wilson, 1859; Daniel A. 
Holmes, 1860 ; George W. Brown, 1861 ; Thomas 
G. Chattle, 1863 ; Thomas Cook, 1866 ; William 
H. Bennett, 1869; William H. Horner, 1871; 
William H. Bennett, 1872; L S. Lane, 1873; 
Henry G. Clayton, 1874; Arthur Wilson, 1875; 
Augustus Thomas, 1877; Isaiah S. Lane, 1878 to 
1884. 

The Shrewsbury Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
pany was incorporated February 27, 1838, under 
an act of Legislature which provides and declares : 
"That George A. Corlies, Gabriel West, Edmund 
West, John P. Lewis, Henry W. Wolcott, Thomas 
Thomas, Joseph E. White, Esek T. White and 
others, their associates, successors and assigns, 
shall be and are hereby ordained, constituted and 
declared to be a body corporate and politic, in 
fact and in name, by the name of ' The Shrews- 
bury Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; ' the office 
thereof to be located in the township of Shrews- 
bury." The following were mentioned in the act 
as directors: George A. Corlies, Edmund W. 
Allen, Gabriel West, John P. Lewis, John P. Cor- 
lies, Edmund West, Joseph E. White, George A 
White, Jacob Dennis, Tunis Vanderveer and 
Thomas Thomas. 

At the first meeting of the directors, Joseph 
E. White was elected president, Edmund T. Wil- 
liams secretary, and Benjamin C. White treasurer. 
Of these officers, the president, Mr. Josejjh E. 
White was succeeded by .Joseph Barclay, Honrv 
Corlies, and David F. Wolcott. The latter, having 
been elected in January, 1879, is the present pres- 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



885 



ident. Edmund T. Williams is still the secretary. 
Benjamin C. "White was treasurer until 1866, 
when he was succeeded by David F. Wolcott, who 
served until 1873, when W^. R. Stevens, the 
present treasurer, was elected. 

The business of the company began May 12, 
1838, at the house of Richard Snediker, at Eaton- 
town. It has been uniformly successful. The 
premiums have paid all the losses in the forty-six 
years of its existence. Every policy-holder gives 
a bond, which is liable to assessment, but not a 
bond has been taxed, and dividends were declared 
in 1867, 1871, 1876 and 1881. January 1, 1845, 
the company reported that they had eflected insur- 
ance to the amount of §629,742.32. In 1877 the 
company had $2,174,601.66 in outstanding risks, 
which represented fourteen hundred and three 
policy-holders. In 1883 the risks were §1,867,707^ 
which represented thirteen huudred and fifty-nine 
policy-holders. 

On March 17, 1852, a supplement to the act of 
1888 was passed, which provided that the office of 
the company be permanently located at Eaton- 
town. 

The present officers are : President, David F. 
W^olcott; Secretary, Edmund T. "W^illiams; and 
Treasurer, W^. R. Stevens. Directors: David 
F. Wolcott, Edmund T. W'illiams ; Joseph A. La- 
Fetra, Benjamin W. Spinning, Arthur W^ilson, 
John E. Johnson (deceased ), John Statesir, Pierson 
Hendrickson, William H. Slocum, David F. Wol- 
cott, Henry Corlies and W. R. Stevens. Loan 
manager, Joseph Barclay. 

The Perseverance Fire Company of Eatontown 
was formed June 15, 1881, chiefly in consequence 
of the feeling of insecurity which was awakened 
among the citizens by a disastrous fire which had then 
recently occurred in the village, at which time it was 
without means of protection, except such as were fiir- 
nished by the unwieldy hook-and-ladder apparatus 
of the Shrewsbury Mutual Fire Company. Soon 
after the organization of the Perseverance Com- 
pany a second fire occurred, which aroused the 
people anew to a sense of danger. On the 5th of 
August in the same year the Perseverance Com- 
pany was incorporated with twenty-two corpora- 
tors, and purchase was made of a steam fire-engine 
and hose carriage which had been used by the Del- 
aware Fire Company, of Trenton, X. J., and which 



arrived at Eatontown in the latter part of August 
in the year named. It is a " Button " machine, 
manufactured at ^Vaterford, N. Y., and is thought 
by members of the company to be one of the best 
in the county. James Steen is the chief engineer, 
having held the office from the organization to the 
present time. The first foreman of the company 
was S. S Stout ; present foreman, Frank Bennett. 

The Eatontown Manufacturing Company was 
organized in 1854 by about twenty citizens of 
Eatontown, and in March in that year they erected 
a large building near the intersection of the Shrew- 
bury and Tinton Falls roads. The object of the 
company was to manufacture wall-paper. Among 
those interested in the enterprise were Dr. John P. 
Lewis, E. A. Fay, Gabriel W^est, Robert W^ardell, 
Joseph E White, Benjamin C. White, Thomas 
Curtis and John C. Edwards. The buildings were 
completed and manufacturing began and continued 
for a few years, but was not successful, and the 
buildings and machinery, and finally the land, were 
sold. 

The Eatontown Hat-Factory was built in 1875. 
In the preceding winter Dr. Pierce came to Eaton- 
town and succeeded in gaining the confidence of 
some of the citizens, and at his suggestion a consid- 
erable amount was subscribed to erect a factory, 
which was done, and the business of manufacturing 
hats was commenced. It was not successful, and 
soon after discontinued. The building was rented 
to W. L jMcDonald, who manufactured carriages 
for a time. It was then unoccupied until Ivoveni- 
ber, 1880, when it was rented by W. B. Huey & 
Co., who operated it as a hat-factory until it was 
destroyed by fire, November 5, 1881. 

The Felt Hat Manufactory of Eatontown was 
started by W. B. Huey & Co., before mentioned. 
The firm was composed of W. B Huey and Wil- 
liam G. Harsin, who had been manufacturing in 
Newark. In November, 1880, they rented the old 
Eatontown Hat Factory, west of the railroad, and 
fitted it up for their purposes, and began business 
December 1st, with about forty employes, and con- 
tinued there until the building was destroyed by 
fire, November 5, 1881. A few of the citizens, de- 
sirous of keeping up manufacturing in Eatontown, 
organized a Building and Improvement Company, 
and erected the present factory near the railroad. 



886 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



which they rented to W. B. Huey & Co. to con- 
tinue their work. The machinery was put in by 
Huey & Co., who now are operating with about 
one hundred and ten employes ; to whom two thou 
saud five hundred dollars monthly is paid. The 
annual production is about fifteen thousand dozen ; 
value, one hundred and forty thousand dollars. 

The Eatontown Seminary was a private 
school which was taught, a few years succeeding 
1844, in the large building which is now occupied 
as the Branch Home of the Friendless, situated 
about a mile eastward from Eatontown, on the road 
to Long Branch. 

In the year above mentioned, Dr. John P. Lewis, 
with others, made an eflbrt to establish a High 
School in this vicinity. Professor Cyrenius Jones, 
a popular teacher from Binghamton, N. Y., be- 
came interested with them ; a site was selected, 
with ample grounds, on an elevation one mile east 
of Eatontown. Mr. Jones took all the responsibil- 
ity, as he wished to erect a building according to 
his own original plan. The lumber, of the best 
quality, and mechanics came from Binghamton. 
The main building was sixty feet by forty, four 
stories high, surmounted by a large observatory 
with eight windows and four doors, which was for 
the classes in astronomy. The interior of the house 
was a hollow square, with rooms for students on all 
sides in each story ; also three galleries and balus- 
trades, with steps all landing on the platform near 
the desk of the principal, from which the numbers 
on seventy-five rooms could be seen ; the hollow 
square was lighted by a skylight. It was a rule in 
school hours that but one scholar should occupy a 
room, and to be called, when wanted, by his 
number. 

There was also a wing, sixty feet by thirty, three 
stories high, in which was the female department, a 
large laboratory, dining-room, kitchen, parlors, etc. 
There was a cellar under the whole of the main 
building, eleven feet high, for a play-room, with 
plenty of windows. The total cost of the house 
was nine thousand dollars. 

The principal, Mr. Jones, with three assistant 
teachers, moved his school from Binghamton, with 
a large addition, and opened with eighty boarders ; 
he had also a number of day scholars and the good 
wishes of the community. The school enjoyed 



prosperity for about two years, when adversity 
came. Mr. Jones gave most of his attention to in- 
struction. He was a thorough teacher, but very 
poor financier. A relative of his was appointed 
steward, and he had also the whole charge of the 
financial department. Each boarder was required 
to pay one hundred dollars on entering the school. 
Butwhilethe building was full of scholars, indebted- 
ness accumulated. The mortgage on the property 
remained unpaid, creditors came with bills for settle- 
ment; but there was no money to be found in the 
hands of the treasurer, and Mr. Jones was unable 
to meet the numerous demands or to furnish secur- 
ity for their payment. The result was that the 
creditors took the property; the school was closed 
in disaster. Mr. Jones, the principal, became dis- 
couraged, went among his relatives in New York 
State, and soon died. The steward left, and in a 
short time opened a large flour and feed-store in 
West Street, New Y^ork City. 

The property of the seminary was purchased by 
B. C. White, but he found it unprofitable and dis- 
posed of jt. In the year I'^^oO, H. F. Spaulding 
became owner, changed the name to Ocean Institute 
and opened a day-school, which was well jjatronized. 
The building was also used for public entertain- 
ments, lyceums, lectures, concerts and exhibitions, 
for which it was admirably calculated. Among 
the leading speakers in the Lyceum were E. T. 
Welch, Jacob C. Lawrence, Enoch Pitcher, Eseck 
Wolcott, Charles Brooks and H. F. Spau'ding. 
The Lyceum had many friends, and always had a 
full audience. 

In the fall of 1852, C. & N. Cothran, two 
brothers, both graduates of Bowdoin College, 
Maine, bought the property for the purpose of 
opening a first-class school to prepare boys for 
college and business. They made extensive alter- 
ations with the interior of the building. Their 
school was well patronized both by scholars at 
home and from abroad. It continued in great 
favor until they determined on a change, and sold 
to a company, — viz. : Isaac Walton, James B. 
Wright aud Howard Wright, — who continued im- 
provements on the premises, changed the name to 
Dunbarton House, and rented it for a summer 
hotel. After a few years ]Mrs. Margaret Downs 
bought the property for fifteen thousand dollars, 
spent five thousand dollars more in erecting au 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



887 



extension to the main building, and opened a 
first-class hotel. 

Finally, in the year 1875, the property came 
into the hands of Mr. John Dunbar Wright, a 
wealthy, benevolent and leading man in the 
Friends' Meeting, New York, and president of 
the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chil- 
dren, who made it a free gift to the American 
Female Guardian Society of New York ; also to 
be a summer home for the society for friendless 
and cruelly-treated children. 

The American Female Guardian Society 
had its origin in New York in 1834, and not one 
of the original members are now living. It was 
the result of a revival of religion. A few earnest 
workers gathered in consultation and worked in 
harmony for a time in helping the poor, the sick 
and the needy. As they labored, a wider field 
opened before them ; differences of opinion with 
regard to management came up in their council, 
which resulted in the organization of several dif- 
ferent societies, each having a special field and 
each working in its own way. This society grew 
into importance and influence with yeare and has 
accomplished a great work. 

The first building used for the Home of the 
Friendless was a rented house on the corner of 
Second Avenue and First Street, New York. It 
was occupied from July, 1847, to December, 1849. 
I Lots were selected on Thirtieth Street, between 
Fourth and Madison Avenues, and on May 5, 
1849, the corner-stone was laid of a building 
which was completed and dedicated December 
13th in that year. Since that time others have 
been added, as occasion demanded. 

In 1875 (as before mentioned) John D. Wright 
donated to the American Female Guardian Soci- 
ety the property formerly of the Eatontown Sem- 
inary, embracing four acres of land and the large 
and commodious building which had been occupied 
by that and the later schools of Spaulding and the 
Cothran Brothers, to be used as a Branch Home 
for Friendless Children, under the auspices and 
control of the Female Guardian Society. It was 
immediately devoted to that purpose, and has been 
so used and occupied, summer and winter, from 
that time to the present. In 1S82 a chapel was 
erected on the grounds, and is named the Bennett 
Memorial, in honor of Mrs. S. R. I. Bennett, who 



was a member of the society from 1835, and an 
active worker to the time of her death, in April, 
1852. One thousand dollars was donated for this 
purpose by Roswell Smith of TTie Century, five 
hundred dollars from Mrs. Bennett, and the same 
amount from another friend of the society. The 
chapel is also used as a school- room. The matron 
in charge of the Branch Home in Eatontown is 
jNIrs. M. Hartaugh. The physician in charge is 
Dr. W. S. Kimball. The president of the society 
is Mrs. Charles C. North. 

Branchburg is a village in the southeast part 
of Eatontown township. The first settler at this 
place was Alexander McGregor, who, about 1807, 
purchased a small tract of land and erected a 
dwelling, in part of which he opened a store. He 
donated a lot (about 1 809) for school and church 
purposes, and on which a school-house and church 
were soon after built. He continued at this place 
until 1834, when he sold to John Hopper, and the 
place became known as Hoppertown. A few 
dwellings were built around the store, church and 
school-house, and the place also took the name of 
Mechanicsville. 

" The First Methodist Church at Long 
Branch," notwithstanding its name and title, is 
located in Eatontown township, at Branchburg. 

Methodist preaching began to be had in Mon- 
mouth County as early as 1785, in which year the 
Rev. Francis Asbury passed through this region 
on a preaching tour. He did the same occasionally 
for many years afterwards, and his journal of 
those tours contains the following extracts having 
reference to Methodist worship in the east part of 
the county : 

"Monday, September 5th, 1791. — I rode through 
much rain to Monmouth, N. J. [Freehold], where I 
preached to a considerable congregation on 'The 
just shall live by faith ; but if any man draw back, 
my soul shall have no pleasure in him.' There is 
some stir among the people; at Long Branch, witiiin 
eighteen months, as I am informed, nearly fifty souls 
have professed conversion. 

" October 28th, 1795. — We came to Monmouth ; we 
would have gone to Shrewsbury, but time and our 
horses failed us. I learn that the ancient spirit of 
faith is taking place below. We rode twenty milts to 
Emley's church, where the great revival of religion 



888 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



was some years ago. I felt a little of the old good 
spirit there still. 

" Sunday, September, 30th, 1809.— At Long Branch 
my suoject was Acts 3-26. It was given me to speak 
in strong words, words of God and from God. At 
three o'clock I preached in the Episcopal church, at 
Shrewsbury. I came home with John Throckmor- 
ton.'' 

This last-mentioned service was held in the old 
Free Church, the new one at what is now Branch- 
burg not being then completed. 

In the year 1790 the Rev. Zenas Conger came 
to this people, and by his turbulent spirit created 
a division among them, by reason of which the 
Methodist Independent Church came into exist- 
ence. 

About 1790 a meeting-house was built on the 
road between Ocean Mills and Branchburg, in 
which all denominations worshiped. Peter Parker, 
of Long Branch, says he heard Bishop Asbury 
preach in this church. In March, 1809, the 
church was incorporated as the Jlethodist Epis- 
copal Church at Long Branch, with the follow- 
ing-named trustees : Elihu Chadwick, Joseph 
Parker, John Martin, Peter Slocum, John Lippin- 
cott and Michael Maps. They accepted the lot 
offered by Alexander ^IcGregor, at what is now 
Branchburg, and in that year erected the present 
Methodist Church. 

At that time Joseph Totten w-as the presiding 
elder. Samuel Budd was the preacher in charge 
in 1808-9. Under the presiding elder at this time 
there was a camp-meeting held in Brewer's Woods, 
at Squankum, at which there was a great revival. 
This meeting was attended by members in Free- 
hold Circuit, which embraced the territory from 
Trenton to the sea-shore. The spirit of the revival 
extended through its bounds, and many were 
added to the churches. The new church was a 
two-story structure, the second story of which was 
for a time only to be reached by means of a 
ladder. The seats were of rough boards. The 
church was enlarged in 1843. It was remodeled 
in 1856, and dedicated July 20th in that year. 

Joseph Totten succeeded Budd as preacher. The 
first Quarterly ileeting was held in the church 
before it was finished, in the year 1810. Afler 
Totten's sermon was finished the presiding elder, 
Michael Coates, called on him to close, but he took 



a text and preached another sermon The girls of 
the neighborhood, by picking berries, were enabled 
to dress very well, and jNIr. Totten preached a 
sermon against it, which annoyed the young men, 
and they resolved to give him a whipping when he 
come outside. Totten learned of this, and taking 
his whip, he stepped outside and cracked it, chal- 
lenging them by his manner to the conflict, 
but his stalwart form and determined air intimi- 
dated them, and he was not molested 

Totten was succeeded by the Rev. William 
Mills, of which the following account is by the 
Rev. George A. Raybold, author of " Methodism in 
New Jersey :" 

"Mr. Mills was a native of Monmouth, of Quaker 
descent. The fire of patriotic feeling induced him, 
Quaker as he was, in 1776, to enter the American 
army, in which he became an officer. He was taken 
prisoner by the British, and was sent, after being 
changed from one vessel to another, to the West In- 
dies. At length he was carried to Europe, from 
whence, at the close of the war, he returned home 
and again settled in New Jereey. About the year 
1792 the Methodist preachers came into the region of 
country where he resided. His wife solicited him to 
hear them ; but he resisted, stating his belief that he 
had been so wicked his day of grace was past. By a 
remarkable dream he was at length convinced that 
there was mercy for him. He then attended the 
means of grace, until, as he sought the Lord with all 
his heart, he soon found mercy and peace through 
faith in Jesus. He became a member of the first 
class formed in the vicinity of Shrewsbury, in Mon- 
mouth. Soon after he found the Lord he began to 
exhort others, and was appointed class-leader, and in 
the spring of 1799 he was received into the traveling 
connection. His labors as an itinerant began on Mil- 
ford Circuit, Delaware, from whence he was sent to 
various places and finally returned to Jersey. In 1813 
he was sent to Freehold, the place of his nativity and 
the first field of his Christian efforts. The soldier 
who had faced death at the cannon's mouth on the 
land and on the sea, now, as his end approached in 
reality, felt no fear. He had a presentiment of his 
death, and told his wife that ' death seemed to follow 
him everywhere.' His zeal for God and labors for the 
salvation of souls increased. The last time he left 
home he gave his wife sundry directions and advices 
in case he should die. He started as well as usual, 
and filled all his appointments, preaching most fer- 
vently until a short time before his death. On the 
4th of December he left Long Branch, met class, and 
then returned to Mr. Lippencott's, at the Branch. On 
Sunday morning he went into a room in Mr. Lippen- 
cott's to prepare for the service in the church, which 






EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



889 



was to commence at half-past teu o'clock. The con- 
gregation was then collecting, and the family, think- 
ing he stayed too long in the chamber, sent in to 
know the cause, and found him fallen into a fit of apo- 
plexy, almost deprived of sense. After a time he 
revived a little, and on being asked if they should 
send for medical aid, he replied, ' The Lord is the 
best physician.' At about twelve o'clock the stupor 
and other unfavorable symptoms returned. He lin- 
gered until about six the next morning, and then 
jjeacefuUy departed for a world of rest. Thus sud- 
denly fell into the arms of death another faithful 
minister of the gospel ; a zeahms, faithful and accept- 
able preacher; an Israelite, indeed, in whom there 
was no guile. Long, however, has he lived in the 
affectionate remembrance of the people of West Jer- 
sey, who knew him well. 

"In the year 1812, the year previous to llr. Mills 
being sent to preach in Freehold Circuit, the number 
of members embraced in the charge was seven hun- 
dred and thirtj'-six." 

The ministers who followed those mentioned 
above, for several year.*, were David Bartine, John 
Woolson, William Smitli, Jame.s Moore, (Jharles 
Pitman, 1831; Thomas Stewart, 1832 ; John K. 
Shaw, 1835 ; J. L. Lenhart, 1836 ; J. H. Dandy, 
1838 ; E. E. Morrison, 1840 ; Ayere, 1842. 

In January, 1843, a great revival .sprang up in 
this section, by which, on the 22d of January in 
that year, one hundred and ten members were 
added to the church. The preachers from 1859 
have been Francis A. Morrell, 1859-60 ; E. Green, 
1861-62; W. Franklin, 1865-66; S. F. Wheeler, 
1869-70 ; G. Keed, 1874-75 ; W. E. Boyle, 1876- 
77 ; W. Chamberlain, 1878-79 ; R. J. Andrews, 
1880-81 ; W. S. Barnart, 1882-84. 

The Isdependest ^Iethodists of the vicinity 
of Branchburg worshiped in a church edifice that 
stood south of the village, on the road to Oceanville. 

About the year 1790, Zenas Conger came to the 
jMethodists in this section and began labor as 
pastor. He was somewhat irregular in his habits, 
and complaints were made against him Many of 
the congregation sympathized with him, and instead 
of waiting for a trial on the charges brought against 
him, he gathered his adherents about him and es- 
tablished another church, which he styled the Meth- 
odist Independents, but by othere was called Con- 
gerites. From his habits he was unable to command 
the respect of the people, and many of the meetings 
were quite disorderly. The people in this section, 
being largely of Quaker descent, disapproved of a 



hireling ministry, and were willing to hear local 
preachers and exhorters. The movement spread 
and good men joined it, and such men as Matthias 
Barkalow, of Blue Ball, J. Saplin Newman, of 
Shark River, Ralph Thomson, of Long Branch, 
and others became local preachers. 

Zenas Conger, with others, established churches 
in other parts of the county about 1809. One was 
at Colt's Neck, where a cluirch building was erected. 
Near where " Our House " tavern now stands a lot 
was purchased and a house commenced, but not 
finished. A lot was purchased at what is now 
Hopeville, in October, 1813, and a church erected. 
On January 23, 1813, the members of the society 
at this place (Branchburg) were incorporated and 
elected the following trustees : Stephen Cook, Rich- 
ard Taber, James Edwards, Ralph Thomson, 
Thomas Brown, Abram Lane and John Emmons. 
The old Free Church, built about 1790, between 
Ocean Mills and what is now Branchburg, was 
used by them and the property was deeded to them. 
The local preachers mentioned above, served the 
people many years. The lot was used as a ceme- 
tery, and the society having become weak and the 
house unused, it was sold by Stephen Cook in 1846, 
he being the sole surviving trustee. It was then 
moved across the street, where the frame was used 
in a barn. 

In 1850 all the Independent Methodist societies 
in the county were merged into the jNIethod- 
ist Protestant Church, and the different church 
properties deeded to them. 

Turtle Mill is situated on a small stream 
which is one of the head-waters of Pleasure Bay, 
and is also on the road from Eatontown to Long 
Branch. At this place a mill was in operation as 
early as 1730. In 1775 it was owned by John 
Williams, who died before the close of the Revolu- 
tion. He was an adherent of the British, and his 
estate was confiscated and sold. It was bought in 
by his widow, Deborah Williams, who kept it 
many years. She sold one-quarter interest to Wil- 
liam Slocum, a miller, who attended to the mill. 
A portion was afterwards sold to John West, and 
the remainder to John Williams, a son. About 
1824 it par,sed to Stephen Blades, and later to 
Jacob W. Morris, and is now owned by William 
Hendrickson. It was known as Slocum's Mill for 
many years. 



890 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



In the early part of the Revohition, while this 
mill was iu the possession of John Williams, 
Thomas Barclay (son-in-law of Williams, and 
father of Judge Joseph Barclay, now of Eatou- 
town), belonging to the light-horse, was at home 
on a furlough, and while starting out from the 
mill to mount his horse, heard a rustling in the 
bushes, and stooped low, when several bullets 
passed over his head, through the open door and 
lodged in a post in the mill, where the holes are 
still to be seen. The firing was by a pai-ty of 
Tory Refugees. 

OcEANPORT is a village located in Eatoutown 
township, east of Monmouth Pai-k and at the head 
of South Shrewsbury River. The pojjulation in 
1839 was forty-seven, and in 1879 four hundred 
The land on which this village is located was in 
1760 the property of the Edwards family, and 
later, portions of it passed to the Pemberton, 
Corlies and Fields families. The old Edwards 
family mansion stood on a lot now owned by E. T. 
Welch, near Monmouth Park. In 1820 the point 
was known as Peggy's Point, and at the time was 
owned by ^Margaret Edwards. It was at the head 
of navigation of South Shrewsbury River. For 
some years prior to 1820 it began to be used as a 
depot for storing charcoal, which was burned in 
the lower townships of iSIonmouth t'ounty and 
from thence shipped to New York. The first 
vessel that began to ply regularly from hei-e was 
the sloop " Sowbug," owned by Pontus Chandler. 

The fii-st store of Oceanport was opened by 
Henry W. Wolcott and John P. Corlies, in 1833. 
They also carried on a lumber business Their 
store building was destroyed by fire in 1865, it 
being then the property of Jacob W. Woolley. 
Soon after this store was started by Wolcott & 
Corlies the place became known as Eatoutown 
Dock. 

On the 2d of February, 1844, an act was passed 
incorporating the Eatoutown Steamboat Company, 
with a capital of thirty thousand dollars. This 
act recites that in April, 1843, a company was 
formed and a steamboat built, which was then 
running. The corporators were John P. Lewis, 
Ethan A. Fay, George A. Corlies, Edwin Lewis, 
William Kelly, John Howland, Benjamin Wooley, 
Deborah and Leah Parker, Robert C. White, 



John P. Corlies, Cornelius P. Hulick, Peter Casler, 
Joseph H. Woolley, John T. Phillips, James 
Mount and John D. Hurley. 

Docks and wharves were built and the steam- 
boat " Edwin Lewis" ran regularly to New York. 
Streets were laid out, corner-lots ran up to 
fabulous prices and many dwellings were erected. 
Drummond, Wolcott & Co soon built a store 
building opposite Griscom's store, and opened also 
a lumber-yard. Augustus Lewis opened a store 
where the store of William R. Havnes now 
stands. 

The building of the dock and steamboat and 
the opening of a route to New Y'ork brouu-ht 
trade to this port, and the little steamer " Edwin 
Lewis," with Captain William Haynes as com- 
mander, was taxed to its utmost. James S. 
Allaire, of the Allaire Iron- Works, in Howell 
township, erected a large stone buildino-, fifty feet 
square, four stories in height, where George H. 
Maps now lives, in which were stored pots, kettles 
and all kinds of ironware from the works. 
Another steamboat was added, and fifteen or 
twenty sailing-vessels were used to carry the 
freight that was brought in here from all sections. 
Teams were often waiting in line from the dock to 
the residence of William M. Longstreet. 

On March 5, 1855, the Oceanport Steamboat 
Company was incorporated with an authorized 
capital of one hundred thousand dollars. The 
corporators were Peter Casler, Samuel S. Wyckoff 
and Jacob C. Lawrence. After much difficulty 
twenty thousand dollars was subscribed, and the 
steamboat "James Cristopher" was built, and be- 
gan running in the season of 1855, and continued 
until 1858, when it was taken to Red Bank. 

The railroad was finished through here iu 1861, 
and from that time Oceanport began to decline 
from the large business which for several years 
had been done. In 1854 the business firms of the 
j)lace were Haynes & DrumuKjud, lumber, brick 
and coal ; Thomas T. Williams, lumber and 
coal ; Haynes & Wolcott, Williams & Law- 
rence and C. N. Golden, general stores ; J. C. 
Lawrence, clothing-store ; E. T. Welch, stoves 
and tinware ; C. T. Fleming, boots and shoes. 
The schooners running from this port were the " B. 
Drummond," " Ann Davison," " Enterprise." 
"Four Sisters," " Agno" and "Old Jackson;" 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



891 



and the sloops, " Almira Shepherd," " Spk'iiilid," 
" Merchant " and " liliueline." 

About 1839 an old house, where the John 
Pemberton house now stands, was opened as a 
hotel and kept first by Morris Longstreet, later 
by Joseph Kirby. In 184(! Deborah and Leah 
Parker built the present hotel, now owned and 
occupied by I). W. White and W. Doig. An old 
school house was used until 1870, when the district 
was merged into the present one and the children 
now attend the Wolf Hill school. 

In 1849 a post-office was established here and 
Dr. John P. Lewis was appointed jmstmaster 
with William Haynes as deputy. He was ap- 
pointed postma.ster in 1864, and served until his 
death, in 1874. His son, William R. Haynes, 
served as deputy postmaster until 187(1, when 
Zadock M. Briggs succeeded and served until 
^larch, 188o. Edwin Corlies was then appointed 
and is now jjostmaster. The office is in Griscom's 
store. 

The ]Methodi8t Episcopal Church edifice 
was built in Oceauport in 1868. The congregation 
was under charge of Eatontown for several years, 
and later, under the Little Silver Church. Since 
1870 the pastors who have served are as follows : 
W. F. Abbott, 1870 ; F. F. Mundy, 1874 ; L. M. 
Atkinson, 1875; S. F. Gaskell, 1876-77; T. D. 
Sleeper, 1878-80; W. H. Pearne, 1881-82; T. 8. 
Wilson, 1 883-84. The church has at present about 
fitly members. 

Mizpah Lodge, No. 61, I. 0. of 0. F., was in.sti- 
tuted at Eatontown many years ago. It was active 
for a short time and was then dormant for twelve 
years. On February 4, 1869, it was revived with 
five old members and seventeen initiates. In the 
spring of 1880 it was removed to Oceanport, where 
it remains. Albert Smith is the present Noble 
Grand. 

Schools. — The townshiij of Eatontown contains 
five public schools and the Eatontown Academy. 
The township contains si.x hundred and thirty-two 
children of school age, and the public school prop- 
erty is valued at ten thousand four hundred dol- 
lars. 

Locust Grove District, No. 82, has eighty-five 
scholars. About the year 1800 a school-house was 



on the site of Edmond A. Woleott's house, about 
three-quarters of a mile from Eatontown village. 
William Herbert was a teacher in its early days. 
The last teacher was Elisha Little. The house 
was abandoned about 1825. In November, 1846, 
the school district bought of William Lafetra the 
present lot and erected a school-house, which was 
used until 1870, when it was moved oflTand is now 
used as a lodge-room by the colored people. In 
the latter year the present house was erected. 

Eatontown District, No. 83, embraces the village 
of Eatontown. The first school of which anything 
is known as having existed in or near Eatontown 
was the Pleasant Hill Academy. It was built in 
1806, on a slight elevation a little north of the vil- 
lage (known as Academy Hill), by the Friends of 
Shrewsbury Meeting. One of the early teachers 
was Seth Lippincott, who lived there, and, in addi- 
tion to his day scholars, had some from a distance 
who boarded at the house. It was abandoned by 
the Friends before 1825, but was rented to others, 
who kept the school for many years. Among the 
teachers since 1829 were Larza Merchant, Wil- 
liam Ely and (about 1840) Obadiah Thayer. It 
was entirely abandoned before 1860. The prop- 
erty now belongs to the estate of Benjamin C. 
White. 

About 1810 a school-house was erected on land 
now owned by Thomas White, about one-quarter 
of a mile from the village of Eatontown. Joseph 
Wardell was a teacher there in early years. It 
closed about 1825. In 1824 Ma.sonic Hall was 
erected on the main street in Eatontown, and in the 
lower part a school was opened. The first teacher 
was John Kyle. He was succeeded by Oljadiah 
Lang, Charles White and Mrs. James McGregor. 
In 1841, Jacob Little taught an English and clas- 
sical school there ; later, ^liss Reeve, Rev. Dr A. 
Ten Broeck and daughters. Miss Hatfield, and at 
present Professor James M. Clagget. It is known 
as the Eatontown Academy. Between the years 
1825 and 1830 a private school was taught in a 
small house that stood on the lot where Dr. W. S. 
Kimball now resides. 

Prior to 1836 most of the land north of the 
main street to the Feidler line was open commons. 
In that year it was divided into lots and sold at 
auction. A few yeare later, about 1846, a school- 
house (still standing) was erected and used until 



892 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



the present public school-house was completed, in 
the spring of 1870, at a cost of three thousand five 
hundred dollars. The district at present contains 
two hundred and thirty-five children of school age. 
Wolf Hill District, No. 84, embraces Oceanport 
and a territory south of it, to the east of Mon- 
mouth Park. An old one-story frame school- 
house stood on the present school-lot many years, 
and in 1869 it was moved to the main street near 
the railroad, where it is now used as a dwelling. 
It stood on land donated by Edmond West. The 
present two-story frame school building was erected 
in the winter of 1869-70. A school-house was 
built in Oceanport soon after 1829, and was used 
until the winter of 1869-70, when the Wolf Hill 
school-house was built and the districts were con- 
solidated. The district now contains one hundred 
and seventy-nine children of school age. 

Mechanicsville District, No. 86, embraces the 
village of Branchburg. In this place Alexander 
McGregor, soon after his settlement in 1807, 
donated a lot for a school-house and a church. 
On this lot, about 1810, a school-house was erected, 
in which Francis Martin was an early teacher. 
The present school-house is upon a lot about fifty 
yards northwest from the old house. It is a 
frame building, two stories in height, and was built 
in 1869-70. The district now contains one hun- 
dred and thirteen children of school age. 

Pine Grove District, No 89, is located in the 
pines, on the road fi-om Eatontown to Oceauville- 
The first-school-house here was built in about 18.56" 
It is a one-story frame building, about twelve by 
fourteen feet in size, still in use. The district con- 
tains sixty-seven children of school age. 

Monmouth Park is situated about a mile east 
from Eatontown and about three miles westwardly 
from Long Branch. The grounds are adjoining 
the track of the Eatontown Branch of the Rari- 
tan and Delaware Bay Railroad. 

In ]May, 1878, the IMonmouth Park Railroad 
Association was formed and incorporated to build 
a railroad one and a half miles in length to connect 
with the Central Railroad of New Jersey about 
one hundred feet from where the railroad bridge 
crosses Parker's Creek. The land on which the 
park was laid out belonged to the Corlies estate, 
and in 1866 was bought by Richard R. Hulett, 



who, on the 13th of September, 1869, sold one 
hundred and twenty-eight acres, with dwelling- 
house, barn and wagon-house, for thirty-two thous- 
and five hundred dollars, to J. McB. Davison and 
J. F. C'hamberlain, who fenced the grounds and 
laid out a race-track of one mile circuit. 

An act was passed March 29, 1865, to encour- 
age agricultural, horticultural and mechanical 
manufacturing and scientific arts and productions, 
and for the improvement of blooded stock in this 
and other States. Under this act the company 
was incorporated. Its corporators were Charles 
Haight, Henry S. Little, William D. Davis, Sam- 
uel Laird and Francis Corlies. The association 
was designated the Long Branch and Sea-Shore 
Improvement Company. Time elapsed and 
nothing was done, and on February 9, 1870, the 
incorporation was revived, and Charles S. Lloyd 
was named as a corporator in place of William D. 
Davis, deceased. 

This association came into possession of the land 
purchased by Davison and Chamberlain (as above 
mentioned) and issued stock for the purpose of its 
improvement, which was carried out by the building 
of the .sheds, out-buildings, stables, grand stands and 
club-house. The company came to financial em- 
barrassment, and on foreclosure, David D. With- 
ers, of New York, bought the property for the 
sum of §57,146.46. 

An association was then formed by the name and 
style of the Monmouth Park Association, who filed 
a certificate of incorporation May 17, 1878. The 
property purchased by Mr. Withers was conveyed 
to this association, who now own the property. 
Large additions have been made to the grounds 
and buildings since the purchase by the asso- 
ciation. 

The capital stock of the association is sixty 
thousand dollars, which is owned by August Bel- 
mont, David D. Withers and Pierre Lorillard, of 
New York ; George Peabody Wetniore, of New- 
port; and George Lorillard, of Islip, Sufi()lk County, 
N. Y., the latter of whom is president of the asso- 
ciation. 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



893 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

Edmond West. — Mr. West, who is the oldest 
living resident of Eatoutowu tuwuship, is the 
grandson of Joseph West, one of whose nine 
children was James, born in Monmouth County 
on the 10th of December, 1731. He married 
Ann Wing, whose birth occui'red August 14. 
1729, iu Shrewsbury township, the children of 
this marriage being a son, John, and two daugh- 
ters John West was born in 1753, and spent his 
life in agricultural pursuits on the farm now 



He recalls many events of interest in his youth, 
notably the death of General Washington, which 
occurred when he was a mere lad. Mr. West 
enjoyed no opportunities for a thorough education, 
the War of the Revolution having deranged the 
school system and occasioned the recall to Eng- 
land of most of the clergymen of the Episcopal 
Church and others engaged in teaching. He 
assisted iu the cultivation of the farm, and subse- 
quently embarked in mercantile ventures, but not 
finding these pursuits congenial to his tastes, re- 




£^^^^n^<^ V^^ 



owned by his son Edmond, where his death oc- 
curred ou the 14th of March, 1829, in his seventy- 
sixth year. He married ^leribah, daughter of 
John Slocum, of Monmouth County, and had 
children, — James, Elisha, Joseph, Edmond, Ga- 
briel, John H., "Revoe, Rebecca (Mrs. Thomas 
Morford) and Ann (Mi-s. John A. Taylor). 
Edmond West was born on the 9th of March, 
1791, on the homestead where, with the exception 
iof a brief interval of three mouths when a soldier 
n the War of 1812, his whole life has been spent. 



sumed his farming employments. The laud which 
came to him Ijy inheritance from his father em- 
braced marl-beds, which rendered the soil jn-o- 
ductive and materially increased the profits accru- 
ing from the year's labor. Mr. West was married 
to Rachel, daughter of John Drumraond, of the 
same township, a descendant of Lord Drummond, 
one of the proprietore of East Jersey. Her death 
occurred on the 23d of Septendier, 1880. Jlr, 
West has been during his lifetime a firm and con- 
sistent Democrat, but has never held official 



894 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



position with the exception of a service of thirteen 
years as surveyor of highways. He is a member 
and senior warden of St. James' Protestant Epis- 
copal Church at Long Branch. Though in his 
ninety-fifth year, he still enjoys vigorous health 
and exhibits rare mental acuteness. 



William Henry Slocum, the sou of Webley 
and grandson of Samuel Slocum, was born in New 
Y^ork City the 10th of June, 1813. His mother, 
Jemima Turnier, was of Huguenot and Dutch ex- 
traction. His great-grandfather Turnier was a 
Presbyterian clergyman in Paris, and fled to 
America to save his life at the time of the Robes- 
pierre Revolution. He received his early educa- 
tion in the Warren and Union Hall Academies of 
the city of New Y'ork. For two years, from the 
spring of 1828, he was engaged as clerk with 
Messrs. Maintain & Thorne, at thecorner of South 
and Beekman Streets, and then became a partner 
with his brother, John W., in the retail grocery 
business, at the corner of Division and Attorney 
Streets, New York. That business becoming dis- 
tasteful, he sold his interest to his brother and 
apprenticed himself to Andrew Turnbull to learn 
the trade of carpenter and builder. At the age of 
seventeen years he assisted his brother, John W., 
in the organization, under the New Y'ork Fire 
Department Act, of the Veto Hose Company, 
No. 4, of which the latter was chosen foreman and 
he secretary and treasurer. His appearance at 
this time was that of maturity far beyond his years, 
and the city authorities issued to him a fireman's 
certificate without a question as to his age. 

On the advent of cholera in New Y'ork, in the 
year 1832, Judge Slocum removed to Long Branch, 
N. J., the home of his ancestors, and married, on 
the 17th of July, 1834, Mary Slocum, who was 
born August 16, 1816, daughter of Peter and 
Abigail Slocum. He has had three children, viz. : 
Walter L., Mary Melissa and Fannie A. Walter 
L. is married and resides with him ; Fannie A. is 
a widow living in Camden, N. J. ; Mary Melissa 
is deceased. Mrs. Slocum died July, 1883. The 
next ten years of his life were passed in building, 
farming and school-teaching in the autumn of 
1841 he was nominated by the Monmouth County 
Democratic Convention as representative to the 
New Jersey Legislature, without his knowledge or 



consent, which honor he respectfully declined, not- 
withstanding the certainty of his election, as the 
county was largely Democratic. The same nomi- 
nation was again tendered him a few years after- 
wards and again declined. Although a Democrat 
of the Jeffersonian school, he did not desire to be- 
come a politician, knowing that such a course 
would necessarily take him into associations not 
congenial to his nature. But while refusing higher 
offices, he exhibited a very commendable spirit, 
in accepting various neighborhood and township 
offices, to which his neighbors repeatedly elected 
him from early manhood until 18(i8, since which 
date he has declined to serve. In the year 1844 
the New Jersey Legislature appointed him one of 
the judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Mon- 
mouth County. The same year he was deputized 
as an ofiicer of United States customs and served 
three years in that capacity. By rendering timely 
assistance in discharging cargo to lighten ships, 
sometimes in the night and in severe storms, valua- 
ble stranded vessels, with their cargoes, have been 
saved from destruction along the New Jersey coast. 
In the year 1848 he connected himself with the 
late Captain James Green, of Long Branch, in the 
hotel business, and continued thus occupied for 
nineteen summers. The hotel was only kept opeu 
in the summer season and was widely known as 
the Bath Hotel, the oldest, at that time, on the 
sea-shore at the Branch. It was wholly destroyed 
by fire in the spring of 1867. During his connec- 
tion with this hotel Judge Slocum became ac 
quainted in a business way with a number of men 
prominent in the State and nation, with several 
of whom the acquaintance ripened into intimacy. 

In the year 1856 he was appointed a Master 
in Chancery for life by Chancellor Williamson, 
of New Jersey. 

In the year 1857 he was elected judge of elec- 
tion, which office he held for seven successive years. 
In the year 1863 he was elected a justice of the 
peace for five years. In the year It' 65 he was ap- 
pointed a notary public for life by Governor Joel 
Parker. He has been elected and acted as one of 
the town committee several times at intervals since 
1837. In the year 1866 he was elected inspector 
of registry and elections and commissioned by Gov- 
ernor Ward. 

He took an active part in the organization of 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



8»7 



tlie Eatontowu and Sea-Shore Turnpike Company 
in 1865, and was chosen one of the directors, 
and for several years served as treasurer, and in 
1876 he was elected president of the company, 
which position he still holds. He i.s also a mem- 
ber of the board of directors of the Shrewsbury 
Mutual Fire Insurance Co., of Eatontown, N. J. 
Throughout his life he has taken great interest 
in the welfare of laboring men. He was the prime 
mover for the introduction of the ten-hour system 



continued until the dissolution of the firm, in 1876. 
Since this date he has abandoned all business ex- 
cept conveyancing and the settling of estates, 
which was followed, in connection with otiier busi- 
ness, since 1844. 

His counsel on legal questions has been fre- 
quently sought and freely given, and though often 
tendered a fee for the same, he has always declined 
receiving it, nor has he ever accepted a fee or com- 
i mission for aiding others to procure a loan of 





in Monmouth, N. J. which superseded the old 
plan requiring, during the summer months, work 
from sunrise to sunset as a day's labor. He has 
also given considerable attention to schools, and 
he aided in the organization of the gi-aded system 
now in successful operation in his neighborhood. 

In the year 1868 he connected himself with the 
firm of William Haynes & Co., — which was soon 
succeeded by Druramond, Maps & Co., — of Ocean- 
])ort, N. J , lumber dealers, and projjrietors of a 
steam saw and planing-mill, in which connection he 



monev. In all positions of trust which he has been 
called upon to fill he has never been asked to give 
bond or any security for the faithful performance 
of his duty, and has never failed to render a 
full and true account. In business he has always 
been industrious, persevering and economical, 
which virtues, with his judicious habits and man- 
agement, have brought him the full score of hap- 
piness, for 

'' Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense. 
Lie ill three word.s — health, peace, and competence." 



896 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



In the spring of 1844, Judge Slocum removed 
from Long Branch village — where he had resided 
since his marriage — to a small farm which he had 
purchased near Branchburg. In November, 1854, 
he completed and occupied his present residence, 
which is pleasantly situated near Wolf Hill, on the 
turnpike between the villages of Long Branch and 
Eatontown— one mile and a half from each — and 
near the village of Oceanport. He is a member 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Eatontown, 
and now acts as its treasurer and warden. 



sided. He remained with his parents until his 
marriage, on the 9th of May, 1849, to Eliza, 
daughter of Yeomans and Sarah Gillingham, of 
Frankford, Pa., when Oceanport, ^Monmouth 
County, became and is still, his residence. ]\Ii-. 
Williams, in the spring of 1844, under the iirm- 
name of J. & T. T. Williams, embarked in mer- 
cantile juirsuits at Poplar, and continued thus en- 
gaged until 1847, ^YheIl the store and stock was 
sold to William Cook, and, removing to Oceanport, 
he entered the firm of B. Drummond & Co., lum- 




Thomas T. Willia>k. -Thegreat-grandj)arents 
of Mr. Williams were Elihu and Ann Wadey 
Williams, who were married April, 1750. His 
grandparents were Israel and Bathsheba Wood- 
mancie Williams, the former of whom was the 
owner of se%'eral plantations, which he distributed 
among his sons. Daniel Williams, one of these 
sons, married Mary Tilton, and was the father of 
Thomas T. Williams, whose birth occurred March 
27, 1819, at Poplar, Monmouth County, N. J., 
where his ancestors for three generations had re- 



ber dealers. Retiring from this firm in 1850, he 
embarked alone in the same business, and in 1857, 
again changing, invested his capital in a stock of 
furniture, crockery and general merchandise. In 
1863, Samuel W^. Griscom was admitted as a part- 
ner, under the firm name of Williams it Griscom, 
and this business association continued until 1882, 
when the senior partner retired, and has since de- 
voted his time to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Wil- 
liams has had neither taste nor leisure for aflfairs 
of a political or public nature, but has frequently 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



897 



been called to fill the office of administrator and 
executor, which duties have been discharged with 
unerring fidelity. He is a member b\- birthright 
of the Society of Friends, and worships with the 
Shrewsbury Monthly Meeting. 



Samuel William Griscom. — ^Ir. Griscom is 
of Scotch descent, his grandfather, William Gris- 
com, having been a native of Salem County, 



lingham, of Philadelphia, whose children are Sam- 
uel W., George L., Elwood, Yeamans, Sarah L. 
(Mrs. Thomas D Holmes), Nancy S. (Mrs. Reed 
Nuckles) and Mark Stewart. 

Samuel William Griscom was born in Frank- 
ford, now included within the corporate limits of 
Philadelphia, and in youth removed with his 
parents to Virginia. Receiving there a rudimen- 
tary education, he began active life as a merchant's 





^^^ 




Is. J., where he pui-sued the blacksmith's craft. 
He married Ann Stewart, whose children are 
Samuel S., William, John D., David J., 
George, Charles W. and ]\Iary W. t^amuel S., 
also a native of Salem County, early in life re- 
moved to the vicinity of Philadelphia, where he 
engaged in teaching. On a subsequent migration 
to Virginia, he became favorably known as a sur- 
veyor and conveyancer. Mr. Griscom married 
Sydney, daughter of Yeamans and Sarah L. Gil- 
57 



clerk, remaining thus employed until October 10, 
1859, when he removed to his, j^resent residence, 
Oeeauport, and entered the store of T. T. Wil- 
liams. After continuing for several years this bus- 
iness association, he was admitted to a partnership 
as the owner of a half-interest, and in 1882, on 
the retirement of ]Mr. Williams, become sole pro- 
prietor of the business, which he still conducts. 
Mr. Griscom has been and is a prominent Demo- 
crat in his political affiliations, and while occa- 



898 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



sionally a delegate to party conventions, has not 
sought oiSce nor encouraged the proffer of honors 
easily within his grasp. He is a member of the 
Agricultural Society of the county. He still ad- 
heres in religion to the belief of the Society of 
Friends, and worships with the Shrewbury Friends' 
Meeting. 



Charles Antonides. — The ancestors of Mr. 
Antonides emigrated at an early day from Hol- 



19ih of October, 1804, in Monmouth County,, 
learned his father's trade, which he continued 
until his marriage to Miss Lydia, daughter of 
Reuben Tilton, of the same county. The children 
of this marriage are Delia Ann, Charles, Mary 
Elizabeth (wife of Charles Wilson Ten Brook),. 
Ira, Eleanor L. (deceased), Deborah Jane, 
Emeline (wife of Charles Curtis), William W.,. 
Laurah (wife of Lewis Lane) and Stephen S. 
Charles Antonides was born on the 29th of Sep- 





^^z-2^<..^:>tCe^ 



land to the United States, and settled in Mon- 
mouth County, N. J. His grandfather, Jacob, was 
born on the 8th of October, 1780, in New Jersey, 
and probably in Monmouth County, where he fol- 
lowed the trade of a blacksmith. He married, on 
the 18th of December, 1800, Miss Elizabeth 
Sutphen, whose birth occurred October 1, 1781. 
Their children were John (born in 1801), Abram, 
Sarah (born in 1807), Archibald (in 1808), Phebe 
(in 1810), Deborah (in 1812), Eliza (in 1816). 
Abram Antonides, whose birth occurred on the 



tember, 1829, in Leedsville, Monmouth County^ 
and removed in youth to a farm purchased by his 
father from the estate of his maternal grandparent. 
Here he remained until eighteen years of age, 
meanwhile receiving instruction in the English 
branches at the neighboring schools and respond- 
ing to the demand for his services on the farm. 
He then determined to render himself indejiendent 
by the acquirement of a trade, and entered the 
carriage-shop of Daniel Herbert, of Middletown. 
Being already very skillful in the handling of 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



899 



tools, his ajjprenticeship was completed at the ex- 
piratiou of the second year, after which he spent a 
year, partly as journeyman, in the same establish- 
ment. At the age of twenty-one he removed to 
Hillsdale, in Marlboro' township, and opened a 
shop for the prosecution of his trade. Two years 
later he became a resident of Holmdel, and re- 
mained six years engaged in business, when 
Mechauicsville (now Branchburg) presented a 
favorable opening, and has since that time been 
the scene of his successful career as a cai-riage 



his father in manufacturing ; and Isaac V. D., de- 
ceased. jMrs. Antonides died October 29, 1881, 
and he was again married, in November, 1882, to 
Mrs. Lydia A. Brown, daughter of Joseph 
Thompson, deceased, of Leedsville. 

Mr. Antonides is in politics a Prohibitionist, 
having formerly voted the Republican ticket. He 
has been a member of the township committee, but 
accepted no other offices, his attention being 
chiefly occupied with his own business pursuits. 
He is a member of Arioch Lodge, No. 77, Inde- 




■^^ X^^ 



manufacturer. A large demand was soon estab- 
lished for his wares, light carriages being especially 
popular with his customers. The increase of busi- 
ness rendered more spacious quarters necessary, as 
purchasers were not coniined to the vicinity, but 
extended to New York City and its suburbs. Mr. 
Antonides, therefore, enlarged his shops to keep 
f)ace with the increase of business. He was, on 
the 17th of November, 18.5-3, married to Eleanor 
H., daughter of Isaac Van Doru, whose children 
are Lydia Maria ; Adolphus V. D., associated with 



pendent Order of Odd-Fellows of Long Branch. 
He is connected with the Reformed Church at 
Long Branch village in which he fills the office of 
deacon. 



Henry Corlies. — Britton Corlies, the grand- 
father of Henry Corlies, who resided upon the 
farm now owned by the latter, was born No- 
vember 27, 1738, and died October 31, 1816, 
He married Sarah, daughter of Benjamin 
Woollev, whose children were Ann, Elizabeth, 



900 



HISTURr OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Britton, Deborah, Brittun (second), J(.seph W., 
Jacob W., and Benjamin W. The last named 
was boru February 9, 1797, in Monmouth Coun- 
ty, where his death occurred May 24,1884, in his 
eighty-eighth year. He married ^liriam T., daugh- 
ter of Tyler and Elizabeth Williams, who was born 
October 8, 1797. Their children are Henry, 
Tyler W., Edward, (deceased,) Francis, Sarah (wife 
of E. A. Osbom), Susan (deceased), and Eliza H. 
(wife of Dr. Henry Townsend). Henry Corlies 
was born on the 20th of October. 1821, in Shrews- 



Monmouth County, whose death occurred January 
IS, 18.54. He was again married, on the 25th of 
December, 1856, to Miss Mary, granddaughter of 
Captain Hendrick Hendrickson, of Revolutionary- 
fame, and daughter of William and Eleanor Du- 
Bois Hendrickson, of Middletown, and sister of 
ex-Senator William H. Hendrickson. Their 
children are William H. H., born May 16, 1858,. 
who died August 16th of the same year; Charles 
Du Bois, whose birth occurred August 25, 1859; 
and Willie H., born June 21, 1862, who died No- 





lJ^^^-4t<. . O^ a^^^^^>L^ 



bury (now Eaton town) township. He acquired a 
thorough English education at the Friends' Board- 
ing-School at Westtown, Chester County, Pa., and 
later at Wilmington, Del , on the completion of 
which course of study he returned to his home and 
engaged in farming employments. In 1852 he 
purchased a portion of the land owned by the 
family, and has since been devoted to the varied 
pursuits of an agriculturalist. Mr. Corlies was, on 
the 8th of September, 1852, married to ]\Iiss Ellen 
L., daughter of Ruloff Van Derveer, of Poplar, 



vember 23d of that year. Jlr. Corlies has always 
affiliated with the Whig and Republican parties in 
politics, and was an advocate of anti-slavery doc- 

[ trines, but has found little leisure for matters 
apart from the routine of his daily business. He 
was formerly president, and is now a director of the 
Shrewsbury Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He 

I is also a member of the Monmouth County Ag- 
ricultural Society. ]Mr. Corlies is descended from 

i Quaker ancestry, and is a birthright member of the 

' Society of Friends, but at present worships with 



EATONTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



901 



the congregation of the Shrewsburj' Presbyterian 
Church. 



John P. Casler. — The grandfather of Mr. Cas- 
ler, who was of German origin, settled in ]\Ionmouth 
County prior to the War of the Eevolution. His son 
John, who was a popular landlord in Freehold, 
married a Miss Qayton, of the latter place, and 
had sons — Peter, John, Robert and George ; and 
daughters, — Hannah (jNIrs. Joseph Parker), Ee- 



Joseph Williams), Edwaid, Peter, Delia (Mrs, 
Martin), Aaron and Rufus. Mr. Casler was a 
second time married, to Eliza Paxton, sister of his 
first wife, whose children are Sallie (Mrs. Ira 
Borden) and Harriet (Mrs. Charles Wyckofl \ 
John P. Casler was born on the 21st of February,, 
1820, in Middlesex County, N. J., and in child- 
hood removed with his parents to Eatontown town- 
ship, where he received such advantages of educa- 
tion as were obtainable at the common schools of 




Cy^^^L/'f~^^*-<yti^ ' 



becca (Mrs. Joseph Van Cleef) and Delia (Jlrs. 
Richard Woi'thley). Peter, of this number, resided 
in Eatontown to^vnship, where he was a successful 
farmer, and died in 1883, in his eighty-seventh year. 
To his first wife, jNIary, daughter of John Paxton, of 
AUentown, Pa., and later of Middlesex County, 
N. J., were born children, — Joseph, John P.,Theo- 
dosia (Mrs. Edward Lupton), William C, Marga- 
ret (Mrs. William Throckmorton), Robert, Henry, 
Elizabeth (wife of Dr. John Cook), Emily (Mrs. 



the county. He then devoted his energies to farm 
labor until twenty-two years of age, when a more 
attractive field pi-esented itself in travel through 
the West. He finally became a resident of Mid- 
dlesex County, X. J., and married, in 1844, Miss 
Elizabeth, daughter of William Rue, of the same 
county. Their children are~AaFon T., Mary Ellen 
(Mrs. Benjamin Brinker), John Milton, Anne 
(Mrs. Joseph Hoffman), Emily (Mrs. Lemuel 
Pullen) and Harriet (Mrs. Albert McNamee). 



1)02 



HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY. 



Mr. Casler remained eight years in Middlesex 
County and then removed to his present attractive 
home in Eaton town township, where he has been 
for many years engaged in agricultural pursuits 
and devoted much time to dairying and tlie raising 
of ])roduce for the New York market. A Repub- 
lican in politics, his daily employments have not 
aftc)rded him leisure for participation in atliiirs of 
a political nature. His religious preferences are 
for the Pi'esbyterian Church, at which his family 
Xvorship. 



Abeam T. Metzoak — Abram and Dorothea 
JNIetzgar emigrated froTu Germany in 1801 and 
settled in Philadelphia. Their children were : 
Joim, Christian, Jacob, Abram, Elizabeth, wife 
of John Faunch, and Henry. The latter was 
boru in Germany and emigrated when an infant, 
with his parents, to America, residing, until his 
twenty-first year in Princeton, N. J., when he re- 
moved to Rumsen and made it his residence until 
1838, when Princeton again became his home. In 
1843 he settled at Poplar Monmouth County, 
\vhere his death occurred in 1866. He married 
Mi.ss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Bennett, and 
had children, John B., Lydia A., Catherine E., 
Margaret B. and Abram T. The last-named and 
youngest of this number was born on the 20th of 
June, 1840, at Princeton, and removed in child- 
hood, with his parents, to Poplar, where he became 
a jHipil of the district school, and afterwards en- 



tered the Quaker City College, Philadelphia, 
where he pursued a two years' course. Returning 
to his home at Poplar and engaged with his father 
in farming, which was continued until the death 
of the latter, when he inherited a portion of the 
farm as his patrimony, and continued to superin- 
tend its cultivation. In 1869 he married Susan 
C, daughter of James Reynolds, of Eastontown^ 
Mr. Metzgar, in 1867, made Branchburg liis home, 
but retained his ownership of the farm until 1871, 
when, on selling the property, he erected his pre- 
sent attractive residence, and is now engaged in 
the raising of produce for the New Y'ork market. 
A Republican in politics, Mr. Metzgar has won 
the suffrages of both parties. He has, since 1877, 
filled the office of Assessor of Eatontown town- 
ship, and been for three years its collector. Mr. 
Metzgar manifested his patriotism during the late 
war by enlisting in the 14th Regiment, New Jer- 
sey Volunteers, and participated in the engage- 
ments at Manassas Gap, Wapjjiug Heights, Cul- 
pepper, Brady Station, Locust Grove, Bristow 
Station, Kelley's Ford, Mine Run, Wilderness, 
Spottsylvauia, Po River, North Anna, Hanover 
Court-house and Cold Harbor. He was wounded 
in the latter conflict, June 1st, 1864, and dis- 
charged on the 30th of December of the same 
year. Mr. Metzgar is still engaged in agricul- 
tural employments, though much of his time is 
devoted to affairs connected with the township. 
Both himself and wife are members of the First 
Methodist Episcopal Church of Long Branch. 



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